Welcome to part one of my multi-part spoiler discussion of Star Wars: The Force Awakens! If you have not seen The Force Awakens, go watch it now and then come back because major spoilers are ahead. For everyone else, this post is intended to discuss spoilers, so go crazy with spoilers and thoughts in the comments. This discussion series will focus on specific characters, moments, and points of discussion.
Supreme Leader Snoke and Crazy Theories
If one character could be changed, it would be Supreme Leader Snoke. Based on what we see in this film, having the brilliant Andy Serkis play a motion-capture character seemed unnecessary. Making him a CGI character might pay off in the sequels. However, the CGI quality was somewhat lacking in The Force Awakens. Then there is that moment when everyone wonders: "IS HE IS A FREAKING GIANT!? PLEASE NO!" Thankfully, it was a hologram, so he was probably just compensating for something.... But yeah, even if the creators were planning on making him a giant, hopefully they are listening to the backlash against the idea, and Snoke will either be small in stature or relatively normal.
Other than whether or not Snoke is a giant, the biggest thing about the character is the question of who the heck is he!? Is he Darth Plagueis? Or Palpatine? Heck, why not Jar Jar Binks? I'm sorry, but all these fan "theories" are getting a little out of hand! Some have even said Darth Vader or Mace Windu, which is absurd! And don't get me started on how dumb the time-traveling Kylo Ren "theory" is! My guess is the logical one: Snoke is a new character! At this point, people might end up disappointed if Snoke is not related to a preexisting character, but as long as Snoke is an interesting antagonist, I'll be satisfied. And Disney, please make the CGI look better in the next film!
Han Solo Dies
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO" HAN SOLO DIED!!!!!!! My favorite character in the history of fiction is dead! His death has even gotten me to change my profile picture back to a new picture of Han! But wow, watching my favorite character die was an experience! Thankfully, I did not hear any spoilers before seeing the film. However, believe it or not, I called his death as soon as a new Star Wars movie was announced. Sure, you might not believe me, and as crazy as it sounds, I never wanted to write about it because if I was correct, I might spoil the film for someone other than my brother. Heck, I never even told my friends, only my brother, Jacob.
With that aside, Han Solo's death was apparent to me as soon as he walked toward Kylo Ren on the walkway. However, giving almost a warning to audience was intended and created incredible amounts of tension as Kylo handed Han the Lightsaber. What made it all the more powerful is Ford's surprised, yet not sad, expression, as he helped his son in some way. It was painful to watch in the best way possible. Chewbacca's wail of anger and despair as he shot Kylo and mowed down some Stormtroopers was the perfect way to bring the audience back from the shock of Han's death. All around, a superbly executed scene with so much emotion! And Harrison Ford finally got to kill off his character like he and the writers wanted to in Return of the Jedi.
Leia and Chewie not Mourning
Han's death did lack in one area.... After Chewie, Rey, and Finn returned from the battle, Chew walks right past Leia! He just walks right on past as Rey hugs Leia. This is such a missed opportunity! Leia and Chewie knew Han better than anyone. As Chewie walks off the ship, Leia and Chewie should have embraced and mourned briefly, or something like that. Honestly, if there was one thing that I could change about The Force Awakens, this is it!
Do you have any thoughts on these topics about The Force Awakens? Please comment below and check back soon for more spoiler discussions!
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I think the reason they had Chewie behave like that in the end is because, as I remember the films, Chewie wasn't actually in the same room as Leia very much at all, whereas he spent every minute with Han for 50 odd years. (excepting the months Han was in carbonite, of course...) Lose someone that close to you for 50 years, and you're not likely either to really want to interact with others right away. It wasn't something one quick hug was going to resolve. Most guys don't resolve grief by hugging anyway. If anything it looked wierd that he got over it so fast so the movie could end. I would have taken the "Rey goes to Luke alone because chewie hasn't gotten over Han yet." But the way they did it demonstrates that chewie thinks Han would've given Rey the ship even if survived.
ReplyDeleteAh, you have made an excellent point! And you have actually changed my opinion of that scene to a degree. Thanks for comment JT!
Delete-James
Yeah, I actually sighed in relief when it was revealed that Snoke was a hologram. But I do wonder why they'd have Andy Serkis mo-cap him if they were going to make him a normal size -- in that case they could have just done him practically. So I definitely think he's going to be an unusual size. And I hope it's on the smaller side. :P
ReplyDeleteNice job on calling Han's death! I definitely saw it coming once the bridge scene began. And I love Han, he was my favorite character of the original trilogy by far, but his death didn't really make me sad. Mostly it just made me more invested in Kylo's character.
I think the movie just wrapped up too quickly, and they had to leave some things out. Cause it definitely would have been nice to see a moment between Chewie and Leia. And I also wished Rey and Poe had met... but that can easily be done in ep 8, and they may have missed the opportunity altogether with Chewie and Leia.
I agree about Snoke. Making him smaller seems like a good idea.
DeleteThank you. lol Ah, true, it wasn't as saddening as I expected, but it was most certainly powerful.
Ah, you have a point. And I agree, they did miss the opportunity to mourn Han in some way. Thanks for the comment, Sarah!
-James
The CGI for Snoke was rubbish. I'd hoped we'd seen the end of CGI for characters in this franchise. As for Han, it was blindingly obvious he was going to die long before the bridge scene. The big problem with Force Awakens is that its a virtual remake of A New Hope. Han was basically given the Ben Kenobi exposition role in this one with the inevitable passing of the torch to the new generation, which, like Ben, involved snuffing it. Don't even get me started on Emo Ren boy.
ReplyDeleteRubbish is a bit much, but it wasn't very good though. Eh, I don't agree about Emo Ren, although that's for another post, haha.
Delete-James