Ensign9 wrote:Third viewing complete. This is getting better and better.
The Finn stuff is incredibly obvious on the third viewing. He basically lays it all out when he’s talking with Jannah. I thought I was watching a deleted scene they just reinserted because I didn’t remember it being that obvious. I came away thinking Jannah and her company are all Force-sensitive as well.
The movie still needs 20-30 more minutes to let things breathe.
20-30 more minutes? Dear god no. No Star Wars movie should be pushing the 2.5 hour limit to begin with.
Why?
Because we get crap like TLJ AND TROS. No lean tight movies. Just exposition and “fan service”
IMO.
Lean and tight isn’t always a good thing. Story and execution matter most.
I increasingly feel like we as a society are becoming the moviegoing equivalent of 1964 Beatles concert-goers: less interested in the music than in the communal experience of screaming together. Eternally hungry for the endorphined energy that comes from shared excitement...of being part of a collective rush of anticipation.
It’s just about the closest we get to real community experience, in the digital age: sitting in a movie theater with other people who we know are feeling the same thing we are feeling, wanting the same thing we are wanting. But it makes the thing that drew us together in the first place less important than the collective whoop of response. It’s why we say things like “I wasn’t expecting a great movie, just an entertaining ride, so I’m happy with what I got,” and it’s why we produce more fan theory/spoiler/hidden reference articles than we do actual reflections. It’s why a light saber design or a sneaky callback electrifies us as much as any story element ever could. It’s why we feel the urge to lash out at or scold anyone who didnt like the thing we like. They’re taking away the thing that is most important about the moment: not the experience of seeing a great movie, but of being a part of a joyous, communal whoop. What song is John singing? Or is it Paul? Who can even tell?
Even the Marvel movies, which I think benefited creatively from the freedom that a lack of cinematic precedence provided, were successful in part because they built an anticipation machine just as quickly as they did a catalog. The same could be said for Game of Thrones, and the Tolkien films. Or of a million other franchises...Breaking Bad, Mad Men, all the way back to Battlestar. It’s why the new Star Trek didn't succeed...it never built a marketable community of anticipation...and why known properties are more lucrative than new ideas.
Star Wars is a cog in the 21st century Beatle-scream industry. It’s why it was worth the money to Disney. It’s why setting a release schedule was more important than constructing a story, and why Reddit forums exist at all. It’s a promise of endless, communal anticipation. Enjoy that ride. It’s what you’re paying for, anyway.
Whoa. Yes , this.
Great post. Even as a fan of these movies, and the marvel ones...yeah, its a great point.
I don't know if anyone caught this or not but this post is a callback to the sarlacc pit in Return of the Jedi and it really brings the whole thread full circle. It's like poetry. It rhymes.
I don't know if anyone caught this or not but this post is a callback to the sarlacc pit in Return of the Jedi and it really brings the whole thread full circle. It's like poetry. It rhymes.
Ensign9 wrote:Also, I’m convinced Palps is a badly-executed clone he transferred his spirit into via UNNATURALLLLLL means (the Sith equivalent of force ghosts). No way they have his face unmelted if he’s the original body. That said, I’m not sure why he reverts to meltyboi Palps after healing himself. I thought it would have been very cool and unnerving if he looked exactly as he did in Episode 1 when he healed.
Ensign9 wrote:Third viewing complete. This is getting better and better.
The Finn stuff is incredibly obvious on the third viewing. He basically lays it all out when he’s talking with Jannah. I thought I was watching a deleted scene they just reinserted because I didn’t remember it being that obvious. I came away thinking Jannah and her company are all Force-sensitive as well.
The movie still needs 20-30 more minutes to let things breathe.
20-30 more minutes? Dear god no. No Star Wars movie should be pushing the 2.5 hour limit to begin with.
Why?
Because we get crap like TLJ AND TROS. No lean tight movies. Just exposition and “fan service”
IMO.
Lean and tight isn’t always a good thing. Story and execution matter most.
Sincerely,
Ensign “Last Jedi is the Best Star Wars Movie” 9
If this movie gets Ensign posting more to RM than that is a good thing. I always enjoyed your Lost recaps.
And that’s the stuff I hate about JJ. He doesn’t truly respect his audience. Much like EV now feels the need to make every song an audience signaling, JJ likes to use cheap emotional tricks. None of those were necessary in this movie. All plot lines and scenes would have been just as meaningful and even better if we chewie was JUST A prisoner and threepio was JUST temporarily wiping his memory until he was reunited with R2.
Strat wrote:And that’s the stuff I hate about JJ. He doesn’t truly respect his audience. Much like EV now feels the need to make every song an audience signaling, JJ likes to use cheap emotional tricks. None of those were necessary in this movie. All plot lines and scenes would have been just as meaningful and even better if we chewie was JUST A prisoner and threepio was JUST temporarily wiping his memory until he was reunited with R2.
That’s a good point. And I’m a fan of JJ’s vision for Star Wars, and the movie.
I saw the second transport, and when Rey blew up one of them, with the trailer and who Chewie is, I was certain that it was just a trick.
Strat wrote:The chewie scene that people hate - they actually show two transports when Finn sees he’s kidnapped.
If the knights of ren were down at the base of the rock that ochie’s ship was on, how come they didn’t go after Poe and Finn up on top? It’s weird that they didn’t see it or just ignored it?
Ensign9 wrote:Third viewing complete. This is getting better and better.
The Finn stuff is incredibly obvious on the third viewing. He basically lays it all out when he’s talking with Jannah. I thought I was watching a deleted scene they just reinserted because I didn’t remember it being that obvious. I came away thinking Jannah and her company are all Force-sensitive as well.
The movie still needs 20-30 more minutes to let things breathe.
20-30 more minutes? Dear god no. No Star Wars movie should be pushing the 2.5 hour limit to begin with.
Why?
Because we get crap like TLJ AND TROS. No lean tight movies. Just exposition and “fan service”
IMO.
Lean and tight isn’t always a good thing. Story and execution matter most.
Sincerely,
Ensign “Last Jedi is the Best Star Wars Movie” 9
Usually if you keep things simpler, the true story elements and execution stand out and hold up on their own.
VinylGuy wrote:I love what JJ did visually with both of his movies. They are stunning, cinematic, huge. Love that side of these.
It looks great, but he’s style of ship battles still feels a bit off. The battle of scarif in rogue one is leaps and bounds above TFA and TROS battles.
Strat wrote:The chewie scene that people hate - they actually show two transports when Finn sees he’s kidnapped.
If the knights of ren were down at the base of the rock that ochie’s ship was on, how come they didn’t go after Poe and Finn up on top? It’s weird that they didn’t see it or just ignored it?
This isn’t a dealbreaker but it was odd.
Probably waiting if kylo needed an assist with Rey
VinylGuy wrote:I love what JJ did visually with both of his movies. They are stunning, cinematic, huge. Love that side of these.
It looks great, but he’s style of ship battles still feels a bit off. The battle of scarif in rogue one is leaps and bounds above TFA and TROS battles.
Im referring mostly to his return to practical sets and characters. Its so cinematic. He could have gone the Marvel route and instead he chose to make these movies look beautiful. And for you to really grab that, the theatre is the best choice.
Strat wrote:The chewie scene that people hate - they actually show two transports when Finn sees he’s kidnapped.
Yeah but you can't tell me they weren't going for the implied "chewy is dead".
Of course. It was cheap but not as cheap as I originally thought when I realized the second time there were two.
I guess. But then after that he had every main character say something to the effect of "we have to do this or chewy died for nothing" which further implies it and makes it very cheap because then the next scene is "oh by the way, we captured one of them". Like they didn't even make it emotional enough to sink in or have anyone buy into it. Would have been a little better had they had a more dramatic reveal later in the movie. It's either lazy or JJ didn't have big enough balls to try it. Either way it really took me out of the moment.
Again, my favorite of the three movies, but the fake deaths/memory wipes were super bad
Strat wrote:The chewie scene that people hate - they actually show two transports when Finn sees he’s kidnapped.
Yeah but you can't tell me they weren't going for the implied "chewy is dead".
Of course. It was cheap but not as cheap as I originally thought when I realized the second time there were two.
I guess. But then after that he had every main character say something to the effect of "we have to do this or chewy died for nothing" which further implies it and makes it very cheap because then the next scene is "oh by the way, we captured one of them". Like they didn't even make it emotional enough to sink in or have anyone buy into it. Would have been a little better had they had a more dramatic reveal later in the movie. It's either lazy or JJ didn't have big enough balls to try it. Either way it really took me out of the moment.
Again, my favorite of the three movies, but the fake deaths/memory wipes were super bad
Don’t forget - I’m agreeing with you and compared JJ to modern day EV
