Reviews

I saw this movie today and this was the first Star Wars film that I wanted to walk out on.

Here are my grips with the movie

1. NO OPENING CRAWL - It seems like the people who made this movie did not consider consistency to be important in the Star Wars franchise. This is the first movie in the franchise to not have an opening crawl and not having consistency really shows in the quality of the movie.

2. BAD PACING and TRANSITION - In the beginning of the movie you have the camera jump from random planets without any real explanation as to what is going on and this type of camera work goes on for the entire movie. It just feels like a bunch of random shots put together.

3. NO CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT - You feel absolutely no emotion or bond towards any of the characters. All of them feel replaceable and there is no memorable chemistry between the characters in any way. I have no idea why Forrest Whittaker was even in the film because he serves no purpose. His character finds the main lead and then it entirely skips any sort of character development that could've happened between the two. I don't even remember the characters names because most of them were so unmemorable

4. THE ROBOT - As I said before consistency did not seem to be important to the makers of this movie. The reprogrammed imperial robot seemed TOO human. He moved too much like a human and talked too much like a human, which did not happen in any of the other star wars movies. The most human like droid was C-3p0 but even he did not MOVE like a human.

5. VADER - Something about this Vader seemed to be off. I can't point my finger as to what it is but his style of talking and also his suit seems to be different because I didn't see a chain around his neck. Also his lightsabre fighting style seemed too agile and more like the prequel rather than a hard hitting slow style like in the original trilogy. As I said before, consistency didn't seem important to the filmmakers and little things like this pulled me out of the movie.

6. Obvious SJW Agenda - I am Korean-American. When I watch a Star Wars film, I just want a good Star Wars film. I don't need a Star Wars filmed disguised with a SJW Agenda. Is it a coincidence that the Rebels has a woman, an arab, two Asian guys, a hispanic etc. and the Empire is all white? Why can't I just have a good Star Wars film?

I will say this. The only good part of the movie was at the end when the Death Star fires at the planet because that is the only time I actually felt emotion for the characters and saw a little bit of character development.

Otherwise, this was a terrible movie. You will only watch it just because it is Star Wars.

I watched Star Wars Rebels first and because it was such an excellent show, I thought Disney could do no wrong and had high hopes and expectations for the Force Awakens.

Unfortunately the Force Awakens falls flat and I enjoyed Star Wars Rebels 10000x more.

What does Rebels do right that the movies haven't done since the original trilogy?

Character development and story.

After watching each episode you feel the relationship between Ezra and Kanan develop much more fluidly and realistically than Obiwan and Anakin in the prequels. Also, you get a sense of how the members of the Rebels/Ghost crew are affected by each other's presence and if one of the members happen to disappear (even Chopper) you would feel like something is wrong.

And unlike Rey who magically seems to be able to use a lightsaber and the force without any sort of training (which I think is a terrible plothole) in the Force Awakens , it is shown that Ezra needs guidance and mentorship from Kanan and even begs for it. in order to use the force

Also , every bad guy seems to be be menacing but also have a unique and individual personality. For example, compare Darth Vader to the Grand Inquisitor. The Inquisitor has a slick, graceful personality with an unseen light sabre style whereas Darth Vader shows his power through brute strength.

Compare this to Kylo Ren, who at first seems like he has great power in the Force Awakens, but after the 1/3 of the movie, he turns into a whiney emo who gets hit by Chewbacca's bowcaster even though in the very beginning of the movie he is able to stop a blaster shot right in its tracks! Talk about inconsistency!

Anyways, I can't wait to see more of this show. If anything this is what the prequels and the Force Awakens should have been like.