Today, I bring you something only slightly LEGO related. Star Wars is my other obsession, so of course I saw Star Wars The Force Awakens on opening night. It was so good, I saw it twice this weekend. If the originals were 10’s, Star Wars The Force Awakens is a solid 9. I had made up my mind that I probably wasn’t going to bother getting the new LEGO sets, but this movie changed my mind. At the very Least I will pick up Poe’s X-Wing Fighter 75102 and the First Order Special Forces Tie Fighter 75101.
If you have not seen Star Wars The Force Awakens, stop reading. Spoilers ahead!
If you have not seen the movie, stop reading! The rest of this post is spoiler heavy.
You have been warned…
The good
- This FELT like Star Wars. This was not like the prequel garbage. Star Wars The Force Awakens has familiar faces, familiar ships, and familiar sounds. The TIE fighters sound like TIE fighters. The X-Wing fighters sound like X-Wings. The stormtroopers were people dressed in costumes running around on sets, not CGI puppets moving in a virtual environment. This is was everything I hoped for when The Phantom Menace came out, but never got.
- It felt like seeing old friends; Han, Leia, Luke, Chewie, 3PO, R2, Admiral Ackbar, Nien Numb, etc. The old characters passed the torch properly. I can now “believe” what comes next.
- The casting was good for the most part. I loved the actors that played Fin and Rey. I’m still not sure about Kylo Ren, though he did look a bit like a young Han. And Poe might grow on me, but he was a little…. goofy.
- I disliked Kylo Ren the first time, but liked him much more the second time. He’s very powerful, and has an arrogant confidence. His voice at times can sound like a child’s toy voice changer. His voice acting bothered me the first time, but the second time I heard it, it sounded more like he was supremely confident in his abilities and his mission; like there was nothing he couldn’t handle.
- Until there was something he couldn’t handle. I loved how he freaked out and destroyed things with his lightsaber.
The bad
- The Supreme Leader. This character was WAY to cartoony for me. I realize he was a hologram, but he looked like something out of Star Wars rebels.
- Starkiller Base. Seriously. How many times is the Empire/First Order going to build a giant base with a giant canon that can destroy a planet? AND give it a single point of failure???
- Captain Phasma. This character had so much potential. I wanted to see her do something totally awesome, but she did nothing really.
- I thought Fin broke down WAY took fast. He went from a life of military training to questioning everything in mere moments. And then he was all too happy to gun down his old brothers at the first chance he got.
- Almost too much going on. I thought this movie could have been broken into two movies easily. I realize they’re setting up for future episodes, but come on. There were just WAY too many questions left unanswered, and things that could have been in Episode VIII:
- Where did the First Order come from? Were they a part of the Empire off in the Outer Rim like Grand Admiral Thrawn’s fleet?
- Who was the old man with the map on Jakku? Was he on the same planet as Rey to watch over like Obi Wan did for Luke?
- Who is Rey? The force is obviously super strong with her. Is she somehow Luke’s daughter? Did he send her away to protect her?
- Who was the little alien that had Luke’s lightsaber, and how did she get it?
- What’s with powerful Jedi hiding out on remote desert planets?
The ugly
- Again, the Supreme Leader. His worst scene was when he was talkiing to Kylo Ren about Rey. “She resisted YOU???” It felt like a scene from the dark days of The Phantom Menace.
- Kylo Ren punching himself in the gut after Chewie shot him. What was that all about? Was he supposed to be feeding off the pain? If so, it didn’t come across like that. It just made him look crazy, and not in a good way.
- Kylo Ren’s hair and tiny helmet. I did not like his tiny little helmet at all, and no way would it have hidden all that hair.
So that’s my take on it. Did you see it yet? What did you think?
I am an Adult Fan of LEGO (AFOL) and an active member of the Michigan LEGO User Group (MichLUG). I have loved LEGO for as long as I can remember. I am currently working on the following models:
– UCS Millenium Falcon
– Emmett’s Apartment Building
– Gringott’s Bank
Recent Comments