STAR WARS General Discussion | Warning: Possible SPOILERS!Movies 

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So apparently ADOT can't wait for Star Wars either.

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Yeah my wife and I thought this was stupid, almost as dumb as the announcement they had for thanksgiving weekend "drinking and driving go together like peas and gauc"
 
I liked it for the most part. Didn't like very few bits. Worst part was easily the Star Trek trailer beforehand...

I was sad Han was killed. They should have at least put the three back together (with R2, 3PO and Chewie) before doing that. Also, I quite like Rey.
 
Not yet. They paid George Lucas $4 billion, so they have a ways to go before they make a profit. :lol:

they've got back a quarter of that in a weekend :lol: granted that's not how this works but they're on a great start.
Wonder how TFA's legs will be. I'm betting 1 billion worldwide

Stealth edit :D
 
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they've got back a quarter of that in a weekend :lol: granted that's not how this works but they're on a great start.
Wonder how TFA's legs will be. I'm betting 1 billion worldwide

Stealth edit :D
You mean an 1/8 of it. ;) If we want to be specific, you'd also subtract whatever they paid to make the film. But yes, in the next few weeks it could double.
 
My thoughts on it, honestly I was ... "unmoved" by it, allow me to elaborate ...
So yeah, Kylo ren is around 20 and kind of Emo, Rey is the clever white girl going for what she believes in (also in her 20's), and Finn which is 20 year old black comic relief character (Almost like a DISNEY CHANNEL production).

It stinks of Disney Channel production, which is not bad for production purposes, but is pretty bad in the narrative sense. Kylo Ren for example is almost like a trope of emo "daddy issues" insecure angsty teenager, Finn's character is basically comic relief (not as bad as Jark Jark or whatever, but there was more to his character than what was shown), and Rey is the stereotypical "girl power" trope.

3 main characters based on DISNEY guidelines, no limbs falling or being cut, it gives you a great sense of drama when you know those sabers are ... sabers, rather than shiny burning things.

Plot wise it was a mash up of IV, V and VI, as well as many fan service stuff, which actually works, they manage to get the aesthetics and feel of the originals (and the sound of Tie fighters and the dogfights were pretty awesome), but I can't ignore the storyline with the main leads, which feels like they cheapen the experience and writing.

There is no "real" villain, Snoke is to be this new emperor thing, but is just a 4 scene hologram (unlike Vader's choking random officials and being reserved but brutal in IV, V and VI), there is no shocking moment, the "killing Han Solo" was token and totally expected as well as poorly executed.

For me the movie was OK, I'm not a star wars fan so I don't care too much for certain aspects of it, but given what I have seen all year (Mad Max:Fury Road, The Martian, Inside Out, Avengers, Ant-Man and Even Jurassic World) Star Wars feels ... boring, or rather uninteresting (almost like a Disney movie, which seems to be the problem with it).

The movie capitalizes in nostalgia (and the ridiculous marketing campaign by Disney, squeezing every cent out of the IP), in this day and age I have noticed that nostalgia is now irrelevant, a better payoff is to create an original story that is memorable by itself and it's characters (Mad Max doesn't use the IP license to make shout outs for the originals, but rather creates a major plot tangential to the main story, and an original plot as well with strong leads and villains).

Unlike many people, I don't care about the prequels, this movie is better than the prequels but that does not make it interesting on itself, that's my opinion on it, a "by the numbers" Disney Movie with a Star Wars Theme, pretty good production and visuals but the story is just as weak as a Disney Channel Movie production.
 
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Not yet. They paid George Lucas $4 billion, so they have a ways to go before they make a profit. :lol:

http://screenrant.com/star-wars-biggest-changes-disney-movies-tv-comics/?view=all

It has been estimated that Star Wars has raked in somewhere around $38 billion from the first film’s release in May 1977 to Lucas’s handing of his company over in October 2012. At least $975 million of that has come from its myriad and copious merchandising, ranging from bed sheets to fruit snacks to the now-ubiquitous action figures and Lego sets.

What’s even more staggering is just how much more money the brand has made under Disney’s watchful eye; already, just three years after the deal, the company has made back all $4 billion of its investment – and The Force Awakens has yet to even hit theaters. This has been accomplished by expanding the Force-powered wares available (a trip to your local Target will yield at least a few Star Wars items in nearly every single department) and, much more significantly, by rewriting the marketing book in the build-up to Episode VII. The epitome of this approach was seen on September 4, 2015 – called “Force Friday” – when the first Force Awakens-related materials (from novels to toys to Halloween costumes) went on sale. The day essentially functioned as a Star Wars-only Black Friday.

Needless to say, Hollywood marketing will never be the same again.

Of course, this is simplified – and I'm wondering what the sources are – but it's not a stretch to say Disney is probably already profiting off TFA. They certainly will be by the end of its run, at any rate.

What will be interesting is how well-received the "Anthology" films are. Rogue One might be a hard sell to the general public: it won't have any of the established characters (or at least, very few of them, so far none going by the casting), and "prequel" is a dirty word in the land of Star Wars. People might be confused that the movie released a year after The Force Awakens isn't actually the sequel – that one arrives six months later (making May pretty much Disney-dominated from 2017 on out, what with Marvel always staking claim there). I'm also not sure how many folks really want to see the story of the stolen Death Star plans, if I'm being honest.

The anthology films focusing on Fett and Solo could be even dicier, too.

So, I saw the movie back on Friday. I really enjoyed it, and find a few of the criticisms floating around justified. Others, less so. The non-spoilery bits: the music fits within the SW universe, but is lacking a stand-out theme like Imperial March or Duel of the Fates to call its own. Ridley and Boyega have fantastic chemistry, with the former absolutely worthy of being the headliner here, and the latter riding the line between SW-funny and modern-movie-funny just right. Oscar Isaacs is good, but underused. Not as badly as Gwendoline Christie, though! While the chrome-dome stormtrooper captain is impressive, we just don't get enough of her. Driver is incredible as Ren: he's most definitely flawed, an interesting bad-guy in a way Marvel never seems to be able to muster for their cinema offerings. There is rage, there is intensity, and he's got the makings to stand alongside Vader and Maul when it comes to fan-favourite Sith lords. I really like the outfit they've chosen for him too: Vader looked like a robot, Maul had the robe, while Kylo is all verticality, with a stealthy, form-fitting outfit that makes him a much different shape to those that have come before.

As much as some people want to bemoan Abrams work – for seemingly no other reason than it being Abrams – this doesn't feel like his work. He's obviously put a lot of thought into making this feel like a Star Wars film, not just with the practical effects and series-traditional transitions, or the obvious blue and yellow text starting the film up, but in the look of the sets, and the shot compositions. Credit to the DoP and others involved in the process, of course, but it's impressive how little this feels like an Abrams film. Some of the aerial dogfights don't feel particularly Star Wars, but that's not really him so much as modern filmmaking. One interesting thing, though I wouldn't know if it was JJ's choice or Disney's: his Bad Robot branding shows up only after the credits. The start of the movie is pure, unadulterated Star Wars.

Criticisms? There were a few bits of clunky exposition. Leia at one point discusses multiple antagonists, and it came across very rigid to me, even as I was submerged in the universe, halfway through the movie. Domhnall Gleeson wasn't terribly convincing as a higher-up member of the First Order, seeming a little too snively and incompetent. Movies that only do subtitles when it's deemed convenient for the viewer are a pet peeve. The plot is thin, but when I think about it, so was A New Hope's. I've read a few reviews complaining about a general lack of character development, particularly for the antagonists, but that too could very well be applied to ANH. There's a trilogy coming, I've no doubt more will be covered.

BB-8 is adorable. With so much character from a little droid, I can't help but think the movie looked at Wall-E a lot to give us a computer we can love. I also appreciated all of the nods to the original trilogy. Some felt too on-the-nose: the X-Wing-down-a-corridor shot, for one. But others are fun little nods to what came before: the reveal of the Falcon is a good one, as is the discovery of a certain game once on board.

Alright, onto the spoilers:

Han, no! It was obviously going to happen – there was a mountain of foreshadowing, starting as far back as Han first seeing Leia again. It was shot wonderfully. I like the swapping of places in the dialogue here, with Ben tempted by the light side, not the dark. Of course, that could've just been him lying. But it's something that sparked some discussion amongst my friends post-credits.

I like how Kylo's origins were slowly revealed. And not in climactic, huge fights: each time, it'd be a new layer shown in dialogue. First, when he meets Max von Sydow's character, and there's mention of the Force being strong in his family. Over a few more scenes, we learn more about Ben. I love how we see him angry, destroying a room when things don't go his way. He has more power than we've seen before – see him holding that blaster shot – but seeing how volatile he is, it makes sense he's not a Sith Lord, but a self-proclaimed "Knight".

There were rumours of Snoke being gigantic, and I like that they were half-true. Sure, other actors had to talk up to him, but it's revealed he's simply a hologram, so we're still not sure of his exact size. He does have an unfortunate resemblance to one of the Orcs in the The Hobbit trilogy, though.

It's a little unbelievable Rey could hold her own against Ren in a lightsaber battle, even taking into account he was injured, and she's obviously experienced with her staff. But, if the major theory of her being Luke's daughter is true, then I'd be willing to overlook it. Luke won against overwhelming odds a few times in the original trilogy too!

The editing around the time of the base's destruction was a little too quick. We see Ren injured, and then Rey spotting the Falcon in time to get Finn and herself off the planet before it goes boom. How was Hux able to follow Snoke's orders and get Ren off as well, without them pretty much bumping into each other? Also, if Han and Chewy did toss Phasma into a trash compactor, even if she survived down there... she's pretty dead now, right?

Luke's reveal doesn't feel like a massive cliffhanger to me. I'm disappointed that's all we saw of him, and the scene went on a little too long sans dialog, but looking at the film on its own, it was a good way to wrap up. The goal first stated in the opening scrawl is complete: they've found him. It certainly isn't on the same level as the second Hobbit movie's cliffhanger ending, for example. What doesn't make sense, is R2's sudden powering on.
 
You mean an 1/8 of it. ;) If we want to be specific, you'd also subtract whatever they paid to make the film. But yes, in the next few weeks it could double.

I'm great at Math.

also looking at all the starwars related ads (Disney have got to be profiting from those) and the Merch it's probable they'll break even the 4 billion with the first movie alone.
 
Watched it yesterday. Way more solid than I had hoped for. It kinda feels like Episode IV ver. 2.0, but it doesn't in a bad way at all.
 
http://screenrant.com/star-wars-biggest-changes-disney-movies-tv-comics/?view=all



Of course, this is simplified – and I'm wondering what the sources are – but it's not a stretch to say Disney is probably already profiting off TFA. They certainly will be by the end of its run, at any rate.

What will be interesting is how well-received the "Anthology" films are. Rogue One might be a hard sell to the general public: it won't have any of the established characters (or at least, very few of them, so far none going by the casting), and "prequel" is a dirty word in the land of Star Wars. People might be confused that the movie released a year after The Force Awakens isn't actually the sequel – that one arrives six months later (making May pretty much Disney-dominated from 2017 on out, what with Marvel always staking claim there). I'm also not sure how many folks really want to see the story of the stolen Death Star plans, if I'm being honest.

The anthology films focusing on Fett and Solo could be even dicier, too.

So, I saw the movie back on Friday. I really enjoyed it, and find a few of the criticisms floating around justified. Others, less so. The non-spoilery bits: the music fits within the SW universe, but is lacking a stand-out theme like Imperial March or Duel of the Fates to call its own. Ridley and Boyega have fantastic chemistry, with the former absolutely worthy of being the headliner here, and the latter riding the line between SW-funny and modern-movie-funny just right. Oscar Isaacs is good, but underused. Not as badly as Gwendoline Christie, though! While the chrome-dome stormtrooper captain is impressive, we just don't get enough of her. Driver is incredible as Ren: he's most definitely flawed, an interesting bad-guy in a way Marvel never seems to be able to muster for their cinema offerings. There is rage, there is intensity, and he's got the makings to stand alongside Vader and Maul when it comes to fan-favourite Sith lords. I really like the outfit they've chosen for him too: Vader looked like a robot, Maul had the robe, while Kylo is all verticality, with a stealthy, form-fitting outfit that makes him a much different shape to those that have come before.

As much as some people want to bemoan Abrams work – for seemingly no other reason than it being Abrams – this doesn't feel like his work. He's obviously put a lot of thought into making this feel like a Star Wars film, not just with the practical effects and series-traditional transitions, or the obvious blue and yellow text starting the film up, but in the look of the sets, and the shot compositions. Credit to the DoP and others involved in the process, of course, but it's impressive how little this feels like an Abrams film. Some of the aerial dogfights don't feel particularly Star Wars, but that's not really him so much as modern filmmaking. One interesting thing, though I wouldn't know if it was JJ's choice or Disney's: his Bad Robot branding shows up only after the credits. The start of the movie is pure, unadulterated Star Wars.

Criticisms? There were a few bits of clunky exposition. Leia at one point discusses multiple antagonists, and it came across very rigid to me, even as I was submerged in the universe, halfway through the movie. Domhnall Gleeson wasn't terribly convincing as a higher-up member of the First Order, seeming a little too snively and incompetent. Movies that only do subtitles when it's deemed convenient for the viewer are a pet peeve. The plot is thin, but when I think about it, so was A New Hope's. I've read a few reviews complaining about a general lack of character development, particularly for the antagonists, but that too could very well be applied to ANH. There's a trilogy coming, I've no doubt more will be covered.

BB-8 is adorable. With so much character from a little droid, I can't help but think the movie looked at Wall-E a lot to give us a computer we can love. I also appreciated all of the nods to the original trilogy. Some felt too on-the-nose: the X-Wing-down-a-corridor shot, for one. But others are fun little nods to what came before: the reveal of the Falcon is a good one, as is the discovery of a certain game once on board.

Alright, onto the spoilers:

Han, no! It was obviously going to happen – there was a mountain of foreshadowing, starting as far back as Han first seeing Leia again. It was shot wonderfully. I like the swapping of places in the dialogue here, with Ben tempted by the light side, not the dark. Of course, that could've just been him lying. But it's something that sparked some discussion amongst my friends post-credits.

I like how Kylo's origins were slowly revealed. And not in climactic, huge fights: each time, it'd be a new layer shown in dialogue. First, when he meets Max von Sydow's character, and there's mention of the Force being strong in his family. Over a few more scenes, we learn more about Ben. I love how we see him angry, destroying a room when things don't go his way. He has more power than we've seen before – see him holding that blaster shot – but seeing how volatile he is, it makes sense he's not a Sith Lord, but a self-proclaimed "Knight".

There were rumours of Snoke being gigantic, and I like that they were half-true. Sure, other actors had to talk up to him, but it's revealed he's simply a hologram, so we're still not sure of his exact size. He does have an unfortunate resemblance to one of the Orcs in the The Hobbit trilogy, though.

It's a little unbelievable Rey could hold her own against Ren in a lightsaber battle, even taking into account he was injured, and she's obviously experienced with her staff. But, if the major theory of her being Luke's daughter is true, then I'd be willing to overlook it. Luke won against overwhelming odds a few times in the original trilogy too!

The editing around the time of the base's destruction was a little too quick. We see Ren injured, and then Rey spotting the Falcon in time to get Finn and herself off the planet before it goes boom. How was Hux able to follow Snoke's orders and get Ren off as well, without them pretty much bumping into each other? Also, if Han and Chewy did toss Phasma into a trash compactor, even if she survived down there... she's pretty dead now, right?

Luke's reveal doesn't feel like a massive cliffhanger to me. I'm disappointed that's all we saw of him, and the scene went on a little too long sans dialog, but looking at the film on its own, it was a good way to wrap up. The goal first stated in the opening scrawl is complete: they've found him. It certainly isn't on the same level as the second Hobbit movie's cliffhanger ending, for example. What doesn't make sense, is R2's sudden powering on.
I always got a feeling that R2 was in some way in touch with the force. My assumption as such is that R2 felt the moment Rey and Luke met.
 
I always got a feeling that R2 was in some way in touch with the force. My assumption as such is that R2 felt the moment Rey and Luke met.

They showed Luke's hand touching R2. I assume that's when Luke told R2 to power down until he could sense either a) the lightsaber or b) the missing piece of map.
 
What doesn't make sense, is R2's sudden powering on.
“But the idea was that in that scene where R2 plugged in, he downloaded the archives of the Empire, which wasreferenced by Kylo Ren,” Abrams said. Thirty-eight years later, in both our own and galactic time, that data becomes useful in The Force Awakens when a new droid approaches the dormant R2.

“BB-8 comes up and says something to him, which is basically, ‘I’ve got this piece of a map, do you happen to have the rest?’” Abrams said. “The idea was, R2 who has been all over the galaxy, is still in his coma, but he hears this. And it triggers something that would ultimately wake him up.”


Source: http://www.ew.com/article/2015/12/2...-question-about-r2-d2-star-wars-force-awakens

And a few more interesting bits about the film: http://www.ew.com/article/2015/12/20/jj-abrams-reveals-obi-wan-and-yoda-are-star-wars-force-awakens
 
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SlipZtrEm
It's a little unbelievable Rey could hold her own against Ren in a lightsaber battle, even taking into account he was injured, and she's obviously experienced with her staff. But, if the major theory of her being Luke's daughter is true, then I'd be willing to overlook it. Luke won against overwhelming odds a few times in the original trilogy too!
During her fight with Ren, as she was running away until she once again, calmed down & "used the Force", I think is what tipped the odds in her scale. Once she accepted she was gifted with it, it allowed her to "tap" into her inner strength to defeat him. After all, she also learned to fly the Falcon solo the amazement of Han himself (which also could be a clue to Luke's daughter; he was an incredibly gifted pilot).

My only issue with her was her first experimenting with the Force, and how she knew exactly to phrase her words, "You will untie my restraints and let me go". It was said in a very similar tone & phrase to how Luke would use it. All of this leading me to the same speculation as you; she is Luke's daughter & the Force is something that will come "natural" to her allowing her to accomplish feats she hasn't yet understood how. Otherwise, Episode 8 may have to do some back story on why Rey is so gifted otherwise, unless she is pure as Yoda might say.

My thoughts are pretty short. As soon as it ended, I wanted the next movie to start playing right away. I think just about everyone got the right amount of screen time & J.J. gave us just the right amount of tease that will make us all be heading back to the theaters in 2017. I'll be seeing it again next weekend, no doubt.
 
Very mixed feelings for me.

It felt like half reboot half sequel to me which was very weird and a little bit lazy.

The First order is just a reskinned Empire with a slightly different badge with zero explanation of the transition. It would have been better if they had just remained as the Empire with new leadership (The First order military officer uniforms also looked crap and very cheap)

Death planet (whatever you want to call it) was utterly ridiculous, apparently conceived and completed in less than 30 years and destroyed even easier than the death stars. But at least it gave Abrahms the excuse to gratuitously blow up a few planets for no good reason whatsoever which seems to be his thing (Romulus and Vulcan)

Finally the main villain (Kylo Ren) Trained in the dark side for years, for the entire film made to appear as a legitimate badass and successor to Vader.

In the last 10 minutes gets his arse handed to him by a little girl who had never even SEEN a lightsaber never mind wielded one for the first 9/10ths of the film with no training of any kind, completely undoing all the credibility he had built up in the first 2 hours of the film.

His legacy so far is he was a bit angry all the time, then stabbed an old man, and then got beaten up by a girl who didn't know what she was doing. That needs some major work for anyone to take him seriously again

In conclusion. To be fair, parts of it felts very Starwarsy, however many other parts where what the hell did I just watchy.
 
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I enjoyed it a lot, despite having to watch it in 3D. Will watch it again in 2D later on in the run.

Very mixed feelings for me.

Finally the main villain gets his arse handed to him by a little girl who had never even SEEN a lightsaber never mind wielded one for the first half of the film with no training of any kind, completely undoing any kind of credibility he had for the entire first 2 hours of the film.

Bear in mind that when Kylo fights Rey, he had just murdered his father, taken a bowcaster bolt to the stomach, and had a fight with Finn who managed to get a hit or two on him. He's definitely not in the best shape. The whole point of the film was to show how Kylo isn't this fully fledged villain yet, but rather a young man who's full of doubt and confusion. His credibility as a villian is supposed to be called into question. He wants to play at being Vader but hasn't gone through the stuff Anakin did and he hasn't even completed his training yet. He doesn't know how to harness his anger properly unlike Vader who had this cool menace about him.

As for Rey, she lives in a post-ROTJ world where everyone knows what Luke got up to, what the force is, and what lightsabers are. Unlike Luke, who had to be introduced to what the force is, Rey probably has some faith in it after hearing about the events in the OT (and then the force is further corroborated by Han and Maz). So it makes sense for someone who can use the force and has belief in it to be able to pick things up quickly - she kinda embodies Yoda's "Do or do not, there is no try". Also Rey knows how to use a staff, and her moves with a saber had quite a few thrusts in them, more so than any other fight in the films. That's not to say I didn't find her a bit Mary Sue-ish, but it's the first in a trilogy so they have lots of space to develop her character.
 
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Very mixed feelings for me.

It felt like half reboot half sequel to me which was very weird and a little bit lazy.

The First order is just a reskinned Empire with a slightly different badge with zero explanation of the transition. It would have been better if they had just remained as the Empire with new leadership (The First order military officer uniforms also looked crap and very cheap)

Death planet (whatever you want to call it) was utterly ridiculous, apparently conceived and completed in less than 30 years and destroyed even easier than the death stars. But at least it gave Abrahms the excuse to gratuitously blow up a few planets for no good reason whatsoever which seems to be his thing (Romulus and Vulcan)

Finally the main villain (Kylo Ren) Trained in the dark side for years, for the entire film made to appear as a legitimate badass and successor to Vader.

In the last 10 minutes gets his arse handed to him by a little girl who had never even SEEN a lightsaber never mind wielded one for the first 9/10ths of the film with no training of any kind, completely undoing all the credibility he had built up in the first 2 hours of the film.

His legacy so far is he was a bit angry all the time, then stabbed an old man, and then got beaten up by a girl who didn't know what she was doing. That needs some major work for anyone to take him seriously again

In conclusion. To be fair, parts of it felts very Starwarsy, however many other parts where what the hell did I just watchy.

In a dark place we find ourselves, and a little more knowledge lights our way. (link may contain traces of spoil)
 
I enjoyed it a lot, despite having to watch it in 3D. Will watch it again in 2D later on in the run.




Bear in mind that when Kylo fights Rey, he had just murdered his father, taken a bowcaster bolt to the stomach, and had a fight with Finn who managed to get a hit or two on him. He's definitely not in the best shape. The whole point of the film was to show how Kylo isn't this fully fledged villain yet, but rather a young man who's full of doubt and confusion. His credibility as a villian is supposed to be called into question. He wants to play at being Vader but hasn't gone through the stuff Anakin did and he hasn't even completed his training yet. He doesn't know how to harness his anger properly unlike Vader who had this cool menace about him.

As for Rey, she lives in a post-ROTJ world where everyone knows what Luke got up to, what the force is, and what lightsabers are. Unlike Luke, who had to be introduced to what the force is, Rey probably has some faith in it after hearing about the events in the OT (and then the force is further corroborated by Han and Maz). So it makes sense for someone who can use the force and has belief in it to be able to pick things up quickly - she kinda embodies Yoda's "Do or do not, there is no try". Also Rey knows how to use a staff, and her moves with a saber had quite a few thrusts in them, more so than any other fight in the films. That's not to say I didn't find her a bit Mary Sue-ish, but it's the first in a trilogy so they have lots of space to develop her character.

I went for the 2D option, I am still yet to get over watching Dave Englands poo volcano in Jackass 3D.

I think an injured trained force user could dispatch an ex-stormtrooper who spent most of his time on sanitation duty trying to use a weapon he is completely unfamiliar with easily, Finn shouldn't have been able to get within a country mile of Ren before he got choked/pushed/mind tricked/chopped into little ice cube shaped bits. How Finn managed to get within melee range then score a few strikes on top of that is miraculous to say the least.

Rey thought the force and Luke Skywalker where a myth until they found the light saber. Fighting off a few scumbags with a stick on Jakku and taking on an injured sith armed with a lightsaber are not even remotely close by any stretch of the imagination. I understand they had to develop the character but it was all a bit too quick and not in the correct order for me, my suspension of disbelief was pushed to the limit.

I feel it would have been better if Ren simply escaped without the saber fights, then have Luke train Rey to be a sith beater in the next film before they actually come to blows, that would make more sense. Instead we got the equivalent of Luke kicking Vaders arse on the death star right there and then because he killed Obi-wan
 
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