Movie: Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi

Title and release date (December 15, 2017) announced for the next SW movie today. Apparently Carrie Fisher had finished filming all her scenes before she died. Mark Hammill and Daisy Ridley also star.

Beyond that, I know nothing.

First showings 7:00pm tonight, thought I might pop out to give it a try BUT ALL MY LOCAL THEATERS ARE SOLD OUT.

Guess I'll give it a week or two to calm down first. Previews make it look like another mindless explosions movie anyway.

Well it wasn't "another mindless explosions movie" but pretty close.  It's one of those movies where everybody dies except the six characters you're supposed to care about, so it's pitched as a big victory.

Good points:

• Some much-needed humor (but not enough)
  
• Special effects on stuff like light sabers has gotten so good its astonishing
  
• Carrie Fisher and Mark Hammill actually had a lot of screen time, I was surprised
  
• A couple nice throwbacks to SWIII

Bad stuff:

• World's most annoying new characters, just in time for Xmas.  Make Ewoks look palatable
  
• Everybody dies
  
• Worst explosions in space I've ever seen
  
• Too much magic (way too much)
  
• Character interactions were laughably bad
  
• Engine noises in space (still?)
  
• Too long by half
  
• Miserable character design.  Bad guys all have scars, good guys have clean skin
  
• Communication between ships traveling at light speed.  Excuse me?
  

Ditto.

Boring flick.

NoCo, SW isn't science fiction. It's science fantasy. You just have to go with it or you're never going to like any SW movies. That being said, I had a lot of complaints about it too, the main ones being:

* How the hell did Snoke get to be supreme leader when he couldn't sense Kylo Ren's attack coming? Died way too easily and stupidly for the big baddy.

* Luke Force projecting across the galaxy? No. Just no.

* Laura Dern is not at all believable as a high-ranking military officer, not even in Outer Space Fairyland.

* Gerbil chickens

* Lots of buildup to Rey training with Luke in the last film amounted to very little payoff in this one.

I did, however, immensely enjoy the scenes on Canto Bight.

Also, don't read my book.

Todd wrote:

NoCo, SW isn't science fiction. It's science fantasy.

I'd go a step farther.

It's not even SCIENCE fantasy.  It's Dungeons & Dragons fantasy.

• The subplot between Finn & Rose?  Totally pasted in at the last minute, totally unnecessary.
  
  
• Leia should've been allowed to die in space.  Mary Poppins moment was laughably bad and uncharacteristic.
  
  
• Lack of payoff in Rey's training?  I'm okay with that.  Different director, different direction.  However, some resulting glitches in her Jedi powers would have been nice.  Levitating rocks was not that impressive.
  
  
• Agree about Luke's projecting himself across the galaxy.  Totally unprecedented, raises more issues than it resolves.
  
  
• Totally agree about Laura Dern.
  
  
• A lot of people think that Oscar Isaac (Poe) got shortchanged in TLJ.  Big setup in previous movie, almost no screen time here.  Again, new director, apparently given free reign, no canon requirements.
  
  
• It was nice to see Hamill again, but Luke should have been more dismissive of Rey.  His history with Darth, his training with Obi-Wan, his battles, his self-imposed exile after losing: all point to a blanket dismissal of Rey's enthusiasm.  The director missed a major character arc.
  

NoCoPilot wrote:

[*]Leia should've been allowed to die in space.  Mary Poppins moment was laughably bad and uncharacteristic.

Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that. Blocked it out, maybe. You're right: most absurd scene in a movie full of absurd scenes. I kind of went along with it in Guardians of the Galaxy because Peter Quill (Star-Lord) is a superhero, plus all the comedy in that made up for its more absurd moments, but in a SW movie it is unforgivable.

Edit: Before I forget . . . May the Fourth be with you.

Todd wrote:

May the Fourth be with you.

Cinco and good night

NoCoPilot wrote:

Todd wrote:

May the Fourth be with you.

Cinco and good night

"Solo: A Star Wars Movie" opens May 25. I'm sure it'll be dumb and I'll hate it, but I'll go anyway.

I saw a teaser for "Solo" last night.

I believe I'll skip this one.

Tickets were $15-18. I'll wait a bit.

Since the movie is a "prequel" (god, I hate that word), shouldn't the tickets have 1975 prices on them?

Only if the special effects look like cardboard and styrofoam.

Hey, you want high tech sfx, you gotta be willing to pay for it.