beer_good_foamy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
beer_good_foamy) wrote2019-12-21 11:04 pm
beer_good_foamy) wrote2019-12-21 11:04 pm
Entry tags:
Mandatory Star Wars thoughts
So a few quick thoughts on The Rise of Skywalker.
I've been purposely lowering my expectations about this ever since I realised JJ Abrams would be calling the shots again. As someone who's starting to think that maybe The Last Jedi is the best film of the whole series (which doesn't mean it's perfect) but still has a lot of nostalgia around the original trilogy I really don't want to let go of, I figure this will probably be the last new thing I watch in the Star Wars verse, and I just wanted it to not be TOO embarrassing.
And well, that's kind of what I got. I went in with two red lines: I didn't want Rey's parents to be someone famous after all, and I didn't want Kylo Ren to save the world. Given that, I kind of liked how they did those two things if they had to do them (and of course JJ Abrams has to do them, because that's what a majority of fans probably want). So Rise of Skywalker is exactly what TLJ wasn't (quite as much): focus grouped and algorithmed to hell to aim for the lowest common denominator in everything, ending up in a cover of Return of the Jedi... But are you not entertained? I am. Two hours and 20 minutes of Star Wars action that is far from perfect, with hardly a glimmer of original ideas, but close enough to what I could live with for me to be able to let the franchise go with love.
A few things:
- They really didn't have a lot of Carrie Fisher material to work with, huh? That said, I kind of like how they did it. Star Wars began as a kitschy matinée adventure; having an obvious stand-in filmed from behind is part of the tradition since Plan 9 From Outer Space.
- The plot is so incredibly full of holes. They basically spend the whole movie flitting from McGuffin to McGuffin just so the plot doesn't ever stop moving and we have to think about what we're watching. (And, I'm sorry, but you're telling me that ALL OF THIS happens within 16 hours?)
- Thanks to the aforementioned focus grouping they don't dare give us either Finn/Poe, Finn/Rey, or Finn/Rose. Chickenshit. At least they have that very sudden cut after Finn and Poe hug that lets you fill in the blanks any way you want. Someone get Kellly Marie Tran a proper role. But yeah, that's what this movie does; anything it thinks fans might not like is at best ignored and at worst given a huge "REMEMBER THIS BIT YOU DIDN'T LIKE? WE'RE NOT DOING THAT!" Again, you wonder what this movie could have been in the hands of a director who wanted more than just to undo TLJ and deliver a movie that wouldn't make people complain about ruined childhoods.
- I expected a lot of what I got. I emphatically did not expect Harrison Ford to return again. Neat. And it's a good scene - Han's not a ghost, he's just a memory, which is never "just" a memory. Still would have preferred that scene with Carrie, but y'know, life sucks.
- C-3PO, of all people, deciding to sacrifice himself. Even if he survives it, and even if it's undone way too easily, I like that. Generally speaking, though, I kind of wish there'd been a higher body count. Or at least something more for the remaining old guard to do besides show up. Chewie just kind of... gets that medal he should have got back in 1977, and that's all?
- There are so many other ways this could have ended down in that sith crypt. I could have seen a Buffy ending, with everyone on that incoming armada accessing The Force (part of what I loved, and JJA apparently hated, about TLJ was the way it democratized The Force, changed the narrative around who could save the world and how). I could have seen Rey and Ben decide to simply walk away and lock the door and leave Palpatine ranting impotently to himself about light and dark sides. I could have seen Rey go "Strike you down with anger? This isn't anger, this is just common sense, you genocidal lunatic. ZAP!" But of course that's not what happened in ROTJ, so that's not what'll happen here. And yeah, that whole final battle is pretty neat; I do love how they set up the idea of Rey and Kylo/Ben being able to pass things between each other through Forceportation and then pay it off, and also have the good guys use the sith revivification thingy. Also, the fact that Ben Solo's one and only line in the film is "Ouch."
- And hey, playing to nostalgia works. I get all misty-eyed at Leia, at Lando, at Han, at the 1.5 seconds of Wedge Antilles... And then we get back to Tattooine and I start bawling like a baby. It's not necessarily an ending that makes sense, but y'know. It's all space magic.
"Don't be afraid of who you are." That seems like a declaration of intent by the movie: Don't be afraid of being just a big space battle movie that follows George Lucas original blueprint to a T. For all the cultural and fannish capital we hang on it, at its core, this is what Star Wars was. 42 years on (!) it's a bit of a pity that it's not allowed to move on, but that's OK, because then I get to, without any bitterness or vain hope that the next inevitable trilogy and dozens of TV series will give me the same thrill the original films once did.
I've been purposely lowering my expectations about this ever since I realised JJ Abrams would be calling the shots again. As someone who's starting to think that maybe The Last Jedi is the best film of the whole series (which doesn't mean it's perfect) but still has a lot of nostalgia around the original trilogy I really don't want to let go of, I figure this will probably be the last new thing I watch in the Star Wars verse, and I just wanted it to not be TOO embarrassing.
And well, that's kind of what I got. I went in with two red lines: I didn't want Rey's parents to be someone famous after all, and I didn't want Kylo Ren to save the world. Given that, I kind of liked how they did those two things if they had to do them (and of course JJ Abrams has to do them, because that's what a majority of fans probably want). So Rise of Skywalker is exactly what TLJ wasn't (quite as much): focus grouped and algorithmed to hell to aim for the lowest common denominator in everything, ending up in a cover of Return of the Jedi... But are you not entertained? I am. Two hours and 20 minutes of Star Wars action that is far from perfect, with hardly a glimmer of original ideas, but close enough to what I could live with for me to be able to let the franchise go with love.
A few things:
- They really didn't have a lot of Carrie Fisher material to work with, huh? That said, I kind of like how they did it. Star Wars began as a kitschy matinée adventure; having an obvious stand-in filmed from behind is part of the tradition since Plan 9 From Outer Space.
- The plot is so incredibly full of holes. They basically spend the whole movie flitting from McGuffin to McGuffin just so the plot doesn't ever stop moving and we have to think about what we're watching. (And, I'm sorry, but you're telling me that ALL OF THIS happens within 16 hours?)
- Thanks to the aforementioned focus grouping they don't dare give us either Finn/Poe, Finn/Rey, or Finn/Rose. Chickenshit. At least they have that very sudden cut after Finn and Poe hug that lets you fill in the blanks any way you want. Someone get Kellly Marie Tran a proper role. But yeah, that's what this movie does; anything it thinks fans might not like is at best ignored and at worst given a huge "REMEMBER THIS BIT YOU DIDN'T LIKE? WE'RE NOT DOING THAT!" Again, you wonder what this movie could have been in the hands of a director who wanted more than just to undo TLJ and deliver a movie that wouldn't make people complain about ruined childhoods.
- I expected a lot of what I got. I emphatically did not expect Harrison Ford to return again. Neat. And it's a good scene - Han's not a ghost, he's just a memory, which is never "just" a memory. Still would have preferred that scene with Carrie, but y'know, life sucks.
- C-3PO, of all people, deciding to sacrifice himself. Even if he survives it, and even if it's undone way too easily, I like that. Generally speaking, though, I kind of wish there'd been a higher body count. Or at least something more for the remaining old guard to do besides show up. Chewie just kind of... gets that medal he should have got back in 1977, and that's all?
- There are so many other ways this could have ended down in that sith crypt. I could have seen a Buffy ending, with everyone on that incoming armada accessing The Force (part of what I loved, and JJA apparently hated, about TLJ was the way it democratized The Force, changed the narrative around who could save the world and how). I could have seen Rey and Ben decide to simply walk away and lock the door and leave Palpatine ranting impotently to himself about light and dark sides. I could have seen Rey go "Strike you down with anger? This isn't anger, this is just common sense, you genocidal lunatic. ZAP!" But of course that's not what happened in ROTJ, so that's not what'll happen here. And yeah, that whole final battle is pretty neat; I do love how they set up the idea of Rey and Kylo/Ben being able to pass things between each other through Forceportation and then pay it off, and also have the good guys use the sith revivification thingy. Also, the fact that Ben Solo's one and only line in the film is "Ouch."
- And hey, playing to nostalgia works. I get all misty-eyed at Leia, at Lando, at Han, at the 1.5 seconds of Wedge Antilles... And then we get back to Tattooine and I start bawling like a baby. It's not necessarily an ending that makes sense, but y'know. It's all space magic.
"Don't be afraid of who you are." That seems like a declaration of intent by the movie: Don't be afraid of being just a big space battle movie that follows George Lucas original blueprint to a T. For all the cultural and fannish capital we hang on it, at its core, this is what Star Wars was. 42 years on (!) it's a bit of a pity that it's not allowed to move on, but that's OK, because then I get to, without any bitterness or vain hope that the next inevitable trilogy and dozens of TV series will give me the same thrill the original films once did.
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As someone who's starting to think that maybe The Last Jedi is the best film of the whole series (which doesn't mean it's perfect)
This made me terribly happy. As someone who never experienced the movies as a child they don't hold the grip of nostalgia over me that they do over many others, but TLJ just grabbed me in a way very few things do. It had layers and complexities that none of the others seem to, and my main hope for Rise of Skywalker is that it doesn't break any of the stuff that TLJ did. (Am also v v sad that it couldn't be Leia's movie the way it should have been.)
Anyway, I hope it gets a wahoo?
Also believe a lot of the tie-in stuff is good? Like, generally.
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Also believe a lot of the tie-in stuff is good? Like, generally.
I'm sure it is, and Disney will probably saturate the market with enough series and animated films and new trilogies to find something for everyone. I just think I'm good here. There's enough rehashing of the good old days in the world right now, I want to see some brand-new stories.
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I like how you put that. :)
There's enough rehashing of the good old days in the world right now, I want to see some brand-new stories.
*is in the middle of watching Classic Who* I... hear you. Just took a dive down history lane for a while. ;)
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For me that was the worst bit of fanservice. I hate it when memefied nitpicking like that gets rewarded by canon. If there'd been a mirror of the ceremony in ANH, and this time Chewie gets the medal it would have been a nice nod to the original trilogy, but now it just came across to me like something designed to be memed.
And I'm with you on letting go. I'm still slightly curious about the upcoming Obi Wan show, but I would have been happy if this would have been the end. Alas, Disney will probably milk the franchise dry with dozens of sequels, prequels, sidequels and reboots in the next ten years.
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Disney will probably milk the franchise dry with dozens of sequels, prequels, sidequels and reboots in the next ten years.
Well, they sure didn't buy the franchise to let it sit on the shelf. I guess it remains to be seen if Star Wars can remain Star Wars when there's new content coming out all the time, but then again, I probably won't be part of it.
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That made me laugh because I didn't even notice, whereas I am always complaining about this in TV shows and films.
Also, the fact that Ben Solo's one and only line in the film is "Ouch."
That was one of the few times we both laughed.
at the 1.5 seconds of Wedge Antilles
YES! I punched Mike in the arm and hissed "It's Wedge!"
The ending was indeed odd in a metaphorical way. Her burying the light sabers at the site of Luke's childhood was more a matter of closing off the Skywalker saga in a very definitive way. Except I doubt that will happen if it's still making money. In the previews before the movie they showed that new Ryan Reynolds film with the intro "From the studio that brought you Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and the Lion King. Twice." Funny, yes, but that says it all (especially when we got a preview for Mulan a few minutes later).
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I just don't get why they had to go with that. They could have said Palpatine would be ready to attack within a week, or whatever, and it wouldn't have changed anything. Instead we have to accept that not only did all the on-screen action happen within those 16 hours, but all the off-screen action too - like, Lando going around raising the rebellion and getting thousands of people to arm up, jump in their spaceships, and organising an attack within ... what, 28 minutes?
And yeah, I mean, Disney pretty much own the planet at this point, and they didn't buy the franchise to let it sit on the shelf, so they're going to saturate the market with Star Wars until the MCU looks like a struggling Youtube series in comparison. Which just makes me all the more convinced that this is a good point to get off.