"You don't know the power of the Episode VII."

I'm going to be serious with you here: The prequels? Complete and utter shit. Never look at them again. I'd like to make them non-canon. Or canon only if someone who doesn't understand how humanity thinks. BUT... VII is a different story. It actually feels like Star Wars. The REAL Star Wars. It's Episode IV all over again, except with better action and, in my opinion, funnier comedy. The original IV was dead serious, and that was great. But due to the time period the action and what they were able to do was limited. Now, however, we have much greater abilities and Dis-fucking-ney to back these movies up. And even Disney fears the power of the fanboys. They really made this one good, and I highly, highly recommend you give it one last go. If you still can't muster up enough for the inevitable Episode VIII and probably IX, then alright, fair enough. But I really, really think you should give VII a try. I don't want to say "trust me, you'll love it" because I could be wrong. But I think you'll be happy with what you see.

Oh jeez this sounds like how my parents were when they learned I was agnostic "Come on just try Christ one more time!" How about this: I'll go watch "The Shaman" as a show of good faith, and get back to you on my feelings towards it, mk?

LOL... Oh, I'm sure I'll see it no matter what. And I'm sure I'll enjoy it - despite my inner Sith... and the fact Wedge isn't in it (Wedge... why you abandon me?!). It's just... *looks one way...then the other nervously* I just think JJ Abrams couldn't direct a school play, let alone a movie SO, I'm a little nervous. But, at least, he's still miles ahead of Michael Bay

Well let's just say Star Wars > Star Trek and he proves it in this movie. If you liked Episode IV you'll like this movie. Personally my only major concerns are:
1. I wish Finn had gotten more time to build up his character (this isn't a spoiler Finn is the black guy in all the commercials, the disenfranchised Stormtrooper) as it felt like his transformation from Trooper to Hero was rushed.
2. There was a Canteen but no Canteena song from the originals and they missed an amazing opportunity.

Anyways just finished it, was coming back to comment on The Shaman. I liked it, I really did. It felt strong, characters were good, and it seemed pretty cool. However... This is why I don't like shorts. It just felt so... Rushed. If Finn is rushed in his transformation then this thing is rushed even harder. They had to fit so much in so little. Not to mention there was a few... Confusing moments that could have been explained better with more time. For example: Shamans go to the Netherworld, which is death, to either convert or destroy robot souls. Ok, how do robots have souls? How do they do it multiple times? It showed him stabbing himself with something, can he temporarily kill himself? How does that work? Is where he went too the in-between of Life and Death? Why can only certain people do this? Why the FUCK did he have to do... Uh... The thing to be a Shaman? And most importantly, who the hell pronounces "Shaman" with that first A sounding like the Canadian "Eh"???

Basically: I liked it, would like more of it, don't like how little there is of it and it makes me question a lot of things a full-length movie could have done.

I totally agree with this assessment As it is a European movie, so a lot of the Shaman aspects would be more familiar to European viewers. I'm a mythology buff, so the concepts (and how they played with them) made perfect sense to me - indeed, I was actually pissed-off that I never thought of it first XD But, the spirituality and aspects would definitely leave most viewers with more questions than answers. I'd love to see how they'd take this and make it into a full length film - but that's the writer in me wanting to play in his sandbox. All in all, it left more of an emotional imprint than most full-length Hollywood movies I've seen in ages.

... I guess I'm also a little leery of the new Star Wars because they tossed the entire Expanded Universe, which I actually wanted to see. But, again, that's the writer in me speaking XD

I'll see it certainly... if nothing more than to cheer on the Empire.. err... the Republic *cough*

Ohhhh yes that would explain a lot, just like how most American viewers look at Anime and don't really make sense of it at first, thinking it's all one-note until they realize there's actually a much wider variety of stories and ideals behind it. And if it's like anime in that case then it would take multiple viewings over multiple time periods for me to figure out what the fuck is going on

Nothing wrong with an emotional impact, though personally I prefer action and adventure, maybe a little bit of sexual fun here and there, to in-depth characters and storylines with emotional drive. Don't get me wrong, it can happen where I like a movie like that. Buuuuuuuuut I tend to stay more to Michael Bay and Transformers than Citizen Kane even if the latter is the better movie: I just enjoy myself more when I can get behind a good fight scene or close call in a war movie than the people in the trenches. Of course, even with my Transformers comparison, bad characters don't automatically concede to a good fight. Thing is, I liked watching Transformers ONCE. That is it, ONCE. I can't really go back and say I'll enjoy them. And for any gamers out there, the Duke Nukem game that came out awhile back is another example of if it doesn't work despite the action, I can't really find myself enjoying it. Hell I couldn't even finish that game. So yeah, call me what you will, fanboy, uneducated, lack of empathy for characters or dilemmas, but the thing is... Life has that already. Life has problems and people and humanity. When I watch a movie or play a game, I'd rather have my heart pounding and on the edge of my seat than be listening to the upteenth time of the characters' backstories.

I read a little bit of the Expanded Universe but never really got into it, so I guess that saved me from disappointment.

Uh, yeah, Republic... Go Republic! *Does one of those little party-blower things*

The new Star Wars movie is just "A New Hope 2, Electric Boogaloo" Down to the destruction of the death star. The new protagonist goes from "what's a Jedi?" To beating up god levels of force faster than I can take a leak.

Still want to see it, but feel like its just didney wurl milking Lucas's fanboys for a few easy million.

ROFL... Actually, I hear that was the working title

Not sure when I'll see it... but I will. Just avoiding the theater right now... AKA The Petri Dish with Surround-Sound.

I trust jj about half the time, and here I think he delivered. Short version, I enjoyed it. Without a keyboard all I'll say is I'm glad someone redeemed star wars, and the new characters worked well. Ending was a bit derivative of episode four, but still great. Washes the prequels out of my mouth. Now for Iridescence the movie!

I'm probably going to have to see it VOD considering how much time it'll take for me to get across town to the theatre XD