I finally saw it a couple of weeks ago and it didn’t even get me angry enough at this point to want to bump the thread, it was just kinda there. Just a standard-issue sequel that felt no need for a coherent plot that made any sense, like it was a Fast & Furious movie set in space with particularly high production values or something.
I hate to say this because I thought TLJ was so tone deaf and ineptly done, but at least that movie tried to be about something and deal with the idea of Luke’s failures and inability to live up to the legend status that had been built up. I think in the long run I’ll probably wind up appreciating that one more, just for what it tried to do. ROS didn’t try to do anything other than “oh fuck we got ourselves painted into a corner let’s build up a whole new conflict and resolve it really quick and distract everybody with like 12 set pieces so they don’t notice what a mess the plot is omg we made it over the finish line the galaxy is saved end credits phew.”
I still maintain the wrong person died at the end. They could have had an amazing run of a series or movies where it’s just a Ben Solo redemption arc, driven by grief over the loss of his parents and “soulmate” but nooooo.
Yeah but you’re assuming Adam Driver wants anything to do with this franchise other than collecting royalties. Haven’t kept track of everyone, but it sure as hell seems like all the stars are quite happy staying away from Star Wars after this.
What a missed opportunity from Disney. I moderately enjoyed the first new movie, fully recognizing how mediocre and derivative it was. But I was like, no problem the fan service is shallow but the nostalgia is cool. Now that they’ve gotten that out of the way, they can get to the really good stuff! Then … thud.
I will say that if you’re able to just sit back and turn off most of your brain and enjoy it as a popcorn movie, go for it; there are far worse movies out there. It’s just super sad that this is what became of the franchise.
I feel like The Mandalorian is kinda the TV equivalent. Some people really seemed to heap praise on it which I don’t understand at all, it’s written and acted pretty badly IMO. However, I’m not upset I watched it because lord knows I’ve wasted equivalent hours of my life watching far worse and less entertaining stuff.
It baffles me every time I think about it. Marvel plan out their releases like 20 movies into the future, Disney get one of the most valuable properties on the planet and can’t even be bothered to plan out a coherent three-movie outline. “How do we make something fresh out of this old franchise” is a legit question in the case of a tired and anachronistic series like say James Bond, but you would think Ep 7 would have made it clear to everyone that what people wanted out of Star Wars was nostalgia and myth and high adventure, but then they’re like “well I guess next let’s take a shit on that”. Artistic direction aside, these are such incomprehensible business decisions. It’s so weird.
I’d pay lots of money for a book by an insider detailing how they went from buying star wars for 4 billion to dead-ending it after making 5(?) movies? Who made all the terrible decisions and why did they make them? Are they happy with how it turned out? What would they change if they could go back and do it again? Should you listen to the star of the original series when he tells you that you’re doing it wrong?
Why watch a movie when you can listen to this excellent reading of the script they were going to use until Colin withdrew as director?
Jenny really is so charming. She was like lol why does everyone like me just reading an unproduced Star Wars script? But she inserts all sorts of commentary on the franchise, the series, echoes complaints about the new movies, points out what would have been awesome about Jurassic World: A New Hope and what would have sucked.
It is baffling, but DC has screwed it up as well. Fox messed it up with Xmen/Spiderman.
I understand they aren’t high art, but what Marvel has done with the planning of the films is incredible. Everyone else fucks it up.
Marvel has made B list superheroes like Thor and Black Panther way more popular than Superman.
See the thing is I doubt a corporate board would see it that way. The box office sales of the new trilogy was over $4bn. Commercially, they were extremely successful. You could make an argument that they did long term damage to the brand, and they probably did, but star wars is popular and resilient and enough young people liked the new movies that I think they can milk the franchise for years to come.
That’s the problem. I dont blame capitalism as much as I blame people for consuming pure shit and being ok with it. We need to demand more from content creators, but we as a society are happy just consuming pure dogshit.
Not just that. A franchise like Star Wars is actually a big merchandise commercial. In that regard, Disney is KILLING it. Force Awakens earned around $2 billion in ticket sales, but it earned between $5-6 billion in merchandising. Disney could give a fuck about bad reviews if they keep raking in $6 billion in toy sales every time a movie drops.
They spent at least a billion and a half on the budgets of those movies and I think they only get like half of the box office take. No way they made money on that deal if this is, in fact, the end of the Jedi.
Interestingly, star wars land at disneyland has been more or less a complete flop and did not generate the expected ticket sales that Cars land did for california adventure.
Attendance overall has been low, pre-corona anyway. They expected and planned for the park to be at capacity for months after release of those attractions and the crowds never materialized.
