Star Wars 9 - Rise of Skywalker

[Gusington]

I am very much enjoying the Mandalorian. Have finally caught up, except for the just released episode, which I've read has driven a few fans insane...not sure why.

That should be some consolation for everyone sleeping though the new movie.

[Anguille]

I would be happy if they did not remake, again, what had already been done previously.  Rogue 1 was the only "original" after the first three that I found interesting.

Probably heresy to Star Wars fans, but aside from Rogue 1 I found everything after the first three to be meh at best.  Plus, I dislike Yoda, hate Ewoks, and was irritated they put a four lane highway to destroy the second death star in the 3rd movie.

Flame away if you wish, but after the first 2 (aside from Yoda) it was all downhill.

For me, there are only the first 3 Stars Wars who deserve the name of classics (and i consider myself a Star Wars fan but a purist). I've enjoyed watching the rest but it's never been the same: 1-3 have some bad actors and are too long, 7-8 have terrible (horrible! how can they have so little imagination) scripts but are fun to watch. Rogue One was fun but the end is stupid and doesn't fit with the script of Episode IV (didn't they watch the first 15 minutes of Episode IV?). Going to watch 9 next week...i expect it to be fun despite a weak scripts plenty of plot holes.

Cannot see the Mandalorian here...not yet.

[Gusington]

You will be...you will be.

[Grim.Reaper]

Saw it this morning....pretty much what I expected and predictable.  Watchable and I enjoyed it enough but I can see how some people like it, while others might hate it.  Won't say much to avoid spoilers....

[JasonPratt]

I'll be very curious what the nieces say (and maybe Bro) when I see them tomorrow.

At the very least I expect it to be a lot more visually interesting than Ep 8. Maybe if there's an music/sfx only track mix, I can enjoy the pretty pictures and sounds...

[JasonPratt]

Appreciative meh from Stuckmann, too. "Very mixed feelings, not as bad as you're going to hear from multiple people this weekend."

[Gusington]

I hesitate to ask...but you didn't enjoy the Red Knights in Episode 8?

[JasonPratt]

Looked sharp -- absolutely one of the visual highlights of the film (along with the red salt);

Fought sloppily (is that really the take we're going with, oh okay!); had no character; weren't the knight of Ren.

But hey, they didn't have Sith powers.

Presumably the knights of Ren will. But so will MERELY RECOLORED RED STORMTROOPERS.  :hide:

(This is so silly and so obviously a desperate attempt at capitalizing on unsold overstock never even shipped to stores, that RLM lampooned them as being hoaxy knockoffs on the "Nerd Crew" recently.)

The Red Knights should have been the Knights of Ren. So we get schizophrenic fulfillments of that now. sigh.

Still, yes, the Red Knight guards in the Red Throneroom did look sharp, along with the general Ming the Minimalist Merciless aesthetic there.

[Gusington]

So you did find some visual interest in Episode 8!

[SirAndrewD]

Way too many hand waving in it.  It moved from plot point to plot point, trying to put out the fires the Last Jedi made.  Since it had no ability to develop it's plot it throws in mcguffins, fan service, widgets and deus ex Jedi. 

It did partly borrow from Lucas' original plot for Return of the Jedi, but so compressed it that the last act was mostly just a "Lets get this done as fast and neatly as possible".

Disney blew this the minute they decided to do three movies with three different directors and visions.  There was no way to salvage it when the second act went off he reservation and essentially tied up all the plot points. 

I'm sure Disney is looking forward to all the comic books, novels, tv shows and tie ins that will fill in the massive blanks in the film. 

[JasonPratt]

So you did find some visual interest in Episode 8!

Sure; salt planet, too. I only said I'm surprised people talk about it as the most visually impressive of the films. It literally could not be that, due to the very limited settings (the main one being a straight line space chase with no referentials.)

I liked the Irish monastic island in principle (not a big fan of anything they did there), but it mostly wasn't shot to be very visually impressive.

[SirAndrewD]

A review I was forced to write.  I don't like writing....

Saw a Star War...

Revenge of the Sith should've been the last main sequence Star Wars film.

The sequel trilogy never should've been made.

It is a disjointed mess of different voices, fighting against each other, and producing an incoherent finale full of decent ideas, not fleshed out in prior installments and direct attempts to retcon previous installments.

If the sequels had been a coherent vision, they might have had some value. As they stand, they're a mish mash of writer and directors fighting against each other, either to please or shock fans and sometimes fighting against each other for the results.

They're ultimately a failure as an coherent experience compared to the original six films. And yes, that acknowledges the problems of the prequels and their poor acting and ridiculous characters.

Regardless of the prequels failings, they were a consistent vision, not liked by all or most fans, but they were all three connective to what was wanted by the writer/director.

The sequels never decide what they want to be in their first two acts, and by the third act, they hand wave and force into the story what the makers have finally decided to do.

It functions as expedience to get to the end more than any kind of caring about what came before. Tick the boxes of fan service. Hit things to make people feel happy. Lets excite you by showing Wedge for 2 whole seconds.

In the end, it is hollow. It feels like applying band aids to the previous two sequels. It has good performances from great actors. Adam Driver stands out. Ian McDiarmid wears his role like an old glove but is utterly misused. Daisy Ridley is best in the last chapter. But, for all their performances, they're just going through the motions.

Hand wave, to widget, to Deus Ex Jedi.

It's worst because it had potential. It could've been better than it was. The idea behind the third act wasn't awful. What was awful was that it was executed in one movie, and very little consideration was given to making the end have the weight it deserved.

I always said I'd give my final opinion on the sequels when I saw all three. I would not judge one harshly because the whole counted.

Well, we're now at the end. "Young fool...only now at the end, do you see"

Yes now your Highness, I do see. Their failure is now complete.

[Destraex]

Well said Sir Andrew. The whole thing was about warping from one disjointed empty plot point to another without paying attention to "where they were, what they were doing" or where they had been. A lot of it just blatantly ignored what had happened in the past episodes.
Are spoilers appropriate in this thread?

[JasonPratt]

You know what's coming.

...what, you thought this was Plinkett? He retired with the Last Jedi.  ::)

[SirAndrewD]

The Pitch meeting was absurdly spot on.  More than usual.