I could almost guarantee that if TLJ’s story beats exactly matched expectations of what people were speculating, many people would have accused the film of being predictable and boring.
I would have settled for a competently told story, and one that spent less time on pointless sub-plots, useless characters, & cartoony gags, and more focus on the critical themes surrounding our hero’s struggles and growth as she takes the next step of her journey.
Because there never were any cartoony gags in the OOT.
Nope, not even close to the extent of the gags that were placed throughout TLJ. The only thing in the OOT that feels like a “gag” is the Tarzan yell in ROTJ, which fortunately is brief and not in-your-face, like the TLJ stuff.
Anyway, the gags are just one aspect of what’s wrong with the movie.
Forgetting Wicket hitting himself in the head with his own sling?
Cartoon physics when Paploo steals the speeder bike?
The slapstick only got worse in the SE’s. The droid in Mos Eisely hitting the other droid for example. Or the Jawas falling off the Ronto.
I thought it fashionable to hate on ROTJ, particularly because Ewoks. Has that changed?
ROTJ is my favorite Star Wars film. It might be “fashionable”, but in that haters-gonna-hate sort of way that gets tiring.
ROTJ is my favorite too. I recognize some flaws that were routinely identified on this forum when I was last here a couple years ago. On some points I disagreed with the naysayers.
Actually, I liked the Ewoks back in the 80’s and still do. I remember playing with that Ewoks village toy at daycare. I know some don’t like the Ewoks, but I thought they were fine. But I can understand why some don’t like them. And I know some don’t like them because they helped defeat the Storm Troopers with their primitive weapons.
Though I do think ROTJ is kind of a weak movie. Kind of like the 3rd Back to the Future movie. I think the Emperors throne room scenes really saves that movie. Actually those scenes are my favorite in all of the Star Wars movies.