There’s no doubt Episode 7 is a good movie. It’s enjoyable and action-packed. And will certainly usher in a new generation of fans. Even the critics agree. But movie reviewers are not the biggest Star Wars fans.

The Force Awakens, as some have pointed out, does not feel like Star Wars.

With the Force Awakens, there are multiple issues with how it mistreats the universe. Episode 7 callously breaks the rules just to set up the next scene. Things are thrown out the door, just so the plot can move at the usual JJ frenetic pace. Not to mention, deja vu Death Star 3 and total rip-offs from previous Episodes.

[spoiler alert]

But the most egregious thing that the Force Awakens does. The most unforgiving thing that it does is take away the happy ending of Episode 6.

• The New Republic almost immediately is mired down in bureaucracy and can’t defeat the remnants of the Empire even after 30 more years of conflict
• Han Solo can’t give up his old ways and instead becomes a dead-beat dad–falling back to his borderline illicit activities
• Leia drowns herself in her career and gives up on her family
• The happy Ewok Village honeymoon between Solo-Organa is left in tatters
• The only known, next generation Skywalker joins a homicidal cult and commits patricide
• Luke, the boy too afraid to leave the moisture farm, flees and drops out of society as soon as his newfound Jedi Academy runs into trouble

Episode 6 is the fitting climax to 6 movies, 121 Clone Wars episodes, and 24 Star Wars Rebels episodes. Return of the Jedi fulfills the Prophecy that brings Balance to the Force. The chosen one destroys the Sith. And the Jedi are ready to return.

And then Episode 7 happens and none of it really mattered. So for the next 2 movies, no matter what great obstacles are overcome and prophecies fulfilled during Episode 8 and 9, it could all become unraveled again when Episode 10 rolls around. Episode 7 makes happy endings meaningless.

Then again, the happiest ending of all is a $2 billion dollar blockbuster.

*3 movies.

Otherwise, spot on. Pretty much everything went wrong for 30 years just so that we could have "A New Hope II: Hope Harder"

I'm sorry for you - that you feel that way.

To me, Episode 7 felt very much like Star Wars.

Sorry you didn't think it felt like Star Wars. I felt completely the opposite as did pretty much everyone I know that has seen it. Felt more like Star Wars than anything in the EU ever did. Or any of the Prequels. And I like the Prequels.

Jim

You should probably alert people of the giant spoiler you posted...

Actually I think the biggest problem is that it followed Star Wars too close. It follows the New Hope a little too much.

But yeah the Not Darth Vader was a little too crybabyish (think Anikin and Luke combined) you don't give a **** about this so called republic as it is destroyed faster than Alderan. It doesn't even give you enough to care about the planets that got nuked. In Episode 4 you get to see Leia plead for the planet and also it was the origional destination of Obi wan and luke so there was much more narrative in the planet being destroyed also the impact was felt by Obi Wan. With the starkiller base it was no this is not the deathstar yadda yadda yadda, The Republic is destroyed but we don't know how or what. We see people look in hopeless and then everything blows up.

Uh, those things you described couldn't be more Star Wars. The galaxy is at war, albeit a cold one. Han is a scoundrel. Leia is the consummate professional. The Skywalker family has issues. Everyone's favorite OT film is ESB, and you want happy endings?

Honestly, I just don't know what people were really expecting any more...

There’s no doubt Episode 7 is a good movie. It’s enjoyable and action-packed. And will certainly usher in a new generation of fans. Even the critics agree. But movie reviewers are not the biggest Star Wars fans.

The Force Awakens, as some have pointed out, does not feel like Star Wars.

With the Force Awakens, there are multiple issues with how it mistreats the universe. Episode 7 callously breaks the rules just to set up the next scene. Things are thrown out the door, just so the plot can move at the usual JJ frenetic pace. Not to mention, deja vu Death Star 3 and total rip-offs from previous Episodes.

[spoiler alert]

But the most egregious thing that the Force Awakens does. The most unforgiving thing that it does is take away the happy ending of Episode 6.

• The New Republic almost immediately is mired down in bureaucracy and can’t defeat the remnants of the Empire even after 30 more years of conflict
• Han Solo can’t give up his old ways and instead becomes a dead-beat dad–falling back to his borderline illicit activities
• Leia drowns herself in her career and gives up on her family
• The happy Ewok Village honeymoon between Solo-Organa is left in tatters
• The only known, next generation Skywalker joins a homicidal cult and commits patricide
• Luke, the boy too afraid to leave the moisture farm, flees and drops out of society as soon as his newfound Jedi Academy runs into trouble

Episode 6 is the fitting climax to 6 movies, 121 Clone Wars episodes, and 24 Star Wars Rebels episodes. Return of the Jedi fulfills the Prophecy that brings Balance to the Force. The chosen one destroys the Sith. And the Jedi are ready to return.

And then Episode 7 happens and none of it really mattered. So for the next 2 movies, no matter what great obstacles are overcome and prophecies fulfilled during Episode 8 and 9, it could all become unraveled again when Episode 10 rolls around. Episode 7 makes happy endings meaningless.

Then again, the happiest ending of all is a $2 billion dollar blockbuster.

A few things:

• The war with the Empire hasn't been going on for thirty more years, according to the books. The New Republic issued a disarmament edict that forced the remnants of the Empire to flee to the Unknown Regions where they began regrouping as the First Order. Leia saw the threat they posed and put a Resistance together. The bit in the opening crawl saying she did so with the Republic's support appears to be misleading: they thought she was crazy and paranoid.

• The series is called Star Wars. It would be very difficult to show us a movie in the series where all is well, and peace has been permanently restored to the galaxy. As Maz explains, evil will always resurface. Yes, Anakin/Vader destroyed the Emperor, restoring balance. But he also wiped out nearly the entire Jedi Order. Likely the most un-Star-Warsy thing I've ever seen is the opening crawl to Jedi Outcast: "It is a time of relative peace in the galaxy" -ehm, no. It's Star Wars, not Star Getting-Along-With-Each-Other.

• No, please God no Episode X. A trilogy of trilogies was the plan; stick to the plan, Disney! Spin-off films like Rogue One are being made anyway, so I don't see the point. But Disney does seem addicted to sequels so this will probably still happen.

To be fair Han didn't run off until after kylo went emo and started wearing black, so there's a good 20ish years Han and Leia had together, then they distracted themselves from their grief.

Luke disappearing was very disappointing though, no wonder he had time to shoot flash episodes when he had a whole days shooting for the force got out of bed.

I only had a couple issues with the film.

First, putting aside its clumsy oneupmanship of the Death Star, Starkiller Base was unnecessary to the plot. Both Death Stars were MacGuffins: narrative tools for moving the plot forward. Well, TFA had that from the outset with the disappearance of Luke, and the map to finding him before the badguys did, and I wish the film could have simply been about that, rather than suddenly exploding a system I've never heard of halfway through.

And second, Han's line, "There was too much Vader in him" makes no sense, since any moron can tell that Kylo was adopted seeing as he looks nothing like Han, Leia or her parents.

Dear god. Why is it your opinion deserves it's own thread, and doesn't go into the boatload of other TFA reaction threads.

Han and Leia's kid became a mass murderer. That kind of thing can be rough on a marriage.

I also suggest you look up pictures of young Harrison Ford. Adam Driver has a very strong resemblence.

Dear god. Why is it your opinion deserves it's own thread, and doesn't go into the boatload of other TFA reaction threads.

Han and Leia's kid became a mass murderer. That kind of thing can be rough on a marriage.

I also suggest you look up pictures of young Harrison Ford. Adam Driver has a very strong resemblence.

Well you could just not read them instead of constantly blowing up at everyone.

Rotj didn't end s**t in the old EU either. It's Star WARS not Star let's-debate-tax-law.

Most Disney stories end with .. "and the Princess lives happily ever after".

Nope. I like that like most marriages/unions, there are complications and not all of them work out. The fact that Han and Leia are separated shows that they're more human and not impervious to all harm.

Ep VII was very SW. Agreed, a little too similar to EpIV. but very SW.

My only hope is that Rey does not end up being Luke's daughter. It's a big universe out there .. and so far everyone's related.

My only hope is that Rey does not end up being Luke's daughter. It's a big universe out there .. and so far everyone's related.

The fashionable thing to do in order to be trendy is find an amazing movie that everyone loves, and claim that it is awful. Just like when somebody says The Avengers wasn't good... I just laugh and think to myself that I loved it.

In this case, I shouldn't even respond as I'm continuing the thread, but I LOVE episode 7. It felt Star Wars-ish very much so, and I understand why they did everything they did. It rocked and has me pumped for the future!

Begone Negativity!

I find this the most ridiculous criticism of the movie yet. The new movie ruined the happy end of the last movie... of course it did. Stories need conflict. Stories focus on the turning point in that conflict. The viewer gets a glimpse of that world at the time pivotal things are happening.

If you want a drama about Han and Leia:the perfect honeymoon, you'll need to wait for a Lifetime Original movie.

If you want political exposition of 30 years in the Republic Senate ask the History Channel (ancient aliens lol).

Star Wars is aliens and action and space wizards. This movie delivered. Everything that happened in this film is canon now. Anything in the EU that contradicts it is now abolished. If you demand further explanation for any reason, read the new canon books or wait for the next film. If you think things couldn't happen the way they do in the film because of earth science and known physics, this film isn't about earth science so you're wrong. Their fictional science is so far beyond our own that it can only be filmed using models and cgi. If you want characters wasting time to explain how everything they do works in their science, you want the other Star franchise (fyi, they make it all up too, then put fancy words to it like dilithium and tricorder to fill the hour time slot. Han shoots first to move the story along, Geordi monologues about how complicated his job is to delay the finale).

It is absolutely possible to write a fantastic, engaging Star Wars story that does not take away the happy ending that culminates from 6 other movies and 140+ episodes.

It is absolutely possible to write a fantastic, engaging Star Wars story that does not take away the happy ending that culminates from 6 other movies and 140+ episodes.

Then I suggest you get started and present your final draft to Disney right away.

It is absolutely possible to write a fantastic, engaging Star Wars story that does not take away the happy ending that culminates from 6 other movies and 140+ episodes.

Then I suggest you get started and present your final draft to Disney right away.

tweeeeeeeet.

Penalty: Crabbok. ARGUING TO AUTHORITY.

Possession will be returned to Patox and play will commence from the fifty yard line.

It is absolutely possible to write a fantastic, engaging Star Wars story that does not take away the happy ending that culminates from 6 other movies and 140+ episodes.

It is absolutely possible to write a fantastic, engaging Star Wars story that does not take away the happy ending that culminates from 6 other movies and 140+ episodes.

A happy ending that was in no way indicative of the future geopolitical climate of the galaxy. A New Hope had a happy ending too, do the next two episodes also '≠ Star Wars'? Maybe you saw something after the RotJ credits that I didn't, or maybe you're getting tripped up by the EU. Either way, I'm still not really sure what your expectation was, and if you don't have the imagination to back up your own claims then perhaps you'd be better off not stirring the pot. 'It can be done, but I won't tell you how!' just rings a little hollow, yeah?

It feels more Star Wars than anything since Return of the Jedi.

It feels more Star Wars than anything since Return of the Jedi.

I dunno about that. Some of the early-mid '90s PC games gave me all the feels.

It feels more Star Wars than anything since Return of the Jedi.

I dunno about that. Some of the early-mid '90s PC games gave me all the feels.

I only had the X-Wing series and while awesome, not so much on the feelings department for me. That I can remember. Though, maybe, some missions that took place right after Hoth?