STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS - Redux Review

[@luckykat08]

This is the most satisfying Force Awakens review I've heard - absolutely spot on.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

I agree Maggie hasn't savaged a movie like this in ages and you know it comes from a real love of the original trilogy.

[@virgogaming6488]

It vindicates how I feel about it.

[@jenssylvesterwesemann7980]

JJ Abrams is a genius of a used car salesman. His mystery box nonsense, his frantic, hysterical style, all that distracts from actually looking under the hood. Where there isn't even an engine.

[@VandalJace]

He flat out sucks. How such a derivative director got such praise over time has always confused me. MI3 is decent and that's it.

[@jenssylvesterwesemann7980]

@@VandalJace I must admit, though, that, if he some day manages to rein in his restlessness, he actually has a hand for directing. Not at all for storytelling, mind you! That should be left to actual screenwriters. As it is now, his movies feel like I'm being yelled at for 120 minutes.

[@markw110]

❤️

[@evanmills7340]

Jar Jar Abrams

[@NaughtyVampireGod]

Lens flare as a substitute for art.

[@Totalfreedomliving]

Easily one of your best reviews yet. Nailed it 100%.

[@HBICTiff]

Hope everyone is having a great week and drinking plenty of water! 😊

[@FadingLight003]

I know I’m gonna get a lot of responses for saying this but I honestly think that’s why I like ‘The Last Jedi’ out of the sequel trilogy. Rian Johnson actually tried to bring something different and unfortunately had to work with what JJ Abrams started. You’re absolutely spot on about Abrams. He’s too safe of a filmmaker and while he has the best intentions, it’s very frustrating as a viewer (same when I disliked ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’)

[@fewwiggle]

None of them deserve a pass. Sure, maybe Abrams gave Rian a pile of poo, but at that point it was Rian's obligation to try to keep the trilogy coherent and work WITH the poo, not against it. ( and , I'd say it wasn't really a pile of poo so much as a place holder that could be built from )

[@kw1ksh0t]

I haven't seen the final one but TLJ definitely felt like a genuine film in itself compared to the TFA. It has its own problems though

[@raminybhatti5740]

It was a harbinger of things to come, but the rot wasn't so visibly egregious in TFA that it actually seemed like a passable SW film to someone like me who was still rather blind to Disney shenanigans. In hindsight it's an absolute missed opportunity on so many fronts. If we lived in age where artistry and storytelling were paramount, the mind boggles at what a genuinely great group of creators could've dreamt up as a worthy Star Wars sequel that was a challenging re-entry into Lucas's galaxy rather than a meta-lite / soft reboot.

[@damonzex1017]

This parody of a Stsr Wars is a perfect example of cinematic devolution. You gave an outstanding elucidation regarding this movies utter otiosity.

[@Euclides287]

JJ Abrams writing the plot to the *Force Awakens:* Somehow the First Order has emerged from the ashes of the Empire BIGGER and STRONGER than ever before. 🤷‍♂ 🤡 JJ Abrams writing the plot to the *Rise of Skywalker:* Somehow Palpatine is back from the dead. 🤡

[@Enzo012]

The Force Awakens was a bit like a Disney Studio Tours Star Wars themed ride there isn't really much more to it than that. It gets the ball rolling but it doesn't really roll anywhere. The idea is like Rey is a surrogate for the audience and she gets to do all the things and meet all the people the audience would like to do and meet if they were in Star Wars. There's the Millennium Falcon sat there look, you get to fly it like a pro. Han Solo and Chewbacca are passing by look, you get to impress them with your knowledge and Millennium piloting skills. You get captured by evil Imperial guys, but you can use the Force so you can now use the Jedi mind trick on them like Obi Wan did in A New Hope to escape and so on.

[@kuribayashi84]

You know the episode of The Simpsons where Ned Flanders' House is destroyed in a Hurricane and the people of Springfield pitch in to built him a new one despite having neither the Talent nor the tools and resources to do it right? The Force Awakens is the filmic equivalent to this house, except that the makers of the Trilogy *did* have the right tools and enough resources and the people of Springfield at least had good intentions.

[@danthehomosapien2722]

I hope you do more redux videos The Master 2012 would be a great one to revisit

[@deepfocuslens]

plan to do a few in the future

[@robertgoyette5863]

+1 on the master

[@Totalfreedomliving]

In my top 5 of all time.

[@MrMoneyclips]

I think Jay Bauman said it best: "I liked it when it came out but it turned out to be the worst thing to ever happen to film".

[@InsidiousJazz]

That's a good quote. Did he say that in the Rise of Skywalker review?

[@MrMoneyclips]

@@InsidiousJazz yup.

[@bilbobaggins9451]

I don't understand how he didn't see that on the onset, but whatever. Better late than never, I guess.

[@clumpyschlipz7571]

​@@bilbobaggins9451 Rich Evans kinda was

[@bilbobaggins9451]

@@clumpyschlipz7571 No he didn't. He simped hardcore for TFA when it released.

[@DecadentGaming666]

I have to admit I was way ahead of the curve on this one. Saw this in theaters like day 1 and told everyone how disgusted I was by it. Pretty much no one agreed with me

[@roaminronin7818]

You weren't alone... seemed like my friends were crazy, I saw right through that nostalgia mess

[@robertlaidlaw4592]

yup i watched it the first time and kinda enjoyed it, but half a year ago my brother was switching locations so we had a week to watch films so we watched through star wars; The prequals were allot worse than i thought but still entertaining. the originals were just great especially a new hope and rogue one was really good as well, and tbh solo is a fun movie. but we literally couldn't make it though the first of the sequels. The characters are just so unlikable (except kylo ren) like even Harrison was only giving a mediocre attempt. and then like you say the way they throw around star wars corpse, and try to reanimate it with string is insane.

[@jonathanlgill]

We're in the same boat. I couldn't believe the film was as derivative of A New Hope as it was. None of the worldbuilding made any sense as a continuation of the original trilogy, Han and Leia were uncannily dumbed-down versions of themselves, and there was something very offputting and out-of-place about the dialogue. I don't mind "wooden" George Lucas lines in a Star Wars movie, but having a main character say "Do you have a boyfriend? Do ya?" feels completely against the ethos of Star Wars.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

I couildn't get past Finn's easy conversion into a rebel and his and Po's shake and bake friendship let alone Rey's Mary-Sueness. There was an organic honesty to the original trilogy that while not perfect, carried even adults into the story. Approaching TFA as an adult and taking it seriously is almost impossible.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

@@jonathanlgill Well said. The modernized culture cues feels like Millennials wearing 50's conservative outfits while still talking like Millennials. Something feels very wrong about it.

[@hoibsh21]

Joel Schumacher added the neon lights and the electric spandex element. You're welcome

[@deepfocuslens]

Well....now I don't hate it as much. ;)

[@hoibsh21]

@@deepfocuslens 😊

[@thunderstruck5484]

I remember me and my family watching at the theater and honestly within 5 minutes I knew it was going to be bad , thanks M!

[@Ahasveros7674]

Spot on, and it kept getting worse by the minute.

[@CEWIII9873]

Hmm... For me, it was when they used the stupid humor in the village attack scene

[@thunderstruck5484]

@@CEWIII9873 exactly

[@lacrimatorium]

Lucas's Star Wars prequels, Jackson's Hobbit, the Eric Bana Hulk, Terminator 3, and most of the Michael Bay catalogue, have all seen their critical stock rise in the last two years thanks to the awokening quality of recent franchise offerings. Thanks Maggie. I appreciate your reappraisal.

[@jpr0328]

Well at least Jackson's Hobbit is good unlike those other three.

[@JustFun-ho6qy]

Well, I genuinely enjoy Bad Boys 2 and The Rock and would take them over the boring-ass Hobbit movies any day. Heck, Armageddon was harmless dumb fun as well.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

@@jpr0328 I hated the Hobbit.

[@virgogaming6488]

Ang Lee's Hulk is great and underappreciated. Terminator 3 is pretty decent.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

@@virgogaming6488 I just watched a bunch of the made for TV Incredible Hulk shows from the 70's. Surprisingly watchable after all these years despite being a little formulaic. Also about as far from the Marvel Universe as you can get. Apparently the invention of She Hulk comic was done to preempt the tv show from cashing in on that idea. I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but suffice it to say, if it wasn't for David Banner and that sad theme song, She Hulk probably wouldn't exist.

[@Anatolij86]

Love the PASSION here

[@kanyewestlive6905]

I agree wjth all of your points although I don't hate the film. Its like the A View to a Kill of Star Wars movies, mildly enjoyable, not bringing anything new to the table and pottering through the runtime going through the motions, although competenly helmed enough that it isn't an outright trainwreck: it looks like a movie.

[@kangaroo3708]

You said JJ Abrams was perfect to direct the new Star Wars in your Star Trek: Into Darkness review in 2012

[@deepfocuslens]

Yep. I did. People are allowed to make predictions and be wrong.

[@kangaroo3708]

@@deepfocuslens I just think it’s interesting is all

[@deepfocuslens]

@@kangaroo3708 It is. I mentioned that to someone while I was working on the review.

[@kangaroo3708]

@@deepfocuslens On the subject of divisive sequels / prequels.... do you like Prometheus?

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

I love it when I see other old-school DFL fans in the comments. I've been watcing Maggie's reviews since 2015.

[@jonathanlgill]

Glad you've come around! I deeply disliked Force Awakens when it first came out, and unfortunately its success taught Disney and other studios the absolute wrong lessons regarding franchise reboots. The epitome of awfully executed fan service homages in Force Awakens comes late in the movie, when the Resistance has a meeting discussing tactics against Starkiller Base. For a reason that makes no sense in terms of the fictional world, and exists solely for the audience, the projector image of Starkiller Base is shown to scale against the Death Star (you know, the weapon that was definitively destroyed over three decades ago), just to show how the STAKES HAVE BEEN RAISED because it's BIGGER and more DESTRUCTIVE than the original. (The Jurassic World reboots suffer this same problem--dinosaurs have to keep getting smarter and bigger, as if that will make the story more compelling.) Han Solo even rolls his eyes and says, "So what? It's big." I don't believe you can write that line without having some awareness about how pointless and pandering this scene is. But that didn't stop them from including it.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

I'll have to watch that scene again. I was so disgusted with TFA I scrubbed through half the dialog. It was insulting.

[@TheJadedJames]

The Force Awakens essentially broke Star Wars as a franchise. By undoing/ignoring Return of the Jedi and essentially redoing the conflict of the original trilogy, it places SW in a position where it can never move forward again, but it paradoxically can’t move back again either. Disney seriously made a sequel trilogy where the universe just loops around to the same position it was in the 80s, most of our original protagonists gave up, died, and regressed. It seeks to wrap the audience in a comfortable nostalgia blanket, but it is the most depressing continuation the story could have. Will the galaxy still be locked in this same war in another 30 years?

[@allenrubinstein3696]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! That's the question I had in the first five minutes of this movie that nobody seemed interested in asking - didn't they win? Suddenly they're rebels again! It's just a thing they do. They rebel against stuff. How did they un-win? I went in expecting like, okay, what's been happening in the lives of these characters? How has the political life of this universe evolved since defeating a fascist dictatorship? It's fiction! You can imagine anything you want. Nope. Everything is exactly the same and all of them are doing exactly the same thing as they did before. Han Solo is a geriatric smuggler. Princess Leia is a... rebel... princess of... something, I guess. Being a secret rebel warrior - you can't do that as a lifestyle choice. That takes a toll eventually. She'd have to be a different person in SOME WAY! Show some scars, some bitterness, anger, losing your friends tragically to injustice. Decades have gone by! Why are you still doing this? Luke is the only character that appears to have lived a life in between films, and he's apparently some kind of key figure even though he's a hermit on an island somewhere. Nobody seemed to put a half-hour of thought into this massive, massive production. It was just surreal.

[@ferrarriohh]

This a great reassurance of how I felt on 2nd watch. First time thru, I generally liked it. I saw it with my sister and nephews, and the nostalgia & the general confusion of the movie got me to enjoy it. Weeks before TLJ i rewatched TFA.... and it was the suck. I noticed all the elements of a McGuffin based plot, where everything occurred to drive us along a theme park ride. Fan expo sounds spot on.

[@coreygraham860]

A major problem with Force Awakens is the fast pacing. Finn's storyline for example would've been much more compelling if they had just added a couple more scenes fleshing out his character arc from storm trooper to resistance fighter. It's less a Disney movie and more of a Disney ride.

[@virgogaming6488]

The pacing is too fast, same for Rise of Skywalker.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

@@virgogaming6488 I went to see RoS with my nephews and fell asleep in the 3rd act.

[@tparm]

Thank you for that. Even after all these years, hasn't changed anyone's mind.

[@andrewiangillies]

Been really enjoying your reviews lately. Whether I agree or not (definitely agreed with this one), they always come across as well considered, authentic and sincere.

[@nausiccaa1824]

2:47-3:02 Yes. Its absolutely despicable

[@validationboy]

BEST movie channel on KZbin

[@slipwagon7944]

The Force Awakens is the best of the Disney trilogy. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on Rise of Skywalker lol.

[@Sethpelepchuk]

She already reviewed it!

[@vincentdesjardins1354]

03:21 "It's a whole other level because StarWars has basicaly been bought out by the Empire." That's LEGEND !

[@esteeb67]

I was curious as to what your opinion of this entry would be because I rank it a bit higher than most. I agree that the plot is thin and repetitive, but there are elements in this film that I was thankful for. 1) This is a fun movie. Unlike the prequels which were mired in politics and egregious CGI this simplifies everything. 2) The CGI here is based more in reality than in the prequels. So to me, the fight scenes were more engaging as was the entire look of the film, in comparison to the prequels. I know people get down on the cast, but I still find them likable in this film. In the next two films, they do drag it down, but that might be more in the writing than in the performances. Sure, it's safe and play by numbers, but for me it at least brought a little of the spirit back that was sorely missing since the original trilogy.

[@jimwoodswrites]

Preach it. That was quite therapeutic.

[@maxflier]

Such a brutally honest review. But 100% accurate and it is the review this movie deserves.

[@maximthepurplefalcon8187]

Great review. Everything that was wrong with this movie you summed up... and everything wrong with J.J. Abrams.

[@Viperante]

The Force didn’t so much awaken as groggily open its eyes and drag itself out of the wrong side of the bed, before collapsing on the floor and throwing its guts up all over the carpet. 🤔😐

[@pasticheit9677]

This is perfection.

[@rantuneplanet]

What a great review. I love it. And out of the many things I find laughable about Force Awakenings...my favorite is when they find the 'Piece' of the map puzzle and place it in it's place which reveals the path. As if you can take a puzzle piece out of the universe and become lost. Too funny.

[@toothbrushfromnisemonogatari]

Perfect encapsulation of why this film just aged like milk! We were all so exited for where the future of this franchise might go that everyone just overlooked how incredibly stupid the film actually was.

[@krudmonger]

I didn't think i wanted to watch any more Star Wars reviews, but I'm enjoying these so far. I look forward to seeing what you have to say about TLJ.

[@anthonymartensen3164]

I maintain that The Force Awakens is a fun movie, that mainly tries to pull at nostalgia strings, and introduced a promising start to what could've been a far more interesting 3-movie arc. But as a starting point it's a fun popcorn film with charming characters and was made with love.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

I disagree. The seeds of failure were already present in the hideous Mary-Sueness of Rey and the lame attempt at friendship between Po and Finn, never-mind the insta-Empire reboot.

[@patrickouziel]

Agree 100% with your criticism of the “winking” at the audience. I find that so many modern films to do this, particularly the Marvel ones. If the filmmakers don’t take their own story seriously, why should I?

[@The-Secret-Door]

This is cathartic. Even after all this time it feels good to have this mess recognized for what it is ha ha

[@lloydpassafume5357]

I think someone already mentioned this, but The Clone Wars TV show is pretty damn great. It is a must watch if you are a Star Wars fan.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

I couldn't agree more. Your point about how self-contained the original trilogy was really does demand a more compelling resurrection of the Empire than we got, but the problem is that the original was simplistic also. As many have argued, the mechanics of galaxy-spanning power is almost too difficult to imagine logically for it not to be, which is why Lucas got bogged down later on. That said, it's too bad they didn't use some of Lucas' clone wars material to justify the ease with which a new regime could rise, but even that would be wickedly complicated to get going in a satisfying way.

[@LatinoSlant]

Brilliant. Been subbed, bravo.

[@BishopWalters12]

I didn't even understand the hype in 2015 or the love for JJ. I always thought the movie was lazy and JJ is one of the least creative people in Hollywood.

[@thunderstruck5484]

Luke with a wife and a bunch of kids living the happy simple life as a farmer, then go from there, could have been fun and an exciting adventure

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

That's a good point. It would have been cool to see him going back to his roots.

[@JJJJJVVVVVLLLLL]

i will probably be in the minority but I wish Lucas had never gone with the family drama thing in Empire. even when I was a kid and the original trilogy was coming out, I felt this way. I wanted to see more of the cinematic universe of Star Wars, but I didn’t actually wanna see ANY of the characters from the first movie (part IV) except Darth Vader. I did want to see what happened to him

[@vincentsolis5149]

I'd LOVE to listen to you review the original Star Trek films. Especially The Motion Picture

[@bsharp3281]

YES! I think of this movie as a two hour ad for a better movie, called Star Wars

[@alexandrosalexandropoulos4836]

I totally disagree but i have to admit that you buried it very well! Hilarious and clever (yet angry!) approach!!! 🙏❤Greetings from Greece.

[@CobblesteinSwobblepop]

...but it has a 7.8 IMDB rating so it must be a top 100 film right?

[@sandy34740]

They did John Boyega so dirty in these movies. They took his love of star wars and pissed all over it.

[@virgogaming6488]

He was expecting too much out of his role.

[@ndhickson3599]

@@virgogaming6488 he honestly wasn’t. They made his role out to be the next Luke and they turned him into a comic relief bumbling idiot, they absolutely screwed him

[@someone7068]

I think this could of aged well if 8 and 9 were better

[@mikesilva3868]

Painful watch the whole time. Unnecessary musical tie ins, and all around Wookie conversations for a majority of the special. But Boba Fetts first appearance makes some of this worth it, But still I cant get the bad taste of Wookie growling off of my tongue. But its funny to watch with a family of Star Wars fans so its good for one thing... Stir, Stir, Stir, Stir, Stir, Stir!💛

[@someone7068]

@@mikesilva3868 when was bobba fet in it?i agree it aged porrly and feels like needless set up and i agree with jj abrams who is mainly a franshise filmaker tries to incoorporate fun elements that were like from the other films in the franchise as an adventure to remind people that star wars can be fun after the prequals,and it probably wouldnt do as good as its own with a more obscure original story money wise,also i think finn was a really good new character who didnt mirrior anyone from the og,it had fun set pieces and i think hans death at the time was a bold move that didnt take anything away at the time and the questions left in this could have been answered in the next i believe leaving people excited for the next but then 8 leaves us with more,i can say though that it is defnitley premise wise repetitive,even watching a new hope after rouge one makes it feel repetitive so personally currently i believe that they should of left it alone because needless sequals ruins the legacy and consistency in most franchises

[@virgogaming6488]

It just means that 7 wasn't good at all on it's own if it required sequels.

[@someone7068]

@@virgogaming6488 that could be aoplied to other entries in the saga,its aged poorly but if 8 and 9 expanded on it well it would be liked better,i mean many really enjoyed it on release and yeah there were some unanswered questions and flaws regardless but i will hold that belief

[@virgogaming6488]

@@someone7068 1 and 4 can stand on their own so it really doesn't apply to the rest of the saga.

[@brettfernets3037]

Well you just went up a notch!

[@aaronshouting588]

Surprised no horror movie reviews this month!

[@deepfocuslens]

aint got time. These were recorded previously

[@geovannymorajr.1065]

​​​​​​@@deepfocuslens I like your red dress with stripes. great reviews on movies. 🤚🙏

[@deadstrobe]

What was especially offensive was when Rey & Finn ignited the Falcon ... and the ship launched into the air nary a struggle. Seriously? You would think there would be a rumbling--a clearing of the dust, so to speak--but it launched upwards like it had been serviced that very morning. A lost opportunity for sure. Just imagine! The Falcon's engines slowly-but-but surely coming to life, like the Frankenstein Monster, and just barely rising up long enough to make the escape! But no ... they went for the by-the-numbers chase sequence...

[@francescomalagoli2467]

Well, it doesnt rise like a butterfly kzbin.info/www/bejne/sF7PZHWqgs-ga6s

[@ferrarriohh]

It literally was a huge miss to have them just hop in, start her up, and fly around (WITHOUT AN EXPERIENCE PILOT, LIKE POE). It hurts my brain. Easy fix: the Falcon is embedded in a dune. Rey lives out of it’s cargo hull. She finds BB-8. Which brings Poe & Finn to their camp, looking for their droid. Change Finn to a mechanic, specifically one who learned his skills on derelict ships before being pressed into service of the First Order. Enemies attack, the trio + droid escape thanks to Poe’s fancy flying. Rey wants nothing but to go back, but agrees to accompany them to their rebellion hq as thanks for getting the ship running again. Story moves on from there where she meets Han & Leia who are generals for the rebellion. She learns about Luke etc etc from them and agrees their mission dwarfs her selfish want to return to a planet where no one she even knows is still alive.

[@DANIELDUDE1000]

I know you already talked about prequels vs sequels debate with Star Wars but which do you think is worse when it comes to JJ Abrams Star Wars or Star Trek movies?

[@Megarobotsquadron]

I have never wanted to go back and watch a sequel movie more than once. That's insane to say. I've even seen Attack of the clones like, 10 times. Hell....that's my son's favorite one!

[@natemjonesd6264]

I still like it though I see we’re you are coming from The other 2 movies definitely sour it

[@evelyn64sev]

Do you have any thoughts on the Expanded Universe?

[@mpm1125]

You are 100% right.

[@Thomas15]

I’ve never seen someone take such a strong 180° turn on a film before, from enjoying and recommending the film, to describing it as “evil”. I think this is a bad take. The Force Awakens isn’t perfect and may have recycled a lot from A New Hope, but it is still an enjoyable Star Wars film that brings new and old ingredients to the table. It obviously has flaws buts that’s honestly a feature of all the Star Wars films. The fatal flaw for the sequel trilogy was the complete absence of planning and cohesion between the three films. JJ, Rian and Colin (before he was replace) seemed to be doing entirely different things. Abrams played it safe with TFA and Rian done something quite interesting with TLJ. Their films may not work together very well, but I can still enjoy each one for what they are. Although many of your objections are valid they do appear to be laboured, especially for a blockbuster franchise whose storytelling isn’t exactly renowned for its depth. All Star Wars films operate largely at a surface level and the sequels are no different, except perhaps for The Last Jedi which approaches the franchise from slightly different direction. Also, at 5:15 you say if they [the filmmakers] cared about Star Wars they would have written a simple story, yet at 6:31 you complain about the story because it is simple. Which is it?

[@lockdown2199]

Watching this movie in the theater in 2015 was really not pleasant. The characters in the movie belonged on the Disney channel and I thought the original trailer was someone's idea of a joke. When Kylo Ren took off his helmet for the first time while torturing Rey and showed his face for the first time, people in the theater started laughing. I was relieved when the movie was over. I really liked all the previous movies. Excellent review.

[@vicaldama9314]

Yes ! Yeah sometimes it takes a few viewings ..

[@gigabix]

Hahahaha. I agree with every word, although it went down easily enough for me, since Star Wars was also dead to me at the time and I wasn't overly invested. Its derivativeness was actually more amusing to me than anything else. Another version of the Rebel Alliance battles another version of the Galactic Empire, which has whipped up another version of the Death Star, and the climax is another version of the ragtag fighters trying to fire the torpedoes into another tiny aperture while yet another (wrinkled) version of Carrie Fisher sits looking worried in another dark roomful of screens.

[@tomasmaniago5832]

5:20 i don't know, I'm pretty sure that J J Abrams and co, while making this movie, were convinced that they were telling a "simple story", after all it was their prime directive to avoid anything prequel-related, and those movies are infamous for being convoluted. I think the "simple story" argument is a trap that both critics and filmmakers tend to fall into far to easily: critics because they think that simplicity is/was key in the success of a specific work, and filmmakers in return see it as a doorway to easy success, which may be true, but I don't think it could be farther from true artistic expresion. After all, I don't think that George Lucas was thinking that his story was "simple" when he was making the OT.

[@tancredelegalileen9777]

What's simple about George Lucas's movies are the values and their meaning, everything else can be pretty convoluted. He always had a vision and was determined, however his skills as a writer and director didn't match his gigantic ambitions.

[@tomasmaniago5832]

@@tancredelegalileen9777 agreed, I was just pointing out that this idea that the key to everything is to make a "simple story" is more hindsight bias rather that something that storytellers are actively thinking about when writing imo.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

@@tomasmaniago5832 I think it's a good argument, but A New Hope was originally conceived as a one-off and Lucas didn't write the rest until after its success. The Empire was obviously based on Axis forces from WWII with a bit of Roman and Japanese Empires vibes sprinkled in. It was a very simple fantasy story in essence.

[@takanara7]

If you haven't already seen the Clone Wars TV show you should definitely check it out. They definitely "rehabilitate" the prequel era by having really good stories set in that time period, although personally I didn't think the first season was all that good, just based on the quality of the animation and aesthetics, but each season gets better and better - so you could watch it starting with the 2nd or 3rd season and then go back and watch the 1st season later instead of forcing yourself to sit through the first season.

[@deadstrobe]

Hear, hear! The last 5-minutes of the last episode was particularly eerie...

[@robbiemcarley]

Even as a fellow fan of the Clone Wars, I don't think watching 70 hours of a youth television program would be a practical use of DFL's time. It is totally true that watching the series gives most people a much higher regard for the prequel era and star wars as a whole though.

[@deadstrobe]

@@robbiemcarley In that case ... DFL should just watch the 1st episode & the last episode. It's better that way.

[@matthewk4912]

@@robbiemcarley Yeah from her taste in movies I think she would appreciate certain aspects of it but don't see her wanting to watch it at all.

[@123rockfan]

@@robbiemcarley the series is no different than the original trilogy, many of the episodes are geared towards the exact same age range

[@branchsnapper2228]

Good call. And interesting to see a change in opinion after examining the film more thoroughly

[@wingflanagan]

IMHO, the perfect jumping off point for the new trilogy would have been a chaotic period similar to the one in the second half of Lawrence of Arabia, where different factions from all the different societies and races across the galaxy struggle to establish a just federation in the power vacuum left by the toppling of the empire. The New Order could certainly be a part of that, funded by a confederacy of systems loyal to the old empire. But there would be other factions, as well, and plenty of intrigue and adventures to have in the struggle for a galactic society to rise from the ashes of the old one. The chaos itself is such fertile ground for new and interesting characters. How about something along the lines of The Third Man, with an effort to quash a ruthless profiteer - a space Harry Lime - that maybe results in uncovering a conspiracy to fund weapons for a tyrannical despot? Oh well...

[@EvsEntps]

It should have been Star Wars' version of post-fall of the Roman Empire. Instead it was an inferior and insulting reboot of the original trilogy.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

I can't get past light-speed travel in the first place. It sets up too many paradoxes to believe in the worldbuilding.

[@wingflanagan]

@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 I never really had a problem with the physics-breaking tech…at least inasmuch as they didn’t violate their own logic. In most of the films, they refer to it as travel through hyperspace, which is a neat end-around causation paradoxes (the idea being that they bypass great distances by going through another physical dimension, rather I than _actually_ going faster than light). Of course, the dialogue did not always honor this (with references to the “jump to light speed”), but whatever. The “Holdo” maneuver, though, totally broke things. _Actual_ light speed, and a means of creating very expensive, but horrendously effective missiles that are nowhere to otherwise be found in the films.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

@@wingflanagan That scene was ridiculous also

[@caramelconundrum9280]

This is what fans have been saying all these years and just being called the worst things for it.

[@rezai7]

Another great review😂 enjoyed the colorful language

[@ferrarriohh]

The easiest fixes to the sequels would have been to honor the books and EU canon, which KK dismissed from the beginning. Ben Skywalker, son of Luke & Mara Jade - Domnhall Gleeson Jaina and Jacen Solo - Daisy Ridley and Liam Hemsworth Anakin Solo - Alden Ehrenreich Just start there and build it out, there literally was a whole timeline template to work from😂 but noooo Kathleen Kennedy claimed there wasn’t comics & books for all the lore they ever needed. Its comically stupid

[@mikkolintunen4750]

Very good review! Thank you. I totaly agree with everything. Finaly somebody who shares how I feel... I've never left from the movie theater as so f*ing angry and as frustrated than after Force Awakens. I just couldn't believe what they had done with THE NEW STAR WARS MOVIE: Absolutely Nothing. Just the original movie all over again- But worse, emptier, weaker and more stupid fan-film. I was actually very excited to see the film, but the movie broke me already at the very beginning in the opening scene, where Max von Sydow and Oscar Isaac were talking. It was typical J.J. Abrams bulls**t-dialogue: A lot of talking, but nobody said anything.... And I was like: "Oh... f*ck." If you strip Force Awakens from its big budget, the film is nothing more than little children playing in the backyard sandbox.

[@JCT1926]

"the prequels brought me down but this is evil" - that's hilarious

[@MattDeMille]

Just found your channel. Love your 'tude. Wish I could share some shots with ya.

[@starwarsroo2448]

Rogue One please 🙏

[@Salamanderx25]

Thumbnail is great 😂

[@kw1ksh0t]

You are totally right. The movie is a parody of Star Wars as seen in 2015. It's as if the perspective of the 2015 millennial viewer and all that comes with that somehow gets transmuted and mixed into the feel. Everything that happens in the film can't help but relate back to this perspective, from the self-referential characters, the lack of weight of moral decisions, to the blue and pink neon "Twitch streamer bedroom" lights. The film is not fully in its own world, its someone's dream of star wars but the dreamscape is still their own bedroom.

[@James-uc5io]

Dark Forces and Shadows of The Empire are my favorite.

[@TacoExistential]

not saying I disagree or agree but what should they do? say never mind those movies never happened? ignore them and try again?

[@Vonklieve]

Attack of the Clones is a masterpiece compared to this tripe. Actually, the breathing trailer for AOTC was really cool to see at the time. Very innovative. Gave me chills.

[@virgogaming6488]

AOTC is actually a pretty great SW movie.

[@Vonklieve]

@@virgogaming6488 Agree, especially after Disney.

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

I just watched Mauler's "A Critique of Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Introduction" and the montage of all the KZbin film critics drooling over it is hilarous. Everyone was so desperate to love it. Not sure if that's audience capture working or what, because everyone is pretty much singing your tune now.

[@coreygraham860]

Yeah, even Red Letter Media was taken in by the hype. I'd like to see them do a redux review also.

[@mediamaniac898]

I liked it when it first came out but, especially looking back, it’s far more cynical. The Last Jedi was worse, but at least I admire when storytellers take risks. There was NO world building here, and the few good ideas like a strong female in the center and a rogue Stormtrooper fail. And yes, we get the famous Abrams lens flare. It sets up so many questions that are NEVER answered, and the attitude is “screw the characters we love, kill them off and give us boring ones”. Definitely has not aged well.

[@CATDHD]

And sequels to these sequels are announced. Mystery box man himself and his squire Damon Lindelof are to make them.

[@ferrarriohh]

At this stage it’s actually inevitable, like a showdown with the Fandom Menace.

[@josephdarkhelmet9494]

wow. Perfect review.

[@AudSpgheti]

after contemplating Ghostbusters(2016) for a few years i realized that “the force awakens” is literally just a reboot of “a new hope.” not knowing you have the force, escape from desert planet, trapped in giant garbage compactor, etc... but i haven’t heard this theory from anyone else. what do y’all think?

[@BadGuyRants]

I can’t imagine watching these films again. I didn’t even see the two after Awakens.

[@prwapps]

A well deserved rant of Kermodian proportions

[@SimianJack]

Someone once described TFA as "your favorite song played by an inferior cover band". The vehicle designs throughout the entire sequel trilogy are stunning in exactly the wrong way. Every new ride that isn't regurgitating Ralph McQuarrie's inspired work looks like a box. How do you pump so much money into a prestige project and hire only the most blinkered, unimaginative art designers? It's beyond uninspired, it seemed a concentrated effort not to create anything new. Which, of course, was the ethos that informed this entire cash grab, but - I mean, you had to take it even into the hardware? If your desire is to tap into the market and make big bucks, shouldn't you at least be aware that a ton of us are hardware geeks who get off on new and exciting? "Wow, Rey is riding a Kleenex box!" "Neat, the Falcon just got picked up by a VCR!" Hardware Wars had more variety.

[@SimianJack]

Actually, now that I think about, that might answer my own question. Remember how parents used to complain about their toddlers and VCRs? "Dammit! Suzie jammed mashed potatoes into the cassette slot!" Suzie grew up to be the art designer on the ST.

[@bio1656]

Are you going to review rogue one ?

[@egoborder3203]

despite its obvious flaws, I ended up seeing this five times in theaters. For me, after the stiltedness of the prequels, this at least felt like a decent artifice. A corporate, by-the-numbers artifice made for a new generation but at least it had some energy and some nice visuals. I was encouraged by the fact that JJ was handing the series off (I assumed the trilogy had been planned out). I watched it again and honestly my opinion of it hasn't changed much, though obviously none of the potential here was ever paid off. To me what encapsulates this movie for me is that right after Han is stupidly killed off (he's FAMOUS for shooting first. He should have shot Ben!) even after that when Finn yells, "Come and take it!" to Kylo I still get goosebumps Loved your review, I just wish I knew what the fuck happened to Star Wars

[@gpapa31]

Pls could you do a review on “All Quiet On The Western Front”? It was an epic film based on a classic novel and I would love to hear your take.

[@iaquil]

Agree.

[@carlosdumbratzen6332]

I agree so much. You can say everything about the prequels, but you cant say there were no ideas there. Atleast there was originality, the best example is a phantom menace. The Gungans are a failed idea, but they are an idea of something you would expect on some planets. In the force awakens there is no such thing. This is why I prefer "bad" movies, like the Room or the Mario Brothers movie from the 90s. They are bad, but they are bad because someone had an idea and failed with the idea. The only idea in the force awakens is mones and you see this soulless greed everywhere.

[@antisocialjustice]

Thank you. When TFA came out people praised it to high heavens and I hated it for how meaningless and empty it was. Time has shown it for what it is.

[@brianmelendy1194]

I hated this movie during opening night at the theatre. Unfortunately will will never escape this "film" it will be talked about in film classes for decades as an example of bad film making. And it get even worse with the next films in the series. Great review.

[@roaminronin7818]

Yess!!! What a slap in the face movie. Fan film from non-fans.. empty corporate regurgitation

[@AustenYoung-theSonicFan2006]

Opinion handled on Star wars the force awakening I glad you enjoyed it. But for me... I found it to be the most Overrated movie of 2015. Why?? Because I was not a fan of Star wars because I didn't grew up with it I'm sorry. So, Good review, and it's way better than the actual movie itself.

[@AnthonyGuerrino_aka_TonyMoro]

Maggie, remember when they hyped up the dudes from The Raid being in the film, only for them to have just a cameo and getting eaten up by a CGI monster? 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@mat3714]

Revenge of the sith ends the prequels on a strong enough note that it basically validates the whole trilogy. Palpatine transcends the emperor. I love the prequels not for the quality of the movies, but for it's premise and conclusion. Love it or hate it, lucas had a story to tell.... kk had a revenge to enact and it didn't required a story, just a Mareysue.