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Post by Jeremy on Feb 16, 2022 21:11:52 GMT -8
You may want to avert your eyes from this post, but... I don't think Rodriguez's work on Boba Fett was anything too special. He's fine with the quiet, visually-driven narrative of the premiere, but when it comes time to stage the big battle in the finale, a lot of the action feels cluttered and disjointed. I like some of his film efforts, but this didn't seem like his best work. (One of his episodes features a cheap and corny-looking speeder bike chase that recalled the worst of Spy Kids.)
Bryce Dallas Howard seems to be generating some accolades for her directorial work, both on this show and Mandalorian. She has a pretty good grasp of the Star Wars aesthetic and can stage a solid action scene. I'd be interested to see her do more behind-the-camera work (in part because she doesn't seem to pick the best in-front-of-the-camera projects).
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Feb 17, 2022 20:17:31 GMT -8
I'm waffling on The Book of Boba Fett. It's technically quite bad on multiple levels - rambling story, distinct lack of narrative focus or purpose (other than "continue carrying the Star Wars banner") and it unfortunately defangs a fan-favorite character, turning him into a bit of a wimp. (Temuera Morrison does his best, but he's at least 15 years too old for the part.) But while the first half of the season is mostly a slog, the last three episodes take the show into a largely unexpected new direction, foreshadowing some interesting directions for both the show and onscreen Star Wars productions as a whole. It's still tough to call these last few episodes "good" (and they threaten to overdose on fanservice), but they set an intriguing template for future shows in the franchise to follow. The Star Wars film series is currently stuck in neutral - between the behind-the-scenes incompetence of the sequel trilogy and the box-office flop of Solo, it may be several year before we get another big-screen production in the franchise. The TV shows, to their credit, are doing some creative things with the characters and their universe. Now we just need them to be good. It's just so....lifeless. So unambitious and dull. Star Wars hasn't been the best franchise out there, but I'd like to think it can do more than endless nostalgia bating.
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Post by Jeremy on Jun 26, 2022 5:42:07 GMT -8
Star Wars hasn't been the best franchise out there, but I'd like to think it can do more than endless nostalgia bating. Hahaha, guess again! Obi-Wan Kenobi is better than Book of Boba Fett - chiefly because Ewan McGregor is still fun to watch in a role he hasn't played in over 15 years - but it does further emphasize the corner that Disney has painted Star Wars into. Despite the franchise's vast potential as a galaxy-spanning world of adventure, anything and everything must tie into the Skywalker saga, and all new series must be filled with little cameos and Easter eggs for both casual viewers and more discerning fans. The problem with Kenobi specifically - apart from a largely risk-averse storyline that probably could have worked as a movie if the cinematic branch of the franchise hadn't been run aground - is that it's caught between the worlds of the prequel and original trilogies, trying to serve as a bridge between the two without disrupting continuity. And while it (mostly) manages to make sense without contradicting the Obi-Wan of the past and future - and even fills in a few lingering blanks in the bargain (e.g. Obi-Wan discovering that Anakin wasn't killed after their Mustafar battle in Revenge of the Sith) - it doesn't have a lot of room to maneuver. The prospect of a battle between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader is catnip to any Star Wars fan, but the fights between them in Episodes III and IV worked as the two climactic poles in their master vs. student relationship. Meanwhile, the fight in this series just feels anodyne and anonymous, without building on anything in their relationship we didn't already know. The series is most interesting in what it says about the shifts in the fan community, and the new respect allotted to the prequel trilogy. Thanks in part to nostalgia, in part to Clone Wars, and in part to Disney dropping the ball with the more recent sequels, the Star Wars prequels have in recent years gotten a second lease on life from fans. As someone who was a child when the prequels were released, a lot of this nostalgia-baiting seems to be targeted at me and my demo. Which is nice, but at this point I'd just prefer Star Wars to do something new.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Jun 26, 2022 11:43:04 GMT -8
Star Wars hasn't been the best franchise out there, but I'd like to think it can do more than endless nostalgia bating. Hahaha, guess again! Obi-Wan Kenobi is better than Book of Boba Fett - chiefly because Ewan McGregor is still fun to watch in a role he hasn't played in over 15 years - but it does further emphasize the corner that Disney has painted Star Wars into. Despite the franchise's vast potential as a galaxy-spanning world of adventure, anything and everything must tie into the Skywalker saga, and all new series must be filled with little cameos and Easter eggs for both casual viewers and more discerning fans. The problem with Kenobi specifically - apart from a largely risk-averse storyline that probably could have worked as a movie if the cinematic branch of the franchise hadn't been run aground - is that it's caught between the worlds of the prequel and original trilogies, trying to serve as a bridge between the two without disrupting continuity. And while it (mostly) manages to make sense without contradicting the Obi-Wan of the past and future - and even fills in a few lingering blanks in the bargain (e.g. Obi-Wan discovering that Anakin wasn't killed after their Mustafar battle in Revenge of the Sith) - it doesn't have a lot of room to maneuver. The prospect of a battle between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader is catnip to any Star Wars fan, but the fights between them in Episodes III and IV worked as the two climactic poles in their master vs. student relationship. Meanwhile, the fight in this series just feels anodyne and anonymous, without building on anything in their relationship we didn't already know. The series is most interesting in what it says about the shifts in the fan community, and the new respect allotted to the prequel trilogy. Thanks in part to nostalgia, in part to Clone Wars, and in part to Disney dropping the ball with the more recent sequels, the Star Wars prequels have in recent years gotten a second lease on life from fans. As someone who was a child when the prequels were released, a lot of this nostalgia-baiting seems to be targeted at me and my demo. Which is nice, but at this point I'd just prefer Star Wars to do something new. There's also the fact that it's just a silly exercise to try and wring some happy ending out of Obi Wan's pre-Star Wars story, when the entire point of the original 6 movie saga is that the Jedi failed, and failed hard. So you have Obi Wan leaving the series with a renewed sense of hope, even though he spends the next decade or so as a hermit. And you have him refuse the opportunity to stop the menace that's terrorizing the galaxy again, because they have to have their final duel. It's ridiculous. And beyond that, the storytelling was incredibly flimsy and unambitious. It aimed low and still missed the mark.
And yes, I'm also pleased to see that the prequels are finally getting some appreciation online--they're not to my taste personally but the hate for them was way, way out of proportion--but yeah, it's empty nostalgia pandering at best. Really makes you miss the days when new properties would actually try and distinguish themselves.
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Post by ThirdMan on Jun 26, 2022 13:17:02 GMT -8
While I'd concede that the SW prequel trilogy was stronger on narrative continuity from film-to film (with one consistent vision as opposed to two battling ones), I'd rate The Force Awakens as OK, and The Last Jedi as quite good, which still, individually, puts the new trilogy ahead of the prequels, which I thought were all pretty bad to varying degrees. Overall, the acting and dialogue in the prequels is much, much worse, and given that a very high percentage of the scenes are shot in front of a green screen, well, you know how I feel about that approach. Anyways, neither trilogy is particularly strong (the new one definitely crapped-out at the end), but I'd definitely sooner revisit the sequels than the prequels, which I never want to see again.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Jun 26, 2022 14:15:14 GMT -8
While I'd concede that the SW prequel trilogy was stronger on narrative continuity from film-to film (with one consistent vision as opposed to two battling ones), I'd rate The Force Awakens as OK, and The Last Jedi as quite good, which still, individually, puts the new trilogy ahead of the prequels, which I thought were all pretty bad to varying degrees. Overall, the acting and dialogue in the prequels is much, much worse, and given that a very high percentage of the scenes are shot in front of a green screen, well, you know how I feel about that approach. Anyways, neither trilogy is particularly strong (the new one definitely crapped-out at the end), but I'd definitely sooner revisit the sequels than the prequels, which I never want to see again. Yeah, The Last Jedi's good, Force Awakens is eh, and Rise of Skywalker is awful. And I think it really falls apart when taken as a whole. The prequels are very solid on paper and have a coherent throughline to them, but I suppose they show that in screenwriting, good ideas require solid execution. Attack of the Clones is a doomed love story mixed with a galaxy-spanning conspiracy, which sounds pretty excellent, and yet in practice, it's one of the fastest ways to put yourself to sleep.
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Post by Jeremy on Jun 26, 2022 15:05:31 GMT -8
The prequel trilogy's strengths rest largely on its stance as one coherent vision (dull as that vision might be), as well as a closing chapter that is relatively strong - Revenge of the Sith has its flaws, but it's not a bad film the way its two predecessors are. They're particularly noteworthy in how Lucas was able to respond to fan criticisms, darkening the story and diminishing Jar-Jar's role as the trilogy wore on. Nowadays, Disney is stuck trying to please a massive online fanbase that has grown louder and more toxic than ever.
The sequel trilogy is mostly better pound-for-pound; I think Force Awakens and Last Jedi are both good movies on their own, even if they are retroactively diminished by Rise of Skywalker. The new trilogy's main failing is as a trilogy; I've heard from fans who like all three prequels, but I've yet to meet a single person who likes all three sequels.
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Post by ThirdMan on Jun 26, 2022 17:50:41 GMT -8
I've heard from fans who like all three prequels... We mustn't humour these folks, Jer. They cannot be trusted.
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