The fangirl awakens!

[lumy12]

I waited 'til today to see The Force Awakens, thinking it wouldn't be quite as crazy as a midnight showing or any time yesterday. Plus, I am much more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 9am than any other time of day. Perfect! The line was way longer than I'd expected though, and I was between two fellow nerds seeing it by themselves... each for the second time. I'd been planning on listening to my iPod while in line to avoid hearing spoilers from such fans, but since we were chitchatting, it seemed rude. I needn't have worried, they were cool. I sat next to a couple who hadn't seen it yet and they made decent "single serving friends."

But, on to the movie! Spoilers ahoy!


I don't think my babble will amount to an actual "review," per se. I leave that to the professional writers. I read a handful of those and have to say I'm surprised at the nitpicking. I shouldn't be... that's their job, right? I left the theatre completely blown away, thinking there wasn't a single negative thing anyone could say about this movie.

I'm a bit of a pollyanna, though :)

I am VERY glad I remained spoiler-free. I did not even watch any of the trailers after the first teaser one that came out eons ago, and everyone thought I was crazy. I regretted watching that first one, too! Not going to watch any from now on. I'd much rather see things for the first time on the big screen. Now, granted, it's impossible to avoid ALL spoilers... especially when you have to post jedi_news 2 or more times a week! But I will try. (Yes, Yoda, there IS a try)

First off, I still hate it when people act like the prequels were the worst thing ever and they violated their childhood blah blah blah. But, I'm trying not to hate it. To just accept that people have differences of opinion and there's nothing wrong with that. Unless someone gets in my face about it, I'ma let it slide. Live and let live. And hope that by the time the next movie comes out, people will have moved on. I think some of them just like to say "I've waited 30 years for this" because it's more dramatic than 10 years?

As for TFA... I can't add much to what's already out there. Across the board, people love Rey and Finn and Poe and BB-8 and Maz. Yay! I do too. Am I the only one who believed Poe was dead when Finn did? I was thinking, "Huh, well it DOES seem like Daisy and John are doing all the promo stuff, maybe they're NOT going to be 'the new trio' as predicted." Silly me. I'm glad I didn't know, though.

I pretty much knew I would love Rey... I was surprised how awesomely likable Finn was. Dude is funny as hell! He cracked me up. The humor in this movie overall was a pleasant surprise. The dialogue felt appropriately Star Wars-y, without it being... you know, bad. BB-8 was also immediately likable. I shouldn't have worried about that, but I am still struggling to like Chopper on Rebels, so I wasn't sure. Chopper is mean! And it gets played for laughs. He just rubs me the wrong way. BB-8, however, is pure ADORABLENESS. And I actually got teary when they told him his master was dead :(

My favorite new character, though, is Kylo Ren. I'm already a fan of Adam Driver from his work on Girls (how many new fans is that show gonna pick up now??)... but GUH, this character is right up my alley! Angsty... Dark... conflicted... I don't agree that he's "Anakin Skywalker done right," because I loved Anakin and truly don't understand the issues people had with Hayden Christensen's performance. I think he suffered from some unfortunate Star Wars-y dialogue, but he got the angst down pat, did he not?! Kylo Ren is new and different, though, and I hope people stop comparing the two.

Here's the fangirly part (should anyone not wish to read, haha. Actually I don't know who all even reads this journal anymore??). I don't recall Adam ever being so damn good-looking on Girls. What the hell happened? Is it that glorious hair?? LOL. I look forward to hearing people bitch about his shampoo-ad-worthy hair -- that's a fun item to nitpick or nerdrage on, no? So, yeah. Hawt. I need to get icons. People don't make icons around here like they used to! Or maybe I just don't know where to look. I need to familiarize myself more with how to find things on LJ now cuz either I'm an idiot or they've made it much harder than it used to be to find stuff. Anyway... I see that people are hoping Rey turns out to be Luke's daughter. Noooooooooo, if she's a Skywalker than I can't 'ship her with Kylo! ASIDE FROM THAT (and isn't that reason enough??), I hope she's not simply because not fucking everybody has to be related to each other, damnit. I much prefer to think of her as new blood. So what if she's Force-sensitive? Just because there's no Jedi anymore doesn't mean there's any less Force-sensitives across the galaxy.

Not that I don't like the obvious pairing of Finn/Rey too. I'm good with that. People are hoping for a Finn/Rey/Poe love triangle? I want Finn/Rey/Kylo. Yum. And I want fic! (in general, not just for them) Someone please write something!
/fangirling

I was pleasantly surprised at how involved the old characters were. I expected no more than a cameo from any of them, really. Leia didn't have a lot to do, but Han was in most of the movie. As for Luke, it FELT like he was in it since the story was about him... how perfect was that ending, though?! He was in it as much as he needed to be. What a great set-up for the next movie.

That awful scene where Kylo kills Han... I've read that people were surprised by that. Really?? I mean, I was a little, when I was in the moment, but as soon as he started heading out on that bridge... it was just such an obvious homage to A New Hope, plus if Kylo's going to be this huge villain why would he NOT kill him? You can't have him turn to the light in the first movie! That's assuming he turns at all... I would think so, because it's Star Wars, and that's a recurring theme. But who knows? Maybe they'll tread on new ground. Maybe they haven't even decided what to do with him yet. Are the next 2 movies all perfectly laid out? I don't know how these things work but I'm guessing they're not. Anyway, I like to think that people were shocked by that because Adam's performance in that scene was brilliant.

I'm curious to see what a second viewing will bring. I probably won't cry 6 times again... who knows, maybe I will. My boss is taking me on Monday. During work hours! (ssshhh don't tell) How cool is that?? Not just me, but only one other coworker. We have to pretend we're going somewhere else. Ha!


I guess that's enough babble for now. If you haven't seen the movie yet, GO NOW BEFORE YOU GET SPOILED. May the Force be with you!

Comments

[wicked-jester.livejournal.com]

Hi there. Nice post on the movie, I agree with a lot of your thoughts. I went and saw Star Wars last night, and my new favorite is Kylo Ren, too. I also think Adam Driver is incredibly handsome and am surprised that so many people seem to disagree with that on various internet forums. At this time, it appears that only you and I (apart from a small handful of communities) have him listed as an interest across the entirety of LJ... and for that reason, I would like to add you as friend. Let me know if that is okay. Take care. :)

-Adrienne

[luminations.livejournal.com]

Oh yes please add me! Adam/Kylo lovers unite!!! I don't post much. Am trying to be better about checking my f-list though and will squee with you over our man any time you're in the mood ;)

I'm a bit surprised at people's reaction to Adam, too. I mean, did they not see what he looks like when he was cast, if they didn't already know? He was a bit of an acquired taste for me on Girls (the more I got to like his character, the more I liked his look), but he looks even better to me in TFA. Do people just want conventional hotties like Chris Hemsworth or what?! I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees his beauty :D

[wicked-jester.livejournal.com]

I'm a sporadic poster myself, more of a community user, so that's all okay. :)

I only recently discovered the wonderfully talented Adam, and I plan to get caught up on his past performances, too. I absolutely loved him as Kylo in the movie when I went to see it on Sunday. I intend on seeing it again soon (partly because I didn't really know what was going on half the time, lol). I think he's gorgeous, not to mention very intelligent and well-spoken in interviews. Seems like a lot of people are rather shallow and can't appreciate that.

[luminations.livejournal.com]

I saw it again on Monday (during work! I love my boss! She sat next to me and grabbed my hand when Han died, awwww)... there are still a few scenes I didn't catch what people were saying because the audience was laughing too loudly. Myself included though :) No worries, eventually I will hear every last word. Will see it again this weekend by myself and likely New Year's weekend with some friends (OMG HOW CAN ANYONE WAIT THAT LONG TO SEE IT FOR THE FIRST TIME).

People are shallow indeed. Oh well, more Adam for the rest of us then... er, except I guess it doesn't really work like that!

I hardly ever use Twitter anymore but omg, Emo Kylo Ren (https://twitter.com/KyloR3n) is a hoot!

[frostbit-sky.livejournal.com]

BB-8 was also immediately likable. I shouldn't have worried about that, but I am still struggling to like Chopper on Rebels, so I wasn't sure. Chopper is mean! Me too. I think I only like Hera, Sabine and Kanan. I want the show to get rid of Ezra and Zeb and Chopper. Have Ahsoka on all the time!

LOL - I am shallow. I feel he is too unattractive to be Han and Leia's son. There is no way to pretty people like them made a baby that looks like Adam. No way. He has no features that resemble theirs. (On the other hand - Rey is a perfect match to be Luke's daughter because she looks like a mix of Shmi, Padmé, and Leia.)

I like Adam and think he's a good actor. Plus he's honorable because served in the US Marines.

On a last note: you have a nice boss!

[luminations.livejournal.com]

Haha! Seriously -- "No, Chopper, we can't blow that thing up while the children are still inside" -- WTF. He's getting meaner! I hope they have him turn to the dark side and that becomes the reason.... ha! I like everyone else, though.

Someone else I saw it with said he looks like Han! LOL it's funny how people's opinions can be so different. Plenty of us DO think Adam is attractive in his own way, though, so maybe he's just not your thing? I don't think he really looks like Han or Leia myself. As for Rey and Luke... I'm still wishing they won't be related (and grudgingly accepting that it's inevitable... how many fans would be pissed off now if she WASN'T his daughter?). I actually did think of Shmi when I watched it again a couple days ago with my brother... at the end, when Rey kisses Finn's forehead and says they'll see each other again... that was SO TPM! Shmi saying goodbye to her baby boy. A little different, because Anakin brought it up first, but she answered him... and Rey looked rather like Shmi there too, I thought, I guess cuz that scene was in my head.

I do have a nice boss! I'm a little worried though, I loaned her my OT dvds "for 2 days" but she keeps forgetting to bring them back and it's been a week now. She has a tendency to lose stuff :(