Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review (SPOILER ALERT)

Star Wars fans, including myself and my family, have been awaiting this movie for quite some time now. I'll cut straight to the chase and say I was NOT disappointed. Almost everything about this movie was amazing. I was captivated the entire time, but I'll break it down for you.

Characters:

The new characters in this movie (Rey, Finn, Poe, BB-8, Kylo Ren) are all very likable characters. 

Rey is the heroine we have all been waiting for. She knows how to pilot a ship and she soon learns that she is strong with the force. 

You first see Finn as a storm trooper working for Kylo Ren, but you can tell he is conflicted with it. He later then helps Poe, the best pilot in the Resistance against the First Order, escape from Kylo. After this, Finn is now a "good guy" and joins the resistance. His personality will definitely keep you laughing during the movie. 

Poe, as stated, is the best pilot in the Resistance. He is almost the next Han Solo. He is a little cocky and arrogant, and also quite nice to look at. 

BB-8 is the new little droid for this movie. He is an orange and white little guy that rolls around everywhere. With his head sitting on top of his head the way it is, it makes it a lot easier for him to show his feelings, which can be quite funny at times. 

Finally, we have Kylo Ren, leader of the Knights of Ren and the First Order and the new villain in this Star Wars film. He kind of gives off a Darth Vader vibe, but he is indeed quite different. His voice is quite unique and you find out that he has excelled farther in his powers with the force. However, Kylo is the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia (now General Organa in the Resistance), and used to be a Jedi. Of course Luke Skywalker had been the one training him when he turned, but we don't know exactly what happened yet.

The oldies but the goodies are amazing in the film as well. Of course Han is the only one who has a really big role in the film. Him and Chewbacca are back at it and still the same as always, smuggling people in the galaxy. General Organa (Princess Leia) is in it just a little bit when you finally get to see the Resistance. You learn that Luke has been in hiding because of the turning of Kylo and you don't see him until the last minute of the movie.

Plot:

The plot was good and bad. It was very similar to Episode IV, however, it was just different enough to be able to stand on its own. I really liked how they brought in a storm trooper that didn't want to be bad, it definitely added something different to the films. They also make you sort of believe that Finn is the one with the force powers, and perhaps he might, but Rey is the one with the real force powers, just a scavenger from Jakku. It was definitely interesting how they made Kylo Han and Leia's son. It's like Anakin and Luke, but the opposite. Of course someone of importance had to die, as you see Kylo kill his own father with his lightsaber. This is obviously a very sad moment for Star Wars fans, but it was almost inevitable. 

Theory:

It is almost obvious to me that Rey is Luke Skywalker's daughter. There are countless signs throughout the film. 

1. She was abandoned as a child, which could have been when Luke went off into hiding.

2. Rey also finds Luke's lightsaber at Maz Kanata's and Maz tells her that "it was Luke's and his father's before him and now it calls to you." (This is the one that really convince me.)

3. She is strong with the force with minimal training just as Luke was.

4. The way Han looks at her in some scenes definitely gives a vibe that he knows who she is... he even offers her a job (well he's thinking about it) and would Han usually offer a job to anybody?

This is the only big theory that I feel really strongly about right now.

Overall, this movie was a huge success for me and I think it is amazing. As of now, I have seen it three times in theaters and I'm ready to go back again! My little brother has always refused to watch the other Star Wars movies and now after this one, he wanted to and he's already watched them all. This movie was definitely a success in my eyes and I can't wait for Episode VIII. 

☆☆☆☆☆

See ya real soon!

"All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them." -Walt Disney

The Good Dinosaur Review

Picture taken at special sneak peak preview at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

NO SPOILERS!

As another Disney Pixar movie hits the theaters, of course my family and I are there to see it. Luckily, I was home for Thanksgiving break, so the whole family got to go. Since it came out the day before Thanksgiving, we had to wait to go until Friday. 

While my family took the annual WDW vacation the week before (with me coming over on the weekends) Disney had a special sneak peak of the movie at Disney's Hollywood Studios in the One Man's Dream theater. We honestly had not heard or seen too much about this particular movie, besides the short little preview we got with the meteor. Once we saw this sneak peak, we were so excited for the movie. The preview was about 10 minutes long and incorporated what seemed to be a lot from the film. We even went back and saw it a second time.

When it came time to actually see The Good Dinosaur, the whole family was pretty excited. We got our sodas and popcorn and were ready for a good movie. As the film started, we were first greeted with the usual short before the actual movie. Can I say DISAPPOINTMENT? After seeing and loving Pixar's short Lava, Sanjay's Super Team did not live up to the normal expectations of a Pixar short. Seeing the shorts before the actual movie is one of our favorite parts and we were definitely upset with the quality of this one. It was a cool and unique idea to involve religion and super heroes, but it was way below par. 

Now time for the movie...

To put it simply, The Good Dinosaur was good, not great. It was just a good movie. It had some hilarious parts which obviously makes a movie better, but it also had some very typical and predictable things happen as well. You could ask anyone in the family, we were all predicting different things that were going to happen and were often right. I really liked this movie, HOWEVER, it did not feel like a Pixar film. Yeah, sure it had some elements that made it a Pixar film, it was just not up to their usual level.

I recommend seeing this movie, it's a good watch. It will make you laugh and cry (both my mom and I did). BUT if you are not huge Disney fans like we are, you may just want to wait until it comes out on DVD. When Inside Out came out, my family saw it twice in theaters. The Good Dinosaur? We won't go back and see it in the theaters.

Thanks for reading my review on The Good Dinosaur. If you go and see it, let me know what you think about it!

See ya real soon!

"All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them." -Walt Disney