50 minutes ago, Eoen said:

I saw the ghost and Wedge, I’m not sure how I missed the Collosus it’s huge.

Same here. And I was looking for the Colossus after that comment about the fleet shot on The Star Wars Show.

Capsule reaction: I enjoyed it, and definitely want to see it again. The structure of the trilogy as a whole reminds me of the OT: a first movie that establishes what’s going on and tells a fun (if straightforward) story, a middle movie that challenges preconceptions of what the next movie in the series would be, and a wrap-up that plays it safer than the previous entry and has to sprint to the proverbial finish line to tie everything together.

If the past few years are any indication, when my dad gets into town next week, he’ll want to see it. (Entirely coincidentally, last year, with no December Star Wars, he ended up not coming. 🤣 ) And I have no problem with that.

From a GM perspective, it ended up not requiring me to toss any retcons into my future-set Raiders of the Lost Jedi campaign.

2 minutes ago, Varlie said:

So you're saying Star Wars is like fine wine, gets better with age?

Or like ACV? FFG has to add new rules for force users because apparently now you can die using the force. ☠️

Oh no!!! It is almost like transferring your last bit of lifeforce Would be bad for your lifeforce!

48 minutes ago, Varlie said:

So you're saying Star Wars is like fine wine, gets better with age?

Indeed. As long you start with a few good ones, it'll matter less and less if the rest are not quite as good. Keep at it all night, and even the holiday special will hit the spot at the end of the night.

Regardless of what you think of Kylo Ren, TRoS (again) confirms that Adam Driver is an amazing actor!

I agree, that Rey better had been a nobody. For those who desperately need reasons for her strength in the Force, this Diad(?) thing should be sufficient.

About Rey being a Palpatine and so defeating her grandfather I also dislike, that it diminishes the Prophecy of the Chosen One.

IRONIC though, that good ol Sheev gets roasted similar to Revenge of the Sith. Mace Windu deflected the force lightning and so did Rey.

5 minutes ago, Vader is Love said:

1) Regardless of what you think of Kylo Ren, TRoS (again) confirms that Adam Driver is an amazing actor!

2) I agree, that Rey better had been a nobody. For those who desperately need reasons for her strength in the Force, this Diad(?) thing should be sufficient.

3) About Rey being a Palpatine and so defeating her grandfather I also dislike, that it diminishes the Prophecy of the Chosen One.

4) IRONIC though, that good ol Sheev gets roasted similar to Revenge of the Sith. Mace Windu deflected the force lightning and so did Rey.

1) Aye. He is. No doubt. His struggle with the light side has been epic to witness over these three films.

2) Yeah, the bloodline thing is a bit messy. The dyad thing was cool, and again it reminds me of this old Dark Hoese Star Wars (Tales?) story about two twins. They could've done more with that. It was in its own way a kind of prophecy though, with Leia's lightsaber and vision and all.

3) Not really, prophecies are weird narrative tools I find. Skywalker does kind of bring balance, first Anakin by destroying the Jedi (I reference here another Star Wars Tales story with Yoda and Mace in a diner on Coruscant, some grains of salt, and Yoda in a kiddy chair ), then Luke by destroying the Empire and giving the Jedi and Republic a new chance, then Rey (a self-proclaimed Skywalker by the end) and Ben who together destroy the Emperor and the Sith.

4) I thought about that too. Mace was just not powerful enough to blast off Palps' face, and was a bit of a tool to hesitate just because of Anakin... but then, prophetic powers probably held his hand.

2 hours ago, Eoen said:

I saw the Ghost and Wedge, I’m not sure how I missed the Collosus it’s huge.

Its easy to miss. The fleet was so big itself. It was near the back, I noticed it's silhouette sticking out.

Wish the space battle was filmed clearer. Hardly anything got a clear focus in it. Woukd have appreciated some more close up pans like establishing shot of the Falcon, there seemed a lot of classics and new ships in there. Like I'm sure I saw an Alliance Assault Frigate in one shot. Guess we were spoiled by how well the battle in Rogue One did.

14 minutes ago, Vader is Love said:

Regardless of what you think of Kylo Ren, TRoS (again) confirms that Adam Driver is an amazing actor!

Did you notice he didn't say a single thing after meeting Han Solo? Everything after that was carried just on his acting.

2 hours ago, Varlie said:

So you're saying Star Wars is like fine wine, gets better with age?

Thus far, that seems to be the indicator, at least with visual media.

Though it does come with the caveat that you shouldn't look too closely at the contents, as all the films fall apart and suffer from so-called "plot holes" if examined under too much scrutiny. It is after all a series centered the drama caused by one family involving space wizards that was meant for the young and young-at-heart.

Granted, there's a fair chunk of stinkers from the 90's era of Star Wars books that's still not looked upon fondly even after two decades; Crystal Star and Darksaber are two titles from that era which keep cropping up on "why the Expanded Universe needed to go!" lists, and the Vong remain about as divisive now as they did when they first showed up.

17 minutes ago, LithiumBlossom said:

Did you notice he didn't say a single thing after meeting Han Solo? Everything after that was carried just on his acting.

Yeah. I may thing he's a bit odd looking, but the guy can indeed act. His body language and expressions through the fight with the Knights of Ren was very well done.

Speaking off, I enjoyed the smirk he grew when Anakin's lightsaber showed up for him before he started going all Jedi: Fallen Order on his former comrades pretty much broadcasting his thoughts of "oh yeah, game on b***hes!" as the lighsaber ignited.

Which brings up another thing I liked in the film, and that was the fight choreography. Granted the Ben vs. KoR fight was hampered a bit by the lighting and everyone wearing dark outfits, but the fights between Rey and Kylo were very well done, with the last one showing that even with all her additional training Rey can't quite match up a Kylo Ren that's fresh and not emotionally conflicted, such as what happened in their duel at the end of TFA.

Okay, now that I've had time to process the movie. . . .

8 hours ago, Desslok said:

If you let the light and noise and pew-pew-pew wash over you, its fine enough. But the second you apply ANY thought or logic to the script (although calling it a script is being extremely generous. It's really more of a list of bullet points than a story) it instantly falls apart.

For example: The emperor surviving. The explanation of how he didn't blow up consists of "A wizard did it". That's it. Dude, that's kind of an important plot point. You sort of need to explain that better. Because of Space Magic doesn't count.

Ands even beyond the intensely stupid script, it's just boring. Dull, emotionless boredom. Boring saber fights. Boring space battles. Boring chase scenes.

And he doesn't let any of it breath. It's all just bulletpoint, bulletpoint, bulletpoint, exposition dump, bulletpoint. There's no room to let the story just be, even for a moment. Here's Space Burning Man, and now we're on to iceberg world, and look it's a massive Sith fleet and now it's off to Endor and then here's . . . .

Just stop. Please stop moving for just one second and let me take something in instead of bludgeoning me over the head and moving onto the next bulletpoint.

And that's the problem, that Abrams cant take his foot off the gas for one second, because otherwise the audience would stop and go "That doesn't make any **** sense!"

I'm not the only one. We've all been to opening night of Star Wars movies over the years, we all know what its like. Nobody dresses up and there was zero energy in the room. Even the big fist pumping moments that should have been "**** YEAH!" were met with dead silence or maybe a light chuckle from a joke. When the credits rolled, there was short, quiet applause and nothing else.

The character and emotional beats don't land. You're inundated and overwhelmed with so much . . . . stuff and noise that it's hard to follow what's going on with what any given character is thinking or feeling. There are new characters that are introduced and then don't do anything. There are heel/face turns that come out of nowhere and are instantly glossed over without any impact on the plot.

This was an intensely mediocre movie - at best.

I loved every minute of it!

The fast pace of the first act was jarring, but it really made me feel like the FO was mercilessly hunting them down and they could hardly stay ahead. This really upped the stakes for some things.

Rey's big reveal. I'm so-so about it. I kinda expected JJ to make something out of Rey and I think this was the least best option to clean up the mess of TLJ. As soon as Sidious said he made Snoke, I was suspecting that he also "made" Rey. But I am ok with this as I feel it really paid off in the end.

Hyperspace skipping was cool AF! I remembered (because I re-watched TLJ recently), the FO figured out how to track ships through hyperspace, so I imagine the Resistance is desperate enough to try hyperspace skipping to lose them and the FO advanced the technology to scale it to starfighters.

My minor quibbles:

• I really wish Rey and Ben did not kiss
• I would have been ok with Chewie's death
• I wish they could have done a bit more with Finn's force sensitivity
• I would have been ok with 3PO staying memory wiped
• I wish they would have let JJ direct EP VIII as well
• I wish Meriadoc Brandybuck wasn't in it for such a minor role. All I could see was an out of place hobbit.

Things I enjoyed a lot:

• The opening sequence! Holy laser beams! Ren was fierce and Sidious was spooky!
• The fast paced first act. I was totally sold on it. Every time the FO showed up I was like ****, Ren is relentlessly going after them!
• Rey force pulling the FO carrier. This was exactly a big force moment I was hoping for and that I enjoy in my SW movies! Awesome!
• Everything about the DS wreckage and lightsaber fight. Totally Epic! Plus her vision in the vault, very cool!
• Everything about the last act. Good lord there is a lot to unpack there! If Rey is the embodiment of past Jedi, do Jedi then reincarnate? Sidious was **** powerful to nearly take out the Resistance fleet himself! Floating puppet Sidious! An entire arena of dark side acolytes!!?? Rey easily fending off Sidious's guards. Ben fighting his own Knights of Ren. The bond between Ben and Rey to exchange sabers, very cool! That was foreshadowed nicely.
• That fleet! Both the FO fleets and the fleets of just people! Epic!
• Hux's reveal, quite a surprise but it was very much telegraphed when they were sentenced to execution. I wish they would have made Hux defect completely, and not just have a hate for Ren, but meh, I never really liked his character anyway. His best moment was his speech on Starkiller base.

Overall I had a blast! I am going to see it many more times!

24 minutes ago, Jegergryte said:

4) I thought about that too. Mace was just not powerful enough to blast off Palps' face, and was a bit of a tool to hesitate just because of Anakin... but then, prophetic powers probably held his hand.

Hm when I think about it, Palps more or less killed himself, since his lightning was reflected. Thing is Rey needed the power of the other Jedi to withstand.

25 minutes ago, LithiumBlossom said:

Did you notice he didn't say a single thing after meeting Han Solo? Everything after that was carried just on his acting.

Holy crap you're right! Didn't realize it until now...

11 minutes ago, Donovan Morningfire said:

T hough it does come with the caveat that you shouldn't look too closely at the contents, as all the films fall apart and suffer from so-called "plot holes" if examined under too much scrutiny. It is after all a series centered the drama caused by one family involving space wizards that was meant for the young and young-at-heart.

Yeah, this. I always watch the movies with friends and most of them like Star Wars, but they don't "feel" it. As we discussed TRoS afterwards, one of my guys said he didn't like the movie because of plotholes. Then he began with a scientific explanation why a ship cannot hyperjump into the atmosphere.

5 hours ago, Eoen said:

No I really enjoyed the movie it ties the whole sequel trilogy together. Disney hit it home. The score was excellent, the new characters where entertaining and Rey came into her own.

Man, could you ship me a copy of whatever movie you saw, doesn't feel like the same one I saw

9 minutes ago, Desslok said:

Okay, now that I've had time to process the movie. . . .

For example: The emperor surviving. The explanation of how he didn't blow up consists of "A wizard did it". That's it. Dude, that's kind of an important plot point. You sort of need to explain that better. Because of Space Magic doesn't count.

Ands even beyond the intensely stupid script, it's just boring. Dull, emotionless boredom. Boring saber fights. Boring space battles. Boring chase scenes.

And he doesn't let any of it breath. It's all just bulletpoint, bulletpoint, bulletpoint, exposition dump, bulletpoint. There's no room to let the story just be, even for a moment. Here's Space Burning Man, and now we're on to iceberg world, and look it's a massive Sith fleet and now it's off to Endor and then here's . . . .

Just stop. Please stop moving for just one second and let me take something in instead of bludgeoning me over the head and moving onto the next bulletpoint.

And that's the problem, that Abrams cant take his foot off the gas for one second, because otherwise the audience would stop and go "That doesn't make any **** sense!"

I'm not the only one. We've all been to opening night of Star Wars movies over the years, we all know what its like. Nobody dresses up and there was zero energy in the room. Even the big fist pumping moments that should have been "**** YEAH!" were met with dead silence or maybe a light chuckle from a joke. When the credits rolled, there was short, quiet applause and nothing else.

The character and emotional beats don't land. You're inundated and overwhelmed with so much . . . . stuff and noise that it's hard to follow what's going on with what any given character is thinking or feeling. There are new characters that are introduced and then don't do anything. There are heel/face turns that come out of nowhere and are instantly glossed over without any impact on the plot.

This was an intensely mediocre movie - at best.

I mostly don't agree, but I thinks it's a fact, that this movie suffered from the inconsequential writing of its predecessors. Should have been a 3 hour movie.

Also:

Friend (GM): Palpatines force lighting was ridiculously overpowered, kinda DragonBall-esque. So bad.

Me: Yeah, sure. Well, do you think I could combine Unleash with Battle Meditation, to get the the range up to planetary scale for a few strain? Also I'd like to start with force rating 50.

1 hour ago, LithiumBlossom said:

Did you notice he didn't say a single thing after meeting Han Solo? Everything after that was carried just on his acting.

42 minutes ago, Donovan Morningfire said:

Yeah. I may thing he's a bit odd looking, but the guy can indeed act. His body language and expressions through the fight with the Knights of Ren was very well done.

It was just an idle thought I’d had before, but now I’d really love to see him tapped for the lead in Neil Gaiman’s Sandman adaptation for Netflix.

1 hour ago, Inquisitor Tremayne said:

• I wish Meriadoc Brandybuck wasn't in it for such a minor role. All I could see was an out of place hobbit.

You have a better eye than I do. I had to google/IMDB the character he played in TRoS. I honestly don't even recognize him from his roll in LotR.

1 hour ago, Desslok said:

The emperor surviving. The explanation of how he didn't blow up consists of "A wizard did it". That's it. Dude, that's kind of an important plot point. You sort of need to explain that better. Because of Space Magic doesn't count.

Even in a movie that over explained everything there are still some who feel it is not enough.
You are aware that palpatine literally talked about overcoming death in the prequels and not anywhere is the “a wizard helped me survive an explosion” close to an explanation for anything. In fact he states he has died many times.

10 minutes ago, DanteRotterdam said:

Even in a movie that over explained everything there are still some who feel it is not enough.
You are aware that palpatine literally talked about overcoming death in the prequels and not anywhere is the “a wizard helped me survive an explosion” close to an explanation for anything. In fact he states he has died many times.

It's the fact that - for an analogy - the Titanic shows up in New York, everyone goes "Wait a second, what is that doing here?" and Captain Smith going "Yeah, don't worry about it. That's a story for another time."

For such a important plot point, a handwave is not emotionally or narratively satisfying.

The Emperor's return is not the only story point that does that. Like the fake out deaths that go "Hah! Just kidding! He's really alive!" seconds later, or the heel/face turns for no reason other than "reasons". There are tons and tons of non-emperor asspulls that the script tries to get away with that land with a thud for me.

Scavenger made good.

Largest pile of scrap in the galaxy and only she knows how to navigate there!

8 minutes ago, Desslok said:

It's the fact that - for an analogy - the Titanic shows up in New York, everyone goes "Wait a second, what is that doing here?" and Captain Smith going "Yeah, don't worry about it. That's a story for another time."

For such a important plot point, a handwave is not emotionally or narratively satisfying.

The Emperor's return is not the only story point that does that. Like the fake out deaths that go "Hah! Just kidding! He's really alive!" seconds later, or the heel/face turns for no reason other than "reasons". There are tons and tons of non-emperor asspulls that the script tries to get away with that land with a thud for me.

I’m not this movies biggest fan but this is just looking for things to hate.
I would have liked for the Emperor thingy to have been more of a narrative element than a crawl thing, but stating the Emperor showing up needs more explanation is showing an incredible lack of insight into what has been shown in the movies that came before or a lack of memory of what was discussed in them.

Okay, fine - leave that one plot point aside. What was the point of Poe's girlfriend? Shows up, does nothing. What was the point of Finns new girlfriend. Shows up, does nothing. What was the point of unicycle droid? Gets found, does nothing. What was the point of Chewies "death"? Didn't move the plot along at all. What was the point of Poe's girlfriend's "death"? Does nothing to move the plot along. "Hello, I'm a spy and a traitor to my people! for Reasons". This story is nothing but a long list of fetch quests. It's like a really terrible Final Fantasy video game, Go here, get this thing, talk to this guy, go there, find that, talk to that guy, fight the end boss.

Narratively, it doesn't engage me. Emotionally, it leaves me cold. It's the cinematic equilivant of cotton candy - it tastes great for a few seconds but it melts away almost instantly in your mouth and you forget all about it right after.

2 minutes ago, Desslok said:

What was the point of Poe's girlfriend?

Gave insight into Poe’s past. Showed how she overcame betrayal when the cause was just.

3 minutes ago, Desslok said:

What was the point of Finns new girlfriend.

Why is it his “girlfriend”? Seems something you need to check.
Her point was that Finn was not an anomaly so there is hope for other troopers.

4 minutes ago, Desslok said:

What was the point of Chewies "death"?

To dramatically show a change in Rey’s powers.

5 minutes ago, Desslok said:

What was the point of Poe's girlfriend's "death"?

You mean her planet blowing up? It seems reasonable to have a character be emotionally invested in the planet being blown up.
Come on man, these were so obvious.

11 minutes ago, DanteRotterdam said:

Come on man, these were so obvious.

And none of that worked for me. Nothing in this movie connected to me on an emotional or intellectual level. It fails as simple basic storytelling. It felt safe, it felt corporate. I don't want to feel bummed out when I see a star wars movie. I should be wanting to grab the nearest carboard tube and start leaping around like Star Wars Kid.

I did not get that with this movie, and that makes me sad.