Star wars planets/bases and uses of the force

Rating: 10/10 (12 January 2016)

I think this movie actually grasped the ideas of the force without a teacher rather well. The fact that Ray was able to have such quick skills flying the Millennium Falcon and learning to shoot the gun so well were examples. She also had a vision, which is clearly not something she was trying to have. It was just that the Lightsaber launched this vision by its connection to her and the force. I didn't quite understand how she was able to make the Storm Trooper do what she wanted. At the start of the movie, they think the force and Jedi are myths. And she's lived alone in a desert on Jakku almost her entire life. So how did she even know she could do that with the force? It wasn't like Kylo Ren did it and she learned from it. And they didn't show anything like that in her vision for her to have remembered. It just seemed odd. That was such a fun scene, but for her character, it actually was badly written.
I think the movie did a very good job on letting us soak in Jakku. They gave us great visuals of the planet, the landscapes, and the hundreds of characters and sets setup as practical effects and suits! It was my favorite part of the movie set wise.
After that they go to Takodana, which is a forest planet. It was a cool look from space, but on the planet they don't really explore much. That's OK, because it was really about Kanata's Castle, which we do get a fun look at it from outside, inside and even in the basement below. I think that castle was reminiscent of Jabba's palace. It appeared to me to be another location in the Galaxy for the bounty hunters to congregate at. She was probably a competitor or ally of Jabba when he and his family were alive. Though she seemed far less evil, but I think Jabba may have only been seen for his seeking of vengeance on Han Solo, and not what his normal day to day activities were. I hope we get more looks into Kanata's castle or another location like it in future movies.
Finally there was Star Killer Base. It was, as they explained, a planet turned into this base. They kept primarily to the base, focusing in on attacking the First Republic. So we got a pretty fun look at the facility. The second facility that housed the shield generator, and a fun look at the woods where Finn, Ray and Kylo Ren eventually had duels. What was cool about this planet was that it was kind of like Hoth. It was covered in snow, but it also had a forest where they could fight. That is a rarity to have two different topography's on one planet. Normally, it would've been snow and mountains. I'm hoping we get a little bit more of a mixture like this in future movies.