The Last Jedi Thread (with Spoilers)

Welp...

 

I finally got to watch The Last Jedi last month. I didn't hate it, but I also now give 10x less of a shit about the modern Star Wars films. Force awakens had it's glaring flaws but it captured some excitement, adventure, and character. I did want more, even if I wanted better. The Last Jedi felt more like a caricature of itself, with bad decision after bad decision, set between middling scene after middling scene. Luke's arc was absolutely bloody awful to boot. Hey, I'm starting to hate it more. Good.

So far I think Rogue One is the better movie of the first three. I haven't subjected myself to the new Solo, but I do not feel terribly motivated to do so after TLJ, and it's trailers.

 

Yeah, I'd skip Solo.

 

That is simplistic to the point of meaninglessness. Because both Shape of Water and Isle of Dogs did get made despite tons of people seeing blockbuster films. And Shape of Water even got heaps of (to my mind undeserved) accolades and acclaim. It got nominated for a clutch of Oscars and I assume it won a bunch.

Movie studios love franchises because they’re generally guaranteed moneymakers. Those guaranteed moneymakers give studios the leeway to take a chance on original content. I guess if everyone everywhere stopped watching all blockbusters simultaneously the studios would be forced to find original content to compensate, but that’s just as much wishful thinking as saying everyone should go vegan overnight because it’s healthier for humans and healthier for the planet. It’s not realistic.

If you care about original content, go see original movies that spark your interest. Recommend them to your friends. That’s great. You can also boycott blockbusters if you like, but recognize that no matter how much you shake your fist at the sky, those movies are generally going to make a lot of money anyway, and that’s okay. And in the case of Marvel and Star Wars, it’s better than okay because those movies are, on the whole, really good and really fun. They’re not Citizen Kane but they’re not trying to be.

I loved Solo, and The Last Jedi, and Force Awakens and Rebels. There’s a ton of great Star Wars content right now and it makes me so happy. It makes me sad to see so many Star warsfans become so calcified and jaded in their views that they grow to hate the thing they once loved.

 

I haven't stopped loving the Original Star Wars movies. I'd love the new ones too if they were any good.

 

Do we know if that was because people got tired of the genre or did studios just start making bad westerns?

 

This is true but we’re also seeing a lot less people go to theaters because they have a compelling alternative (see also: why are malls dying?). Of course that alternative opens up new possibilities to bring high production value direct to home content from places like HBO, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, etc.

About Star Wars in particular: nostalgia probably does color people’s perception of the older movies vs the newer ones but it’s also true that they’re retelling a lot of the same basic story and they haven’t improved on anything. They would have been better off telling a new story a la Rogue One that wasn’t beholden to any of the baggage of the past. No Skywalkers or Solos or wookies, just a new Jedi arriving to fight against a great injustice. And I very much dislike the idea of rehabilitating characters like Kylo that do things that are unforgivable, like killing a school full of kids or committing genocide. I don’t care what his motivations were. Raiders would not have been better if we’d gotten more of the Nazis’ perspective.

 

Yeah sometimes the mythology should be left mythology I suppose.....

I like many others I assume was excited to finally see all of that, but it does seem like disney may have borked it at least somewhat. Also there more I heard about the solo movie the more I felt like it should have been a movie about Lando instead with Han more in a supporting role. We all know hans story mostly, we don't really know Landos...that would be the more interesting story. You take that and mix in some of the more fun parts of Hans arc and you may have a pretty good movie on your hands. Plus people don't bitch because Lando doesn't really have much of a backstory for people to complain about disney messing up and from most of what I heard Donald Glover knocked Lando out of the park.

I don't think I could have said that better myself. There was way too much stuff shoved into TLJ and way too many unanswered questions. So with that it feel like the next moving will just me a mess of stuff while they try to answer all of that in a 3 hour movie. Plus there was just a ton of stuff that doesn't make a lick of sense. Like the whole dont tell anybody plan thing made that whole incident feel so forced or the let's go to the casino to get the only guy in the universe that can crack this code...but instead we conveniently find this guy in jail that can do it too....hmm

I enjoyed the Force Awakens...it was the movie it needed to be...it got the franchise back on track and it was entertaining. Was it a great movie...not really..was it basically the same formula from the original star wars with new character...yep. It had good action, enough humor to give it a fun vibe and it had a clear path and opened up new story arcs to explore.

I left TLJ with a sort of Meh WTF feeling. Like WTF did I just see and thinking there is no way they can finish this in one more movie....

 

I worked in and around the industry for over a decade, so I do have some insight. Studios consider far more than just pure box office numbers when it comes to making these decisions. I agree that the dwindling number of studios is a bad thing, just like the dwindling number of corporations in general is a bad thing, but that’s a separate issue from seeing Solo vs Isle of Dogs.

 

Cyberpunk 2020 is slowly becoming reality.

 

I dunno, man. To someone admittedly uninvolved with the industry it looks more like that that was more the case in the past. Before the internet, piracy, and then streaming changed everything. Big franchises now feel like they’re more the result of the circumstances, and less the cause.

The sooner it all implodes the sooner the middle budgeted riskier films will come back, at least I sincerely hope so, and I suppose not buying that ticket will only accelerate that happening. On the other hand there will always be new generations of unjaded children to eat up Disney’s output, and keep them and this mega franchise model going.

 

For me I've found that it's difficult to enjoy any movie with people eating and talking all around me. I would rather spend my theater money to go to a play or a concert than a movie theater.

Having said that I did spend my once or twice a year movie theater money on SOLO yesterday because it's been a tradition since the beginning...

 

I had actually set my expectations so low with Solo, that when I finally went to see it, I found it entertaining. The acting was shite, and the story was forced, but since I had convinced myself it was going to be total garbage, I found I was able to watch it for what it was and mostly enjoy myself.

(although the beating that Chewie gave Han would have basically put the man in a wheelchair for life - I think they forgot he doesn't have any special powers keeping his back from snapping like a twig when thrown through a metal support post).