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Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (SPOILER-FREE THREAD)

Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

A review thread should be started because it opens in several places in Europe tomorrow, including Belgium where I will be seeing it tomorrow evening.
I'll put one up if Jedi_Master doesn't.

Just a few hours left for some of you.
 
Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

A review thread should be started because it opens in several places in Europe tomorrow, including Belgium where I will be seeing it tomorrow evening.
I'll put one up if Jedi_Master doesn't.

Just a few hours left for some of you.

He did create one a while back but it seems to have gone now.
 
Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

Review embargo lifted.

57 reviews counted at rottentomatoes.

100%.
 
Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

76 Positive
1 Negative

The sole negative review's headline is "a glib facsimile".

Sounds like a hater to me.

Spoiler free review by the guys from AMC Movie Talk

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx3GvqoSQ_M[/yt]
 
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Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

Sitting in my seat right now. They filed us in an hour early to make room for the 12.30 line.
 
Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

Have a ticket for Friday.........just went and got a ticket for midnight screening here in UK........couldn't hold out.
 
Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

It appears as though JJ has created a masterpiece. Many critics are calling it the best movie of the year. Oscar contender? Sadly probably not.
 
Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

Beyond The Trailer Non-Spoiler review:
[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V--IYoEBdwA[/yt]

Grace gives the movie a B+. She says the movie is very charming and pays homage to Episode 4 but criticizes it for a lack of action and a villain that is too comical.
 
Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

It appears as though JJ has created a masterpiece. Many critics are calling it the best movie of the year. Oscar contender? Sadly probably not.
Well, as the writer of the Variety piece says, it's easy to get caught up in your emotions when you're at a film premiere with all the glitz and glamour and halls full of cheering people. That's why I'm going to be paying close attention to the negative reviews as well as the ones that are positive, but not 4-star "OMG this is a masterpiece!"

A lot of the overwhelmingly positive response is probably people who were hopped-up already anyway, and since the film isn't a disaster, they're so happy that "Star Wars" is back that they're prone to hyperbole.

In fact, the reviewer I read the most (who is also a huge Star Wars fan and more positive on the prequels than many) hasn't posted his review yet, but tweeted "Temper your expectations," and saying his review will be up later today.
 
Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

Well, I've seen it. The guy seated next to me spent a distracting amount of time rifling thru a plastic bag, eating copious amounts of chocolate and licking his fingers. You know when something annoys you and you try not to notice it, then it's *all* you notice? It pulled me out of the movie a few times.

Anyway, like I said - I've seen it. I'll need to see it again without distraction to take it in more fully.

I wasn't sure what to expect and was dubious of getting over-hyped after my experience with Star Trek Into Darkness. I liked it. It wasn't perfect, but it was a solid return to the Star Wars Universe. After having an hour to digest the experience, it's hard to imagine them doing a better job of kicking off a new saga post-ROTJ. Great performances all round, plenty of eye candy and a final scene that will leave you wanting more! (As in, right there and then, damnit! :lol:)

4/5
 
Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

Well, as the writer of the Variety piece says, it's easy to get caught up in your emotions when you're at a film premiere with all the glitz and glamour and halls full of cheering people. That's why I'm going to be paying close attention to the negative reviews as well as the ones that are positive, but not 4-star "OMG this is a masterpiece!"

A lot of the overwhelmingly positive response is probably people who were hopped-up already anyway, and since the film isn't a disaster, they're so happy that "Star Wars" is back that they're prone to hyperbole.

In fact, the reviewer I read the most (who is also a huge Star Wars fan and more positive on the prequels than many) hasn't posted his review yet, but tweeted "Temper your expectations," and saying his review will be up later today.

I read some of the negative reviews and some of them seem to be silly nitpicks. For example, one critic was lamenting the fact that the plot fails to to explain why the First Order is on a planet killing campaign to begin with - wondering why the motivation was not explained.

When I read criticisms like that, I tend to think that the critic himself is really stretching to find something negative to say.
 
Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

^ Yeah, I hate nitpicky critics too. No movie is without flaw. And this is Star Wars...the Empire/First Order likes to build stuff that kills planets. It's how they roll.
 
Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

A lot of the reviews I've read just seem to be garbage, like talking about how they were crying because of the nostalgia elements and other stuff. The BBC one seemed pretty good, just saying it was a good movie that was essentially a remake of the first with nostalgia everywhere. It seems like its going to be a good movie, but the fact it's Star Wars makes people lose their shit.

I'm sceptical about them because of Star Wars 3 reviews.
 
Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

Very positive spoiler free (if you have seen the trailers) review from Chris Stuckmann here.

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBMW3y86cpo[/yt]
 
Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

Just got back from it. It's 3.30 am, I'm tired, and I'm avoiding spoilers. This is gonna be short.

It was good, I liked the characters (new and old), and anyone who claims it didn't have enough action must have walked into the wrong film. Kylo Ren is no Darth Vader, but he was never going to be.

End of the 3.30 am review.
 
Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

James Berardinelli at Reelviews gave it 3 stars out of 4. His biggest issues were how derivative it was with so many recycled elements used for nostalgia and the lack of camaraderie between the characters, which gave the original trilogy an emotional core but seems thin here. He liked it and many things were well done, but it's no masterpiece.

I can respect that take on things, and since he has written often over the last decade or more about seeing Star Wars as a kid in 1977 and his love of the franchise, I can't doubt that he's wearing his "fan" and "critic" hats at the same time when writing this review. The only thing I would question is that...recycling elements kind of expected. You NEED to recapture the magic of this universe and show people the same stuff they have always loved. It only becomes a problem when story elements are recycled for new characters...in my opinion, anyway.
 
Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

The only thing I would question is that...recycling elements kind of expected. You NEED to recapture the magic of this universe and show people the same stuff they have always loved. It only becomes a problem when story elements are recycled for new characters...in my opinion, anyway.

Exactly. Had JJ not recycled many of the story elements, and after re-booting Star Trek to the chagrin of so many Trek fans in the wrong way - he likely would have faced death threats for, "trashing," another beloved franchise.

Hopefully in the eyes of many Trek and Wars fans of both, JJ has redeemed himself in their eyes.
 
Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

Yeah having read a ton of reviews by now, the one common complaint definitely seems to be how it recycles too much of the plot from the first movie, and doesn't tell an original enough story.

But people have been saying the exact same thing about ROTJ for years, and it's honestly never bothered me there either so I don't really expect it to be an issue for me here. And I'll probably be too caught up in the new characters and amazing action to really notice much anyway. At least for the first few viewings.
 
Re: Star Wars: The Force Awakens Reviews (no spoilers)

In fact, the reviewer I read the most (who is also a huge Star Wars fan and more positive on the prequels than many) hasn't posted his review yet, but tweeted "Temper your expectations," and saying his review will be up later today.

I've found a few critical reviews out there today.

The Atlantic's review, by Christopher Orr, was along those lines -- enthusiastic, but tempered by two things (a lack of backstory and a derivative plot).

Kenneth Turan's review in the Los Angeles Times is so grudgingly positive that I'd call it a negative review.
 
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