Star Wars Episode VII THE SPOILERS AWAKEN

[AndrewJ]

Ok. Second viewing down and it holds up well. 

And I'm now all but certain I know Rey's identity. The evidence is overwhelming, IMHO. 

Spoiler text for speculation. Just being extra careful in case some people don't care to read such speculation. 

With the flashback to Rey as a little girl. Who is the family that's leaving her and who is she staying with?

She's a natural at flying the Falcon. She bonds with Han instantly. And she's so like him with understanding and maintaining the ship's systems - they even finish sentences together. There's mention at one stage that Han is like "the father she never had". 

Maz tell's her that her family will never be returning to her. 

She's obviously strong in the force and pretty good with a light saber. She dreams every night of an islan in the ocean. And we see what happens when she first touches Luke's light saber. 

My conclusion - she is Han and Leia's daughter. They were the family leaving her - with her uncle to be trained. She trained with her brother (on the island in her dreams). When her brother turned to the dark side, Luke feared the same fate for her. To protect her from it, he wiped the memories of her and her parents. Any knowledge of who she was would lead her back to the force and risk falling to the dark side. After wiping their memories, Luke hid himself away to remove himself from the equation entirely. 

The one part I can't figure out is why her brother doesn't recognize her. It doesn't seem possible that Luke could have wiped his memory too. 

[Red Tiger]

Ok. Second viewing down and it holds up well. 

And I'm now all but certain I know Rey's identity. The evidence is overwhelming, IMHO. 

Spoiler text for speculation. Just being extra careful in case some people don't care to read such speculation. 

 

Hidden Content

I thought the same thing while watching the movie, though I don´t really like the idea of it.

[Ordos]

I'm not going to watch this movie on it's first screening where I live. I'm 99% certain that tickets will be sold out for days and I'm also sure that I'd be late because of traffic. I hate being late for the movies. I hope to watch on Monday or well in to next week.

[Lord Varys]

Ok. Second viewing down and it holds up well. 

And I'm now all but certain I know Rey's identity. The evidence is overwhelming, IMHO. 

Spoiler text for speculation. Just being extra careful in case some people don't care to read such speculation. 

 

Hidden Content

Well, I think the hints are sort of even:

There are many emotional hints that Rey is Han and Leia's daughter - her skills as a mechanic and pilot, her and Han's obvious bonding, the emotional hug she gave Leia that effectively screamed 'mother and daughter' - but then there are also strong Luke hints (the latter could be hints for Leia's child, too, of course) - her costume, the fact that she grew up on a desert planet, her innate compassion and sense of justice (taking in and sticking to the droid, immediately bonding with Finn), her reaction to Luke's lightsaber, the fact that she seems to be very strong with the Force without apparently ever receiving any conscious training, the reactivation of R2 in the end.

Storywise there is little reason as to why neither Han, nor Leia or Ben/Kylo Ren wouldn't spill the beans about her being their daughter/sister. The nervous/insecure look on Ben's face often suggested that he knew/suspected more than he actually revealed whereas neither Han nor Leia might know anything about Luke's daughter if he had her after his breakdown/disappearance (we have really no idea when Ben fell to the Dark Side - considering that he is still very insecure and inexperienced one assumes it may have been in his teens or even as a younger child, possibly explaining why this guy is so messed up).

On the other hand, Ben and Rey being sisters or even twins could be considered a much more interesting potential for 'shocking revelations' or 'conflict' in the later movies - they obviously don't care that the whole story is essentially nothing but a ripoff of the OT as well as pretty much any EU novel or comic ever written about Han and Leia's children. Siblings fighting each other is more interesting than having cousins do the same thing.

[Jen'ari]

I loved it, other than Kayo Ren and his pathetic motive for wanting his dad dead. Come on kid, you were a troubled youth and your parents sent you to the only man who could help you figure things out, that is not a good reason for you to whack your dad, regardless of what Snoke tells you.

My buddy gave it 8.5/10, I agree with him.

Got to agree with this, good film, enjoyed seeing the old characters, and the new, except Kylo, the dark side is weak with him, hes certainly no Sith.

[Lord Varys]

Well, the Snoke guy clearly is completely ridiculous. If you want to use Palpatine then just use Palpatine. Any guy behaving like Palpatine without being the guy is just a caricature - and he is clearly not meant as a Palpatine wannabe, unlike Kylo who 'wants to be Darth Vader' for some reason.

'Dark Empire' knew how to do that, and it's Galaxy Gun was a much better version of the 'super weapon' they had in this movie. Super weapons are their magical destruction is the very plot device we did not need in this new movie, by the way.

It was always not very convincing why the hell the average guy would want to join some hideously-looking evil guy, but the question why the hell Han and Leia's son would want to follow in his grandfather's footsteps isn't even touched upon in this movie. They don't even ask the question, if I'm remembering it correctly, besides blaming the evil guy for it. One should know that Ben was taught by Luke that his grandfather wasn't all that evil and eventually returned to the light side. I mean, why the hell would anyone who wants to emulate an evil guy choose Darth Vader? Darth Vader sucked as a Sith. The whole Jacen Solo storyline in the EU had a similar flaw considering that this version of 'the fallen son' also found Anakin Skywalker's example enlightening and for some reason tried to emulate him rather than, say, Palpatine, which would have been much more consistent with Jacen Solo's personality (who was actually aiming at becoming the big fish not somebody else's henchman like Ben/Kylo obviously is).

[peterbound]

Ok. Second viewing down and it holds up well. 

And I'm now all but certain I know Rey's identity. The evidence is overwhelming, IMHO. 

Spoiler text for speculation. Just being extra careful in case some people don't care to read such speculation. 

 

Hidden Content

People can grow up and look a lot different than when they were kids.  Or maybe there was some mind play going on with Ren as well.  I dig the theory, and I think it's a good explanation for Rey have super skills right out the gate.  Luke fleeing seems cowardly though, and a bit of a stretch.  But ya, Ren and Rey, could defiantly be related. 

[Luzifer's right hand]

I watched it at midnight with a friend and enjoyed it. Much better than the prequels. 

The only thing that bothered me a bit was that the characters got attached to each other rather quickly. 

 

[Relic]

Ten extra minutes fleshing out certain characters would have done this movie a hell of a lot of good. It also seemed strangely ...muted in certain points that should have inspired more of an emotional reaction. Overall, however, i enjoyed it. It was more amusing that i thought it would be, and appears to be a solid foundation for a new trilogy. 

RIP Han. Saw your death coming from a mile away but it still sucked =(  

[Relic]

Oh, by the way, is this the first Star Wars movie without a Force Ghost or a disembodied voice of a jedi guiding the actions of the protagonist? 

[Lightning Lord]

Just got home from this.  I really enjoyed it.  My two negatives were the rehashing of old plots (but at least the characters mocked it, too) and at the end... Chewie walks right past Leia.  His best friend and her lover/husband Han had just died, they've been close for decades, and there's no interaction when they are a half meter apart from each other and just suffered this tragedy?

That said, I liked it.  The light saber fights were more emotionally driven, rather than "let's wow people with flips and effects" driven.  The new characters were the focus, with the old guard providing a bit of structure.  The dialogue was far stronger than the episodes that shall not be named.  I'll see it again.

[Nearly Headless Ned]

Just seen it. Funny and very well directed, also beautifully shot. The story is clearly the weakest element though.

One thing that I can't get a handle on is Daisy Ridley's performance. On one hand her performance is a little contrived at times. She doesn't seem to be as gifted or as natural as the other actors. But there's something so inherently likable about her Rey that she's absolutely the heart and soul of the movie.  Need to watch it again I think.

 

[Red Tiger]

Just seen it. Funny and very well directed, also beautifully shot. The story is clearly the weakest element though.

One thing that I can't get a handle on is Daisy Ridley's performance. On one hand her performance is a little contrived at times. She doesn't seem to be as gifted or as natural as the other actors. But there's something so inherently likable about her Rey that she's absolutely the heart and soul of the movie.  Need to watch it again I think.

 

That's part of why she was cast, she was a virtual unknown and the creators specifically wanted a 'nobody' so to speak. Still, I really liked her role.

[Veltigar]

I thought the same thing while watching the movie, though I don´t really like the idea of it.

I agree. Han and Leia seem the obvious candidates, but it feels rather lame imo. 

[Red Tiger]

I agree. Han and Leia seem the obvious candidates, but it feels rather lame imo. 

I would have been a lot more intrigued by a girl who just happened to be strong in the ways of the force. I mean what's wrong with that? Does she have to coincidentally be yet another legacy from the old films?

[JonArryn]

Are you guys seriously discussing this as this movie being good? It's without a doubt the worst Star Wars movie, and with all the hate the prequels get, well at least Lucas actually tried to create something new and different with them and now they're not the worst ones anymore. This just rehashes a plot we've already seen. I had such high hopes and really thought this would be a good movie, with the trailers giving a darker feeilng and tone, but we got the Disney version of A New Hope basically. Itäs so many similarities to it that it's downright laughable what the fuck the writers were doing with this movie. 

It's basically just a rip-off of a New Hope, but what's even worse than being a rip-off is that it completely pisses on the legacy of the other Star Wars movies and completely throws out all the mythology surrounding The Force and what it means to be a jedi. After all talk on how important it is to get used to The Force and that a lightsaber is only a jedi's weapon and you need to learn how to use it, all that seem to be gone now, and whoever wants to pick up a lightsaber can just do it and equal a Skywalker who's a trained Jedi just because the bad writers don't know any other way to bring in a lightsaber battle into a movie. And Luke has a cameo in the movie, and they probably thought it would be epic but it was just a bad scene and gave nothing to the movie.

Anakin Skywalker, the chosen one, had to train for years before being able to use The Force in some ways, but here a girl (who might be a Skywalker) basically does all this and if that's the case there's no conflict in the movies because Rey is so over-powered that no one will stand a chance. The only Jedi who never had to train, what the fuck did JJ think when writing this. 

Daisy Ridley is a good actor though and Han Solos parts were good but other than that it's so uninspired and bland and takes absolutely no chances what so ever and it's a shame that JJ Abrams seem to have no idea what Star Wars actually is about, ebcause I really thought this movie had potential.

I don't know about Episode 8 now, of course I'll see it but it's gonna be hard to salvage this trainwreck and .  

[Red Tiger]

Are you guys seriously discussing this as this movie being good? It's without a doubt the worst Star Wars movie, and with all the hate the prequels get, well at least Lucas actually tried to create something new and different with them and now they're not the worst ones anymore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJyQpAiMXkg

[JonArryn]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJyQpAiMXkg

That's no way near Clapton's best song, but you should go to the music thread if you wanna discuss music. It would benefit us all if you actually discussed Star Wars in a thread that is made about Star Wars, but whatever floats your boat I guess. 

[Red Tiger]

That's no way near Clapton's best song, but you should go to the music thread if you wanna discuss music. It would benefit us all if you actually discussed Star Wars in a thread that is made about Star Wars, but whatever floats your boat I guess. 

Look, you have already lost all credibility by saying that this is worse than 'films' like Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones (both which had strong casts, but managed to be utter guttertrash anyway), I don't think you are in position to pull the smartass card.

I also find it funny that you say this movie is so awful but you will go to the movies to watch the sequel anyway. I didn't pay to watch Attack of the Clones.

[Ran]

A NEW HOPE has long been understood as a "rip-off" of Kurosawa's THE HIDDEN FORTRESS. I prefer homage, myself, and find no fault with this. And THE FORCE AWAKENS is obviously a homage to ANH and to some degree TESB, and while very obviously this makes it much more of a direct homage than ANH -> THF, it's not really outside of the realm of what Lucas was doing.

While there was a bit too much self-referential material, much of it was on a fairly superficial level (e.g. the trash compactor joke). The deeper stuff is, obviously, very clearly drawing on the deeper roots of the story -- the tragic confrontation of father and son, the menacing threat destroyed -- but one could argue that Lucas's application of Campbell's monomyth in refining ANH and then guiding the construction of the rest of the series is a hallmark of what Star Wars is. TPM features many similar call-backs as well, from desert vistas to young farm boy rescuing the day with a well-placed shot against a massive fortress.

Doesn't bug me. Is it safe to be so deliberately referential? Sure, it is. At the same time, this film serves as the first real bridge between this new trilogy and the original trilogy that hit the screens more than 30 years ago. It's no surprise that there was a very strong urge to use the elements that have withstood the test of time.

The real question is the follow-through. Rian Johnson's Episode VIII needs to fill in gaps and deliver some answers to the many puzzles this first film set up.