logo Sign In

Post #1387067

Author
jedi_bendu
Parent topic
Sequel Trilogy Opinions
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1387067/action/topic#1387067
Date created
19-Nov-2020, 4:23 PM

Actually I wouldn’t mind rambling about the sequels for a bit. Ed Slushie made really great points which I totally agree with. TLJ definitely has flaws, but I’ve always found them hard to pin down. I actually love Luke’s arc, and I think it fits with his character - I only wish we’d got Colin Trevorrow’s version of Luke haunting Ben in the next film. I think TLJ works fantastic in theory, devoting the film to character development, assigning a planet and a plot to each character. Unfortunately, Finn and Rose’s quest doesn’t actually result in anything plot-wise (although this is a film about failure, so you could argue that it’s deliberate) and to achieve the vacuum situation allowing tension between Poe and Holdo to become the focus, you have to make the First Order look like morons slowly chasing the Resistance across the galaxy for 18 hours. And of course at the end of it all, a single Resistance ship turns around and obliterates their entire fleet, and that’s funny to me (it shouldn’t be).

But I still love the film because it has magical moments and it’s thematically rich. The kind of stuff TROS lacked for me.

TROS was the movie that gave me new perspective on the sequel trilogy. Carried along by the revelations, I enjoyed it on a first watch, but later found it’s not a very rewatchable film. It has a forgettable, video-game like plot, it backtracks on some of the best creative decisions taken in TLJ, it has MAJOR missed opportunities such as a stormtrooper revolution led by Finn, and the climax is over-saturated and over-the-top and I like very little of this movie. Big let-down for me. But I follow a few TROS fans on social media, and they occasionally point out interesting parallels and meaningful interpretations that I never would have thought of, so I don’t entirely dismiss it.

TFA is well-paced, brilliantly edited, and very fun to watch. I had a blast watching it in cinemas in 2015, and living in the UK, it’s been my only experience of people clapping at the end of a film. JJ Abrams managed to honour original trilogy aesthetics and characters while bringing his own distinct style to the movie and making it work. Pretty much all I’ve got to say about it.