New Star Wars movies confirmed (NO SPOILERS!)

[White Owl]

Better than The Last Jedi, not as good as The Force Awakens. Many enjoyable moments, but overall I felt they were trying to cram too much into one movie. Still a good ride and worth the ticket price.

Keep in mind... it is literally impossible to please the Star Wars fan base, because we all like such different aspects of the franchise. For example, I would be perfectly happy to never hear the words "Force", "Jedi", or "Sith", or even see another lightsaber again. Others want the whole story to be nothing but Force-users duking it out.

It's a decent action flick, ties up a few loose plot ends, and even has some character development. I enjoyed the movie.

 

[Frilock]

The first data point financially:

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/showdown/sd2117858820/?ref_=bo_hm_sd

Opening Weekend Domestic: 175,500,000est (Down from 220,000,000 for TLJ)
Opening Weekend International: 198,000,000est (Down from 230,800,000 for TLJ)
Total Opening Weekend: 373,500,000est (Down from 450,800,000 for TLJ)

 

[Kyle]

That's a ~20% decrease in profit when compared to Episode 8 and is only a little better than Rogue One.

 

[4throck]

The Last Jedi was so bad that many people lost interest on the franchise. Sadly, the people that would enjoy this one. So a drop is not unexpected.

 

[Zatnikitelman]

I saw this today. WOW! I personally think that the problems this movie had, were mainly because of the problems of 8. In other words, in 8, the story got written into a corner, and they had to spend time in 9 writing themselves out of those corners. I also feel that certain critical plot points in 9 would have been introduced in 8 had JJ written 8 as well so there isn't this sudden, almost jarring surprise. I also feel like this "trilogy" as-written is actually a duology with one random filler movie. If you just watched 15 minutes of key scenes from 8, you could do 7 to 9 without missing anything.

In the places where 9 can stand on its own, it did, and did so superbly. Was this a rehash of any previous movie? No. There are similarities, but let's face it, any series centered on good vs. evil with the idea of a singular greater good (The Force), and characters boxed into one or the other with the ability to change, is going to have repetition. Was there fanservice? Yes. So what? We're fans, we're there to see what we like. Overall, well done! After 8, I was focused on the spectacle of the scenes, but with 9, I'm focused on the story and characters, and actually feel something. I admit, I cried at a few scenes, those are the movies I love.

 

[Pipcard]

Looking back on this:

From 2018 to less than a month ago, I had lost interest in anything Star Wars related. I actually enjoyed The Last Jedi when I saw it (Rogue One was cool, too), but I later saw the backlash and some of the complaints are understandable. However, what actually caused me to lose interest was the toxic/bigoted side of the "fandom": harassing actors, producers, directors, etc. I didn't even watch The Rise of Skywalker until recently (some parts were okay, but disappointing as a final movie compared to Return of the Jedi). I was considering "original trilogy purism" several years ago and watching the "despecialized editions" but I never did and I don't care about that anymore.

Edit: Also, if you like (or don't abhor) the prequels, there's an epic series of reviews of them that will enlighten you.

Go search Youtube for the "Phantom Menace review" by RedLetterMedia.

I've been rewatching those since this thread came up. Informative and a great watch. The RotS review is always great to show to people who say "Well, episode III wasn't too bad"

Pizza rolls.

I don't think those reviews have aged particularly well. Even if you dislike the prequels, some of that hate went too far.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1533906812784758785

 

[Frilock]

However, what actually caused me to lose interest was the toxic/bigoted side of the "fandom": harassing actors, producers, directors, etc.

No argument from me there. I remember working at Disney when they did their 'Star Wars Weekends' way back in the day. They had Jake Lloyd (baby Vader) doing an appearance. Not only was he not really getting any 'viewers' so to say, he just looked really broke down. Ran into him 'back stage' (he didn't have an escort or anything, was just kind of there) and he basically said he was just there for a free vacation.

Just looked him up, he's in pretty bad shape and according to the celebrity gossip has a net worth lower than mine. I'm all for ragging on the movies, and George Lucas (talk about something of a redemption arch there), and Disney, but the dude was just a kid and that movie ruined his life. I'm sorry, the 'fans' of the other movies that are part of the franchise ruined his life.

 

[Pipcard]

No argument from me there. I remember working at Disney when they did their 'Star Wars Weekends' way back in the day. They had Jake Lloyd (baby Vader) doing an appearance. Not only was he not really getting any 'viewers' so to say, he just looked really broke down. Ran into him 'back stage' (he didn't have an escort or anything, was just kind of there) and he basically said he was just there for a free vacation.

Just looked him up, he's in pretty bad shape and according to the celebrity gossip has a net worth lower than mine. I'm all for ragging on the movies, and George Lucas (talk about something of a redemption arch there), and Disney, but the dude was just a kid and that movie ruined his life. I'm sorry, the 'fans' of the other movies that are part of the franchise ruined his life.

Exactly, and Ahmed Best (Jar Jar) almost committed suicide. People can find the character annoying but attacking the actor was never justifiable.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1014222723764162561

 

[Linguofreak]

Exactly, and Ahmed Best (Jar Jar) almost committed suicide. People can find the character annoying but attacking the actor was never justifiable.

I seem to recall hearing that part of the hate he got was from other African Americans for taking a roll that looks a lot like the old "stupid black comic relief" character that used to show up a lot. I don't think that's exactly what Jar Jar was, but an actor getting flak for (being perceived to) take a role as a stock character that's degrading to a group he's a part of its understandable.

As to what Jar Jar and the Gungans are: they're a culture that's meant to appear as silly to the audience as they appear in-setting to the Naboo, and they do end up pulling duty as comic relief as part of that, but the point isn't just to be silly: the point is to maximize the effect of the moment where Queen Amidala has to humble herself before the Gungans. That moment confronts the audience with how they've judged the Gungans if the audience has seen them as silly: if the Gungans had been portrayed more seriously, the audience would be more sympathetic to them and less sympathetic to the Naboo to begin with, and the moral of the scene would be blunted.

But it seems the moral went over a lot of people's heads anyways, thus all the persistent Jar Jar hate.

 

[GLS]

It all comes down to people having way too much time on their hands.