@Numero Deux @Box Cutta @wire28
Here we go.
I will preface this by starting out that I went into the theater with VERY low expectations. I was disheartened by the mismarketing of Finn's character and I felt that it was extremely insulting to African American fans of the franchise to have this whole "Destiny Awakens" tag tied to Finn and then bait and switch him with Rey. I was extremely close to cancelling my tickets and not going, but my girl was very excited and invited her parents and her sister so it became a family outing...
I'm going to start with a general breakdown of what I liked and disliked about the FILM and then go into a deeper examination of Finn.
-Kylo Ren was the best character in the movie. I am not familiar with Adam Driver's work on Girls (a Show I couldn't fathom finding the remotest bit interesting) but he, in my opinion absolutely NAILED the depiction of the turmoil that one would imagine going to the dark side and betraying everyone you love would wrought on one's psyche. This movie relied ALOT on the actors using emotion and facial expression to convey feeling rather than dialogue, which is both a strength and weakness of the film. The stronger actors (Driver, Boyega, and Harrison) can convey an emotion that we as the viewer can FEEL, and without a lot of explanation or back story, that's what connects us to them. Driver is obviously the "Darth Vadar" of this trilogy, but he showcases more emotion and inner struggle In this film than Hayden Christen was able to do in two. I actually BELIEVED that this guy was very much "seduced" by the dark side and played by Snoke, and a part of him knows this with certainty, but that lust for purpose, for position, for POWER blinds him to the light. I liked everything about him
- Harrison Ford was fantastic. I didn't get a "phone it in" vibe from him at all. Every scene he was in, his swashbuckling swagger shone through. His death (even though I could see it a MILE away) was tragic in the fact that we will never again see this character interact with Leia or Luke, or the new three. I honestly wished he could've stuck around. One of the three had to die and I would've preferred it to be Leia but I digress.
-Poe Dameron's character was good, almost great, but needed more screen time. Oscar Isaac was having fun with this role, you can tell he loved every moment of it, his enthusiasm was on his sleeve throughout. The opening sequence with Finn was honestly my favorite portion of the entire movie. If the movie would've been "Finn and Poe's Awesome Space Adventure" I would've been happy with it. I'm sure in future installments Poe will shine and take on the "Han" mantle as he's 100% suited for it.
- Snoke was.....interesting. I wasn't as disappointed with his lack of screen time as some others were because the Emperor didn't get any REAL screen time in the OG trilogy until Return Of the Jedi. He was interesting, mysterious, and Creepily evil enough that speculation on him will run rampant for the next few years, which is I'm sure what JJ meant to set up.
- Rey wasn't bad at all, but she was uneven and I had MAJOR issues with her just being able to use the force all willy nilly with ZERO training. Ok using the force to protect your mind against Ren I can buy. But force tricking that guard with NO prior training? Battling and kicking Ren's ass in a lightsaber duel? None of that felt EARNED and it all certainly felt rushed, like JJ suddenly realized "oh yea, she's the ONE, better make her a bad ass before we wrap this up"
-Captain Phasma was absolutely wasted. Seriously what was the point of her character? Her scenes must've been cut to the BONE because I honestly forgot about her until Finn and Han took her captive.
And now Finn...
I know that Star Wars, Lord Of The Rings, Harry Potter, Terminator, John Carter, Superman, Batman, and 99.9% of these epic stories of heroism are for White people. This is an unarguable fact, they are written by whites, produced by whites, and made to exemplify white excellence. Those of us of color who have grown and watched these films have related to the UNIVERSAL themes of courage, bravery, love, and triumph through adversity that these stories are built upon. We grew to like, even love these stories in SPITE of, not BECAUSE of, the White protagonists who embody these themes. These stories were never told through our eyes, often times the caricatures of us were as awe-struck side-kicks, bumbling fools, or evil villains. We were side line characters, existing only to magnify the greatness of the White protagonist. Only in the past decade or so has this revolting trend begun to ease little by little. The black character WASN'T always the first one killed. The Black character WASN'T always the rapist or thug. The black character WASN'T always an idiot. Will Smith the worlds most bankable star, in no less than 4 films (ID4, Men In Black 1,2,3) was directly responsible for saving the universe...
So when it was announced that John Boyega had actually gotten the part of the male "Lead" in a new Star Wars movie. Certain people of color were very excited. Could it be that we would get a heroic BLACK character, whose treated with the respect, dignity, and courage of heart that was aforded Luke, Han, Obi-Wan, and even Anikan? The early marketing for the film certainly seemed to be saying so. The first trailer, the third trailer, the motion poster, and various media up to the film's release seemed to position Boyega's Finn as an important, leading part of the new trilogy. Wielding a lightsaber, gunning in the Falcon, staring down Kylo Ren. Were these stories that had been catered specifically and exclusively to a white audience since the moment film went into camera, now finally catching up with the times and "allowing" a black male lead to flourish?
The answer tragically, is no.
The first 30 minutes of the film almost had me convinced that it wouldn't be bad at all. My skepticism faded slightly as I rather enjoyed Finn's consciousness awakening to the fact that being a mindless killing machine for an organization that clearly has no goals beyond universal dominance isn't something to aspire to. His decision to risk his life attempting to help Poe I felt was noble, and then we got this little ditty.
Poe: Why are you helping me
Finn: Because it's the right thing
Poe: You needed a Pilot
Finn: (sheepishly) Yea I needed a pilot
Right off the bat the nobility of Finn's character is compromised, it's more HIS desperation to escape than it is helping the good guy Poe. But you know what? I could role with that. Han Solo might've done something similar in his early days, and I guess it adds to the supposed "3 Dimensional Characterization" that we all readily go into our science fiction fantasy movies looking for. So let it go, Finn and Poe have excellent chemistry during the escape. I was really impressed with how they were portraying Finn as funny, but NOT side-Kick Jar Jar comic relief in this sequence. It felt NATURAL for the character and HUGE props to John Boyega, who in my opinion, is the best natural actor of the new three. Finn is learning on the spot and seems pretty confident next to Poe.
The scenes with Rey after the crash I had no problems with either. Even the "Stop Holding My Hand!" bit didn't feel like Finn was getting shafted, it simply felt like a natural part of two strangers thrown together who don't know how to interact with one another. Finn is still going out of his way to attempt to be heroic, not a coward. Again, however, his integrity is compromised when he lies to Rey about being in the resistance. Every point of attempted heroism is IMMEDIATELY counteracted with lies and selfishness to this point, with both Poe and Rey. I take note of this, but I'm still having fun with the banter between Rey, Finn, and BB8.
We get to the Falcon. Rey pilots and Finn guns. He has an impressive showing, at this point myself, the audience, and Rey's character are with him on this. Is he unsure of himself? Yes, but at this point no more than ANH Luke was, he's still a liar, but he's showing real guts and courageousness. The scene with him awkwardly trying to flirt with Rey and the comedy with him asking BB to bail him out are truly funny. I'm STILL not upset or offended by any of this, John is SELLING what could have been a corny sequence with real charm and wit, testament to his acting ability. It's going pretty well
And then Han shows up and it all goes out the window.
It's hard for me to describe how utterly dissapointed I was with Finn's character form this point onward. He gets kidnapped by the Alien and has to be saved by Rey. Chewbacca abuses him in a sequence that's neither funny or cute. While Han is helping them get away, and Rey is proving how smart she is. Finn is getting choked by the wookie. When we get to Maz Kinata's palace all of the courage that Finn has built up from the past half hour suddenly melts away. He wants to run, he confesses to Rey in a sequence that just screams "I'm the Cowardly Lion dorothy and I have no heart" telling her that "Nobody ever looked at me the way you did and I didn't want to disappoint you" (paraphrasing from memory) and walks away. At this point I leaned over to my girl and said "it's 2015 and look. We're STILL the cowardly side kick" which apparently this Asian guy overheard, more on him later. THIS is our black male lead? Luke NEVER had such a cowardly, spineless speech at any point in ANH. Neither did Han or Leia. But alas, Finn does...
Later on, after Rey rejects her destiny. Finn is given the lightsaber to carry to her. This is where we get the "Driving Miss Ridley" part of Finn's character. At this point Finn's entire motivation becomes helping Rey. Which is fine, however Finn is given nothing else as personal motivation. He has no a,notions of joining the resistance, he's not force sensitive to training isn't in his cards, so after saving Rey then what? fukk it, Finn is hell bent on helping Rey. He battles a Storm Trooper who calls him a traitor, igniting the mythical blue lightsaber of Luke to combat hand to hand. He actually impales one trooper almost by accident, amd duels the second one, getting roundly defeated until Han saves him. Finn simply CANNOT finish a fight on his own it seems, saved by Rey from the Alien earlier, and now saved by Han. This is a theme I will touch on in a moment.
Rey is captured and once again, Finn' s sole motivation is to save her. At THIS point I'm thinking, ok, this guy is supposed to be the THIRD hero, they've GOT to give him his true "hero" moment in the last act, ALL leads in Star Wars movies get ONE right? Finn reunites with Poe (They really are a great duo, they play off each other like they really could be best friends) and helps give Leia and the resistance information on the Star Killer. Finn says he knows how to bring down the Order's shields, and volunteers to go with Han. But... SUPRISE SURPRISE...he's LYING. EVERY. SINGLE. ACTION of his that could be heroic or selfless or badass is twinged with a loss or a lie. And then the wisecracks DO get really corny and unnecessary. When Han berates him for lying and being a SANITATION WORKER...
Finn: We'll just use the force
Han: That's not how the force works!
after that. Homie all tore up and shyt on the ground like his grandpappy at the end of ep3 and shyt.
at folks wondering how she was able to best Kylo in a duel? 
they showed her getting the back hand earlier in the flick too
