Which is why it felt more like a reboot to me than an sequel. Either way, episode VIII, IX and X will be entertaining. Not looking for them to top the originals, but I fully expect them to hold their own and uphold the legacy.
Yeah, I don't get why some people are so hung up on originality; if a movie is entertaining, it's entertaining. Why overthink it? Do we all have to be critics, micro-analyzing a film with a fine tooth comb? If I find a movie enjoyable and good, why does it have to be completely original? And how many movies are really, truly original anyway? Most great films are influenced by others that came before them, just like great musicians will cite their influences as well. "There's nothing new under the sun," as they say, it's all been done before. So why not just watch a movie for pure enjoyment and take it at face value? ...and besides, it continued the story from where Jedi left off. If we want to be critical of anything, what about the fact that it doesn't explain at all how the Empire returned after the Emperor was destroyed at the end of Jedi? I mean, wasn't the Emperor supposed to be the "be all and end all" of evil in the universe, kind of like the devil? (or the source of all evil in the universe, I guess you could say) Where did this new evil come from if the Emperor is gone? How do they explain THAT lol!
I guess I was just expecting something far more original not a reboot...I mean a droid with a secret message in it, girl gets kidnapped, Solo owes people money, Solo brings them to a space pub, Solo get killed by his son in a identical scene as Luke and Vader...I could go on and on but you get my point. You can make fresh remakes or sequels like Nolans Batmans.
You're probably too young to remember this, but back in the early to mid 70's, there was a push to "colorize" the old b/w classic movies. This was headed by Ted Turner himself. There was huge push back on this as some movies just don't translate well to color. Turner managed to colorize "Casablanca" and "Gone with the Wind" but the outcry was so great, he didn't try it with other Bogart movies like "Maltese Falcon", "Key Largo" and others. Point being, movies are made for entertainment purposes. They're supposed to be an escape from our everyday humdrum lives and give us perhaps 2hrs or so of fun and entertainment. Once the moneygrab begins, all bets are off. The real problem is with everything imaginable being available via internet and/or TV, there's not much need for imagination anymore. Imagination is the foundation of originality since if you can imagine it, you can create it given enough resources and effort. Until that changes, the best we can hope for is new interpretations of tried and true formulas when talking entertainment. There is always room for new and edgy ideas but the challenge is to find someone willing to bankroll it.
Well, Episode VIII will have more throwback in it. There's no way around it as they introduced Luke Skywalker and Princess Lea in episode VII. I expect them to flesh out the new characters to give them staying power for episode IX and perhaps even X. Trilogies kinda suck as they preclude any overall resolution until the last of the series. That's why I didn't care for Mockingjay3. They could have easily shut it down after 2 but 3 felt like a money grab more than anything else.
I am usually not that guy who rips fun movies apart...hell i'm a horror junkie and most of the movies I watch suck...but there's a difference between a movie geared for the masses and one that completely rips itself off.
I agree with Mocking Jay 3 and 4...couldn't even watch them they bored me to tears but really like the first 2.
Of course, sometimes those "new and edgy ideas" may please the critics, but alienate the average moviegoer...or just bore the crap out of them ("The English Patient" anyone? lol). How many recent films that were nominated for Best Picture were popular with filmgoers? Seems like critics nowadays are too hung up on originality and out of touch with what people are looking for in movies. From about the mid-90's on, the quality of the films that ended up winning Best Picture seems to have gone downhill, at least in terms of what we've been discussing; how entertaining, engrossing, and satisfying a movie is. In fact, the last "Best Picture" I can remember really enjoying is "Dances With Wolves"...what was that the mid-90's? ...when I watch a BP, I expect to come away thinking "Wow, that really was the best picture of the year!", seems the best filmmakers are getting "too cute" nowadays trying to be original for the sake of being original, to please the critics, and lose sight of what makes a movie really good.
I expect we see Lando in the next one...with a girl on each arm and a motive to help the new kids on the block
For the most part I didn't care for this movie (I'll go into it another time) but the new storm trooper explanation was neat. Also, for those interested, this is likely based on the real history of the Ottoman Empire. The Turks would essentially collect a 'tax' consisting of children from Christian villages in the Balkans. These children were subsequently raised to be Muslim and the elite soliders of the Ottoman Empire: the Janissaries. Star Wars always draws a lot from history and this is one that I think most people won't know. Anyway, figured I'd share....
I suspect we will see Boba Fett in the next film. There is a huge desire to see a storyline confirming that he, in fact, did not die in the stupid Sarlacc pit. So I tend to think Abrams has in mind that Fett is still alive. Also, the temple/cantina sort of place that the First Order essentially demolished where Maz Kanata was had been flying a Mandalorian flag (among others). I suspect that the attack against an institution linked to the Mandalorians or Fett might be used as an excuse to shift Fett's loyalties to the alliance. Also, Abrams is clearly 'borrowing' ideas from both the past films and the now non-canonical books. In these books Fett essentially joins the alliance and helps to hunt down and kill Han and Leia's son who had turned to the dark side. Methinks this idea is being germinated for the next movie. I certainly hope so as Boba Fett is a favorite of mine and I'd like to see the character properly used....
Did we watch different movies? Finn was boring. Kylo Ren/Ben was an awful villain. Too conflicted for the first of three movies. Starting on the wrong part of the story arc. Too much family lovey-dovey stuff, not enough action.
Lucas' involvement in the new SW movies is pretty much non-existent. He is allowed to send in his ideas, but Disney/Abrams can and in fact did reject them for the new movie.
She doesn't look young enough to have been born after Ben turned to the dark side, so if she was Han and Leia's daughter he would likely know who she is but clearly has no idea. On that note the old lady sitting next to me when I saw it kept squeeling and commenting throughout it, and when Rey is prisoner and resists Ren blurted out three times in joy "there's the twin!" If she was his twin he would know who she was, dummy! There's no way they'd recycle that plot point too -- separating twins.
I think they might, but if they do I'll puke. My main issues center around the movie being basically recycled plot points. I told my wife if you reduced the film to its original parts it would've been 15 minutes long.
Maybe Rey was born after Ben but only by a year or two. I've just seen that theory being thrown around the internet but I find it highly unlikely as well. Rey being Luke's daughter is way more likely in my opinion.
She has to be significantly younger the more i think about it. She was probably never trained as a jedi and was probably concieved after Luke stopped training jedi....Rey was left when she was 5ish...thats been confirmed. So shes probably around 18 to 20 in the movie. Thats like 13 years. Kylos turn must have been during his teenage young adult years. How else would he have been able to find the first order? She was probably hidden because Ren wanted to use her to draw out Luke. In all honesty she probably doesnt know him. I doubt a 5 yr old would be capable of all then Ren had done. He had to have been older. Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
I said this in the other thread, but the bitching about the recycled plot is even more prevalent here, so I'll repeat it: It's the story of the hero's journey. Of course it's recycled. When Star Wars came out in 1977, that story had already been recycled thousands of times over. This is like complaining about Fast and the Furious recycling storylines. Or horror movies recycling tropes. Or rom-coms. Name the genre, they all hit the main points of that genre. They are tropes for a reason. Basically, if you're looking for similarities, of course you're going to find them. Lots of them. But the important thing (to me, anyway) is that the story was told in a new and interesting manner. I thought it was very well done. Book says Rey is 19.
Thats about the only thing that makes sense and he has to be in his late 20s early thirtys. So he was probably about 13 to 15 when he turned. Probably more towards 13. Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
