I...buuuuhokay. Thought we were taking another week off. Should be able to swing it, just gonna be a fuck of a long day for me.

True, it was just a thought I had.

The thing is though, it's not like she knew it was going to work, she didn't just stroll in there and go "You do this, you do that." it was a last ditch effort, a "fuck it, might as well give it a shot" move. She knows the force can do crazy things, she can probably feel it sitting there just on the edge of her vision ever since Maz pointed it out, that weird thing that was in the corner of her eye her entire life and only now is it actually named. She can feel it flowing in the room, as it flows everywhere... and so she gives it a shot. Aaaaand it doesn't work, she's tries again...the dude laughs at her and walks over. And stares her directly in the eye, she gets a connection, that real sudden human connection and boom, it all clicks into place. She can feel him there, feel his mind, and she plants a thought. The force flows, and it sticks. And she goes, holy shit, that was intense, and books it. In that moment that's what she needed to happen, so she focused and felt it, and it happened. Could she do it again right away...probably not. It's not like she immediately runs down the hall and starts mind controlling every soldier she sees.

I fully admit I probably have an entirely different perception of what the force is and how it acts than most people. But the way I've always viewed it is something primal, something living, something emotional. It's that sense of immediate connection when you look in someone's eye, it's deja vu, it's the tingle on the back of your neck when someone's starring at you from behind. It defies logic, it's not something you learn, it's something you feel. The training is only there to learn how to harness it and use it when you aren't under emotional duress.... and prevent it from over taking you.

The thing is, every time I hear someone try to tell me that it's "the exact same movie" or just a rehash, the most they can give me is the big details. Giant murder ball, desert planet, father/son relationship. And yes, absolutely that's all there, but everything that actually composes those large pieces is different. Fundamentally so. It's the same building blocks, but they're all made out of different materials, and painted pretty colours. The character dynamics are new, the story is different, we're accomplishing different things, we're talking about different things. So much so, that when the credits roll, you are left with something entirely different. I don't walk out of The Force Awakens feeling like I just watched A new Hope 2.0. I walk out feeling like I just watched something awesome and Star Wars-y and different.

Obviously your mileage may vary, but I just don't see the arguments for it being "just a rehash", there is too much else going on that is fun and character driven, and funny, and interesting.

If that's not enough for you, fine, that's you. But you cannot deny what this movie is, that A New Hope isn't.

They had R2 working his ass off to stop the compactor and even then were about 2.5 seconds away from being mush. Its not like imperial trash compactors are notiriously buggy or anything. That thing could and would have turned them all to paste without R2.

Unless we find out Phasma has her own personal snarky charming droid that follows her everywherw. If she went in there and they turned it on. Shes paste. (Note I would TOTALLY be down for cute and adorable phasma sidekick if she comes back)

Just got back from my second viewing. All round definitely enjoyed it a lot more the second time through, was able to pick out as lot of cool stuff and the things that bothered me before just blended into the tapestry of it all. Which was cool.

Although there are still some serious things that are just outright wrong with it.

A) That fucking end sequence. it was even more cringy the second time. Long passionate look from Rey. Long confused intense look from Luke. Even longer passionate look from Rey. Long, even more confused and intense look from Luke. Giant nauseating helicopter shot. Just. No. Guys. Stop.

B) The Rathkar sequence just doesn't work. It's cartoony, and goofy in all the wrong ways. But I think I figured out why. The Rathkars are the only creature in this movie that distinctly COULDN'T be a practical effect. They're all flaily and fast and wild, everything about them screams DIGITAL CREATURE. Plus the concept of them, the whole rolly polly tentacle bowling ball with a mouth thing is just... too much. Way too much. (And yes I know, Maz probably couldn't be a practical effect either, but she's just sitting there talking and walking around. She's not bouncing off the walls or doing Yoda flips. She could conceivably be a very very high tech practical effect and it wouldn't change anything about her performance.)

C) This one's more to blame on the marketting and buzz so it's kinda a half complaint/ half compliment. Phasma was built up as this Badass Stormtrooper character that was gonna be a huge character. She was plastered all over the hype machine and the marketing, and ooo we've got this really awesome, strong female character that's super awesome and badass...AAAAANNNNDDDD she's in exactly 2 scenes, the second one she dies after...off screen. Great job guys. NOW that said, looking at just how the movie works, I think she's awesome. She's this one clearly badass commander chick, that's there being all badass and chromey and nothings made of it. And then she comes back later and is snarky and Finn gets to go all street on her (which...eehhh...still have some character issues with Finn.). And then she's gone. She's just this really weird, unique piece of texture to the First Order that we haven't gotten before.

D) Finn. God bless him man, but damn. His characterization just doesn't work. He's supposed to be a guy who was raised from childhood to be a soldier. That's LITERALLY the only thing he's known his entire life, is being a soldier in a military system. And now he's breaking out of that system, because he doesn't believe in it anymore. That's a keyword there btw, he USED TO believe in this system, he was raised and brainwashed from childhood to believe the First Order were the good guys. But throughout the entire movie, we get exactly TWO SHOTS of any of that. The first one he's in full armour, so it's only through brute force bulk body language we understand what's going on. And the second when he pulls off his helmet, which is like 3 seconds. But immediately after that he's just fine with everything. Suddenly he's straight back into Moses mode (I haven't seen Attack The Block, just clips...so if it's not an exact comparison...get over it. You know I mean.) He's the sarcastic, up in your face homeboy. Which just doesn't work.

If you showed me Finn without any of the First Order backstory, I'd be totally fine with him, he's awesome and funny, and makes a really good banter partner for Poe. But in no way, in NO WAY, does anything about him say ex-soldier currently recovering from a complete and utter shift in his worldview.  Honestly this is the biggest problem of the movie for me. The Starkiller base is fine, it's a bit of retread, whatever it works for this movie, but how they treat Finn just completely undermines a part of the First Order. Finn is just your run of the mill soldier, do they all get off shift and turn into homeboy down the block who's just there cause ehh, whatever, better than sitting at home I guess? This military must be shit.

Anyways... moving on.

What didn't bug me AT ALL, were the callbacks. And I think I figured out why... If this movie were the first ever Star Wars thing made, completely 100% new, none of the callbacks would stand out. They're just part of the universe. Finn leans on a table and whoah this weird game board pops up with funny looking creatures on it and he stumbles for a second being awkward and charming. That's a cool weird bit of world building. Finn picks up a weird orb with bumps all over it, Huh that's a funny looking thing, chucks it aside. If you weren't looking for it, it would just be part of the world. Same for the gas masks, hey they're about to leak poisonous gas into the ship, here's some gas masks, we should use those. The movie never stops to go "Did ya get it? Did ya- did ya see what we did there?" It's just there and if you catch it, good on you super fan, we're moving on with the story.

All in all the movie definitely flowed a lot better the second time, it all just sorta seemed to work. So two thumbs way up

To be fair, scissors aren't likely to accidentally extend 3.5 feet backwards and stab you through the chest if you brush the wrong button. From that distance that probably is the safest way to point it.

Not that it doesn't look weird in the moment of course. but logically thinking. Accidentally stab the thin air, or accidentally stab myself... decisions decisions.

I'm not 100%, but I think that might be racist.

Chewie has repeatedly been established as a thoughtful, and caring guy that loves his friends deeply; and even  ignoring the fact that Han was most likely saying that just fuck with Luke, based on what we know about Chewie he's not really the type of person that's going to fly into a raging fury at the drop of a hat. He'll protect them furiously, and obviously he's a huge presence and incredibly powerful, but he's also just as much of a person as any one else, and is going to feel a loss like that deeply....and THEN fly into a fuck-you rage and blow the entire planet into oblivion if he can.

Which is exactly what he does.

Also, I mean, Wookie psychology is probably not horribly well established, but I imagine he went into shock for a few seconds there having just watched his best friend and partner slaughtered in front of him.

Oh wow. If that were just a stand alone piece of dialogue that would be a solid fuck you from Kylo. I think I would love it.

Yeah, I mean, that was just when he was first introduced obviously, they get the hologram thing out there pretty quick. But I was thinking it would be more like a "This is one of the old ones that has been in slumber for a thousand years, but a new something something has awoken him..." But that's getting into some straight up Lovecraft shit there. Which that's a movie I'd totally watch the hell out of, but it's not really the mainstream Star Wars everyone's looking for right now.

Snoke being...oh my god....Snoke being like, a con man, would be amazing.

Although, going back to the actual movie for a second. I'm really in love with what they did with Kylo. For the first half of the movie he's this insanely badass presence that is intensely intimidating. But then as soon as he takes off the helmet we realize that he's realize this disturbingly perverse little psychopath with daddy issues and WAY too much power. He goes from being Vader 2.0 to a Criminal Minds killer with force powers in 3 seconds flat. The only thing I really wish they'd done, is save that reveal for 8, but obviously things got rushed along a bit by Harrison basically begging to be killed off, so they couldn't really save that for the 3rd act twist in 8.

I realize this post is so Squirrel it's not even funny, but stay with me here...

Having had a bit to process things that's where a lot of my issues with TFA comes from. Don't get me wrong, I loved the shit out of it, and it FELT absolutely like Star Wars again which is amazing. But everything felt just a bit too rushed. Everything is sort of mentioned in passing before we have to get the next thing out of the way. Which I can't tell is a symptom of this being the thing that needed to prove Star Wars to the world again, or if they're just trying to set EVERYTHING up for the next 2 movies and it just becomes too much.

When we were walking out of the theater I mentioned to the friend I went with, that this feels like it's going to be a LOTR thing, where these 3 movies are going to be one giant movie. Which I mean, obviously. Luke doesn't even say a single word in this movie. But there are so many little things that get set-up that just never get touched again, and obviously they're setting them up to get paid off in 8 and 9. But it just leaves this one feeling the slightest bit...empty. If that makes sense.

...yeah. That was kinda forming as I was typing, but I think that kinda sums up my issues with it, such as they are.

3rd bit of BullSkit's Night At The Movies.

This one...uh....this one was weird.