Ryan Daly welcomes Aaron Bias to discuss the new heroes and villains introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and then rank their Top 5.
- Introduction begins at 0:00:40
- Star Wars Current Events (potential spoilers) begins at 0:06:34
- New Character Talk begins at 0:17:27
- Galactic Questionnaire with Aaron Bias begins at 1:07:08
Watch the Hypothetical Star Wars Holiday Special from Funny or Die: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sClBNY1EISU
Let us know what you think! Leave a comment or send an email to: RDalyPodcast@gmail.com.
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Music: "Star Wars Main Theme" and “End Title” by The Evil Genius Orchestra (with Ryan and Shag).
Thanks for listening, and May the Force Be With You!
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Ok I think it’s official: I’m the only person I know who kind of liked Hux and gave Phasma a pass. That’s not to say that either of them crack my own top 5 for the new characters, but I just don’t have the same problems everybody else does.
For me Hux was a perfect microcosm for how the First Order was different from the Empire: it was built on fanaticism and idolatry of the Empire. It’s the radicalized version of the Empire that remains when whatever could have been considered to be its moderate elements have either fallen away or opted to become the Republic. And I thought Hux as a character and performance communicated all of that very well.
As for Phasma, I see her as a casualty of the marketing. Because of who was playing her and what the build up did, the expectations for her far exceeded what she was, or even what she really needed to be. I’m not ready to jump on the “what a waste” bandwagon, because for me it all hinges on the next movie. That may sound like a cop out, but stick with me. If she is used to better effect in Episode VIII, then whatever happens is going to have additional weight because we’ve seen her before. I’m having trouble coming up with an example to compare it to that actually bore fruit, but I keep coming back to how awesome it would have been if Spider-Man 4 had happened and had Dylan Baker be the Lizard in that. It would have had so much additional weight simply because we’d seen him in earlier Spider-Man movies, even though he did very little in those appearances. That said, if they STILL can’t find something for her to do in Episode VIII, then you’ll have to clear some room for me on that “what a waste” bandwagon.
All of that behind me, here’s my own top 5 ranking:
1) Poe Dameron – Simply put, he’s the character I wanted more time with once the movie was over. The most fun, the most instantly likable, the guy I just want to hang out with.
2) Kylo Renn – This is the guy I want to know more about. He’s simply fascinating.
3) BB-8 – Too cute for words, and I’m at a point where adorable counts for more than it used to… I’m not sure why, but there you go.
4) Rey – So many people are going to read this as me not liking Rey. I DO like Rey, I just don’t like her best of all. She’s a pretty standard hero template. Daisy Ridley does it well enough that it works very well, but she basically was the best version of what I expected her to be. It was the lack of surprises from what my expectations were that keeps her out of the top 3.
5) Finn – This one is performance, because on paper he’s just a tool of the plot and is used to force the events in certain directions. But John Boyega is engaging and you root for him pretty much immediately.
Great episode! Some nice insight into the new characters. I’m going to beat up on Hux too. He’s the worst of the new characters for me. I’m a huge fan of Peter Cushing, (as evidenced by the number of times he shows up on our House of Franklinstein episodes of Super Mates), so anyone is going to have a hard time living up to Tarkin, but I do think this may have been one of the only casting misfires in the whole film. I don’t know the actor beyond this (Cindy tells me he was one of the Weasly kids in the Harry Potter franchise), so I don’t mean to single him out. Maybe the TYPE of actor was wrong. Maybe an older character who could have been an Imperial officer in his past would have give us a throughput in the story, and a more direct connection to the Empire, and perhaps even a better reason for trying the Death Star…again!
I’m glad I’m not the only one who was flummoxed by the Constable action figure overage. I had this awful feeling this guy MAY be the new Jar-Jar, because I kept seeing his toys everywhere, and he looked like a goofy alien tag-along. Thank the Force I was wrong!
Chris
Aaron was a great guest. I like the idea of him keeping his stoned classmates from killing themselves, good training for the fifteen children he and his wife would eventually have.
Re: the feedback–I would KILL to see Mike Gillis IN a Star Wars movie! All he does is talk to Rey about his favorite Schwarzenegger movies.
HAHAHAHA
Hey, it could happen…
http://www.blastr.com/sites/blastr/files/styles/width_1280/public/bootleg_7_starwars.jpg?itok=VNUiPU2p
Tell me that wouldn’t have been a better movie.
Great episode! Wonderful to hear Aaron get out of the house and chat nerd!
Completely agree about Hux. Perhaps with another actor this role could have been something.
While I liked what we saw with Poe, I’m not sure I understand everyone’s love for this character. We still know so very little. The scenes he was in were great, but there just wasn’t enough to formulate a love for the character for me.
I think I liked Snoak more than most people. I’m intrigued by the mystery. Also, I’m really hopeful he’s actually that tall! That would be something different for Star Wars!! Also can’t help but notice how much he looks like the inquisitor from the Star Wars cartoon. Would be interesting to connect the two.
Going to see the film again with my 10 year in an hour!!
Woohoo!
Okay. Saw it again. Again, really enjoyed the scenes with Poe. Insanely likeable. However, I think I like the Poe/Finn bromance better than either individual character.
Also, with Poe getting the Force whammy, and his mysterious survival of the crashed TIE fighter… What if he was secretly brainwashed and is a First Order sleeper agent? After all, what ship exactly was tracked to the Resistance base? We’ve seen Oscar Isaac play bastards before in other movies. Would be heartbreaking to have a traitor in their midst. And would be a new plot twist for Star Wars.
He destroys the Starkiller Base. That is one EXPENSIVE sleeper agent.
Poe is a “go big or go home” kind of sleeper agent. 😉
I actually liked Hux more than most people, even if he really only got one scene.
But I’m really not impressed with Snoke, and it’s not just the CGI being the weakest in the movie. It’s that the Empire was run by a robed Force-user with a monster face. And now the First Order is being run…by a robed Force-user with a monster face.
I wish that he and Hux could have been merged into a single character. One of the best things about the Grand Admiral Thrawn character was that he was a departure from the villains that came before him. He was closer to Tarkin.
It’s not nearly enough to ruin the movie, but I would have liked a more interested “Big Bad.”
Kylo Ren, however, was the BEST. Easily my favorite part of the movie.
I want to say that I hope that Aaron’s theory about Rey being a former student gone into hiding at an extremely young age (and forgetting it) is my favorite theory so far.
I like it so much better than having another secret relative revelation.
Thinking about what you guys said, and yes… that random Stormtrooper that fought Finn with the stun baton should have been Captain Phasma. It made sense, in that calling Finn a traitor would continue their arc, give Phasma something to do, and it would establish her as Finn’s main foe.
And if you’re going to have a main character get their ass kicked by someone, it should be by a named villain.
Fun episode. My absolute favorite character is Kylo Ren, but then, Adam Driver can do no wrong.
My favorite marginal character is the Stormtrooper played by Daniel Craig. A perfect mirror of Spectre’s ending. He’s hilarious. Certainly up there with the Stormtroopers talking about gas or whatever on the Death Star in Ep.IV.
I got a Force Awakens stormtrooper action figure… I’m totally going to try and sell it on eBay as the “Daniel Craig variant”!