Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser #2

[-Akronite-]

Gour, I will say that you made a lot of fair points. Most of them I have already accounted for, namely Rey's lack of flaws. But I felt that both in storytelling and the portrayals we saw (along with the efforts that went into making it look and feel like a Star Wars movie) were enough to make it a good movie. Rey, Finn, BB-8, and the additions brought by the old cast (namely Han and Chewie) were all great to watch IMO and Ren is strange and different from anything we've seen in terms of his characterization and motive. Characters drive Star Wars, and I think this is an area where they really delivered (and where Abrams tends to). Most of the decisions made seemed easily justifiable.

Again, it's 4th for me, but I'd still like it even when not judging it against the prequels. It did tell a story, quite a few. The lack of conclusions makes it very hard to judge though. It certainly didn't feel quite as complete on its own as one of the OT (namely ANH).

Honestly, watching 1-3 I know that I'm watching Star Wars but it feels fake because so much of it is fake. Everything is sterile. This new movie is closer to the feel of the OT, but I don't know if it's possible to exactly recapture that magic. It's a very particular feeling watching 4-6. That being said, I felt closer with this new installment.

 

[Jack Brickman]

The only original trilogy film that was complete on its own was New Hope, and Lucas had no idea if he'd be making more films at that point so it made sense to tell a complete story. Remember that Hollywood wasn't built on sequels and franchises back then. Star Wars was the series that effectively created the blockbuster, after all. Empire certainly wasn't a complete story, as it ended on a couple of enormous cliffhangers, and Jedi would have made little to no sense without knowledge of the prior films.

The Force Awakens, on the other hand, was made with full knowledge that two sequels would not only be made, but assured success, so it was under no pressure to tell a complete story any more than the first Lord of the Rings film was. Right now all we can do is judge it as a stand-alone film, but in retrospect after the next two films are released we'll start judging it as the first act of a trilogy. We just have no way of knowing how it will hold up in that regard just yet.