1. That was just my off the cuff idea and one of many haha. Honestly they could have done it the same way plotwise but just not had him so impossible not to like. He's been brainwashed for like a decade and a half, no matter how naturally good a person he is that's gonna take some effect, and not having him do literally anything bad whatsoever (if murder's too much why not other stuff like firebombing some houses and ****? War's horror isn't all dead bodies) to redeem himself for is at least a lost opportunity for some depth if nothing else. Now he feels like a straight up extraneous character because he already redeemed himself and is a hero, he has nothing more to accomplish. He might as well have died to give the movie (and Darth Ren) some teeth. I dunno, if you like a character but can think of ten missed opportunities for every detail you like are they that good of a character or are you making excuses? I also disagree that having any element of darkness or depth is going instatryhard. The not-new trilogy was riddled with political intrigue and power plays but it didn't suck because of the presence of that stuff it sucked because it was badly written and had no easily discernible stakes. The Star Wars saga is an adventure story anybody can appreciate of any age but that doesn't mean it doesn't have all kinds of dark as **** **** happening, no reason not to start off the new new trilogy with an example of it right?
2. That's actually an interesting point and I'll watch for it in Harrison Ford's performance next time I see it. It might change my mind. I still think it's out of character levels of moron for Han Solo though, maybe even moreso if saving Ben had nothing much to do with it. He was walking off to his death in 98% of situations, and Han Solo is a smart enough character to know that. If he knew it and was embracing it for Leia's sake, because despite being a misfit f***up he loves her to hell, that would be powerful and a character arc I'd invest in. But again it didn't feel that way to me. I guess the fact that his death was so very obvious and preordained meant I needed to feel more emotion from han and in the scene itself if that makes sense?
3. Yeah naw I know all that. The Skywalker family just has some special **** to it. But hell why couldn't Luke pull spirit guardian on Rey the way OWK did for him instead of her literally teaching herself to use the Force better than a Sith lord? Like as things stand right now Luke is probably gonna mentor her but she's shown such adeptness at using the Force that she might as well Force her way back in time and go ****ing train Yoda and can probably stop the clone wars from happening. While naturally strong with the Force Luke still had to train and earn his way to competence one skill at a time, Rey just picks up everything on the first try and probably does it better than the person that invented it.
4. Haha, that's actually a really interesting and valid point. All of it -- I actually forgot just HOW strong chewie's crossbow bolts are. Still, while Darth Ren will never be what he wants to be (or isn't yet and has a long way to go, one of the two), he's still... a sith lord. Getting outForced by somebody that doesn't even know what the damn Force is really shouldn't happen and I still definitely didn't feel like he had Rey or Fin on the ropes the way he should have just from sheer training. You made a strong point actually that an emotionally unstable tantrum thrower is quite scary, but I guess I'm just so unimpressed by his wimpiness that I don't feel the compulsion because I've had to personally stop more adult male roid rage alcohol fueled tantrums than I can count. Wouldn't that emotional instability be more fearsome if he was less of a loser and a more credible threat? I like your observation that going after Rey and Fin was a strategically bad move though, that's a super valid point and it's interesting because it's not a mistake his idol would have made. I just felt like too much was dictated by the producers not wanting bad things to happen to the good guys and not wanting the bad guys to accomplish things; they never seem to care about kylo ren devastating redshirts or trillions of people dying so long as we only see a few people look up from a balcony rather than really feel the impact of a solar system's worth of mass murder. But when he's fighting a character we want people to like, well, he just HAS to lose.
see this is a funny thing, I can't think of a sith lord of darth ren's level of [oft in]competence. The most inexperienced one we ever see was Darth Maul and he fought two jedis at once, one already and one soon to be legendary. The barrier of entry for skill and power for a sith lord is obviously high as **** and even moreso the training levels they exude afterward. When I was a little kid watching A New Hope I wanted to watch Luke pick up Obi Wan Kenobi's lightsaber after he dies and take on Vader for sheer exhilaration and good guy good feel factor, but the fact that I know his ass would have gotten killed in less than a second is exactly why ANH is still a good movie to watch as an adult, even if I could still watch it comfortably with a 12 year old beside me.
2. That's actually an interesting point and I'll watch for it in Harrison Ford's performance next time I see it. It might change my mind. I still think it's out of character levels of moron for Han Solo though, maybe even moreso if saving Ben had nothing much to do with it. He was walking off to his death in 98% of situations, and Han Solo is a smart enough character to know that. If he knew it and was embracing it for Leia's sake, because despite being a misfit f***up he loves her to hell, that would be powerful and a character arc I'd invest in. But again it didn't feel that way to me. I guess the fact that his death was so very obvious and preordained meant I needed to feel more emotion from han and in the scene itself if that makes sense?
3. Yeah naw I know all that. The Skywalker family just has some special **** to it. But hell why couldn't Luke pull spirit guardian on Rey the way OWK did for him instead of her literally teaching herself to use the Force better than a Sith lord? Like as things stand right now Luke is probably gonna mentor her but she's shown such adeptness at using the Force that she might as well Force her way back in time and go ****ing train Yoda and can probably stop the clone wars from happening. While naturally strong with the Force Luke still had to train and earn his way to competence one skill at a time, Rey just picks up everything on the first try and probably does it better than the person that invented it.
4. Haha, that's actually a really interesting and valid point. All of it -- I actually forgot just HOW strong chewie's crossbow bolts are. Still, while Darth Ren will never be what he wants to be (or isn't yet and has a long way to go, one of the two), he's still... a sith lord. Getting outForced by somebody that doesn't even know what the damn Force is really shouldn't happen and I still definitely didn't feel like he had Rey or Fin on the ropes the way he should have just from sheer training. You made a strong point actually that an emotionally unstable tantrum thrower is quite scary, but I guess I'm just so unimpressed by his wimpiness that I don't feel the compulsion because I've had to personally stop more adult male roid rage alcohol fueled tantrums than I can count. Wouldn't that emotional instability be more fearsome if he was less of a loser and a more credible threat? I like your observation that going after Rey and Fin was a strategically bad move though, that's a super valid point and it's interesting because it's not a mistake his idol would have made. I just felt like too much was dictated by the producers not wanting bad things to happen to the good guys and not wanting the bad guys to accomplish things; they never seem to care about kylo ren devastating redshirts or trillions of people dying so long as we only see a few people look up from a balcony rather than really feel the impact of a solar system's worth of mass murder. But when he's fighting a character we want people to like, well, he just HAS to lose.
see this is a funny thing, I can't think of a sith lord of darth ren's level of [oft in]competence. The most inexperienced one we ever see was Darth Maul and he fought two jedis at once, one already and one soon to be legendary. The barrier of entry for skill and power for a sith lord is obviously high as **** and even moreso the training levels they exude afterward. When I was a little kid watching A New Hope I wanted to watch Luke pick up Obi Wan Kenobi's lightsaber after he dies and take on Vader for sheer exhilaration and good guy good feel factor, but the fact that I know his ass would have gotten killed in less than a second is exactly why ANH is still a good movie to watch as an adult, even if I could still watch it comfortably with a 12 year old beside me.
4.
