Nice one lads, thanks.
I’m looking forward to seeing the film itself - and didn’t bother very much with the leaks (and only watched a few of the numerous tv spots available).
I did see those photos appearing online last night - but given the lack of context for me there’s nothing that puts me off seeing it.
Ah right, don’t let us cynics deter you! I’ve read all the spoilers months ago so I know the whole movie inside out without having to see it (although they re-edited the film and only had it finalised in November). Let us know what you think after you see it!
The issue I have with “fan service” and “nostalgia” is that neither plays well when overused or crammed into every scene. The chunkiness of the Millennium Falcon’s gunning seats was one of best “nostalgic” elements, one of the worst ones was CGI Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One, in my opinion anyway.
I would have given this film a chance had Colin Trevorrow directed it. But when he was fired for “creative differences” that spelled for me the writing on the wall: they wanted a yes man. They incorrectly attributed the fan-backlash of “The Last Jedi” to Rian Johnson having too much creative control, rather than the alternative hypothesis that they put out an unfinished movie because they worked to a rushed production schedule which didn’t allow for the necessary re-shoots that would have been required to fix most of the “unpopular” elements. True enough that having Luke living as a cynical old hermit would never have gone down well, but other things could have been fixed for example force-ghost Yoda using Palpatine’s force-lightning, Luke making a force-hologram, Princess Leia’s superwoman-like flying through space, all of that stuff could have been corrected with a few re-shoots and perhaps a delayed release date. So if there’s anyone to blame for that movie going down badly, it’s the Mouse not the director in my humble opinion.
Another concern of mine is George Lucas himself - JJ brought him back on-board earlier this year to help. But he wasn’t at the World Premiere and reports are:
That he was very unhappy with the film.
That Disney/Lucasfilm/JJ disregarded most of his input anyway, despite bringing him in.
That he wasn’t even invited the World Premiere!
Also the world premiere was not held for its intended audience. Honestly this is the most ironic thing of all - Star Wars is meant to be a children-friendly family franchise, and yet the world premiere is held for Hollywood and media bigwigs with no children in the audience! There’s half a chance the film won’t even be suitable for young children - this is the mistake George Lucas made way back in 2005 with Revenge of the Sith: I knew a lot of parents that were Star Wars fans who felt unhappy that the movie was not suitable for their pre-teen children. Anakin’s slaughter of the younglings is what they felt made the movie unsuitable for young children. We can sit here unhappy that Lucasfilm won’t release the theatrical edition, but imagine being a parent in 2005 and you’ve been mislead into believing that the PT was a child-friendly trilogy, parents felt just as betrayed about that in 2005 as the people here felt betrayed by the 1997 Special Edition replacing their beloved originals. As aptly observed here “Twenty years after its release in 1999, we shouldn’t view The Phantom Menace as the worst Star Wars movie ever. Instead, it’s actually the best one for small children.” Out of all the Special Edition changes, censoring the blaster shots was clearly a decision to make the violence more child-friendly (I reckon young children would prefer the 1997 special edition of the original trilogy compared to the OOT, things that look silly to adults like CGI Jabba are things that they love).
I just read through the tagged twitter comments (no spoilers to speak of) and they are generally positive. A few hated it or thought it would divide fans. Others thought it would unite fans. From the gist of the reactions, it reinterprets parts of TLJ while embracing other aspects of it. A definite change from TFA.
Yes but there’s nothing in this film that’s exciting or new. For example:
Kylo’s character arc is exactly the same as Anakin’s. Lured to the Dark Side by Palps, and redeemed by someone he loves.
There’s nothing in their comments suggesting there are beautiful new worlds and concepts to get immersed into. Every one of George Lucas’ movies has something new that the Star Wars universe expands into. If we stick with The Phantom Menace, let’s see - we have the Jedi council (love it or hate it) along with Coruscant, we have Alderaan with some really great model work, we have podracing on Tatooine, slavery on Tatooine, a young Obi-Wan Kenobi who is still a Jedi in training under his master, Midichlorians, comical battle droids, underwater cities with soft bubble-like barriers, the Gungans, and we have a Sith apprentice with a double-bladed lightsaber that has been the most popular villain in all of Star Wars since Darth Vader. There’s quite a bit to speak of that are all positive developments for the star wars universe there, and yes a small number of negative developments (the concept of Midichlorians being responsible for the force for example). What do we have in The Force Awakens? Death Star 3.0, older han, older chewie, a mechanic-droid that rolls who is overly-assertive, a young force-sensitive adult who’s suddenly introduced to the force, holograms, a dark lord, the First Order and their leader, a desert planet with a scrap-yard, an old Jedi the last of the order living as a hermit in hiding, a big clunky levitating “speeder”… all of those are existing concepts, there’s nothing really new in it at all. Kylo using the force to stop blaster shots, Luke’s lightsaber calling to Rey, and Rey’s portion-bread are the only really “new” concept introduced and they barely expand the mythology (in fact does anyone know why Luke’s lightsaber calls to Rey in the first place - it doesn’t really make sense). Yes Rey’s portion-bread is really cool, but that’s literally the only thing I can think of that’s a fresh new concept in that movie. JJ could have instead taken some very simple concepts out of the “expanded universe” that have been unused in the films, and at the very least BB8 could have had a different character personality to R2D2. In avoiding the possibility of introducing any “new concepts” that will have a backlash, JJ instead decided to play it “very safe”.
In my opinion that was a mistake, I think most viewers and Star Wars fans will forgive some concepts they don’t like if you give them some they can get behind and love. The sequel trilogy is also incredibly hostile to the prequel trilogy, for example in The Last Jedi when Rose and Finn go to Canto Bight, in the cinema I (wrongly) anticipated seeing the Kaminoans there mingling with their kind. Another clear example being Kashyyyk - that would have been the logical place to find Han and Chewie in TFA, it’s been barely used appearing only briefly in ROS. The prequels introduced new planets and locations with unique designs, but most locations in the sequel trilogy as well as interior set designs feel far too familiar and from the Original Trilogy.
So yeah lots of positive comments, that’s all fine, I’m sure lots of people will enjoy the movie and I wish everyone all the best in seeing it. I just feel this movie isn’t for me. There’s nothing in social media reaction comments (including the positive ones) that makes me think this film will bring some great new ideas and concepts from the Star Wars mythology to the screen that I haven’t already seen before. None of the positive comments were saying “great cinematography with no shaky-cam” - I’m really not a fan of JJ’s directorial style. I should have read this before I saw The Force Awakens because I hadn’t seen a JJ film since Mission Impossible 3, and I wasn’t at all prepared for his style of cinematography, from that article: “It’s a visual holdover from his Star Trek films, and I think it will be a stake in the ground for the rest of the Star Wars saga. The smooth tracking shots we saw in the aerial battles of the prequels will be replaced with a visceral shaky cam perspective. Personally, this is my favorite trademark of his, and I’m glad to see it being put to use in Star Wars. The style really makes it feel like you’re in the environment, feeling the turbulence of the action.” That guy might be a fan of shaky-cam, that’s fine I know some people like it, I don’t mind it being used occasionally, but there’s was absolutely no subtly in the way it was used in TFA, and I find that style when used to that extent unbearable.
I’ll be very interested to and look forward to hear from people on OT what their reactions are for the ending of the film, and also if I’m right about the movie being shaky-cam like TFA, if it is there’s no way I’m paying to see that in a cinema. I know that style has its fans, I don’t mean to criticise but I can’t stand it. If it’s not a shaky-cam movie then I will probably go and see it in the cinema, so please do let us know what the filming style/cinematography is! See this description of JJ’s style written before TFA even came out because what I’m referring to is a disorientating combination of shaky-cam, dolly-shots, snap-zooms, and close-ups, and I’m not bothered by Dutch-angles and lens-flares.