Finally saw it last night. *SP* (Off-Topic)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Tuesday, December 22, 2015, 19:45 (3262 days ago) @ Claude Errera

I can finally read this thread. :)

Gotta say - wasn't really impressed. It was a fun couple of hours, don't get me wrong; I don't feel like I wasted my money. Good company, good food, comfortable seats, lots of funny in-jokes.

The movie, as a whole, though... left me pretty cold.

It almost seemed like a reboot of A New Hope - almost every scene was a reimagination of a scene from that movie. (Well, okay, there were bits pulled in from Empire Strikes Back, too.) It was well filmed, it flowed nicely, I laughed - but I never became invested in any characters. It was throwaway fluff, for the most part.

And as much as folks have been poo-poohing that '40 terrible plot holes' article, there WERE a ton of plot holes, some of which weren't even on that list.

Eh. Whatever. If you loved it, great. If you were entertained but don't really care much about it at this point... I'm in your boat.

Judged against the prequels, I thought it was amazing. (I realize how bad it could be and that statement still be true.) Otherwise, yeah, I found myself detached, too. Something got in my eye (literally) around the time Han bought it, and my friend gripped my shoulder thinking I was upset, but I was more like, well, here is when the old mentor is killed by the evil guy in black and the new hero witnesses this from a distance. (It truly followed A New Hope beat by beat.) Chewie's reaction affected me a little more, but it wasn't until the final scene that I was verklempt. I don't know why exactly. One thing I really like about The Force Awakens is what it doesn't tell you. Excellent use of Hamill. Good use of Harrison Ford. Mediocre use of Carrie Fisher. She might as well have been knitting. I wanted some of that old sass.

My opinion isn't settled. Going to see in 2D so I can actually focus, and I'll see how I feel after that.