I loved the movie, but I was disappointed with all the not-so-inside jokes with the writer/director knowingly winking at us. Most of them are forgivable, but there are 2 that I'm really stuck on.
Trash Compactor. It was a long way to go for that joke at the expense of narrative realism. Phasma wouldn't have dropped the shields so willingly at that threat. You can still make the joke if you make that threat a little more believable.
Jedi Mind Trick. Rey never saw it in use, and never experienced it accidentally. The use of it requires that the viewer believe that she could've just discovered it out of the blue. This too could've been pulled off if only she had managed to unwittingly convince some weak-minded folks on Jakku during one of her desperate moments. She could've used the trick in starved frustration with the Pawn/Scrapper guy. "A quarter-portion?! You gave me a full portion last time. You will give me a full portion again!" "I will give you a full portion again." Boom. Problem solved.
@JerseyFrank 1. I agree. I don't think Captain Phasma would have given up so easily. It should have been some lower unknown tech/engineer or whatever. Using a "disposable" character would have worked better in that scene.
She wasn't sure the force was even real or that she was feeling it the whole time. Touching the saber and then having that encounter with Kylo made her realize that the force is real and she feels it. She was able to push back and read Kylo, so that made her aware that she can maybe manipulate people. The Jedi are an ancient culture and she probably had some knowledge about the abilities or heard stories. It's a "Let me try that one thing out" moment. It's makes sense, but there are a lot of assumptions.
The scene where Poe came up with Finn's name bothered me. It was like that scene in Hitchhikers Guide with the whale falling to the ground, coming up with names of the things on and around it. "And hey, what’s about this whistling roaring sound going past what I’m suddenly going to call my head? Perhaps I can call that … wind! Is that a good name? It’ll do"..."And wow! Hey! What’s this thing suddenly coming towards me very fast? Very very fast. So big and flat and round, it needs a big wide sounding name like … ow … ound … round … ground! That’s it! That’s a good name – ground!"
I did like that Rey didn't "suddenly" know how to use a light saber when she picket it up. She was using a lot of jabbing and blocking, like she would with her staff/spear. Kylo was also using very rough forms and technique, so that was good for consistency.
@The_Baron My wife said the same about the flashback, and made similar justifications... all true, but the storyteller should've exposed that to make its use more believeable. It just leaves a bad taste because it relies on you knowing the JMT exists from a previous movie and then making the leap that she'd know it. And it's paced for comedy in scene that begs for drama.
I could say the same thing about the force-grab of the lightsaber in the final duel, but because it's played for heroics, discovery, & drama I'm naturally inclined to believe it. I want to believe it.
I dunno... I hated the whole idea of "OMG, we need to disable the shield generators on the death star (for the third time)!" It put me in a mindset of doubt and disbelief for the two scenes I originally mentioned.
And, maybe the scenes were set up better, but those bits got left on the cutting room floor. Although these days they're digital bits. So there's just a bunch of 1's and 0's on the cutting room floor.
I loved the movie, but I was disappointed with all the not-so-inside jokes with the writer/director knowingly winking at us. Most of them are forgivable, but there are 2 that I'm really stuck on.
Trash Compactor. It was a long way to go for that joke at the expense of narrative realism. Phasma wouldn't have dropped the shields so willingly at that threat. You can still make the joke if you make that threat a little more believable.
Jedi Mind Trick. Rey never saw it in use, and never experienced it accidentally. The use of it requires that the viewer believe that she could've just discovered it out of the blue. This too could've been pulled off if only she had managed to unwittingly convince some weak-minded folks on Jakku during one of her desperate moments. She could've used the trick in starved frustration with the Pawn/Scrapper guy. "A quarter-portion?! You gave me a full portion last time. You will give me a full portion again!" "I will give you a full portion again." Boom. Problem solved.
@JerseyFrank
1. I agree. I don't think Captain Phasma would have given up so easily. It should have been some lower unknown tech/engineer or whatever. Using a "disposable" character would have worked better in that scene.
It's makes sense, but there are a lot of assumptions.
The scene where Poe came up with Finn's name bothered me. It was like that scene in Hitchhikers Guide with the whale falling to the ground, coming up with names of the things on and around it.
"And hey, what’s about this whistling roaring sound going past what I’m suddenly going to call my head? Perhaps I can call that … wind! Is that a good name? It’ll do"..."And wow! Hey! What’s this thing suddenly coming towards me very fast? Very very fast. So big and flat and round, it needs a big wide sounding name like … ow … ound … round … ground! That’s it! That’s a good name – ground!"
I did like that Rey didn't "suddenly" know how to use a light saber when she picket it up. She was using a lot of jabbing and blocking, like she would with her staff/spear. Kylo was also using very rough forms and technique, so that was good for consistency.
@The_Baron My wife said the same about the flashback, and made similar justifications... all true, but the storyteller should've exposed that to make its use more believeable. It just leaves a bad taste because it relies on you knowing the JMT exists from a previous movie and then making the leap that she'd know it. And it's paced for comedy in scene that begs for drama.
I could say the same thing about the force-grab of the lightsaber in the final duel, but because it's played for heroics, discovery, & drama I'm naturally inclined to believe it. I want to believe it.
I dunno... I hated the whole idea of "OMG, we need to disable the shield generators on the death star (for the third time)!" It put me in a mindset of doubt and disbelief for the two scenes I originally mentioned.
@JerseyFrank @The_Baron I think what I liked most about the JMT scene is who supposedly was in that Stormtrooper outfit. If you haven't read all the 'cameo' tidbits out there, it's said the Stormtrooper was Daniel Craig.
http://www.eonline.com/news/725198/daniel-craig-made-a-secret-cameo-as-a-stormtrooper-in-star-wars-the-force-awakens-warning-tiny-spoilers-ahead
Magic Space wizards -
HEY... Guess what you can do if you want to see star wars.... the original (I guess number 4 now...)
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You're welcome! ;)
They only mentioned the trash compactor after Phasma had already dropped the shields
Rey knew about Luke, even though she thought it was a myth. It makes sense part of that would be regarding mind tricks.
And, maybe the scenes were set up better, but those bits got left on the cutting room floor. Although these days they're digital bits. So there's just a bunch of 1's and 0's on the cutting room floor.
@parodymandotcom they shot this on film though :)
i'm just here to say i'm glad i can finally read this thread.