What the title says. If you've seen the film or don't care about having the film spoiled this is the thread for it. No holding back on plot reveals.
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I'm starting off by listing most of the major stuff off, you've been warned. Read no further if you still haven't seen the film and don't want it spoiled....
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I'll say that this is probably the most well acted Star Wars film to date overall. Yes, previous entries have had some great actors, but the cast as a whole does a better job than any previous Star Wars film. No one is going to win an Oscar for acting here either, but everyone does a good job being convincing in their roles and handling the heavy stuff well.
Some of the shots in the trailer don't actually appear in the film. Such as the lightsaber being handed off or Kylo Ren igniting his lightsaber in the snow forest. That shot is on the Starkiller base. The name makes sense as it basically sucks up an entire star and then throws the absorbed energy at hyperspace speed at its targets, destroying several planets in the process. This makes for a very cool destruction sequence at the end of the film that isn't just an explosion, but rather the consumed star consuming the planet from within.
The McGuffin of the film is a map that leads to Luke Skywalker. It's a partial map, the New Order has the rest, but so does R2-D2, who spends most of the movie in 'low power mode', or a self induced coma. He comes on when convenient towards the end.
Poe Dameron obtains this from Max Von Sydow, who then immediately dies at the hands of Kylo Ren. He gives it to BB-8, who is then the central focus of the film. Our heroes spend most of the film trying to get him to the resistance, while the First Order is trying to find him and the map first.
Poe Dameron doesn't die in the crash at the beginning of the film. This is obvious if you've seen trailers prior to the film, no he's not a clone. At least it doesn't seem like it at this point. He says he was thrown from the Tie Fighter crash and woke up in the desert. I don't see the Resistance cloning him without telling him about it, the New Order might do something like that, but I doubt the good guys would.
Several planets are destroyed in the film. It's unclear how much damage this causes to the New Republic. The New Republic and the Resistance are not the same thing. The Republic does not appear to be officially at war with the New Order, but is not so secretly supporting the Resistance within New Order territories.
Kylo Ren is Han and Leia's son. This doesn't stay secret very long and is revealed early on in the film.
Rey is the main hero of the film and likely the trilogy. She has strong force powers and picks up a few Jedi tricks quickly. A little too quickly actually, she may have been trained by Luke and then had her memory taken from her before she ended up on Jakku. I suspect the look on his face may have been surprise that she had returned as much as anything else. She is old enough in the flashback we see of her being left there that she could have been a Padawan for a few years by that point, she also takes to the lightsaber pretty easily for someone with no real combat training. Finn at least is trained as a Stormtrooper, and it's clear they do have some melee training. Especially if she's Luke's daughter.
Finn is a Stormtrooper who defects. He gets cold feet at his first battle and can't handle the slaughtering of innocent and rescues Poe Dameron to help him escape the order. He has a thing for Rey, and she seems to return those feelings at least somewhat. He may also have the ability to become a Jedi, but it's unclear. He's definitely not as strong with the Force as Rey, but is able to handle himself with a lightsaber. He does lose both times he tries to fight with one, but does handle the weapon pretty well despite that. He is passed out and injured, but appears to be in stable condition at the end of the movie. Kylo Ren kicks his ass in a lightsaber fight, but he managed to hold him off to start with. I suspect he may also receive Jedi training at some point in future films.
Stormtroopers are not clones. They are taken from their families at a young age, given designation numbers, and Finn's actual "name" is FN-2187. Poe gives him his name in the escape sequence and he uses it from then on. In case you didn't catch that reference, 2187 is Leia's cell number in A New Hope. [It's also the name of an abstract short that had a heavy influence on Lucas's original Star Wars.] They are then trained by the First Order as Stormtroopers from the time they are infants. This is likely a remnant of how it worked in the Empire during Palpatine's rule once they abandoned the clone army for a more traditional force. It's also clear that Stormtroopers are both men and women, but men are far more common.
It seems to be implied that Kylo Ren is the one who turned on Luke Skywalker and destroyed his attempts to train new Jedi. I suspect he had multiple students and that most of them died. One may have been a romantic involvement, because Rey's lineage is never revealed in this film, and I still suspect she may be Luke's daughter. Especially given her supposedly extraordinary abilities in the force. It is not clear why she was abandoned on Jakku, but it may have been to protect her from something. It is extremely doubtful that she is Han and Leia's daughter given the amount of exposure she has to both of them in this movie with no mention of it. Though it is entirely plausible that they might be her aunt and uncle and might not have met her before.
The way Luke looks at her when she appears in front of him may also hint at it. His expression says a lot, and he's not exactly happy to see her, nor does he seem upset. She's probably going to have a hard time convincing him to train her.
I suspect that Snoke is actually the one who turned on him and that he turned and took some of his younger students with him, who then become the Knights of Ren. I like calling him Emperor Gollum.
We only see the other Knights of Ren in a vision Rey has when she finds Luke's Lightsaber. Han Solo takes Rey and Finn to a bar where it is inside a box in a back room. How it got there is never really explained in the movie and it's kind of cheeky about it. There will be comics and novels that go into it most likely, I doubt we'll hear about it in later films.
Captain Phasma is never really utilized. She's intimidating in the film's opening, but largely loses her menace throughout the film until she's captured and humiliated in the finale. They never show her fate, but it's implied they toss her down a garbage chute. She may or may not have survived the destruction of Starkiller Base. I suspect she has and that she may appear in future films and possibly redeem herself as a villain.
Han Solo dies. He is killed by Kylo Ren in the climax of the film. They confront each other on a bridge within Starkiller Base and he is impaled on his lightsaber and his body falls off the bridge and into a void. The base is destroyed shortly after, there is no doubt he's dead and gone for good. He likely won't be appearing as a ghost, but may have a cameo in future films as a recorded message or something.
Rey ends up with the Millennium Falcon and has Chewbacca with her at the end of the film.
Leia is the one who talks Han into getting himself killed. She urges him to try and save their son and convinces him to try and speak with him when he sees him, which gets him killed.
Luke has no lines in the movie and only appears in the final moments outside of a brief shot that may or may not be of him in the 'vision' Rey has. We see someone who is cloaked with a metal arm touch R2-D2, but the arm we see in that shot looks different from the one Luke has in the final shot of the movie. I suspect that might actually have been a shot of Rey's mother, and that it may be her who puts the lightsaber in the possession of Maz, the bar owner who has a thing for Chewbacca. It seems like the Wookie might be uncomfortable with that and may have been deliberately avoiding her. The pair have no direct interactions in the film, so it's hard to say for sure. Han seems amused by it at least and gives the Wookie an excuse for being gone when she asks him about Chewie.
Luke just turns around and looks at Rey, and that's the final shot of the film.
Anyway, it was an almost religious experience seeing the movie. It was great all around, though as I said, not Empire either.
A lot of that might have to do with the state of the prequels. I remember being hyped for Episode 1 and then having it be what it was, but this is that same feeling, but with a movie that actually doesn't disappoint.
.
.
.
I'm starting off by listing most of the major stuff off, you've been warned. Read no further if you still haven't seen the film and don't want it spoiled....
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I'll say that this is probably the most well acted Star Wars film to date overall. Yes, previous entries have had some great actors, but the cast as a whole does a better job than any previous Star Wars film. No one is going to win an Oscar for acting here either, but everyone does a good job being convincing in their roles and handling the heavy stuff well.
Some of the shots in the trailer don't actually appear in the film. Such as the lightsaber being handed off or Kylo Ren igniting his lightsaber in the snow forest. That shot is on the Starkiller base. The name makes sense as it basically sucks up an entire star and then throws the absorbed energy at hyperspace speed at its targets, destroying several planets in the process. This makes for a very cool destruction sequence at the end of the film that isn't just an explosion, but rather the consumed star consuming the planet from within.
The McGuffin of the film is a map that leads to Luke Skywalker. It's a partial map, the New Order has the rest, but so does R2-D2, who spends most of the movie in 'low power mode', or a self induced coma. He comes on when convenient towards the end.
Poe Dameron obtains this from Max Von Sydow, who then immediately dies at the hands of Kylo Ren. He gives it to BB-8, who is then the central focus of the film. Our heroes spend most of the film trying to get him to the resistance, while the First Order is trying to find him and the map first.
Poe Dameron doesn't die in the crash at the beginning of the film. This is obvious if you've seen trailers prior to the film, no he's not a clone. At least it doesn't seem like it at this point. He says he was thrown from the Tie Fighter crash and woke up in the desert. I don't see the Resistance cloning him without telling him about it, the New Order might do something like that, but I doubt the good guys would.
Several planets are destroyed in the film. It's unclear how much damage this causes to the New Republic. The New Republic and the Resistance are not the same thing. The Republic does not appear to be officially at war with the New Order, but is not so secretly supporting the Resistance within New Order territories.
Kylo Ren is Han and Leia's son. This doesn't stay secret very long and is revealed early on in the film.
Rey is the main hero of the film and likely the trilogy. She has strong force powers and picks up a few Jedi tricks quickly. A little too quickly actually, she may have been trained by Luke and then had her memory taken from her before she ended up on Jakku. I suspect the look on his face may have been surprise that she had returned as much as anything else. She is old enough in the flashback we see of her being left there that she could have been a Padawan for a few years by that point, she also takes to the lightsaber pretty easily for someone with no real combat training. Finn at least is trained as a Stormtrooper, and it's clear they do have some melee training. Especially if she's Luke's daughter.
Finn is a Stormtrooper who defects. He gets cold feet at his first battle and can't handle the slaughtering of innocent and rescues Poe Dameron to help him escape the order. He has a thing for Rey, and she seems to return those feelings at least somewhat. He may also have the ability to become a Jedi, but it's unclear. He's definitely not as strong with the Force as Rey, but is able to handle himself with a lightsaber. He does lose both times he tries to fight with one, but does handle the weapon pretty well despite that. He is passed out and injured, but appears to be in stable condition at the end of the movie. Kylo Ren kicks his ass in a lightsaber fight, but he managed to hold him off to start with. I suspect he may also receive Jedi training at some point in future films.
Stormtroopers are not clones. They are taken from their families at a young age, given designation numbers, and Finn's actual "name" is FN-2187. Poe gives him his name in the escape sequence and he uses it from then on. In case you didn't catch that reference, 2187 is Leia's cell number in A New Hope. [It's also the name of an abstract short that had a heavy influence on Lucas's original Star Wars.] They are then trained by the First Order as Stormtroopers from the time they are infants. This is likely a remnant of how it worked in the Empire during Palpatine's rule once they abandoned the clone army for a more traditional force. It's also clear that Stormtroopers are both men and women, but men are far more common.
It seems to be implied that Kylo Ren is the one who turned on Luke Skywalker and destroyed his attempts to train new Jedi. I suspect he had multiple students and that most of them died. One may have been a romantic involvement, because Rey's lineage is never revealed in this film, and I still suspect she may be Luke's daughter. Especially given her supposedly extraordinary abilities in the force. It is not clear why she was abandoned on Jakku, but it may have been to protect her from something. It is extremely doubtful that she is Han and Leia's daughter given the amount of exposure she has to both of them in this movie with no mention of it. Though it is entirely plausible that they might be her aunt and uncle and might not have met her before.
The way Luke looks at her when she appears in front of him may also hint at it. His expression says a lot, and he's not exactly happy to see her, nor does he seem upset. She's probably going to have a hard time convincing him to train her.
I suspect that Snoke is actually the one who turned on him and that he turned and took some of his younger students with him, who then become the Knights of Ren. I like calling him Emperor Gollum.
We only see the other Knights of Ren in a vision Rey has when she finds Luke's Lightsaber. Han Solo takes Rey and Finn to a bar where it is inside a box in a back room. How it got there is never really explained in the movie and it's kind of cheeky about it. There will be comics and novels that go into it most likely, I doubt we'll hear about it in later films.
Captain Phasma is never really utilized. She's intimidating in the film's opening, but largely loses her menace throughout the film until she's captured and humiliated in the finale. They never show her fate, but it's implied they toss her down a garbage chute. She may or may not have survived the destruction of Starkiller Base. I suspect she has and that she may appear in future films and possibly redeem herself as a villain.
Han Solo dies. He is killed by Kylo Ren in the climax of the film. They confront each other on a bridge within Starkiller Base and he is impaled on his lightsaber and his body falls off the bridge and into a void. The base is destroyed shortly after, there is no doubt he's dead and gone for good. He likely won't be appearing as a ghost, but may have a cameo in future films as a recorded message or something.
Rey ends up with the Millennium Falcon and has Chewbacca with her at the end of the film.
Leia is the one who talks Han into getting himself killed. She urges him to try and save their son and convinces him to try and speak with him when he sees him, which gets him killed.
Luke has no lines in the movie and only appears in the final moments outside of a brief shot that may or may not be of him in the 'vision' Rey has. We see someone who is cloaked with a metal arm touch R2-D2, but the arm we see in that shot looks different from the one Luke has in the final shot of the movie. I suspect that might actually have been a shot of Rey's mother, and that it may be her who puts the lightsaber in the possession of Maz, the bar owner who has a thing for Chewbacca. It seems like the Wookie might be uncomfortable with that and may have been deliberately avoiding her. The pair have no direct interactions in the film, so it's hard to say for sure. Han seems amused by it at least and gives the Wookie an excuse for being gone when she asks him about Chewie.
Luke just turns around and looks at Rey, and that's the final shot of the film.
Anyway, it was an almost religious experience seeing the movie. It was great all around, though as I said, not Empire either.
A lot of that might have to do with the state of the prequels. I remember being hyped for Episode 1 and then having it be what it was, but this is that same feeling, but with a movie that actually doesn't disappoint.
