In the Clone Wars animated series, which is cannon, both Maul and the robot have much larger roles to play. I'll be honest. I watched some (not all) of the animated series which was better than the sequels (not saying much) but also got quickly boring. Yeah, I'm jaded on Star Wars. I feel it's become almost like an unending soap opera where you just see the same things repeat themselves with little to no story being told (the original trilogy being the exception). Albeit one with a huge worldwide following. Christoper Lee had such gravitas that you did not need to know his character's background to see he was a clever, conniving, and immoral individual. By the way, the animated series does go into his background as well

I had heard some good things about that show but I just didn't need Star Wars in my life at that point. I do my best to ignore the prequel movies as canon so I'm unlikely to compound that with the cartoon. Being honest, the basic premise feels pointless to me because of where the story goes in ep3.

Okay, so the last horse finally crosses the finish line... I got this in tonight.

I wasn't insanely engaged at the beginning... but as the movie went on the more drawn in I got.

And yeah, those who said the movie has problems are right, it does, but by the end I wasn't really reflecting back on them too much.

The structure of the movie might have bothered me subconsciously... but I don't think it's a nail in the coffin or anything. This is probably why the beginning didn't grab me as much.

By far the BIGGEST surprise was just how damn sad certain parts of the movie really were. No one I know even mentioned or tipped me off to that and I couldn't have been happier going in blind to that. I mean really, I almost cried due to a Star Wars movie. I NEVER thought I ever say or type that. Kudos for everyone I know talking about the movie for keeping their mouth shut about that.

Worth seeing... but not being the most avid fan of the franchise I probably won't be running out to nab the Blu Ray when it comes out. Still, I can appreciate what was done.

I love Darth Maul. We've all played enough video games to know a boss fight when we see one, and Maul was a goddamn boss fight. I honestly felt he was more intimidating than Darth Vader, and with just as much command of every scene he's in.

And yeah, Maul beats the piss out of Dooku as an antagonist. I really wish Maul didn't die in Ep 1. If it weren't for Lucas' prequel habit of killing off all the potentially interesting characters way too early, the prequels could have turned out far differently.

**In case you haven't seen the movie, I don't hide the fact that there are numerous spoilers in my rant below**

Saw this last night. It was exactly as I thought it would be. Bloated and over-hyped. Absolutely a JJ Abrams movie, which means things are done "because it looks cool" and who cares if it makes any sense! OK, we have a new Death Planet (which was as original as a stick of wood in a forest, and by the way reminded me of Unicron except it eats stars instead of planets, but anyway) that absolutely has to be built in such a way that one fighter... just ONE, could go down a really narrow shaft and blow up the WHOLE damn planet! Which of course explodes and then turns into a Sun because...yeah, it looks cool. Also, this new Death Planet shoots planet-destroying lasers at apparently hyperspace speed or something like that... although if you're standing on the planet's surface you can see the beams which are faster then light move slowly across the sky... yeah, sure whatever. And I suppose not one single person in the whole damn Republic noticed that the Empire... er, excuse me, "First Order" were turning their Austria-like-during-the-Third-Rich mountain-planet into a giant Unicron-like weapon?? Or did they just notice this at the last 30 minutes? Perhaps this Death Planet was super-secretive. With such great security that a janitor could sneak in, capture some commander, and have her turn off ALL THE SHIELDS around the planet!! Yeah, makes sense. Also, nice that they plugged this hole where just ONE fighter could go down and blow up the whole planet... until a couple of people with a few detonators blew it wide open. One of those guys was the janitor. Who also is used for raiding operations? That made no sense, but what a surprise that a JJ Abrams movie has more plot holes than notes in a Beethoven symphony. At least in the Clone Wars (animated series) they actually discuss their (Stormtroopers) programming and how some don't make it and thus do menial work (such as sanitation). So I guess the whole premise is that everyone is looking for Luke. Why? Why does the Rebellion (and what exactly are the Rebels rebelling against? I thought the Empire was destroyed, and that there was a New Republic, so why are they still called Rebels and not Republicans or something?) have to find Luke, and why is it so difficult to find him? Similarly, why does Voldemort want to find Luke? It's not like Vader desperately wanted to find Obi-Wan. He just took his time building the mighty Empire, but those were days when movies made a bit more sense. This movie is a cut and paste. I feel that Abrams basically took the first trilogy and just copied-and-pasted. It's like reading a high school paper that copied-and-pasted bits and pieces off other papers, changed a few words here and there, and then handed it in. In other words, plagiarism. In some ways, I actually think that Episode I was better, in that at least it tried to do something original. Maul, was an intimidating villain, and again he had much more of a role and was seriously kick-ass in the Clone Wars. The way Lucas had Maul killed in Episode I was pathetic. This new villain, Han's son, is actually pretty intriguing, but...I think it's asinine that he wears a mask. Vader wore a mask because he needed it to live. Yuppie-Vader just wants to look cool? One of those numerous "whatevers". I assume since Yuppier-Vader has a light saber he's trained in the force. However, he gets his ass handed to him by some chick that never swung a lightsaber before?? Come on! When Luke went up against Vader in Empire he lost big time. Keep in mind that Luke also had trained under Yoda!! This chick just closed her eyes and then what the hell, decided to kick ass?! Oh wait... JJ Abrams. That's right, because "love conquers all" and so she fought to protect the man she loves. Who fortunately is not dead after repeatedly being hit by a lightsaber. "Just a flesh wound". Oh, the music was very good by the way.

I still think Darth Maul is a poor villain... but after thinking about it some more Rylo Ken really isn't that great either. It would have been fine if he never took his mask off, but he did and revealed he's a little ****ing brat. Granted, not as bad as Anakin, but I still wanted to punch his pouty little face after his darkest deed.

I know this will seem like a cop out, but hey, I thought it was better than the prequels... and I'm sad to say that's enough in my book. Yes, the bar was that low for me. Hell, I almost fell asleep when watching episode I in theaters.

However, not being a big fan I won't be buying this on blue ray/DVD; I'd buy episodes IV~VI if I ever get around to it.

Avatar saw what he brought in to the cinema with him.

Ain't that the truth.  He ruined the movie for himself before seeing it.

Sorry, but yeah... I can't help but agree with you guys. He's entitled to his own opinion but I think he made up his mind before seeing the movie.

Not being a huge fan I wasn't really blown either (again, I wasn't that engaged in the beginning of the movie) but I thought Abrams kept some of his impulses (calling cards) in check with this one... well, at least compared to the Star Trek movies.

And came out with an inability to write in paragraphs.

I'll just leave this here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaOSCASqLsE

I'll consider that a sufficient substitute for the movie. At least I can say I've heard of Kylo Ren (and Matt!) in case someone asks.

I "like" how everyone is judging others when they disagree with an opinion. "Oh clearly, you are not open-minded because you don't agree with my opinion!" Or "oh you said you probably wouldn't like it so clearly you must have made up your mind ahead of time! Obviously you did not give it a chance, even though you did go see it, because if you did give it a chance you would have liked it, because I like it, and my opinion is what matters".

ps I mean no disrespect or aggression on my part. I can see why some of you would believe that, but I really did try to go into the movie open-minded, and frankly I liked the beginning, but felt it just became a mess. Just my opinion folks

You were openly biased against the movie before seeing it, having relied on what other people said about the movie.  You'd already been prepared to be aware of specific faults from reviewers and critics.  Many of us wouldn't consider this being open minded, and it's not invalid for us to say so.

So you did not read any reviews about the movie at all? You did not talk to your friends about it at all? Of course you did! I'm sure you read "positive reviews" and saw lots of positive reviews, and head lots of positive reviews, and so in similar vein I argue you went in to the movie expecting to like it and thus were not open minded at all.

I did not read about or discuss the movie in any significant amount before seeing the movie.  I went in with a blank slate opinion and genuinely enjoyed the movie.  So much for your argument.

Avatar, we seem to be the only two with open hostility (here) towards the new movie. In your case, the movie itself is what's horrid. In my case, I have nothing against the movie. In fact, if I were to watch it, I'd probably enjoy it. My reason is simply that I disagree with Disney not basing the movie on Expanded Universe material. My disagreement is so strong that I won't watch a movie that I might enjoy. I've only met one other person (one of my cousins) that agrees the movie should've been based on Grand Admiral Thrawn. The author of the Thrawn sequence has a master's degree in physics and has won the Hugo award. When compared to science fiction in general, and not just to other Star Wars novels, the Thrawn books are first rate. One would be hard pressed to find a more interesting villain than Thrawn.

Is it okay to be woefully indifferent? I've never watched a Star Wars movie and just generally have no interest in them, past or present. Never really understood the hype *shrug*

Is Jaxxon in those Thrawn books? If not, I'll never read them. Jaxxon has big long ears. When compared to ears generally, they're pretty long.

Why would it not be OK to be indifferent? I think it's OK to disagree about most anything, especially something as trivial as movies. But as you can see, you do face hostility for differing opinions. It's so silly it doesn't faze me. As for the hype, maybe I'm mistaken, but I don't ever recall seeing such ridiculous promotions before (Star Wars mayo, really?!)

Avatar, you faced hostility for passing other peoples' judgment on the movie instead of your own.  Or do you still not understand that?

You're not missing much. It's just a very slick looking good vs. evil fantasy with minor elements of science fiction. Just like Star Trek, Star Wars offered nothing new and was only successful because of the format in which it was released. Had the first Star Wars movie been released strictly as a printed novel and not a movie, then it would be just another "obscure book" of the kind that I often look for.

In summary, Star Wars is a phenomenon because of the format in which it was released. Movie studios could have taken almost any science fiction story in 1977, made it look slick like Star Wars, and made millions. The timing also had a lot to do with it. People couldn't rent VHS tapes, couldn't download it, couldn't watch it on cable, etc. There was absolutely no way to watch the movie other than being in the theater. Adjusted for inflation, Star Wars is the second highest domestic grossing movie of all time: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm

Like I've said above I'm not a huge Star Wars fan (didn't see the movie right away) but just because I wasn't hyped doesn't mean I failed to see why others were. I mean really, just replace "Star Wars movie" with something you or I are looking forward to and I get it.

However, with this movie you kind of have to factor in things like nostalgia and the idea that the prequel trilogy didn't go over well with a sizable portion of the fanbase. It's a pretty complicated equation when you think about it.

In short, yes of course it's fine for anyone to be indifferent to just about anything, including Star Wars.

(never seen a Harry Potter film in its entirety)

I'm similarly indifferent about Star Wars in general. I chalk that up to: 1) the films not really forming part of my childhood, and 2) bombardment of suggestions by other people and popular culture from all quarters that it's something I should notice and care about. For better or worse, that second one tends to result in auto-backfire with me.

As such I've only ever seen the films without the nostalgia, and I found them entertaining enough although not very remarkable. Unusually, I prefer the prequels to the original trilogy, though only slightly. I just prefer the world-building attempts and more political tone of Episodes I-III. I saw the new one and from my perspective it lives up to its heritage nicely (which is quite an achievement, really) though I did it find it cynically too close in structure to Episode IV.

What I will say is that the space opera feature film is so exceedingly rare nowadays that Star Wars is notable for its novelty. I don't think there are any at all aimed at adults, and this is a sorry situation. What I wouldn't give for a modern day Dune or (real) Star Trek.

I would love to see a Dune movie, or TV series. One that really captures the book. While I don't agree that Dune is "the best science fiction book ever written" I do think it's a great book. The sequels are like rotten eggs in my opinion, but the first book is definitely a classic. By the way, did you know that Star Wars took... I mean, "borrowed" lots of ideas from Dune?

http://moongadget.com/origins/dune.html