Keycube
Well-Known Member
...I hope Disney isn't afraid of vocal fans being hard on The Last Jedi and Rogue One. Fans will be hard on every single film no matter what. Fans will hate films both for taking chances (The Last Jedi) and for playing it safe (Solo). The only difference is that films that take chances will cultivate new generations of potential fans and will always make money. Safe movies that simply try to pander to the base fandom do neither.
Good post.
Only twice - during the heated post-Eadu exchange between Jyn and Cassian (Diego Luna really brought it here), and with Ben in TFA have I felt emotionally invested in anything involving the "new" Star Wars, and after many discussions the past few years with other fans, I realize I am such a remote outlier in seeing Ben as a vulnerable, emotionally traumatized sort that just wants to belong (I cried during the catwalk scene...but only because of the pain Ben was in), that maybe I'm looking too hard for anything in SW to resonate with any depth. Still, there have been a number of animated movies over the past few years that have moved me to the point of tears; it's possible to write characters and themes that children can relate to, that don't require adult levels of darkness.
I have a bad feeling that emotional resonance in SW is going to be rare occurrence going forward; in the interest of simplicity, it seems we're moving toward either stereotypes, or "gotcha!" moments regarding character development. I realize there's not much new to be had in terms of plotlines and character motivations (in any movie), but somehow characters still emerge in movies that we feel invested in. It doesn't happen by accident. For all of the things the PT got wrong, their biggest failure (IMO) is in being over-ambitious at times, and I can forgive the risk-taking of being given too much (and mentally scaling it back to make it personally palatable), as opposed to too little (and having to mentally construct a narrative that makes any sense).