From the looks of that last shot in the trailer, seems like we may get an episode where he joins The Lords Of Flatbush.
Point taken on getting soft, but the real reason was a bit of tough love from an old friend of mine. A couple of weeks ago he mentioned something about them, I responded with my usual, and he suggested not so subtlety that perhaps if I’d actually seen them… 😉
I accepted his challenge (because he was right) and watched the two I’d never seen.
As to getting soft; I’d say for sure my having watched Bad Batch, Kenobi, and Ashoka certainly softened my 25-year stance. I enjoyed those shows and they were as prequel-adjacent as you can get. I’ve always liked Ewan McGregor, so that was easy, plus Ahsoka was my first time seeing Hayden Christensen. As I may have mentioned last year or so, I could easily see him becoming Vader. His scenes in Ahsoka where she’s a kid and later in that between worlds fight, he was spot-on as a good person who eventually turns bad.
All that was left was for me to prepare for the inevitable Lucasness of the two films. Before I mention the story at large, I’ll say this; Lucas didn’t disappoint - and not in a good way. As expected, they are full of meaningless and completely unnecessary visual distractions, particularly if the scene isn’t meant to be humorous. Lucas doesn’t have even the most rudimentary understanding of less is more. He’s almost childlike in his inability to focus. He just can’t let a scene breathe.
As to what I liked; I liked the underlying story. It actually has a cohesive flow and interesting characters. I just had to make peace with the terrible one-liners, embarrassing repeats of lines from 1977 and 1980, and the above mentioned CGI distractions and candy colored spinning lightsabers.
I also liked that, unlike the Sequels, the story doesn’t center around a universe-ending super weapon. It’s a much more grounded and believable story - a governmental power struggle. I always thought that sounded boring, but he somehow pulled it off.
Of the two, Attack Of The Clones worked better to me and I found it more interesting. That said, I could see myself watching them both again one day. As to Phantom Menace - never again. It’s terrible. Once was more than enough.
Anyway, that’s it. Nothing major. I watched them and they failed where I expected them to fail (visual BS) and succeeded where I did not expect them to succeed (story and acting). They would have been a lot better in the hands of better directors.
…I watched the Prequels on my week off at Thanksgiving. I didn’t hate them.
I’ll not be taking questions at this time. 😀
Liking it more and more as I settle into their world. I’ve watched every episode twice and I’m looking forward to the next. To hold me until then, yesterday I watched Episode II – Attack of the Clones.
The third episode is a little more like what I expected the whole series to be. More Goonies like. Not as kiddie as it could be though, so no complaints. I was concerned at the trailers that Joe would be a sort of good guy older brother hero type. I’m pleasantly surprised again. I like his character more now. More mysterious and so far deeper. Credit to Law for giving him the depth.
This still isn’t going to save this franchise.
The Franchise is 46 years old and includes 12 films, 16 television shows, 110 video games, 380 novels, and nearly 1000 comic books (maybe more, I’m not too sure about my arithmetic). This far in, there’s something for everyone regardless of story preference, age, format, etc. No one thing can save it or sink it at this point. It doesn’t even need saving. It’s a product now, like potato chips. Sometimes they release a Lobster Roll (vile) and sometimes it’s a Salt & Pepper (delicious).
As has long been my thought on the matter - watch what you like, ignore the rest. I can’t fathom why some fans still do battle with a franchise.
Oh, and one awesome 6-hour radio version of the original story. 😉
As I’d mentioned to some coworkers , I went into this with no hopes or expectations. I’ve been let down SO many times over the decades, I just figured I’d like it or I’d bail. No hard feelings because I’ve long since stopped being emotionally invested in Star Wars as a franchise. (1983 for any newbies)
I’d recently bailed on the Acolyte after about 10 or 15 minutes into the first episode. It was an uninteresting rehash of all things twirly and Sith. I changed the channel, moved on, never gave it another thought. I was prepared to do the same with Skeleton Crew, again, with no hard feelings or second thoughts.
I was pleasantly surprised with Skeleton Crew. I think we all sort of knew what we were getting and this is exactly as advertised. It’s a 1980s style story about a group of kids on an adventure. This thing has Spielberg’s finger prints all over it. That’s not a bad thing. That formula has worked the past 40+ years for a reason.
To be sure, it’s cheese and it’s predictable - because we grew up watching this same dynamic. I guess I enjoyed it for the same reason I like watching ET, Sandlot, Troop Zero, or Stand By Me. It’s a light distraction. We’ve seen this group many times before; Tech-nerdy girl, slightly awkward chubby kid who goes along because they’re his friends, the dreamer kid who accidentally gets the adventure started, and the cool girl.
To my eyes, visually it looks better than The Mandalorian, Andor, or what little I saw of Acolyte. It looks a little bit less TV. Maybe it’s the story setting, maybe it’s the physical sets, or maybe it’s my imagination.
I’m going along for the ride.
edit;
I also enjoyed the beat-for-beat homage to Star Wars for the first 5 minutes. I thought it was done with respect for the source material. In the hands of someone like Abrams or even Favreau, it would have been a ham-fisted mess.
I agree with Villeneuve and I’ve had that opinion for just as long. I was disappointed with Empire when I saw it, but thought it was ok at the time (I eventually bailed on it too). As for Return, I wanted to walk out of the theater.
At this stage I assume nothing is fine until production actually starts.
Even then, not a given. Solo was a mess well into production and ended up released as a mess.
It’s probably my favorite of all their TV shows. I really liked the first season of Mandalorian, but it dropped as it went on.
Ahsoka has been great, but it may be a one and done.
For me, Bad Batch stayed consistent. Not everyone’s deal, I get that, but I knew what I was getting every week.
I mean, officially it’s all canon. But you know it’s not.
Officially, it’s all make-believe.
I’ve never understood the power people hand over to Lucasfilm\Disney. Watch what you like, ignore the rest.
For the record, I’m not addressing you specifically. Just a general statement on how some people really struggle to reconcile the stories Lucas, Lucasfilm, and Disney, and various authors have created over the years.
Channel72,
Reread (or perhaps read) Tobar’s post just a few posts up on this page.
I have a bit of time tonight, so some more specific thoughts. They’re a bit scattered as I’m jotting them down as they come to me.
Anakin:
For me as a non-Prequelist, Hayden finally now looked like someone who embodied the mannerisms of Vader and I could definitely see him becoming Vader. I’ve never once, in 25 years, seen or thought of him as Vader. It just did not work at all for me. I most certainly do not see that in any Prequel clips I’ve ever watched. In fact he’s always seemed like a terrible choice. Turns out it was really just more bad writing and directing by Lucas. That all changed in episode 5. To me, Hayden was able to redeem himself as an actor as well as the character. He IS Vader.
Put the characters in the right hands and let actors do what they do best and it can make a VERY big difference. It certainly did for me with Hayden. Like I mentioned to a friend, when he said “you lack conviction” just as he’s trying to kil her - that felt 100% like a Vader moment. Same with his matter-of-fact explanation of things to her. Also his not coddling her is interesting. When she tells him “I don’t understand” , his response is “that’s your problem” and he takes off running without her. He’s no nonsense with her. It’s an interesting dynamic. I particularly liked him saying how it bothered him when soldiers were killed…”of course it does”. His last line to her is perfection, like the visit meant something, but wasn’t as serious as she may have imagined. It really was a lesson disguised as a fight - “there’s hope for you yet”. Man, that is depth of character we’ve never had before.
Hera:
I’m thinking she may be my favorite of the cast. She speaks and behaves like an actual person. I’ve watched episode 2 three times. Hera and Sabine in the hospital is the highlight. Hera speaks to her like friends sometimes do. Her answer to Sabine is painfully honest when Sabine frets over how she , as she puts it, let a mission “go sideways”… “Well, you’re both difficult” and again with her answering Sabine; “She doesn’t want my help”…”yes she does”. That’s how people speak to each other. That felt real.
Same with her extended conversation on the ship after having searched for Sabine all day - she has a sort of defeat in her voice when she says ”Huyang….where are they?” She isn’t so much asking as she’s letting on that she’s worried and losing hope. That defeat in her voice comes up again later when she asks Ahsoka moments after she regains consciousness - “where’s Sabine”.. Outstanding work by Winstead.
Ahsoka:
She’s very stoic through most of the series. I’m fine with that. She’s not the most dynamic by any stretch, but that’s who she is. We’re catching up with her later in life and she’s become very mature. With that in mind, I think her time with Anakin in the World between worlds changed her.
She seemed lighter, less stressed. There are a few scenes after where she’s a bit different.
One where she’s outside the ship and bangs on the window …”hey!…get in there”. She’s showing emotion she has been bottling up prior to that moment.
The second one where they’re in the whale mouth and she says “I have no idea if this is going to work”…”no idea”. When she says the second time “no idea”, she’s smiling for what feels like the first time in the series. She’s lighter, almost happy.
It’s late and I’m exhausted. I’ll address the other characters and scenes later.
I’m traveling so I have limited connectivity and time. I’ll explain this later with examples and clips if I can find them;
For me personally, this is by far the best thing to come out of Disney’s Star Wars. The pacing being one of the best parts. Scenes with normal conversational dialogue and time to breathe. Long shots with architecture and atmosphere. I’ll elaborate in a day or two.
There were a few episodes in which Kanan taught Sabine how to effectively wield the Darksaber.
For me, that’s when Rebels really hit its stride. Sabine is who I’m most interested in seeing in Ahsoka. The rest just looks very late Mando quality-wise.
I’ll spare you guys my in-depth of Dial Of Destiny for now, but I’ll say this; That’s the most fun I’ve had at an Indy film since Raiders. I really enjoyed it. Lots to chew on but after pondering it for a few days, I liked it even more. Once more in the theater and then a physical copy.
Side note; I think Helena’s Theme may be the most moving and beautiful piece of music John Williams has ever written, Listening to the soundtrack as we speak.
https://youtu.be/hLa3a4tQhag
Now that Pedro Pascal confirmed he’s hardly on set anymore and its mainly just voice work, it makes total sense how easy it was to sideline his character in season 3 when the actor doesn’t have to be there/doesn’t care anymore and can’t approve or disapprove of his character’s arc in person.
Interesting that he isn’t always there. I watched a lengthy interview with Katee Sackhoff and she has a totally different process for it. There are occasionally times when it’s not her in the suit but she stays on the set and watches it real-time through monitors. She gives direction to the extra in the suit about how Bo would react, walk, carry her weapon, stand, etc all based on the emotion of the scene. She’s very involved with the character.
It could have been Andor in space
I thought Andor was already in space? 😉
Turned out it was just people in military govt meetings (every episode), goat farmers using twigs to build little models of military bases (2 episodes), prisoners sitting around talking (3 episodes), a guy eating cereal for breakfast with his mom (several episodes), that same guy sitting in his cubicle at work (2 episodes), people in an antiques store (several episodes), and wealthy people having dinner parties (several episodes).
It all seemed like it would be really interesting at first and as a big fan of Rogue One, I was for sure looking forward to it. One season removed and with time to let it soak in, I’ve only watched the first episode more than once. I tried a few others, but ten minutes in and I realized I just wasn’t interested enough.
There are some very strong moments and some outstanding performances, but they’re few and far between. It just hasn’t had any emotional impact. I sure didn’t think that would be the case, but that’s how it’s landed for me.
I’ll watch the last episode but like the last few, I’ll only be mildly interested.
The show bears no resemblance to season one - “I can bring you in warm or I can bring you in cold”
It’s a BOBF style mess.
So much potential squandered. It could have been Andor in space, but it ended up being a toy advertisement with pop stars who are so well known that they break the fourth wall just by being on screen.
Why stop at 10 films about the 1977 story when you can have 11? I’ll give the mess that was Solo a pass because it was only thinly connected. I’m speechless at how they absolutely will not move off of 1977\Skywalker\The Saga (genuflect). My prediction - because the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior - we’ll spend time on Tatooine and Coruscant and name-check Vader, Luke, Han, Leia, Ben, Chewie, Yoda et al. They will stretch the 1977 story to ridiculous limits and continue shrinking the franchise down to A Long Time Ago In A Solar System Far Far Away.
Even more insulting, everyone employed by Lucasfilm will continue to tell us that no one is interested in that 1977 film. Why bother restoring and releasing? - we’ve moved on. I found Favreau’s recent comments very disappointing.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…
I have to take a bit of issue with this wording. Animation always seems to get looked down upon as an “inferior” medium, and although it’s totally fair for someone to prefer one over the other, neither animation or live action have any bearing on the quality of a story. They’re simply the vessel that brings that story to the audience.
I have to take a bit of issue with your statement as I’ve compared this to live action a few times. Feel free to point out where I’ve said animation is inferior. To be clear, and I believe I’ve stated this before, I originally became interested in this series because of the animation. For Christ’s sake, I’m watching and enjoying a series that exists in the Prequel world.
You don’t have to be on here for very long to know I’m not familiar with the prequels and don’t know who most of these characters are or what the story is. I just know the Bad Batch characters and I’m enjoying this show. When I say this feels like live action, I mean the depth of characters and the quality writing.
Before you go off half-cocked on that being an animation slight, it’s fair to point out that there is no shortage of animation that’s light on depth. The same can be said of some live action entries; Book Of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian season three being a couple of examples.
I could make this same post on the Visions discussion because it applies there as well. I had little interest in it as advertised (wasn’t an Anime fan) and it ended up being the animation that drew me in and depth of characters that kept me involved.
If you haven’t seen it yet, no spoilers in my short review.
These two episodes released as a season ender reinforced what I’ve already felt; This show is much more interesting to me than Mando. This had actual weight, tension, and emotion.
It felt very much like a live action film. Sorry it’s over for this season.
I’ve yet to see a reason why they were made other than to serve as New Star Wars product. I lost interest before the end of the first, hardly remember the second, didn’t bother seeing the third.
If it were up to me, I’d use the first hour of the first film, minus the Po intro scenes, as a one-hour Star Wars special. Something along the lines of Marvel’s fantastically done Werewolf By Night Halloween special.
Just an hour with a scavenger girl living alone on a remote planet where some long ago Empire battle took place. She meets up with a lost droid, they become companions, and they eventually go off to adventures where we use our imaginations to come up with the pre and post story.
An hour-long Star Wars story that doesn’t have to fit into any long overused narrative of The Saga (genuflect).
It’s pretty clear at this point that Season 1 is the only one for me. In a Star Wars show, we finally started into a story with new characters, new planets, new far far away adventures. Two seasons later were back to Tatooine, Corruscant, and he’s flying around in a Prequel ship. It’s evident the powers that be can’t leave The Solar System Far Far Away.
It doesn’t help that 30 or so Mandalorians practicing combat on a beach looks like bad cosplay LARP. Not to mention, they don’t seem to be the brightest. Everything they do is right next to where a monster lives. ?
In the end, when the baby dinosaurs walked off the ship, that was my ROTJ moment where I realized the show is going in a direction other than one I’m interested in.