Star Wars: The Force Awakens SPOILER Review! (feat. Max Landis)

[@avp802]

Rey in Ep. 7 is a far more fleshed-out character than Luke was in Ep. 4. This is the first act of a 3-part story.

[@taylorward3773]

+avp802 In Episode 8?

[@avp802]

+Taylor Ward My bad. Corrected.

[@mp2216]

Who got elected in the future where you live?

[@avp802]

+Puckaluck Hah. Bernie! Calling it. Anyway, let's just end the political discussion there and keep us on Star Wars...

[@MisterWellingtonDuarte]

Agreed. These new movies are planned as a trilogy. A New Hope was sold as an idea that not evento George Lucas knew it could continue.

[@fudgeofdarkness2518]

I swear to god, if I see "Star Wars Episode IX Part One" and "Star Wars Episode IX Part 2", I'm going to flip shit.

[@alinacorreia92]

I don't think they're going to do that since there isn't a source material for them to split. But, if the next ones are as good as this one, I don't know if I would mind :P

[@fudgeofdarkness2518]

But the thing is, do they really need to split it into two parts? Look at Mockingjay and Deathly Hallows. Both part ones were slow, boring at times, and both part twos were almost to fast paced, one long action scene. Now look at Return of the Jedi. It was fucking awesome, and it was all packaged within one movie. If it was any longer, it would have drug on. It was the length it needed to be, and still was kickass.

[@kinggoten]

+TheMilitia- FudgeOfDarkness not going to happen but this "trilogy" might not end at 9 that is what I'm worried about

[@fudgeofdarkness2518]

Zero Cool Funny enough, A New Hope was supposed to be its own stand-alone movie. Then six more movies happened, so you might be onto something here

[@KamiRecca]

+TheMilitia- FudgeOfDarkness This is God, and i totaly hear you Man.

[@captain_hat6247]

Max Landis got a lot of shit for having the balls to point out, when the hype for The Force Awakens was at its height, that Rey IS in fact a Mary Sue. Maybe not as bad as Tauriel from the Hobbit Trilogy, but still pretty awful. She's not an interesting character and has no flaws making her incredibly boring. Luke develops into a badass Jedi over the course of three movies; learning the skills of a Jedi along the way. Whereas Rey almost instantly shows said skill, albeit unrefined, in the course of ONE MOVIE.

[@captain_hat6247]

You could make a slight argument that Rey isn't a Mary Sue, but its impossible for Tauriel, who has all the trappings from her shoehorned importance in the story and a nature that is so irrelevantly over-skilled. Tauriel is both an entirely "original" and pointless character. Plus, Tauriel adds absolutely nothing to the story save for a painfully forced AND tragically doomed romance with a character from the story meant solely to manufacture sympathy. Mary Sue/Gary Stu characters are often too perfect and unbelievably skilled as well as given some connection with actual characters from the story (distant/long-lost relative; love interest). Then they're usually given either tragic backstories or aforementioned doomed futures meaning that either they die or watch someone they love die. My point is that Tauriel might as well have "FanFiction.Net" tattooed on her forehead. In conclusion judging by your response you clearly don't know what a Mary Sue is b/c you assumed my definition of a Mary Sue was something as nonsensical as "a character that wins fights."

[@captain_hat6247]

One brief moment of temptation doesn't make up for nearly two films as a Mary Sue. At least Rey is salvageable.

[@liv4pool]

Her force abilities will obviously be explained in TLJ.

[@pleaserewind295]

Time has proven every criticism to be valid.

[@cubulous]

It's just RIDICULOUS that people think that Rey's arc was too fast and too unbelievable. SPOILER ALERT: First of all, she already is an expert in melee combat, as shown on Jakku. Second, she has a force vision in which both OBI-WAN and YODA talk to her, two of the most legendary Jedi the galaxy ever saw. I'm sure they don't just appear to anyone. And she obviously has a past with the Force - She is a prodigy in the Force! That much was obvious. When Kylo is interrogating her, she turns the tables on him because she is mentally and emotionally stable. She looks into his mind and sees his fear, and uses it against him. Fear is what POWERS the dark side, and she USES IT AGAINST HIM! Genius. Regarding Kylo: he is in chaos, torn between the light and the dark. He has no focus. When he fought Rey, he had just KILLED HIS OWN FATHER. Can you imagine what that would do to him? Also, he was severely injured by both Chewie (stomach) and Finn (shoulder). And, he actually is WINNING until he says "you need a teacher - I can teach you the ways of the Force" - the word FORCE cues Rey to focus on the light side, which gives her power, and then the LIGHT SIDE kicks the DARK SIDE'S ass. They set up the Rey v. Ren battle perfectly. I really don't get why people are having such a hard time understanding all this. Actually, I do. It's Lucas' fault. In the prequels he made it seem like in order to be a Jedi you have to take classes as a child with mini light sabers and other stupid shit. HOW STUPID. In Empire, Luke only spends a few days with Yoda and all they do is levitate some shit. His real training is to FACE VADER. You learn the ways of the force by DOING and learning from your decisions. Also, the force is NOT about learning to wield a lightsaber or becoming a ninja. It's about controlling your EMOTIONS. Yoda says, "control, control, you must learn control." Kylo Ren loses all control. Rey gains it. Rey wins. It's really painfully obvious. In regards to the characters, and the force, this movie was just about perfect. Edit/Addition: I just read an article that references Rey's decision to refuse to sell BB8 for a HUGE ration of food. I mean, the girl was starving, and she chose sacrifice and loyalty to a helpless droid and his plight. She was merciful. THIS is the light side training that matters. People who don't understand this don't really understand the Force. And it makes sense that they wouldn't. They are focused on some kind of Martial Arts and Magic training. The force was never about this in the OT. "Your weapons, you will not need them." "Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must FEEL the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes." LUKE THROWS HIS LIGHTSABER AWAY! What more can I say?

[@jessicamoley123]

You, sir, are completely correct. FINALLY someone that gets it.

[@yuray888]

+Cubulous Amen.

[@fernandobojorquezmendoza2135]

I agree with u except in the part that u said "The light side kicks the darkside" i dont think that it works like that but u actually get it

[@evangarner1464]

Damn... Hard to argue that... I tip my fedora to u, sir

[@eriktorres7895]

Yeeeeeees! Damn man

[@RexBagley]

Kylo Ren is the only villain to stop a laser blast in mid-air and to lose to an untrained jedi in the same movie. That's original...I guess :-(

[@RexBagley]

*****​​​ LOL.... You are the fan this movie was made for. So, essentially what you are saying is the movie neglected all of the exposition of this character's (Rey) training so that they could reveal it in Episode VIII but anyone who has seen the movie should know from watching the film EXACTLY WHAT THE NEXT FILM IS SUPPOSED TO REVEAL? That is probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard regardless of which side you argue. Rey's arc in the story was one that followed an exponential curve. She went from nothing and no one to greatest Jedi Master ever because she doesn't even need to be aware that she has the Force and can still use it better than any one, ever. Now, I would be much more inclined to believe that Rey was hidden as a child, like Luke and Leia, in order to protect the Force (an Anne Frank, if you will). I believe that she is a Skywalker and Luke's look at the end was one of fear. The look of a man who is facing his daughter after a long time as he struggles to cling to the light side but knows that he will likely succumb and, unbeknownst to her, she will one day have to defeat Luke as Luke defeated Vader. I do not believe she was trained but was given this bigger better Jedi storyline where she is the new chosen one in a Force that has evolved and is evolving to the point where possibly instant manifestation is the new bar. At least then I could buy it but the delivery sucked. Your explanation sucks either way because what you are saying is that the next movie will be as predictable as this one was and therefore I won't want to even watch anyway.

[@RexBagley]

I don't claim to know what the next movie will be about, only what would at least make this movie plausible. I didn't like this movie because it was nothing more than a glitch in the matrix, deja vu. I'd already seen this movie when I watched the first six. Trust me, I really wanted this movie to be awesome but it wasn't. Oh, by the way, I actually like the prequels albeit not as much as the original trio. You know why??? Because the prequels did what the first three did, break new ground. People can argue the success of the prequels all they want (e.g. the acting, the cgi, etc.) but the truth of the matter is that the prequels added more depth to the Star Wars world than this film did and it did it when we already knew what the storyline was going to be about. This movie was nothing more than copy and paste shots, sequences, plot lines, etc. into a new film then change the names and flip the script on the twists while not really adding anything substantial to the overall saga. Oh, a side note. Just for fun, after the movie was announced I wrote a treatment (a basic outline of a story) for the film. Surprisingly, some of the things I wrote were in fact a part of the storyline in this film but, and I'm not afraid to say it, my treatment was leaps and bounds better than this film. Anyway, I'll watch the next one because JJ isn't directing it but if the next one turns out as predictable as this one, then no I won't bother with the ninth installment. Lastly, not everything was bad about the movie. Rey is a good character but should have been better developed. The first act set the scene but then it was just "take everything on faith". Poe was good but there was to little of him. Finn is a good character but his backstory is idiotic and his dialogue is pretty ridiculous at times. If they changed his backstory, then he would have been a better addition to the film. As it was, it was difficult to actually identify with his character. The look and feel of the film was pretty much Star Wars but it was hard for it not to be when they essentially copied shots straight out of the previous films. And the best parts of the film were the parts that the original cast member's were in. Period. It was not all bad but there was definitely more bad than good. But yeah, you know me... I'm just trying to talk shit to get people to look at me online because that's the most important thing in my life. Pssh.

[@RexBagley]

Phantom Menace had some similarities to a NH but that makes sense because Anakin was Luke's father so the similarities were to demonstrate that. The finale with Anakin was pretty much the same, I'll give you that, but I don't see too much else. RoTJ wasn't anything similar to NH other than the death star but that made sense because the death star was being rebuilt and served as an excellent book end to the trilogy. 

[@andromidius]

+Rex Bagley To be fair, he had just been shot in the side and was emotionally unstable. And also really wanted to take her alive.

[@thepiousskull]

andromidius 1. Emotion is what gives dark side force users their strength. 2. There's no reason why he would want to take her alive 3. Even if both of those poor excuses where true, he still should have had no difficulty in killing both of them

[@oatmat]

Totally Agree with everything Max said, if Rey had been a male the character would have been reviled, They tried hard to make a cool female hero but failed and there's nothing wrong with criticizing that , but we did have a great female hero this year which was Furiousa so we do have something to be happy about

[@ronpetersen2317]

+The RED Samurai Max is a douche. I seen plenty of movies where they go too far with a female character where they seemed to have super strength and fighting skills without reason but it wasn't the case here.

[@oatmat]

Yes it was

[@Helldog6]

+The RED Samurai no

[@genkenobi]

+The RED Samurai when the force is being used physical strength doesnt matter.

[@ronpetersen2317]

genkenobi It does unless they are using the force to enhance there strength in physical feats. Darth Vader had an edge I am sure because of enhanced mechanical strength. In the first movie he lifted that guy in the air with one hand with strength and not the force. All depends on what is happening.

[@MsLm97]

can we just talk about the fact that we got to see A LEGIT JEDI VISION for the first time in Star Wars history, which to me perfectly aligned past present and future and raised so many interesting questions

[@jaagup]

+MsLm97 Yes, finally, thank you!

[@MsLm97]

***** same, I bet you Rey's gonna keep having visions like this in the next one(hopefully some dark ones too) which is gonna open up some interesting doors for her character development in the future like imagine if we get to see her and Kylo Ren connecting through a vision or a dream of some sort O_o

[@ryancols]

This was not the first Jedi vision at all...clone wars had Anakin see himself as Vader, Anakin had one of his mom and Padme even if we didn't see it, etc.

[@MsLm97]

Ryan C technically you're right but when it comes to the visuals and the atmosphere - it's the first GOOD SW vision sequence

[@skota7416]

Yes!

[@Keverember]

Hipsters don't seem to like The Force Awakens. I don't seem to like hipsters. There is balance in the Force.

[@stefanoemygdio1582]

Lmao

[@theresamonroe1651]

👍💰🎂

[@ZandeKongo]

Maybe some people just genuinely don't like Star Wars. I have tried to get into Star Wars and I just can't. I watched this film and left the theatre with a meh feeling. Was it a good? For what it was yes, but I still don't get the hype of Star Wars.

[@Keverember]

TimonDAwesome In the online world, views are views, whether they are happy or angry people. Max Landis definitely elicits a reaction out of people.

[@Keverember]

TheoKabala89 That's fine. You don't have to like the movie. Just don't be one of the assholes posting one star reviews on IMDB because "JJ RUINED STAR WARS!! WAAAHH!"

[@Uptomyknees]

It disappoints me to see people already reacting to my opinions in the comments without watching the whole thing, but unsurprised.

[@theresamonroe1651]

Dude from every thing I've seen you in you act like your ideas are brilliant and every thing else is shit for the love of god what do you like

[@cubulous]

Maybe you should whine about it some more. ;)

[@parker9392]

+Uptomyknees People are going for all of these Ad Hominem attacks instead of disputing your opinions. Calling you a "hipster" isn't a counter-argument.

[@theresamonroe1651]

Also the new day should have won the slammy and Kevin Owens should've ass we'll when Neville won I said my vote doesn't matter the fix is in😔

[@tacklebeast]

+Theresa Monroe he literally even says he liked furiosa as a good female "powerful" character. Your nostalgia movie is not immune to criticisms. It's good but there are flaws.

[@jag519]

"I'm not saying I could do it better" But always when you pitch something I feel like it's better than i've seen. haha.

[@zeethree]

jag519 Agreed. The way he pitched the opening storm trooper scene would've worked much better than what we got. JJ should get working on the extended cut and put that scene in.

[@ProtestantsRUs]

+cool8man that's not how extended cuts work, unfortunately.

[@ARCcommand]

+Zartan That was actually how I thought the scene should've gone, I had it mapped out in my head, and it was *very* similar to how he described it.

[@aliasmask]

One of my favorite moments is when Rey started tapping in to the force to do the Jedi mind trick on the storm trooper.

[@TheUnit332]

+Chris Randall The stormtrooper was Daniel Craig.

[@Ray_2112]

+ABC 123 Yes.

[@TheUnit332]

***** They filmed Spectre at the same time in Hollywood so I think he did it as a joke.

[@x340x]

+TheUnit332 they were filming on set next to star wars set, so he did that stormtrooper role for fun, for free

[@tylerbudd4396]

same

[@tom1921]

Agree with Max about the disappointing lack of B-Wings/Y-Wings/Tie-Interceptors in the movie. Abrams needs to take a few pointers from Lucas about world-building, which is what Lucas was good at.

[@SebideeTW]

Yeah world building was bad in this, there was never any reference to what was going on off screen. What's up with the republic and the rest of the galaxy these days?

[@zachhecita]

+Sebidee TW Without the EU, the Star Wars universe is pretty empty.

[@timmovits]

+Jeremy Beck Well, the lack of B/Y-wings is actualy because the resistance is alot smaller than the old rebellion, the old rebellion became the new republic, which in secret helped and funded the Resistance, but only in small takes, as they wouldnt want to be public support a new resistanc. the lack of Tie-interceptors though, cant really be explained, maybe they couldnt build that many of those in the outerrim (main location of the First order)

[@danieb52]

+Sebidee TW Yeah, they basically killed a random star system that housed the Republic capital and almost no-one mentions it afterward. I also don't even think they mentioned its name in the movie.

[@danieb52]

+timmovits Wasn't the First Order in the Unknown Regions?

[@RitchieChavez]

But didn't Rey grow up a scavenger, picking parts from space ships, which would explain why she's good with ships? She also grew up on a desert planet with monstrous beings and all kinds of villainous scum, if that doesn't make you tough and strong I don't know what will.

[@juanpabloisidori7469]

+Ritchie Chavez totally agree with you. This dudes don't see the full movie, or maybe don't understand all. The movie was great and the characters had a great develop. Ray have a complicated childhood and Finn turn after see a friend died and when the first order kill all because they can. That is enough to convert a person. Are crazy the haters

[@Keverember]

+Ritchie Chavez Yes. In Max Landis' perfect Star Wars movie, every single character would have 10 minutes of exposition. God forbid the filmmakers trust viewers to infer things on their own!

[@davidmendez3899]

+Ritchie Chavez taking apart a ship=good at flying a ship that logic is pretty stupid, that really only explains the thing she ripped out

[@FluffyBuzzard2TheMax]

She's skinny as a rail, not like Charlize Theron in mad max where you can tell she's a strong badass. Also I think making her a great pilot is too similar to Luke. Rey should have more flaws in my opinion.

[@mattiej2311]

her character would have had a much better arc if she: a) wasn't able to perform a jedi mind trick on the storm trooper after the 2nd time (would have showed she still has much to learn) b) didn't out-duel Ren, but either matched him evenly or just barely lost to him (again, showing that she has much to learn) there sure are other things (like her being able to fly/fix the millennium falcon with no experience or prior knowledge of it), but those are the 2 things i felt would have made for much better character development.

[@Tadicuslegion78]

I'll be honest....this film felt like a billion dollar fan-fiction by JJ Abrams

[@EGOS42]

Well said!

[@wonder_city_bot8226]

But an enjoyable (albeit disposable) fan-fiction at that.

[@Xyos212]

This guy gives the movie a "C" then the very first complaint he has to justify is that there were not enough ship designs in it... Ill take proper character development and acting over that any day...

[@floppykid]

+Xyos212 He also had numerous complaints about character development too.

[@mattiej2311]

exactly what floppykid said. you got some case of selective hearing?

[@NeonPhyzics]

He's a loser who sets impossible standards. What grade does he give phantom menace? How about battlefield earth?

[@BOLT_TF_UP]

+NeonPhyzics this is the first time I've seen the guy and I already hate him

[@floppykid]

+SOXCAL_13 "hate him". wow man, it's just a movie. seek help.

[@JetSetDex]

I feel there's a lot of potential for these characters to be great moving forward. This film is just a starting block for them and I really hope they explore them in more depth in the films to come.

[@PerfectNL]

That is what I mean this is a trilogy and they talk like it is a stand alone

[@jessegorham1426]

except Kylo Ren.

[@almicheal]

+JetSetDex that's where this movie fails tbh...its just a setup for other movies, it doesn't stand on its own. just think about this what if this movie didn't have any sequels, would you be happy when the movie finished? a good trilogy is if each individual movie stands on its own.

[@JetSetDex]

+maikeljay I felt that way as well. I feel if this was the last film it would have been disappointing but knowing that we're going to get more is what makes the film work for me despite the number of flaws that it has. The is film was good but it was a play-it-safe set up for its sequels, I just hope they take some risks and really bring their A game for episode 8.

[@Hudathan]

+maikeljay Empire Strikes Back doesn't stand alone at all. It starts fairly slow, assuming that you're intimately familiar with New Hope, and proceeds to focus only on character development while setting up plot to be resolved at a later date so there is literally no sense of climax or resolution at the end. Still a great movie and did its job as part of an ongoing story.

[@ShowtimeCBCDC]

"Hey everyone seemed to like this movie, lets be different and shit on them, and btw we still hate the prequels just to be clear!" - Every KZbin Channel right now

[@KiltBill2]

+ShowtimeCBCDC Everyone hating it are whining that the movie's too much like the old ones, yet all their complaints are about comparing it to the old ones. Luke wasn't that good as Rey at that age, why is she? Why aren't there Y-wings like in RotJ? Why didn't they do a Kylo vs Han reveal like they did with Vader vs Han. Petty.

[@bryanwade9501]

+Gavin Petrie roasted

[@EthanTAllison]

you should do an episode where you have Max Landis point out all the flaws in the movies he's written

[@thekul121]

+Eddie "JaggSauce" Gluskin Good! Use your aggressive feelings, boy. Let the hate flow through you!

[@TheXBRGUY]

+EAproductions That's a pretty terrible argument, especially because most of what Max has written in his movies was filtered out by the producers...AND MAX purposely makes cheesy movies. He doesn't take his shit as seriously as shit from people HE HIMSELF regards as artists.

[@jmmj6665]

Don't worry it will all make sense in his sequel ;)

[@EthanTAllison]

+Eddie "JaggSauce" Gluskin that is such an over exaggerated example I didn't know there were Max Landis fan boys my bad

[@TheXBRGUY]

***** Not really. The entire point they brought Max on was to show his criticisms. They even acted like he was a spectacle for the episode when they literally *started with* "OH HEY LOOK AT THIS GUY WHO DOESN'T LIKE IT AS MUCH AS YOU"

[@DanceNance93]

This is why I like Chris Stuckmann's reviews best, he analyses every aspect of the movie. All the questions max asked, Chris has answered a week ago. I really love that Kylo Ren is the most imperfect, realistic villain we've had (by that I'm referring to the fact that he can be beaten easily, not that his character has flaws). Yes, he gets beaten by two characters easily, but why? Because he's a CHILD with a LIGHTSABER that throws tantrums when things don't go his way. We are given that in the movie so I'm confused why people are so surprised by the fact that Kylo Ren ISNT invincible. As Chris Stuckmann had said, it's his first actual lightsaber battle. Just because he had a lightsaber doesn't automatically mean he's a master with the saber. So many points in Max's review were so out of whack and ridiculous, I get the impression that he wants the movie HIS WAY or nothing at all. Almost as if he were mad that he wasn't asked to be part of this project that turned out great.

[@juana1595]

+DanceNance93 yes! jeremy jahns aswell as stuckmann actually took 3 fucking seconds to think about the movie before bitching about stuff thats already answered in the film.

[@kaipacifica1289]

+DanceNance93 The movie sets up expectations. Why would Snoke bother with Kylo Ren if he wasn't powerful? First lightsaber battle? Uh... this is a guy who shows immense power from the beginning of the film by stopping a gun blast. Even Finn -- a sanitation engineer -- gets in saber stabs! No, glad you enjoyed the film, but it's really a mess (giant plot holes, coincidences upon coincidences, lacking characterizations, weak and confusing motivations... the list goes on and on) and IMHO not very good.

[@lonerevenant]

+RoastKings but, isn't it just that? training? he hasn't fought a life threatening battle against a jedi before, he relies mostly on the force and not on sword skills which rey is kinda above him on both parts, he is only better on force control and force sense. He is not a genius like luke or vader maybe that's why he's like that. he feels inferior as even stated in the movie AND rey has been fighting most of her life alone. she needs it to fight for food, parts and safety as also seen in the movie(jakku). ren mostly commands troops and fights together with them and he fights mostly villagers and such.. with backup. fin was a trained combat unit, he was trained to fight. storm troopers are like that.. i wonder.. phasma is always on him.. like she "senses" something on him.. and seemingly, she was the one who took him and trained him when he was a child.. i wonder..

[@Septurez]

+Kai Pacifica I agree. Why would Luke completely ditch every responsibility he has ever worked towards merely because he felt guilty of Kylo's creation? All while Rey and Finn make a fool out of him. I feel like fans of this movie are just casual moviegoers who don't understand the weight and history of the already established SIX other movies.

[@lonerevenant]

Tanner Smith maybe kylo killed luke's wife and he regrets he couldn't prevent it?

[@Septurez]

My major problem with Ep. 7 in relation to the prequels specifically is that there is little to no world building... What is happening with the Senate? The Republic? Where is the Resistance's Fleet? ( All we saw were a dozen X-Wings..) Why Jakku and not just Tatooine? Starkiller base... really? Po and the M-Castle lady were purely plot devices that were only available when needed.. Everyone loves to bash the politics of the prequels but I feel like an extra 20-30 minutes of well done exposition would have helped a hardcore Star Wars fan realize what is actually going on in the universe right now. The two or three exposition DUMPS are not adequate enough to carry the weight of the already rich world we already know. Where's Coruscant? The only named planet mentioned was Jakku.. I did enjoy this movie. It was entertaining in terms of action and dialogue but I do feel the characters are a bit weightless along with the world they are now in. You can't rely on plot devices and convenient explanations to build the new world these characters are going to live in. I will be truly disappointed if we find out in Episode 8 that Luke really was just staring off into the distance the whole time on these islands... he better be training some jedis or SOMETHING? Luke would have never just given up if he really did feel responsible for Kylo's creation. He would have taken responsibility or amassed another plan to deal with him. If Finn and Rey can kick Kylo's ass momentarily then Luke's character must have some major issues now. Overall there was hardly any context and world building involved, and that's an aspect of the prequels that I loved. The movie really feels like just an ode to the originals, a fan movie played by a half decent cover band.

[@ayrawynd8122]

Guys its the first movie of a trilogy. We can' t see the big picture now. We must wait so the dislike of a lot of people when they speak about luke and the other stuff I thought oh man its the first movie and it wasn't perfect but all Star wars movies we loved weren't perfect. And i think all creators of this movie wich was getting hyped over the top, did an amazing job.

[@denisl2760]

+ayra wynd If you're expecting J.J. to deliver on hinted-at plot elements, you've never seen Lost. "We can't see the big picture now" ... That's because there isn't a big picture.

[@Septurez]

+ayra wynd Don't get me wrong the cast, and character interaction saved this movie for me. It was very entertaining and it WAS Star Wars. But, I feel like they forgot as an audience and fans of the universe we have sat through 6 movies already... the universe is already established and it seems like they just completely forgot about that and were convinced they needed to start a new slate, new story, and to reason with it all they got lost in translation which caused a lot of plot holes. I loved everything besides the plot and storyline. It's like we took a huge step backwards from Ep 6. Thanks for the comment! Love the banter here ;D

[@Septurez]

+Gary Dorgan Very true Gary. I feel like fans (most who probably aren't expanded universe fans) forget that what is important about Star Wars is the UNIVERSE, not the mindless action sequences and snarky dialogue that Han, Chewy, BB-8, and sometimes Finn carried on their backs. It's about the wonder and mystery of the world, and when they did try and explain things they just half assed it and let Po, Snoke, or Han dump exposition on our faces. This was borderline a mindless space adventure to me which IS entertaining, but Star Wars is more than that. Star Wars is a space opera.

[@Septurez]

+Denis Lipatnikov hahahahaha good comparison Denis. Expectations were incredibly high, but as they should be. I would rather had them shoot for the stars like the prequels attempted rather than creating a fan film of A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. I feel like the writers need to take deep insight into Expanded Universe material and seek guidance because these plot holes and seemingly useless plot devices will bite them in the ass later on.

[@nightrider3067]

I respect Max the more I listen to him.He knows his stuff

[@liv4pool]

Night Rider Sarcasm or ?

[@gkay8889]

Night Rider not all the things he says..he just overreacting for the sake of having a different opinion

[@Contevent]

I think most of the complains can be answered by "This is only the first part of the trilogy, it isn't a self sufficient movie".

[@SandyCheeks1896]

Agreed. Yes. People bitch when they see plot holes or have questions, and bitch when there's plot holes and over explanation. Be patient.

[@timbomania8535]

I like that Rey can do all the things for some reason and I am sure that it will get explained in the other movies Chris Stuckmann put it the right way - these questions make us want to watch the next movie... the movies that explained everything to death and had closure in every movie were the prequels and they were horribly boring And for that reason Rey does not qualify as a Mary Sue character because the things she can do will be explained in the near future... please stop giving Max Landis a platform for his nonsense

[@nelsonraley]

+Contevent But it's still a self-sufficient film, despite all the issues that can be raised. That's why I love it so much.

[@Contevent]

700Penguin The trilogy, yes. Ep 1 ended with the question of who was the phantom menace, although it was blatanty obvious. Ep 2 ended with the question of what the hell Sidious's plan was, although it was too boring to be interesting. Ep 3 ended with the bad guys winning, but the good guys preparing the counter attack. Ep 4 was self sufficient because it was supposed to be a single movie Ep 5 left us on a major WTF situation. Ep 6 was the end of the Skywalker Arc. No, the previous episodes were not self sufficient, and things made sense only with the next installment. The only reason we feel it this time is because we actually care enough about the plot and the character to ask ourselves the questions. But unlike the original, we can't pop in the next episode to satiate our curiosity yet.

[@michaelmarchitto8342]

+Timbo Mania that is exactly what I was thinking!

[@incognitofool6516]

Dan is so correct. There are too many people online bashing the film. People dont WANT to like this film.

[@truetype80]

maybe people don't want another phantom menace, where it takes years to admit it sucks and instead admit it now.

[@truetype80]

I'm not saying this movie sucks BTW loved it

[@broland]

+Justin Baggett word!

[@BillyBoyGenius]

+truetype80 force awakens isn't that bad, phantom menace is in every objective way a terrible film, every character is totally static, there is no clear protag, there is no clear antag, there is no real story, and it has tone deaf 'comic relief' for the kiddies and senate meetings and trade embargoes that would bore Tom Clancy fans. force awakens has a clear main character, a clear villain, it has characters that make huge decisions and go though big changes, and have clear conflicts, it has a story, and it has a total lack of senate meetings and the humor is actually funny at least by my standards. you could argue that the story and characters aren't terribly original, you could argue that the film's means of depicting all of this isn't good. there are arguments you could make against it, but it HAS film elements, phantom menace lacks basic film elements, it is objectively bad, force awakens isn't objectively bad at all.

[@parkermaki3799]

Rey being a Mary Sue is ridiculous. She spent years fending for her self on Jakku. Gained huge technological aptitude from scavenging all those downed ships in the desert. She's established as already being a very good fighter. The fight with Kylo Ren is what everyone's mad about. REMEMBER the dude got shot with the goddamn bowcaster before the fight. He was emotionally compromised. I love me a complicated villain. And a little EU Easter egg. Rey used battle meditations, as a hardcore fan I loved seeing that. Applause for you JJ. And her force knowledge, I believe we'll get answers to that in the next movies. This movie was amazing

[@parkermaki3799]

+ mr snoke said that Ren's training isn't complete. He was never some uber bad ass that everyone thought he would be. He's still learning himself.

[@jbulletc]

+Parker Maki I dont buy it. He had that same injury when he froze Rey's body and flung her which knocked her out and he easily took out Fin. So that throws out the injury/emotionally compromised argument. Lets not forget that he isn't some ordinary fighter. He's the son of Leia, grandson of Darth Vader, and personally trainer by Luke himself. Yet, he gets beaten by a novice? Come on, even a fan has to scratch their head at that one. It's clear that the movie forced Rey to win even at the cost of not making much sense. I'm glad you liked the movie but it wasn't for me any many others. We could've done without the Rocky 4 ending.

[@parkermaki3799]

+jbulletc Finn ain't force sensitive. He was never very good with the lightsaber. REMEMBER, Ren's not done training either. A force push is a force push. It's always been a device to move the plot along.

[@YogGroove]

+Parker Maki Her taking on Kylo Ren was unearned, which is too bad because Daisy Ridley was friggin amazing.

[@jbulletc]

Parker Maki I don't think your comment negates anything I said. There isn't any good justification for why a novice like Rey defeats an expert in the force who's been trained by Luke.

[@6dark6alex6]

Rey probably never piloted a ship (because she's a poor scavenger), but piloted it better than Han Solo on her first try Rey had never used a lightsaber, but was better than the greatest sith in the universe (who supposedly killed all the other jedi) on her first try Rey only knew stories of the force, but was able to perfect jedi mind tricks on her first try Rey had never known the millenium falcon, but was able to fix it better than Han Solo who had it his whole life on her first try So... why am I supposed to feel any suspense in this movie? Any time she is faced with a challenge, she'll just instantly be better than everyone without even trying. The only mistake she ever made the entire movie was pulling the wrong switch once.

[@twmcgraw3035]

+6dark6alex6 Not that the film explains it all that well, but Rey does have a lot of training as a pilot (via simulators) and she knows how the Falcon operates because she's snuck into quite a few times and is aware of the changes that were made to it by Unkar Plut. As far as her using a lightsaber goes, she's a very skilled fighter with her staff which transfers over to using a lightsaber. Also, as her vision hints at, she likely has training from Luke and had her mind wiped before being put on Jakku. However, she didn't best the greatest Sith in the universe. She didn't even best an average Sith. She bested a wounded and distracted student of the Dark Side who killed a bunch of other students who were on his level or lower. And Rey learned the Jedi Mind Trick because Kylo Ren accidently awakened her Force powers when he was trying to read her mind. The Jedi Mind Trick was likely something she learned as a child, though the film did a poor job of explaining that as well.

[@6dark6alex6]

Stuff that wasn't explicitly in the movie is really meaningless. Really all that is saying is the film makers did a bad job conveying information we needed to know. Saying that she was trained by Luke Skywalker and saying that Kylo is a below average Sith kind of makes the movie sound like a complete waste of time then, doesn't it? It really does kill any and all sense of suspense and makes me not care about her at all

[@ToprakSezginFromTurkey]

Am I the only one around here that don't like Max Landis? I respect him but sometimes he seems to like shitting on movies to piss off people. He had a lot of valid points but come on.

[@ToprakSezginFromTurkey]

To be fair, actually he is pretty cool sometimes.

[@lordvader4779]

I don't like him either

[@MQZ17]

+Toprak “the Bum” Sezgin I hate the guy, his craving for attention is as big as his ego. But everyone is entitled to their opinion.

[@AiggEbe]

He also seemed like he was attacking Ken and Dan a lot of the time.

[@Lucyfrmearth]

His arrogance annoys me so much... Like he knows more than everyone and what they say is wrong...

[@moz7777]

He makes some very good points

[@ddm62571]

+remi moses But they are nit picky points

[@HardcoreGamer101508]

+ddm62571 "Nit picky points" according to Star Wars fanboys who simply want to dismiss them.

[@capenati]

+ddm62571 For you they are nit picky points, for me they were major.

[@ddm62571]

maccajoe Chewy did grieve a bit on his own. He didn't have come running with open arms to Leia. And yeah nit picky.

[@ddm62571]

***** It's actually the fanboys that are the most picky,

[@MsKassandraKotaku]

I just saw the movie tonight and was so underwhelmed. And I absolutely loved the Star Wars movies...all the new characters were so absolutely 2 dimensional that it was sick. I actually really hate Rey and I thought she was an embarrassment as someone that was supposed to be a "strong female lead". Ugh. Only Finn had a backstory that I was even interested in possibly learning later. To know he was taken as a child and force conditioned to be a trooper was interesting.

[@JonathanMartin884]

+Kimberly So you didn't think that Rey basically raising herself on Jakku with no family and nothing and making her own way in the world was interesting? I would be curious as to some actual reasons you hated these characters so much rather than they were "two dimensional" and embarrassments.

[@wertor666]

+Jonathan Martin So Rey is one dimensional. She raised herself alone. She do everything alone without a help of anyone. She's Mary Sue. And I have a problem with it because it makes her an unrealistic character. I can't relate to. Sorry.

[@wertor666]

+wertor666 Movie's got good ideas and I appreciate that. But ideas and lack of structure in plot prove that it's very difficult to tell A COMPELLING STORY nowadays. The Force Awakens isn't a compelling story. It's very simmilar (oh my god!) to prequels when we can see many clues witch DIDN't HAPPEN in the movie.

[@j_yeld3554]

+Kimberly I agree.

[@JonathanMartin884]

+wertor666 Raising yourself = one-dimensional? She didn't get off Jakku without the help of Finn; she didn't get away from Jakku without the help of Han and Chewie (and maybe Finn again); she didn't get away from Kylo until he unleashed her Force (which is his bad); she didn't destroy or get off Star Killer without the help of Han, Chewie, Poe, and Finn; she didn't find Luke without the help of R2 and BB-8; what did she do alone without the help of anyone? She raised herself, that's about it. How does that make her a Mary Sue? You are just regurgitating what the popular internet chatter is right now but no one can give me definitive reasons why she is more of a Mary Sue than Luke or Anakin.

[@jamesfrazier4005]

The blonde guy is saying exactly how i feel.. the movie was too, convenient. Ray was just not an interesting character to build on, and i feel like everyone is sayig "but the small things" and yeah, that could have been there WITH an original story with some places and people that EXPANDED what Star Wars is.. not emulates what it use to be.

[@BabysitterSky]

every single one of these movies are over flowing with "well that was convenient"

[@SuperCrazydada]

Now he is the rainbow guy!

[@jaredouimette1]

Deus ex machinas are only acceptable at the beginning of the movie.

[@JakeH_Movies]

When Kylo is talking to Han on the bridge and you see tears in Kylos eyes as he makes the decision to kill Han was that moment for me

[@zerocool6980]

+Nuudles Agreed. I also love the symbolism of that scene when Rey and Fin walk through the door and a light is cast down on Han and Kylo and its not till the light is gone does Kylo kill him.

[@KylesSportsMixes]

+Eric Weber (Zero Cool) Yep. The problem is is that these people set their expectations to an unreachable point. So now they nitpick the hell out of it and are blinded by negativity when there are so many positives in this movie. It's sad really.

[@XtraHappy]

+Eric Weber (Zero Cool) yea, like its his final transition where he casts out the remaining 'light side' thoughts in him, yet it is still hard for him to do this

[@LeonidSaykin]

Actually I detected this cliche 10 miles away, I wasn't impressed.

[@jacobg5303]

Rey is one of the best characters that Star Wars has ever had

[@jacobg5303]

That's why everyone likes her! Because she's human. And what does liking a very well written character have to do with not seeing the original trilogy? Your argument is invalid! Try again

[@jacobg5303]

I never said this movie is better than the empire strikes back or anything. And yes I have seen the originals I'm even a huge enough fan that I have even seen the despecialized edition. I think it's better than return of the jedi, but that's about it. All I said she's a very interesting character and she is not boring like that one guy was saying. Also this is only the first movie and she's already a super likeable character and everyone is asking is Rey Luke's kid is she going to be a jedi knight in the next movie and so on and she's going to get even better in the next movies. If you remember in the first star wars Luke was just a wynie kid and got better in the next movie. This movie is great one of the best action movies of the year it's up there with Mad Max. All these guys are doing is nit picking. This isn't a perfect movie by any means, but then again no movie is without their flaws

[@jacobg5303]

THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE COMPLAINING ABOUT? Luke held r2d2 and c3po as his slaves. SLAVES! There are millions of droids it's like seeing another person walking around because there are so many of them! And she has a stick because she doesn't have a gun or anything. I would much rather have a staff than nothing at all to defend myself if something does happen

[@jacobg5303]

No nobody would have done that because that's stupid haha. How would she be able to do that? How would anyone be able to do that? Not everyone knows how to make droids. And if a random guy starts following her yeah she's going to say go away because she wants to be alone. BB8 was lost and thought that be best place to go was to follow her becasue she looked friendly and saved his life. Everyone else looked sketchy. Everyone with a brain would have followed her. And why would she just take him apart right when he started following her. She did have common sense that's why she didn't murder him just so she could find out who's droid he is. I don't see why she would do that in any way. She didn't live on Tatooine so there isn't any slave trade there! She's not a monster!

[@whateverittakes1673]

+Jacob Garcia There is nothing human about being handed everything on a silver platter. I think the power got to her head a little at the end of TFA when she was lording over Ren who was crippled on the ground. In the book a voice says to kill him. The ground splits before she can act on it. She is going to the darkside.

[@jimmyj5035]

It's a shame that being honest and critical of this movie's many weaknesses is considered a betrayal by the other Star Wars fans... An untrained person being able to fight a Jedi warrior like Kylo Ren is absurd and goes completely against the folklore of the Star Wars universe... Rey is simply Disney's attempt at cashing in on the currently popular female protagonist types like in the "the Hunger Games"... The nerdboys aren't enough anymore... now Disney wants women to come join the Star Wars fanboys lol... It's CATNISS SKYWALKER and the Hunger Wars!

[@BDFJH]

Kylo Ren was NOT a Jedi master, he was a teenager that used to be a student of Luke's, and only managed to kill his fellow students cause they weren't expecting it. The only thing Kylo Ren has over the rest of the first order is his rudimentary understanding of the force and a lightsaber, but is still prone to teenage outbursts and tantrums.

[@jimmyj5035]

+BDFJH duly noted... but Rey fighting/beating him is still ridiculous

[@BDFJH]

+Jimmy J not necessarily, the scenes on Jakku show that Rey does have some fighting skill with her staff. Granted, the two guys she beats up were bandits and not a sith, but really, Kylo Ren hasn't had to fight anyone in a lightsaber battle for years, so he would be way out of practice.

[@thevisitor1012]

+Jimmy J it is. The battle would have made sense if kylo was winning but the more they fight the better ren gets The se concept with an anakin and dooku and Luke and vader.

[@kiel6819]

+Jimmy J rey is one of luke's student but she survive (theory)

[@wagfinpis]

this movie has absolutely no soul at all what so ever. it has a brain that working way too hard, to make a mindless movie. this movie has no heart, but tries to pull at heart strings with intellectual sentiments that come from a creation that this entire film is anathema to.

[@brunobb1]

The Force Awakens a C...? Yeah, not really. It has its problems but it's still very good.

[@koek1122]

+Eddie "JaggSauce" Gluskin the comedy is what worked for the movie. It would be horrible if there wasnt so much comedic relief. I didnt like that we got to see the same story with non-outdated effects and that captain phasma was more captain cameo.

[@brunobb1]

Vino sitas It still wouldn't be horrible, by far, but the comedy was pretty good.

[@SandyCheeks1896]

Definitely not a C. B+ or B-. I'll accept fanatics saying A-. I'm a fanatic btw.

[@Lucyfrmearth]

Yeah and what movie doesn't have mistakes... max keeps comparing to mad max and it's two different movies...

[@bmvthemoviefanatic7282]

+Bruno Silva I would give this a A-. which is like a 9/10. It started of good, ended fantastic!

[@LathanCroweTV]

Max Landis is on point! I like this guy. I was thinking you guys were gonna cop out, like many other youtubers and do a slush review, Max is da man!

[@brianjones8432]

+LathanMedia His mary-sue argument is totally ridiculous. Rey is no more of a mary-sue than Luke was a marty-stu.

[@maxheadroom1837]

Btw for the record I loved Rey in this film and I agree Luke has his Mary Sue moments for sure, but he struggles in all three original films. Rey never struggles I am trying to see where she does and I am having a hard time. Luke: 1. Whiny Farm Boy who lets R2-D2 escape by removing his restraining bolt like a moron 2. Orphaned; lives with Aunt and Uncle who get slaughtered 3. Ass Kicked by Sand People saved by Obi-wan 4. Ass kicked in Cantina saved by Obi-wan 5. Gets blasted by force trainer in the ass looks like an idiot before he is able to deflect a few bolts. 6. Pulled under water in trash compactor by Dianoga beast nearly drowns 7. Mentor is slaughtered in front of him 8. Blows up death star with Obi-wans force ghost assistance and Han and Chewie taking out Vaders Tie Fighter along with Vader's wing-men in the trench before Luke bites it. Rey: 1. Orphaned abandoned scavenger fends for herself 2. Saves Finns ass from tie fighter aerial attack after beating the crap out of a few 200lb Jakku thugs, finds BB8 and understands his whistles and blips easily. 3. Pilots Millennium Falcon to escape capture and destruction expertly with the best aeronautical stunts ever witnessed in a Star Wars film including suspended engine maneuver to flip Falcon over so Finn can make money shot. 4. Repairs Hyper-drive compressor for Han in seconds and also repairs other falcon problems while Finn bumbles around with the tools 5. Saves Finn from the Rathtar monsters 6. Everyone Loves Rey 7. Han offers her a job on the falcon 8. Light-saber calls out to Rey 9. Rey gets captured but easily escapes using Jedi Mind tricks and cliff hanging athletic prowess 10. Your mind powers don't work on me Kylo 11. Defeats Kylo in light saber combat (although she was lifted into the air and knocked out for 30 seconds) before calling light-saber into her hand with no prior training or context set by writer/director. 12. Comes out of Kylo Ren battle totally unscathed. 13. Rey gets the Falcon 14. Off to find Luke to train him in the ways of the force.

[@brianjones8432]

Max Headroom I think part of the reason that people have trouble making this comparison is because, despite similar origin planets, they are just two completely different characters. Luke comes from a relatively coddled background, where he's essentially a farmhand. Rey wasn't raised in a pseudo father/mother home. She's been on her own for a matter of years, maybe a decade?? (her background is never explained).... So obviously she's going to be a more of a survivor and savvy character. It's established she's a pilot, and it's also established she has prior knowledge about the repairs done on the falcon.....So it's no big leap of logic to assume that she had probably done work on the ship as it was owned by her boss..... As far as the whole Kylo thing is concerned.... Her use of force powers (likely to be explained in a further installment), regardless of which scene we are talking about, were just slightly more exaggerated versions of things we saw luke do in the OT. Imagine Kylo, someone who probably hasn't encountered or had to contend with a force sensitive since slaying Lukes students, all of a sudden running into someone who is as strong if not stronger in the force...... Granted she's untrained, but seems to have more potential. Taking into account that he was wounded, emotionally conflicted, half trained (yet people keep comparing him to Vader, which is kind of absurd) and specifically ordered NOT to kill her, I thought it came off quite realistic. At the very least no more unrealistic than anything else we have seen in the star wars saga. It was as if something in her awoke.... A direct reference to the title of the film. Just my 2 cents.....

[@maxheadroom1837]

I will give you some of that argument, I have considered many of those points as well. I will reserve further judgement until the next installment.

[@brianjones8432]

Max Headroom "I will reserve further judgement until the next installment." I think quite a few people should do this very same thing.... Thanks for being reasonable though, some of the people I have discussed this with are down right rude.

[@RickyDoo85]

Rey comes fully formed while Kylo is still developing. Kylo might be the trilogy's true protagonist, just from the opposite side of the force.

[@thevisitor1012]

That's basically darth vader

[@alinacorreia92]

+Leo Stoler that's an interesting theory! I hope they follow this path *---*

[@RickyDoo85]

The visitor101 Anakin's storyline as it should've been

[@cristinawithoutanh6704]

I screamed "holly shit" after reading your comment xD That would actually be awesome!

[@thefloodwatch785]

+The visitor101 exactly.

[@NetherStray]

I think the movie's main problem isn't even the movie's fault. The problem is that Star Wars fans have been fantasizing for about 10 years over what they would want from another Star Wars movie, and ever since TFA was announced, they've been fantasizing about what they've wanted from it. I think something that helped me personally not get too underwhelmed by it is that I've purposely not thought about it. I've watched teasers, but that's about it. So much of the criticism is what people wanted from it and not what it actually did.

[@blackrock316]

+NetherStray you know that's a great point you just made because I did thought about it before and after I saw the movie

[@alsostevenrodriguez9234]

I went in the movie theaters with low-low expectations and I really, really like it! Having high expectations was what ruined Age of Ultron for me lol.

[@QuinSkew]

+Steven Rodriguez My low expectations is that it has a good plot good story telling and execution. If you want a bad movie go watch Twilight

[@Javetts]

+NetherStray y'know what fans wanted for new star wars? the EU they killed.

[@97legomaniac]

Movie is great Most people who were complaining about the film don't know there are more films to come to give us more pieces to the puzzles

[@97legomaniac]

CoolHandLuke Well your opinion I will respect that

[@sebastianSHORTS]

+CoolHandLuke that's a shame

[@GasolineSmellsGood]

+97legomaniac That's excusing shitty writing

[@97legomaniac]

GasolineSmellsGood well that's what you think. Future movies can help us see the complete story

[@GasolineSmellsGood]

***** Just as long as you lend the same rope to every movie you ever watch...

[@AaronDidIt]

Tired of people saying that Fury Road is a "nothing story." I think that a simple story told very well is more important and shows more talent than a complex story told okay.

[@SebideeTW]

Yeah that really annoys me as well. Mad Max has a simple story. Henchman rebels against villain and rescues the princess (figuratively speaking), the villain gives chase, a fallen hero joins the cause and becomes a real hero again, the villain is defeated and the princess is saved. Cut to credits. Part of the reason why I enjoyed Mad Max was because of the simple story. It was so simple that it didn't take anything away from the amazing acting, sound, photography, action and setting. I think if Mad Max had a complex action-thriller story then no one would have had time to appreciate all the other stuff that was so great.

[@AaronDidIt]

Agreed! The acting and direction have to be top notch when the story is so simple. FR has some of the best acting and direction of any movie his year.

[@Aakos94]

+AaronDidIt The AC/DC of movies

[@shorts87]

People watching episode 123-"I wish there could be more things like the old ones." People watching episode 7-"There's too much of the old ones" Make you god damn minds already, enjoy the f-ing movie!

[@theresamonroe1651]

Thank you I feel the same

[@IBreiKeL]

+Edrick Beltran Hi Chris Stuckmann

[@mattiej2311]

You know damn well that when they say its too much like the original trilogy, they mean the plot of the movie. For the prequels, they are referring to the overall feel to the movie. People wanted it to be like the original trilogy in terms of the feel of it, they didn't want the plot to be a near-carbon copy. learn how to properly represent a side of the argument.

[@Curllube]

+Kourtxo531 You said it.

[@micalishis]

+Edrick Beltran Personally, I was really looking forward to new Star Wars music but it seemed like they reused a lot of the original trilogy music and it got on my nerves a little bit by the end. Say what you will about the prequels but they had some damn good music.

[@mewgiah8057]

Even if future movies explain why Rey is a GOD who can do everything, and is powerful - that doesn't change the fact that she's a Mary Sue. I don't get this argument. Just because plot explains why someone is a Mary Sue, doesn't make them stop being Mary Sue's. All the problems that come with Rey's character (especially how it effects side characters and the plot) - doesn't just go away because there is plot that explains why she is a God.

[@a.KniteOwl]

No but hey: She's Palpatine's granddaughter! I bet you feel silly now 😤

[@renanyeil1344]

Han and Chewbacca has been fighting side by side for decades, its just in the Force Awakens that he realized he liked the Bowcaster.

[@97legomaniac]

he has never used it before. we have seen rocket launchers before and other cool looking guns. you wont know true enjoyment until you actual use it in real life

[@renanyeil1344]

+97legomaniac yes but we're not in the military, if i am and i had a snipper friend, i would surely go to the range and try one.

[@97legomaniac]

Renan Yeil doesn't matter if you are in a military or not. That does not apply. I never held a gun or anything awesome looking like the bowcaster before but I'm sure it will be a lot cooler once I actually hold it. There is a big different level of excitement. Did I also mention that's a nitpick?

[@EverNumb]

+Renan Yeil I have a feeling that Chewbacca upgraded the weapon sometime between episode 6 and episode 7.

[@LeethLee1]

+Renan Yeil he had a new bowcaster recently that fires red not green, dat extra power :)

[@dukespubber741]

I think the biggest problem with Force Awakens is that it is a setup/transitional movie. Pretty much everything regarding the new characters was left flat. Everything about Finn, Rey, and Kylo was left off as sequel hooks while also transitioning from the original trilogy.

[@dukespubber741]

Also, to clarify, the setup problem is that is it's the main focus of the movie. The Starkiller stuff was secondary to setting up future plotlines, which took away from this movie.

[@mosestanjy]

damn right.

[@hbjetta]

Thats kind of what they did in A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. They showed the characters in the first movie and gave you a little background of them, then in Empire Strikes Back we learn more about all the characters. So maybe thats what Rian Johnson will do and he is a very good director for good character development and dark settings.

[@DaxRaider]

for me it was the 2nd best starwars movie so far, after empire strikes back i give it a 8.9 to 9.0 i loved it i had 2-3 moments that was amazing also people hated the prequels because of the new stuff, now they cry they only get old stuff xD you will never be happy xD

[@excellentcollins]

Yes!

[@TheBandy98]

Well, what can I say? People are just that stupid sometimes.

[@efcdk92]

+Holly Because the 'new stuff' sucked. 'New stuff' is welcome as long as it's not without merit.

[@MarMotorbiker]

+Nils Engman I'll finish what you started

[@KiltBill2]

+Holly I never saw the OrigTrig in the cinema, so I lost most that magic and have never more than liked SW. I have seen TFA twice now, and I would say it's the best one yet.

[@ocke94]

Just feels like its cool too bash on movies these days. Why can't people just enjoy this as a Star Wars movie?

[@ultimateblaze23]

+ocke94 because it's bad?

[@rainmaker6261]

+ultimateblaze23 yeah I wasn't a big fan of this movie but it certainly wasn't bad by any means. There are a lot of really bad movies out there. This isn't one of them.

[@markusbisma5015]

+ocke94 So the filmakers can improve in the sequel ?

[@_Ciiitron_]

+airbomb34 But there were no strong independent homosexual back transfemale leads, not to mention how politically incorrect the previous six movies were.

[@JBJones66]

I agree!! It's like if you find nothing wrong with a movie you look weak or something.

[@Maxiom5]

I feel like they should've held off on introducing Han. If they removed the weird tentacle monster scene and had more stuff of Finn and Rey adventuring on their own, I think we would've liked them more and their friendship would've been more believable.

[@iMisfiTv]

The part I loved was during the Falcon flight near the beginning, fending off the TIE Fighters. The turret gets stuck in one position and is unusable at that point, Rey then flies up, cuts the power(or something similar) and lets the Falcon basically flop out of the air in the perfect position for the turret to be used again. That was the only moment in the film where I though "Holy Shit, that was cool" Did anyone else enjoy that moment as much as I did or was it just me?

[@akhilpremk]

That was my favorite bit from the whole movie and how they share the excitement later.

[@jothan50000]

Honest Trailers - Elf?

[@WildfireProductions24]

+jothan50000 yasssss

[@waltonvelvet3862]

+jothan50000 yea

[@MJackonYT]

+jothan50000 it's overhyped af

[@SuperDude-fc3be]

yeah

[@thedankpotato6628]

no star wars the force awakes

[@lieutenantnomad9198]

I hate when people reply to their own comments.

[@lieutenantnomad9198]

IKR?!

[@ReeceSwalwell]

+Lieutenant Nomad I get it.

[@kevinmiz225]

Wait, I don't get it...

[@jayveedecastro2778]

Watching this now, and being a fan of Star Wars and TFA as of the moment, I am taking every single comment as constructive, weirdly and I quite understand everyone's opinion on this. Max had some very good points and I honestly wouldn't hate him for his opinion at all.

[@tomfou]

10:33 the stormtroopers walking away after hearing/seeing Kylo Ren extremely mad after Rey escaped?

[@tomfou]

Or when Kylo tries to get Anakins lightsaber but it flies past him and Rey gets it.

[@ddm62571]

+Tom Fougstedt That was epic!

[@ChaplainDMK]

+Tom Fougstedt Poe's X-Wings charging in over the water against the New Order attack on Takodana, Kylo Ren stopping Poe's blaster (and the opening scene overall), "I wanna fight the good fight! ... You just need a pilot right? I need a pilot yeah", Kylo Ren beating his wound in the final fight (really the best damn fight in all of Star Wars imo), Han's death. I think it has plenty of excellent scenes that stick in your mind. The deal is that it's a Star Wars movie that came crashing in on the biggest hype-train ever seen by humanity, and it ended up being actually good. It's not an excellent movie, but neither is New Hope. It's bogged down by a lot of scenes, and has a few excellent scenes, and overall it's just a great movie.

[@tomfou]

Žiga Auer Yeah.

[@denisl2760]

+Žiga Auer I did like some moments, mainly the ones you mention. But the whole plot is an obvious rip-off of A New Hope, I came in expecting an original story, was severely disappointed.

[@AlthazarMalthus]

JJ Abrams is not one of the great filmmakers. Why are fanboys acting like this movie is beyond criticism?

[@SebideeTW]

I hate fanboys but I also hate anyone who dislikes something just to be contrary (not saying you are that). It really bugs me when people take a standpoint before listening to anything else and then refuse to listen to anything that goes against that. I am genuinely a person who could enter an argument with an opinion and then leave with an opposite opinion. Wish more people were like that.

[@ddm62571]

+AlthazarMalthus He is in the upper half though.

[@GlobalCitizenify]

+AlthazarMalthus fan boys were defending phantom menace to no end back in '99.

[@ddm62571]

GlobalCitizenify Except The Force Awakens is a much better movie.

[@lonerevenant]

+GlobalCitizenify but phantom menace was fine. it had maul, qui gon and I think the pod race is cool. the only set back was binks and small anakin had a little bit irritating way of speaking. the next movies had binks and other weird things like anakin grew up, weird animations, too much talk talk talk, etc and it had no maul and qui gon. i liked the prequels, even jar jar's character is okay, but i still think his way of talking and his voice is irritating.

[@mackrod1977]

Force Awakens is Star Wars light. With almost 40 years of lore it was unoriginal and despite the fun call backs and nostalgia it ultimately felt empty. It vindicates Lucas and the prequels, because despite the fact that they had their problems he at least tried and brought in new elements that were exciting to see.

[@ironfox4990]

That's what kind of think too, at least Lucas tried to introduce new interesting stuff like (I'm gonna get a lot of flack for this) The Medicorans which I thought wasn't that bad of an idea like a lot people think and yeah the name is terrible, but at least it tried to give an good explanation behind the force, also showing us new and more unique creatures and planets (sure TFA introduced us some new creatures and planets but there not as creative as the prequels did), however the prequels almost as a whole were executed poorly by Lucas himself.

[@RohonNag]

+mackrod1977 who would have EVER guessed that all the anti lucas people would come flocking back to him and say, sure your films were bad, but they were inventive and innovative... LOL this one is just a lazy hack job of remaking episode 4 with elements of episode 6... no wonder JJ kept the story on the down low, no one wanted to see a remake, star wars is too well seen for people to be satisfied with a remake...

[@decimal1156]

I agree. This comment represents everything I wanted to say about this film. Thank you.

[@alysmith4621]

I agree with this so much!

[@deadmanlord0]

+mackrod1977 Nothing for those movies were exciting my friend, TFA was great

[@whensomethingcriesagain]

I really hate the "Ren lost because his emotions are conflicted" argument. The Dark Side literally gains power from their emotions, so wouldn't the mix between anger, guilt, pain, fear, and other such emotions make him way stronger than he otherwise would be. I don't care if he was phoning the whole fight in, he still should've won, not just from a narrative tension perspective, but in the context of the situation.

[@aswaney7449]

Kylo Ren lost due to a combination of factors, not just because his conflict. To start with, he wasn't trying to kill Rey. Snoke ordered him to capture and bring the girl to him. If he had tried to kill her, I bet she would've died there, or at the very least sustained severe injury like Finn did. Instead he had to dial it down a couple notches so as not to kill her (IMO underestimating her a bit, in his arrogance), while trying to subdue her and not let himself succumb to his injuries at the same time. That coupled with the fact that he was weakened by the act of killing his father (this is a fact because the film script described this) made it a tough mission, so no wonder she beat him. Anyone who's ever played an RPG knows that a quest to capture and/or escort is way tougher than a quest to kill something. And although you're right about the correlation between the Dark side and emotions, you're actually wrong about the conflict. A Sith still needs focus to gain power, specifically focus on only one negative emotion (or a few related ones). Conflict actually weakens them as it brings them back to the cusp between light and dark. This is why Luke was able to bring Vader back to the Light side, and why Kylo Ren has to struggle against the Light side so much (he loves and hates his father at the same time).

[@whensomethingcriesagain]

Aes Sedai So, if he wasn't about to kill her, why wouldn't he just chop one of her arms off? I mean, Sith seem to do that all the time. I'd argue the mix of negative emotions he'd be feeling are related enough to still work in his favor. And anyway, there's proof that the "inner conflict" didn't impede his skill too much, since he was just kicking the shit out of Finn 5 seconds previously. Combine that with the fact that a novice swordsman like Rei would be completely incapable of defeating an experienced fighter like Ren, and you've got one terrible scene. And that's not even going into this from a narrative stakes perspective. Now that we know she can beat him, what threat could he possibly pose in the future?

[@aswaney7449]

Sam Geuvenen Why didn't he chop off her arm? Maybe because he underestimated her a bit (like I said) and couldn't. And no, guilt and remorse aren't Dark side emotions, they conflict with everything else he's feeling. Plus he just lost his greatest source of rage-- his father. Also, the reason Finn's ass was kicked is because Finn doesn't really know how to use a weapon other than blasters, he was just winging it out of desperation to protect Rey. Rey, however, has mastered the basics of staff combat while surviving on Jakku, and she applied that technique (slightly clumsily) to the lightsaber duel. She wasn't fantastic but it was enough to fend off a toned-down attack from Kylo (keep in mind, he wasn't trying to kill her). BTW, Kylo Ren isn't a full Sith. He's still in training, not a master. You can't assume he's an experienced lightsaber duelist when all you've seen him do is subdue his opponents using Force grip. At this point, he seems more an Inquisitor class (primarily Force user, eg. Darth Sidious) than a Warrior class (primarily lightsaber user, eg. Darth Maul). So combine that with everything else, and no wonder he lost.

[@whensomethingcriesagain]

Aes Sedai Few things. 1. Staff training does absolutely nothing to help in a sword fight (learned that the hard way). 2. If Ren specializes in the force, why not just forcibly dislocate her arms and legs? If she's stronger at the force than him from the beginning, the narrative has no tension. Plus I can say he's an experienced lightsaber duelist because he wiped out every other trainee that Luke had, which would take considerable lightsaber skills.

[@aswaney7449]

Sam Geuvenen 1. I didn't say you can competently wield a sword if you're a staff fighter. But I did say Rey did it _'clumsily'_ and it's enough to fend off a *toned down* attack by Kylo. 2. Have you ever seen limb dislocation done using the Force ever? No. Because it's probably easier said than done, even on a non-Force user. 3. Again, you can't assume. Sure, he wiped out Luke's trainees, but no one knows that he did it with a lightsaber and you can't assume he did. Even if he did use a lightsaber, most likely he caught them unaware. Like a traitor stabbing someone in the back, and you don't need to be a master knife duelist to do that.

[@ashhelful]

How come everybody in Star Wars understands droid?

[@lonerevenant]

+ashhelful not all of them. some need translators like c3po. but i think it's a separate language. even luke didn't understand him in the first movie.. i mean the fourth..

[@cubulous]

Not everyone does. Just the Skywalkers.

[@kreftmaker]

+ashhelful Finn couldn't understand BB-8 tho

[@liamsheil1050]

+Cubulous Po wasn't a Skywalker.

[@cubulous]

liam sheil I meant, without training. He obviously has spent time with BB8 and learned to understand him. Also, I was wrong. Luke needed his ship to translate.

[@guilhermegification]

3:59 "Where is the B-wings? Where is the Tie-Interceptors? Where is the Tie-Bombers".. Thank you!

[@MK-oz2lf]

+Guilherme Graça ...... it's been 32 years and FO were investing their budget in a weapon that is 100 times the size of a Death Star. Making a universe that is a carbon copy of the OT is redundant and should have some progressive chronological events that unfold.

[@skarnak1]

+Guilherme Graça not only that, but where are all the capital ships? Where are the mon calamari cruisers? where's Ackbar's command ship, the rebels' verion of the Super Star Destroyer?

[@skarnak1]

+The Electrocist Yeah, it's a big and powerful weapon, but what good is it once it fully drains the star? Is it able to move out of that local system so it can get it's fuel from another star? I didn't hear it said if could move or not. If it can't, it's a rather limited use weapon and not worth investing into in that case.

[@ValgardDerithos]

The TIE Fighters should've been TIE Advanced. The idea of the fighters was that the Empire was so massive that they were going by the numbers. Hundreds of cheap fighters that simply give a pair of laser cannons on wings to the battlefield, with no shields or hyperdrive. But the First Order can't afford that privilege, they should need good prepared pilots flying decent ships like TIE Advanced. I don't care if they've the same appearence as Vader's x1 or the video games' TIE Avenger, or something with elements from the TIE Interceptor. But I think that giving rear laser cannons and missile launchers to a "simple" TIE Fighter was kind of odd.

[@ntucker]

Standout moments? Way more than episode 4. "That ship is garbage." BB-8 lighter Best lightsabre battles of all time. Actual struggle and slashing and poking instead of not hits until limbs fall off. And I've only seen it once. Your impression of episode 4 is candy colored. Everything was way more Mary Sue. This was a way more believable set of actions. Was Rey a little better than you'd expect? Yes, but there's so much we don't know about her, that's part of the mystery. If you think you should know everything up front, then why are you even criticizing similarities? Such a contradiction.

[@TheGrinch109]

was bb8s light flicker a thumbs up? everyone is saying that but i thought it was a middle finger to finn because he was lying about being part of the resistence.

[@ntucker]

It's a thumbs up. This is a children's movie

[@ultimateblaze23]

+ntucker how old are you? A New Hope is a masterpiece and this movie is shit by comparison.

[@UdyKumra]

+ntucker I kind of agree with you in terms of how there were standout moments but the main thing in my opinion was that the standout moments weren't really all that great, they were just alright (besides the "That ship is garbage" part). There were a lot of good moments but nothing that was really memorable. That said, everything about this movie was perfect to me. I don't need great moments to appreciate good ones.

[@ntucker]

And where was the amazing moment in 4? It was only great because we were being introduced to a new world that is amazing. Empire and Jedi are the ones with great moments.

[@johnneil14]

Everything Max said was absolutely true.

[@tjjordan4207]

So, wait, Max is complaining that we got a strong female character, after going through years of films lacking strong female characters? Does this guy hate everything because he has impossible expectations?

[@tjjordan4207]

Johnny Skinwalker I didn't mean strong as in physical strength. I meant in character.

[@redcurry5917]

+Taylor Huston (Soundkiller) No, he's complaining that Rey learns everything ridiculously quickly. Like everything Kylo Ren (who's had some training and practice at least) tries to beat her with she beats him at within 5 mins of trying.

[@michaeljespersen3323]

+Taylor Huston (Soundkiller) I'm no feminist, but I think we've had some pretty great female characters lately, that weren't just "women being strong by basically being men", but characters that were strong women. Essie Davis in The Babadook? Sarah Snook in Predestination? Strong female characters that weren't just "men with tits" as I call 'em, when they write a female character that is supposed to be strong by exhibiting classical male traits, instead of being decidedly female and still strong.

[@TacticalBluez]

+Taylor Huston (Soundkiller) They'res been a good amount of good female jedis

[@theleelife313]

Spoilers (just in case) So Finn was a coward who: Didn't go with the order of shooting the civilians in the camp with his superior officer in eye sight. Defected from the 1st Order (and essentially the only life he knew) after realizing that it conflicted with his idea of heroism. Broke a high target soldier out of Prison. Was about to jump into a fight to help Rey out before she whooped those dudes with her staff. Had what he wanted (a chance to get away from it all) and turned around and went right back into the battle after he saw the ships coming. Was willing to BS Leia and the rebel alliance into being a part of a mission just so he could save Rey. Was willing to fight a sith with no real lightsaber training just to protect Rey. (At best he got trained to use the deflector weapon the storm trooper used) Yeah he might be kind of dumb, but I wouldn't say he was a coward and end it there. He faced his fears and rose above them.

[@zerocool6980]

+TheLeeLife Well said. I don't understand why people say they need more of a reason as to why he defected. Watching the first order slaughter villagers and controlling a weapon that can destroy star systems isn't enough? Remember we know that acts of non-conformity are common since they keep track of the number of infractions and have a reconditioning program set up.

[@joshwilkins9138]

+TheLeeLife *Mike Drop* Completely agree

[@Ando_x-l8v]

+TheLeeLife well screen junkies are one of the most hatred movie talk channels on youtube

[@samuelperezgarcia]

+Eric Weber (Zero Cool) because he had been raised and trained in that environment, just like those other Stormtroopers wo did the slaughtering. It's not like he was drafted or volunteered and then that happened. And according to Phasma that was his first offense, so he had never shown any weird behavior prior.

[@zerocool6980]

Samuel Pérez García He had also never been in battle before so he never saw first hand what the First Order was all about. After the other storm trooper dies he gets up and looks around and understands whats really going on.

[@CarEdy23]

rey was not thin, maybe she has mary sueish tendencies but she had flaws. she was clumsy, naive and overconfident. she lied about knowing how to pilot ships and use guns. she believed finn when he said he was part of the resistance and took in bb8 without much discussion. She was defeated by kylo ren twice, in the forest and in the starkiller base. also kylo ren was badly injured in the last fight. throughout the movie they had built up chewbacca's crossbow as incredibly powerful and destructive (remember that stormtrooper who got completely blown away by it?) and he would punch his wound during the fight. rey defeating him did fell like deus ex machina but was supposed to show the power of the force, the whole premise of the movie is that the galaxy is shit because there's no jedis and now there is.

[@tomlander4661]

Star Wars is the only franchise that people need to apologize for not liking it. In a few years, the fanboys will calm down and we'll all be able to call this movie for the hack job that it is.

[@trexpaddock]

The fans are the ones who hate it the most.

[@nd8903]

Watch Collider or schmoesknow for a real good spolier review

[@andrewvanderwoerd]

+Niko Dunn Collider guys put these guys to shame. Other then Dan Murrell, Dan would fit in well on Collider Jedi Council.

[@Keverember]

I am in agreement with Ken. This film has struck a new chord with me upon every viewing. This movie will stand the test of time and in 30 years fans will look at it like we look at Empire. J.J. Abrams knocked it out of the park with this one.

[@excellentcollins]

I agree

[@Keverember]

Owen Major We're going to disagree big time there. Of course certain beats payed tribute to the original trilogy, it's ALL the fans have asked for since The Phantom Menace came out. The characters themselves, are extremely unique and each have a diverse path set before them in the rest of this trilogy. This film balanced characters better than any other Star Wars film except for Empire.

[@pow3r17]

+Kevin Oliver no just no

[@Keverember]

Night Power Good argument, slick.

[@N1ght_walk]

The Force Awakens is not as much of a cultural impact like the original trilogy were, it's not an inspiring piece of filmmaking, but it is a fun, enjoyable, and overall good movie.

[@DarthQueefious]

Rey invented the Jedi Mindtrick and perfected it at the 2nd attempt. She also beat Ren in a 'Force Pull' battle at her first attempt at a 'Force Pull'. It's just LOL You can say 'she has had some training as a toddler' but even still, it was her first attempt since she was like 5 years old. It's not believable at all. It comes off as fan fiction written by Daisy Riddley (who was grreat in the movie, I'm not criticising her)

[@Contevent]

+RP FS2 She didn't invent Mind trick, she probably remembered considering she knows the legends about the Jedi, and was a youngling or close to the students of Luke. And the lightsaber is pretty much excalibur at this point. It calls for its owner, reveal visions and only come to the hand of the Chosen One.

[@Contevent]

Justin Willms Well I have no memory before my 8th birthday. As far sa I'm concerned, I could have had another sibling who would have died and not remember it unless someone told me. And even so, I'd ask for proof.

[@DarthQueefious]

Contevent "Well I have no memory before my 8th birthday" That's very weird

[@Contevent]

RP FS2 Is it? I never really thought about it. I mean, I have flashes, feelings, but nothing really clear, unless someone who was there tries to make me remember.

[@DarthQueefious]

Contevent Yea, usually people can remember back to around 4 years old. Obviously not total recall but still

[@myriverrose]

Could someone explain to me why so many people are voting down this video? Is it because they are not giving the movie a shining review? If so they are entitled to their own opinions and they make some valid points.

[@MK-oz2lf]

+Julian Giddings Max Landis comes off as a narcissistic nit picker who is trying to expand his "brand" as a screenwriter but instigating sensationalism out of things that can be discussed and resolved more maturely and quicker. He thinks he is giving constructive criticism but he is coming off eccentric for some subconscious demand for attention.

[@myriverrose]

+The Electrocist that explains a lot actually, I honestly did not know much about the critics or their reputations outside of what has been mentioned in this video.

[@WalkAndDrive_]

Bravo Max

[@sunnydays405]

fanboys getting salty over Max making good points. Come on guys, the dude works in hollywood, he knows what he's talking about.

[@stroppy3245]

No,he doesn't.

[@reubennatal1112]

Yeah so do Michael bay and m night shyamalan

[@sunnydays405]

+Reuben Natal he has legitimate experience in screenwriting, so he recognizes things like shoddy character development, plotholes, and what people are going for when making a film. He also wrote Chronicle, so its safe to say he knows what he's talking about. I'm not trying to get into a shitfest here, I'm just wondering why everyone is dismissing him without a second thought.

[@LokiGamerofMischief]

+sunny he also wrote American Ultra and Victor Frankenstein two of the worst movies of this year

[@sunnydays405]

+Strawberry Toaster Strudel come on man, you understand my overall point that he understands screenwriting more than the average person.

[@mvp0]

Lol, Max Landis wrote American Ultra and Victor Frankenstein. He has way to much ego, for a guy who wrote 2 of the worst movies of the year.

[@mvp0]

Manberg900 Yes, I liked Chronicle too, but recently he wrote a bunch of crap.

[@markusbisma5015]

+Mike Welson I think American Ultra was good and fun. The problem was the casts which is not Max Landis faults

[@jonathanbethea8573]

+Mike Welson He's also writing Superman: American Alien, which is one of the freshest Superman origin retellings in some time. The stuff he writes isn't usually bad. Casting and other decisions can turn good into terrible.

[@redfoxxx2162]

wahhhhhh! Force awakened was wack

[@Galero15]

+Mike Welson He writes screenplays, not movies. Most movies wildly deviate from the original screenplay.

[@MestariDuff]

I have issues with their idea, pushed forward mostly by Max Landis, that Kylo Ren is some kind of weak vilain since he didn't totally dominate Ray and Finn. Which he kind of did actually. He was injured and was still intimidating as all hell. He's a more complex vilain then what Star Wars has given so far when it comes to the first movie of a trilogy. Darth Vader gets more character development in Empire, but Kylo Ren is a vilain that we know better at the end of the first movie then what we knew about the other vilains from the other two trilogies. I'm also not fond of this cinema cliché of having an almighty and over-powered vilain that purely dominates everyone. That's not a good way to write a character... that's a cliché. Having Ren be so emotional, conflicted and fighting with rage after getting badly injured, and still winning for most of the fight was an amazing way to write this scene. I'm standing with J.J. Abrams on this one. It was perfect the way it was done.

[@airtime23]

Never before have I seen a film where so many reviewers say "yeah, this is bad and this is bad and this is bad and this is bad......but hey, it's a good movie."

[@bebesomething]

more Max!!! I love him!!

[@brianjones8432]

+keen I don't so much mind him, but his mary-sue theory is f'n ridiculous.

[@markusbisma5015]

+Brian Jones No is not ridiculuous. She is good at everything without explanation. Must wait for next movies to understand her characther

[@brianjones8432]

markus bisma What is she good at that either wasn't explicitly explained, or doesn't have a direct correlation with something some other character in the Star Wars universe hasn't magically pulled off in the past?

[@Tiberius11111111]

+keen i hate him and can't stand him

[@KylesSportsMixes]

Said no one ever

[@ThePeterJ11]

Everyone needs to stop hating on Max because he has different opinions from them. Sure he shares them with zest and may seem obnoxious but that's how he is. Be tolerant.

[@ThePeterJ11]

Plus I love how people are jumping on this movie's tauntaun yet so many universally thrashed The Dark Knight Rises for its plot holes.

[@JenoPaciano]

Ray *is* a Mary Sue character regardless of anyone's opinions on the matter. So was Furiosa. So was Alice from the RE movies, as was Selene from the Underworld movies. Female characters who always win, are better than everyone else at everything, and who everyone respects and wants to help are very common these days. I'm just surprised more people haven't noticed. And just to be clear, in case you don't understand what makes Ray a Mary Sue: - Is as good at working on the Millennium Falcon as Han Solo - Better fighter than Finn, who was trained to be a soldier from birth (she also outran him and humiliated him several times in their first encounter) - Instantly becomes the center of attention in a story that originally had nothing to do with her - Better at using the force than Kylo, who was trained by both Luke and Snoke - Saves the other characters numerous times - Breaks herself out of imprisonment, saves herself (recall that Han, Luke, and Leia all had to be saved at various points) - The old wise woman acts like Ray is a big deal - In spite of living on a harsh desert planet and being poor, she isn't the slightest bit malnourished, doesn't have dry or weathered skin, has a posh South London accent which isn't shared by anyone we see her interact with, and her hair always looks nice One of these things does not a Mary Sue make. But when several of these characteristics show up in one character, that's when you know.

[@juana1595]

+JenoPaciano it must be exhausting to be so negative all the time :/

[@JenoPaciano]

skeleton meme Here's another trend I've noticed: criticize something -> people defend it -> people realize you have a point -> people criticize you for being negative. So I'll take your comment as an admission that you don't disagree with me. Look, negativity is one thing. Being aware of a thing's flaws is another. I overall liked the latest star wars movie, but like they said, there was no moment that stood out. It was the most summer blockbuster-y of star wars films to date, and there are many flaws. So, let's fix those flaws in the next movie. Because honestly, if no one ever criticized anything, then nothing would ever change. Art from adversity.

[@JenoPaciano]

Thomas Baumgardner I agree about Finn, but what distracted me more with that character was the racial stereotyping. Here we have a bumbling, inept, cowardly, wisecracking character who was born into slavery, needs a white man's help to escape, and doesn't even have a name until a white man gives him one...it's hard to un-see once you notice it. Regarding his character otherwise, the things I hated most were his general lack of positive character traits (he's upstaged by every other character, since they're better at everything than him), and more importantly, the fact that he was immediately willing to maim and murder all the people he grew up with just to escape. My favorite part of the whole movie was when that storm trooper spots him, yells "Traitor!", then proceeds to beat the living shit out of him with an electric mace. He even throw his own blaster down, just to make the fight fair. That stormtrooper was an honorable badass, and he gets shot in the back. Shit. Finn should have been a stoic soldier, should have at least started as a better fighter than Rey since that's what he was trained to do, and should have been more useful throughout the movie. Instead, we got a character who's a racial stereotype, isn't as good at anything as anyone else, and has no loyalty or discipline to speak of. Such a shame.

[@PartTimeBox]

+JenoPaciano I disagree to a certain extent in that while I agree that he was fairly useless, I also thought he was too positively portrayed. He used to work for a fascistic government but then suddenly he's trying to rescue a girl in the desert and almost immediately forms a very positive relationship with Rey and Poe (remember him running across the debris during the fight after visiting Maz Kanata and screaming "Rey! Rey!!!!", desperately upset that she's been kidnapped. Why do they already have such a strong bond? Han Solo didn't really come around to caring about Luke and the rebels until the eleventh hour in A New Hope). He should have at the very least been socially awkward and had trouble forming bonds (at least in the short term). And he shouldn't have really cared about Poe or Rey as much as anything other than a means to an end). I disagree that he was shown as having a general lack of positive character traits since early on in the film he talks about doing stuff "because it's the right thing to do". So they were obviously trying to make him something of a role model, who chose to turn his back on his whole world because what he was being asked to do was immoral. The problem is that none of that makes any sense given his backstory. And I agree it's a little strange he's willing to kill his comrades, but I suppose it's implied that's out of necessity and if he had to choose between killing his comrades to escape or staying and being forced to kill civilians...I guess his choice seems slightly more moral. It is weird what a great time he's having doing it, though. Anyway, I think we disagree slightly on the particulars, but it's obvious that we both were turned off by the character so there's definitely something very wrong with the way he was written. I've enjoyed reading your take on the film.

[@JenoPaciano]

Thomas Baumgardner Well, you hit on his singular positive trait, which is that he cares about Rey and wants to help her. But being on the same side as the main character really isn't much of a trait, especially since she's a Mary Sue and doubly because we don't know *why* he latches onto her. He actually latched onto Poe in the same way for a short term, which is one more way in which the character was a racial stereotype. Finn basically had two motivations in the movie: run away, and help the pretty white girl. And unlike Chewie, who similarly latched onto Han and then Rey, Finn isn't skilled, isn't intimidating, doesn't make up for any of Rey's shortcomings (she has none), and isn't very likable due to being a turncoat and slaughtering his lifelong companions. I liked him less than I liked maskless Kylo.

[@HanSolosRevenge]

Nice to hear Max analyze this from an informed place, with actual story writing experience.

[@rcs243]

Force Awakens is a great movie. Everyone should agree

[@99MilitiaMan]

It is shit you plebeian.

[@alexberg9180]

+John Smith lmao

[@rcs243]

+Luluko Lamperouge True

[@basquat76]

Now imagine if Landis had written force awakens. The prequels would have looked like masterpieces next to it.

[@Tonypikmin]

I would love them! The Landis ones, I mean.

[@basquat76]

Tonypikmin Oh yeah, a big fan of American ultra and Victor Frankenstein are we?

[@Tonypikmin]

+basquat76 Never seen them, but we share similar points of view, so I'm curious about how they would turn out to be.

[@basquat76]

Tonypikmin You realise he wouldn't have come up with this story and characters at all. It's very easy to sit and nitpick and add little things like he does in this video. If only they had done this and that it would have been better. But creating from scratch a story like this and these characters is something else. Different issue, there's something to be said about a writer, storyteller judging other writers work like this. The rest of us can do it but for a fellow writer to it. That is putting yourself on a piedestal and looking down on what essentially your colleagues. And if you'd seen frankenstein og American ultra you would find it very funny and somewhat ironic too. And the word douchebag barely even cover it.

[@paperbackwriter1111]

+basquat76 Eh, Chronicle was OK and Superman: American Alien is good so far as well. So, I dunno. He does say some dumb shit here, tho.

[@willpoweramv]

What even is Max Landis?

[@darthbigred22]

+RunRobotRun911 The son of the guy who directed Blues Brothers.

[@SubiyaCryolite]

+RunRobotRun911 Wrote Chronicles screenplay

[@auntiegarfunkel]

The Twitter hipster who claims to love comics yet ruined lex luthor (BvS)

[@mikkoajt]

A whiner

[@dublinjake]

+SubiyaCryolite And nothing worth mentioning since. Anyone remember American Ultra or Victor Frankenstein? An hour after seeing them? He's really not one to talk about good writing when literally every film he's written alone was critically detested. (Chronicle was written with another guy and directed by Josh Trank, who may or may not be majorly talented).

[@MrElTotor]

Sorry I come almost one year after the battle. I agree more with Max than with everyone else on the set. To me, this is not how it was impossible for JJ to please old and new fans of star wars, to me it just made me as mad as jurassic world or T genysis. I'm not talking about liking the movie or not. I'm talking about Hollywood that doesn't give a sh*t anymore about writting good scripts. As Max said, for example, having a hero who struggle his way to the end of the movie is a basic rule that works. Using the same script as episode IV is lazy. etc. I could list 100 things that were poorly written in this movie and that's make me sad because with so many millions they could hire good script writers or script doctors...

[@MaticValentan]

ha ... I was expecting Honest Trailer :(

[@TimonDAwesome]

they only do that after the movie comes out on dvd , so they can use scenes other than the ones from the trailers...

[@MaticValentan]

+TimonDAwesome Oh ... I didn't mean for Star Wars. I meant Honest Trailer in general for any other movie ... :)

[@420simpson]

+Matic Valentan they said on screen junkies plus that they pre recorded this and didn't do an honest trailer beccause they are currently on christmas vacation.

[@micalishis]

I would be more okay with the fact that Finn held his own against Kylo if they had set him up as good with a lightsaber but it almost seemed like they purposely set him up as bad / inexperienced. Not only was he a janitor but also he fought against a stormtrooper and lost. Now, in our frame of reference, Kylo is barely better than a stormtrooper and I think that was my problem with that. Sure, he was injured but isn't the pain supposed to help someone with the dark side? Wasn't that why he was hitting his wound? Also, I don't think he was emotionally comprimised. He was clearly angry, another thing that is supposed to help someone with the dark side. Look at Luke at the end of episode VI; Luke's anger was basically what allowed him to defeat Vader and cut his hand off. That being said, I was okay with the idea that Rey was able to beat him because it just felt like it was setting up her as this fast learner. Personally, I don't mind her being perfect at everything.

[@3L0ZL3D3R]

+Michael the Magician held is own? the guy is in a coma at the end of the movie...as they say in the video kylo was toying with him...Finn didn't have any technique to his fighting all he did is swing the sword and trying to defend him self...Finn touched kylo once and then kylo throw him away and left him unconscious

[@buttsgaming2079]

Finn kind of got his ask kicked sure it took a while but ren had just been shot in the side

[@clancyjames585]

+Elle44 I don't think the 'toying with him' part came over in the movie.

[@MrJackarow]

+Michael the Magician Rewatch the movie and I think you will find that Finn is not as good with a lightsaber as people first see him as. I admit that when I watched the movie the first time I thought that maybe Finn did hold his own a little bit too well, but after rewatching I realized that he only actually gets in one shot and that is when Ren gets cocky and starts spinning his saber. Immediately after that though he dominates over Finn, beating him instantly.

[@3L0ZL3D3R]

+Clancy James you can clearly see kylo spinning the saber in his hand and turning his back to Finn as if he doesn't feel threaten by Finn

[@Roxas77]

I still hate Max Landis

[@vxlrn1301]

They will start on a Desert Planet (Tatooine/Jakku) - They will find a droid who has the key (R2-D2/BB-8) - They will need to fly off to the resistance base -The death star-ish fires a powerful lazer that destroys planents prompting the resistance to act - the heroes then act due to the emergence of the threat and their friend is trap - and then destroy the death star-ish

[@DeaconRazorblades]

So Max Landis complains about Rey being a Mary Sue, but wrote American Ultra where the main protagonist was literally a Gary Stew. Nice Max.

[@TheIlikepie911]

but guys can't be Gary stus

[@DeaconRazorblades]

+nudl3Zz "wasn't the point of american ultra that they are these super agents but don't know it? so it actually makes sense that they are that good?" Wasn't the point of The Force Awakens that Rey is incredibly sensitive to the force making her that good? Think about Luke from the earlier movies, very little training, but incredibly good at pretty much everything he did.

[@WholeShebangComedy]

isnt Max Landis the guy who wrote such "CLASSICS" as American Ultra and Victor Frankenstein?. saying that this really good film has some flaws seems really stupid when he can't even write a half-decent one. and the things he throws at force awakens could be thrown at his stuff way more

[@MikeyIV]

That doesn't mean he can't speak on other movies. Roger ebert made some absolutely terrible movies but he's the most famous film critic of all time. Michael Jordan is the one of the greatest bball players of all time but he's arguably the worst eye for talent the game has ever seen. Phil Jackson is one of the greatest coaches of all time but he's a mediocre GM and eye for talent. Not comparing him to any of these guys just sayin maybe he has some valid points.

[@WholeShebangComedy]

I understand where your coming from. Yes of course he can criticise but I'm saying that he is picking particular faults with the film that he is particularly bad at as well as a writer. His film American ultra had really poor characters where Things don't make sense. Chronicle even has story problems - like why does everyone have a hand held camera? So why does he get so hung up on little details with force awakens. it's like George Lucas complaining about a film having too much senate discussions in or Michael Bay criticising a film for having to much robots hitting each other. Feels a bit hypocritical

[@WholeShebangComedy]

If landis just said "force awakens is great but it's got some flaws" I'd be ok with that, but he doesn't just say that - he shouts and rants at times in this video as if the film is unwatchable. He gets really mad at points about how things don't work

[@LightYagami-iu4zb]

+Whole She'bang you're right Max Landis is such a HYPOCRITE

[@des.esseintes]

Do u understand screen writing once the scripts done everything is out of his control I also would like to say that u can't call him a bad critic just becuase his opinion is different from yers

[@spurs4lifeable]

"It's a B movie. Well, not a B movie, but, a B movie".

[@jayvianrl]

No he said it's a B movie. Well, not BEE movie. Which was like a 2011 cartoon movie.

[@zachnorton329]

I think he meant, It's not a bee movie, but it's a B movie

[@bradwright9477]

That was Dan. And last week he was loving the movie so he's clearly trying to help out Max

[@Deadwarrior000]

+Brandon Mason Not a B movie as in a movie that goes straight to SyFy. But if he had to rate it it wouldn't be Hey this movie was perfect A+

[@mattiej2311]

He most likely meant "not a low budget film", but you probably never even thought of that

[@jerz953]

I can appreciate Max's passionate and opinionated conversations, and always find them entertaining to watch. From what he said, I also trust in his creative vision. For that I will check out American Alien for sure.

[@jp3813]

There's a difference between a prequel and a previous movie. Saying that the original trilogy is now a prequel is like saying that Die Hard 1-4 are prequels because there's a 5th movie. The keys to the term are the release date and the setting. Episodes 4, 5, & 6 were NOT RELEASED AFTER episode 7.

[@MADVILLAIN669]

This is coming from the guy that wrote Victor Frankenstein and American Ultra. Jus sayin'.

[@scottfindlay9006]

I'm sure Kristian Harloff and Max would get in some heated arguments about Star Wars😂

[@Shifty777]

+Scott Findlay Yeah I would really like see someone actually argue Max, because he comes up with some dumb bullshit of Lea also dying, Captain Phasma capturing Rey and Finn, Rey turning Dark Side at the end of the movie and Darth Vader reappearing?! Come on, nobody would've thought those things were better than what we actually got!

[@Shifty777]

It could've been interesting if the story was setul differently. Next to that, you have to build up a trilogy. If you are introducing a likeable new protagonist only to turn her evil at the end of the movie wouldn't do it much good. One could argue it would be interesting if this twist meant that Ben would turn back to the light side in the next movie and the roles would reverse, but we wouldn't sympathise enough with his character anymore after his actions in this movie, and introducing a new character would be starting from scratch again.

[@MrJackarow]

+Steven van der Vegt If you haven't watched Chris Stuckmann's spoiler review of the movie I would. He does a really good job of backing up your point about building up the trilogy when he talks about how we don't know the big picture of the trilogy yet, so people may have unfair questions until episode 8.

[@jaycollins2036]

It’s interesting watching this after the last Jedi released. So many of the excuses people make for things in this movie not working not making sense because it will be explained in the sequel (phasma, reys connection to other characters and simply being good at everything, Leah seeming to know Rey, etc.) are now moot. Nothing was explained and the rose colored glasses everyone sees these films through is totally a thing and distracting people from the fact that there are fundamental flaws in these stories and they distract you with snappy [awkward] dialogue and flashy modern filmmaking. These films will not be remembered well.

[@TerranGuy93]

It's even more interesting after TROS. These films were basically pointless and added pretty much nothing to the greater mythos besides invalidating pretty much the entire arc of Vader and the Rebellion.

[@DuncanUdaho67]

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens SPOILER Review!" SWEET A NEW SCREEN JUNKIES STAR WARS REVIEW "feat. Max Landis" God dammit. Nevermind then.

[@Artofcarissa]

Ew why the hell is Max landis here, even before his sexist interview I knew he was a class A jerk. Rey struggled plenty in this movie so she was not a Mary Sue in any way. She didn't perfectly fly the millennium falcon, her lightsaber form was sloppy before she tapped into the force. She even decided to run away from the force at first when she touched the lightsaber so it shows she's not perfect. Mary Sue is just a term men use when they're uncomfortable with a female character having the same amazing abilities male characters have had for generations.

[@benimaru5000]

SuperArppis yeah I agree with you its like he never saw the originals the three main heroes were untouchable

[@Artofcarissa]

The point i'm trying to make is that people rarely criticize men for being all powerful and have things naturally come to them. No one called Harry Potter a Gary Stu for knowing how to speak parseltongue suddenly

[@Artofcarissa]

Kyle Schafer Somehow you think the word feminist is an insult which i don't understand. Besides I'm not that into labels, so your comment doesn't even offend me

[@Artofcarissa]

Yes thank you Becky, that's exactly right. Also the guy on the right in the video was spot on when he says it's all about tentpole filmmaking these days, trying to get to the point as fast as possible

[@SuperArppis]

Carissa Renard I know and I agree. But then again, men get very rarely critiqued as characters as it is. And that's one of the good things about male characters. They can be ANYTHING. Why female characters don't get to be equal is the very reason that EVERYONE has opinion what female characters SHOULD BE, men and women alike. And that's a problem. Because when one says: "Female character should be this badass character who takes no crap from nobody, and she's not that sexy either.", that person rules out list of characters there. This would never happen with male character. Well, it might, but not that often. But I agree with you. People should chill down the critique on all of the sides and just let female characters be molded into something more natural. So they could do the same things as male characters can.

[@davekillingsworth6637]

If you watch the videos JJ posted and interviews. This was built as a bridge and a lot of the fleshing out o the characters is being left open for the following up directors. Hell Luke is thin as hell in New Hope. Everyone is aggregating the first 3 for the characters. Honestly in New Hope its not much thinner than Vader - he was more or less a mustache twirling mustache. I look at this as a great movie to introduce all the new people (there are more new fans than SW legion) and was designed to - we have to go back ebfore we go forward so that we can link it all for the old fans and launch the world for the new ones. I find the conceit for old fans (I am one but not the conceit) that this should have been built just for them and took off where it left off and that just doesnt happen. You have to build it out and build it out and if you have to relay a little of the same foundation then I am ok with that and too many people like the guy in the video that hates this are probably too attached to their EU binky that has been taken away.

[@davekillingsworth6637]

+Dave Killingsworth ALSO....with a friend who is a fencer Finn can totally throw off Ren in when you have someone bashing at you with a broadsword style hard to "saber fight" - where I think Rey is either a Skywalker or a Kenobi and was trained to a point and then mind wiped for her safety and her training is busting through

[@sagittarius7539]

You really hit the nail on the head here, a lot of people seem to forget its only part one.

[@jacobhoward927]

I disagree with Max, I loved pretty much all of the new characters. My only problem with the movie is Starkiller

[@jacobhoward927]

Also R2 waking up out of nowhere is really weird

[@Contevent]

+Jacob Howard It's hinted that Luke wake him up, considering that in the vision, he shuts down when Luke touches him.

[@auntiegarfunkel]

I agree with you more than the guys in the video. (Maaybe not Dan murrel) but also, the raftar scene. Other than those, loved it

[@leew1598]

+Jacob Howard It's a bit like JJ's first Stark Trek film, great characters, great action, story a bit whatever..

[@redfoxxx2162]

force awakened was a new Hope knock off and fin was a terrible stereotypical clumsy black sidekick that was crowbarred into the movie. get over it

[@romeo1410]

Kylo RENs tantrum and everyone's reaction to them were hilarious

[@carlgeijer9944]

+Patrick C Rome (Rome1410) yes, the audience made this movie a lot more enjoyable

[@StellarLobos]

That scene with him absolutely destroying the torture room and the Stormtroopers backing away slowly was one of my favorites in the entire movie😂

[@Dinobot2]

Ooof, two people who disgraced themselves less than 2 years after this.

[@CoffeeMasterPlus]

Dude. Kylo had no training. He was a poser. He had not fought anyone with the Lightsaber either, EVER or at the very least a LONG long time ago. He had no one to practice with. He was a poser. Its that simple. No training. c'mon guys...

[@pmbarro]

No training? He trained with Luke though.

[@tommees8248]

he trained as a child

[@jonathanbethea8573]

+Tom Mees He was training with Snoke well into adulthood.

[@97legomaniac]

+I Smell Fresh Cash we dont know how long he was trained. neither we know how long he was trained with snoke.

[@echomjp]

+97legomaniac Presumably, he trained long enough to be trusted as a commander in the First Order by his master, and has real battle experience.

[@ZachBobBob]

Max is onto something when he said people don't like this because there was no 'good' part. Everyone nuts over Rogue One when it isn't THAT great because they remember that kick ass finale and the vader scene.