Pyrian on 18/12/2017 at 06:34
Honestly, I'm disappointed with how few new force powers we're getting in the new trilogy.
The "Knights of Ren", a force-sensitive group unconnected to the Jedi and Sith, who notably debuted with force-freezing a blaster bolt (and hasn't done even that since)? A new light-side force-user apparently force-taught by the force-balance? They really could've gone places with that. But they didn't. It's canon from the first movie that new force abilities can be manifested and from the prequels that they can be taught. Why not more of them?
Instead we get variations on telekinesis, mind reading/connecting, mind control, prophecy, and force ghosting, all of which were present in some form in A New Hope, and I guess a bit of cloud lightning from Yoda-ghost (speaking of "If he can do that, why doesn't he..."). Color me unimpressed.
AluminumHaste on 19/12/2017 at 17:03
Have you not watched any of the movies?
Mind Reading: (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlgef12WOpo)
Also in the first movie, Luke learns to use a light saber in about 20 minutes of "teaching". Nothing new here.
Renault on 19/12/2017 at 17:24
I've wondered since seeing TLJ if they originally had intended to do more with Snoke, and then just changed their mind halfway through. He was featured in the very first Force Awakens teaser, but he ended up just being kind of a prop. Sort of similar to Darth Maul's role, a placeholder until someone more interesting took his spot.
I'm really wondering what they'll do with the third movie now that we've cut down significantly on the number of major characters. Kylo Ren is obviously the centerpiece - will he be defeated and killed by Rey, or will he be turned to the light side to fight some unknown enemy that we haven't seen yet? The options seem limited, but maybe they'll surprise us.
SubJeff on 19/12/2017 at 18:50
He'll be redeemed in death. A la Vader.
There is nothing new on this earth.
heywood on 19/12/2017 at 18:55
I see a big difference between the mind tricks in Ep 4-6, which are limited in power and require training to master, and being able to read a star chart suitable for navigation out of somebody's head.
Quote:
Also in the first movie, Luke learns to use a light saber in about 20 minutes of "teaching". Nothing new here.
On that point, you have got to be kidding me. A light saber is a sword, anyone can pick one up and use it. But Luke doesn't become proficient with it until RotJ. Go watch the last scene of ESB where Luke is swinging the thing around like a novice, and that duel happens after some initial training from Obi-Wan, practicing on his own, and presumably some further training from Yoda. Contrast that with Rey, who has no training at all, and the very first time she fires one up she beats Kylo Ren with it.
The central stories of Ep 1-3 and 4-6 were the growth and development of a Jedi. In each trilogy, it took three episodes to make a Jedi, and much of the exposition is focused on training needed to master force powers. And then along comes The Force Awakens, and we see Rey has grown up without knowing anything about the force, and doesn't want to have anything to do with it, but suddenly in the third act she has instant access to force powers without any training or practice. It just threw the entire franchise on its head IMO.
Renault on 19/12/2017 at 20:16
Luke is pretty good with the lightsaber in TESB, he goes toe to toe with Vader for a while, but in the end he isn't quite good enough. But you can't compare that to the Rey/Ren fight - both of them are beginners (Rey much more so), while Vader was a Sith lord and Jedi Master.
Note that in the TESB duel, Vader starts out very cocky with his one handed fencing style, and by the end of the battle he is using two hands. Luke is giving him a pretty good fight and he didn't expect that. (Impressive, most impressive).
All that said, I'm surprised Finn lasted as long as he did vs. Kylo before getting his ass whooped.
Tomi on 19/12/2017 at 20:49
Quote Posted by heywood
Contrast that with Rey, who has no training at all, and the very first time she fires one up she beats Kylo Ren with it.
That did bother me a little bit at first as well, because Kylo Ren was such a miserable villain in the previous movie, and that scene made him look even worse. But then again Rey had been used to take care of herself back on her home planet, so it's not like she was fighting for the first time in her life. And of course
everything can simply be explained with "the Force is strong with her". :p
rachel on 20/12/2017 at 06:22
Also Kylo had just taken a bowcaster blast to the frikkin chest. This thing makes people explode, that he survives is in itself pretty badass already. I mean, I'm not in his fan club but cut the guy some slack... :p
heywood on 20/12/2017 at 16:01
I failed to mention that Rey out-mind reads him on her first try, and he certainly isn't injured there. And she out-force pulls him on her first try as well.
FWIW, I thought that Kylo getting shot by Chewy and surviving the blast was pretty lame also. It's not like he force redirected the blast like Vader does in ESB. And it's not like he's fully armored like a storm trooper. The force doesn't make your body any less vulnerable, or at least it didn't before TFA. It just didn't make any sense to me, and making him get injured also seemed superfluous to the plot.
And while I'm bitching, I hated the way the light sabre duel ended with them holding each other and then a clean rift just happens to open up right between their feet. That was so cheesy.
Other than some nostalgic Han Solo moments and General Hux, there was pretty much nothing I liked about The Force Awakens. The prequels were better.
rachel on 20/12/2017 at 17:44
Fair enough :)
