Oh God. I'm so glad we're having a discussion thread on this now. I've been afraid to bring up my opinion of the movie on r/StarWars since I saw it last night. I remember when it was announced that EA was going to produce the new Battlefront and I said how'd they shit all over it with DLC that I got downvoted to oblivion. Here goes. Don't hate me. The movie was rough. Not as bad as the prequels mind you, but it was still rough to the point where I can honestly say that I didn't enjoy it that much. For one, the pacing was awful. You could tell that they trimmed down a lot from the script and left just as much if not more on the cutting room floor (like all of Captain Phasma's character) by the way some scenes felt very rushed. In all honesty, this film could have benefited from another 20-40 minutes of length. Some of the dialogue was forced. Really forced, even for Star Wars. JJ Abrams had some good instances of using the whole concept of "show, don't tell" but at other times I felt they were really spoon feeding you concepts through the dialogue. The humor was obnoxious. Glaringly obnoxious. The original trilogy had humor, little bits here and there to make you smirk. They were subtle. They were charming. They fit the pacing of the film well. TFA though? Slapstick. Through and through. Ffft. I have more complaints, but I can't think of them off the top of my head. I'm going with a bud to see it again on Sunday. I'll take better mental notes. That said though, the battles were fucking awesome and I'm willing to watch it again just for them.
I will say I liked it a lot more the second time, but I think I also liked it more than you the first time too so..
You know, the prequels were a huge let down for me, so going into this I had myself a bit prepped to be disappointed. I wasn't looking to be disappointed, but I was ready in case it happened. What really tickles at my brain here is that in a lot of ways I feel like the movie just barely missed the mark, which I think is actually even more painful than it missing the mark completely. That extra 20-40 minutes that got cut out of the script or left on the cutting room floor? I bet that alone could have made a huge difference. In all honesty, if it didn't have the name "Star Wars" slapped on it, I don't think it would have been as well received, both by critics or the public.
do you think a dvd release with extended versions (bringing back the stuff from the cutting room floor) could improve it? honestly, I enjoyed the hell out of it, but I'm not a hardcore fangirl so I'm able to enjoy it for what it is and am able to suspend disbelief pretty easily.
I know a lot of people say the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings films are wonderful. For TFA, I could honestly see it going either way. If JJ Abrams edited those scenes down in such a way that the cut parts would mess up the pacing, adding them back in wouldn't help. On the other hand, if they can add to the information given to the viewers without being repetitive or redundant, then I think they could honestly help. It wasn't awful. But I think it could have been much better with a few tweaks here and there.do you think a dvd release with extended versions (bringing back the stuff from the cutting room floor) could improve it?
honestly, I enjoyed the hell out of it, but I'm not a hardcore fangirl so I'm able to enjoy it for what it is and am able to suspend disbelief pretty easily.
So I went in with expectations that the movie would likely be as good as the Star Trek reboot, and, to me, it was. I have a good bit I can criticize, but I also had a lot of fun with the film, more fun than I've had with recent comic based movies. I do agree with you, but only slightly. As a movie, I think it's a strong 7/10. But I'm ok with that. I might have said 8 originally but I was really hyped. My third watch will likely decide. I don't rate JJ and it was a JJ movie. I do have a high opinion of Rian Johnson though (I loved Brick) so I'm hoping more can be done with the sequel. What worries me is whether Disney doesn't allow these movies to have an edge. If they don't, the franchise will suffer in mediocrity. I want risks and edge like what Empire brought. We'll see how it goes.
Even though it's not my favorite of the OT (I'm torn between A New Hope and Jedi for different reasons), Empire is my go to example of how great a Star Wars movie can be. I was actually going to point to it as an example in contrast to TFA, saying "See? You don't need a Deathstar 3.0 to have a great movie." I don't think I'm familiar with anything else by Rian Johnson but Brick was an amazing film. Even with some of its flaws, when you consider that he took a well established genre and put it in a whole new setting it's a great movie. If he can do something similar for Star Wars, it'll probably be a great film. As for Disney and their willingness/unwillingness to take risks, when the news that they bought Lucasfilm came out, I and a lot of other people pointed to their success with Marvel and said "See? They can be trustworthy." This past year though, I'm starting to have doubts. Age of Ultron felt messy and Ant Man wasn't all that exciting. At the same time, while I don't read Marvel Comics any more, I've heard a lot of people criticize Marvel saying that they're unwilling to take editorial risks and a large influence behind that hesitance is they don't want to do anything that could disrupt the MCU. As a result, you get fan service garbage like Gwenpool.I do have a high opinion of Rian Johnson though (I loved Brick) so I'm hoping more can be done with the sequel. What worries me is whether Disney doesn't allow these movies to have an edge. If they don't, the franchise will suffer in mediocrity. I want risks and edge like what Empire brought. We'll see how it goes.