Cindi, remember when we talked about taking a break from the internet earlier?
I think some OT fans need to take a break.
People around the net have been losing their minds over silly shit. I can't take people serious when they try to argue the new trilogy is on par with "Jar Jar" and "MY LOVE FOR YOU IS A WATERFALL" or my favorite "LETS TALK POLITICS IN A FICTIONAL UNIVERSE FOR HOURS"
You are welcome to not like them by all means. But don't try to be disingenuous and seriously argue they are critically equal to the prequels.
I can say what I want. You haven't even asked why I personally think it's on par with the prequels. Because you don't care. Please go back to Reset or whatever hole you came from.
When you compare story beats to anything Jar Jar yes I tend to react negatively. Read the above then and respond why you feel that way?
- over emphasis on action, there's very little room to breathe so to speak. TFA I give credit to because it's the first in a trilogy. It reminded me how in the prequel trilogy there's so much action all the time and that they felt that's what audiences wanted. Same thing here. Very few scenes that are sit down and talk. Nah, need to have a mutiiny. Gotta have some over ling casino sequence and escape chase. Gotta have bombers -
in space. The amount of action was ridiculous and easily fell into George's vapid mindset he used in the prequels.
- too much emphasis on creating silly humor. The prequels are mired in dumbass fun for the whole family schlock from things like the flying diner dude, Jar Jar stepping the poopie, or R2 becoming a God and always saving the day somehow, some way. It's no different here. You've got unnecessary chases with characters on cat horses and jumping through glass in that Hollywood sort of way, weird scenes like the alien dude putting coins in BB8 that are done just to be quirky and lol mom did you see that, the entire dialogue between Hux and Poe at the beginning has zero place in a Star Wars and felt more in place in a Star Wars parody, there's a joke every 30 seconds, and BB8 is always there to conveniently save the day. The tone is family oriented in a way that doesn't mean to offend, much like the prequels, where there's high stakes and yet everything still feels like a joke.
- shallow characters in Finn, Poe, Rose, Holdo, and arguably Rey. Kylo, Luke and Leia are the standouts and that's partially because we know the history of two of them.
- less emphasis on Rey. It fully fails the "who is the main character" test much like The Phantom Menace, where there's too much emphasis on so many different groups that it loses focus and weight. A big reason TFA worked for me is because it's largely about Rey and her growth and her urge to be a part of something. The fact that Luke, Rey, Snoke, and Kylo - easily the best element of the movie - does not take center stage in lieu of Finn and his stupid Asian girlfriends bullshit was a massive fuck up. It came out like a giant mish mash much like TPM.
I feel ROTS is better and I don't even like ROTS.
I put it on par or slightly better than TPM. The Finn/Rose storyline and the kiss at the end made it feel like the pod racing story on TPM for me. In other words, a giant waste of time.
A post made right when I got from the movies that further highlights my issues:
Let's be real.
spoiler (click to show/hide)
Characters - Every character is a moron except Luke, Leia, and the Vice-Admiral. Even the Vice Admiral barely makes that list because she left the fleet like sitting ducks without so much as a description as to what their plan was. Poe is a fucking idiot and should be executed. That's been covered.Finn and Rose are also fucking idiots. Not only do they not complete their mission but they completely fuck it up and get caught for a pointless reason. Their entire side story was dreadful. The "love you" at the end between them wasn't earned. Before then, they just made jokes and went on some dumb ass overly adventure. Love tho? Really? Snoke is stupid. Rey is stupid. Ben is stupid. Almost every character here does something without thinking first. It doesn't feel like Star Wars. It feels like some Marvel movie in terms of characterization. Luke and BB-8 are literally the only competent fuckers around in this movie.
Themes - The theme of placing hopes and dreams on heroic sacrifice and hero worship could have made for a good movie. Except the film muddles its own ideas because 1. Luke saves the rebellion by acting as a hero to sacrifice himself for the Rebellion, and 2. so does the Vice Admiral. So its themes don't work. So what is it trying to say? Don't rely on legends, don't rely on heroes except...some of the time? This is bat fucking distinguished mentally-challenged. As it is, this makes the story completely incoherent. You could throw in the the theme about light and darkness and how all is one, but the movie doens't really go anywhere with it and it still plays with binary Star Wars, especially since Kylo stays with the First Order and is still very much a bad guy. I was hoping for a hint that the Force - the TRUE Force - blends light and dark together to complete a balanced whole or play with Rey's darkness, and it was just one giant cheeseburger cock tease. As it is, the themes are dog shit and feel rushed.
Story and pacing - I was so fucking bored. Almost every sequence is high thrills. Much like with TFA (which I give credit to for being the first in a trilogy) and Rogue One every scene just HAS to be some modern shitty chase scene or some fight. There's no sit down like in Empire where the Falcon is inside that alien's gut. Finn and Rose's part of the movie is terrible. Poe committing mutiny was distinguished mentally-challenged. Am I supposed to cheer for these characters? I feel absolutely nothing even as the rebellion dies ship by ship, one by one. Despite the high stakes nothing really seems to matter, and didn't matter because a hero would come at the end of the day. And the ending with the little kid looking at the Rebellion ring, gazing at the horizon like Luke did? That was so fucking cheesy and laughable.
Summary: overly action-packed movie that barely understands Star Wars or its appeal with bad characters, little reason for emotional investment in any character (besides Luke). Poor pacing, poor writing, muddled themes, and just fucking boring despite the sheer number of blaster pews.
Rating: D+, another prequel tier Star Wars movie.
