ST The Sanctuary - (Dissenters Unite! - Warning on page 232)

I’m shocked this was cut

 

(In addition to your phasing out the old toy commentary)


Both the original Transformers animated movie and G.I.Joe animated movie function as stand alone Hero's Journey films.

They couldn't do that with Optimus and Duke of the cartoons, because they're the established "big good."

So Hot Rod goes through the Hero's journey in Transformer movie.

While Falcon goes through the Hero's Journey in G.I.Joe.

Optimus and Duke (coma) get killed off like Obi Wan to show the seriousness of the situation (mentor dying in the Hero's Journey).

Your toy commentary was definitely the primary motivation by Hasbro. But when Hasbro gave it to the movie writers to make sense of, is what I'm talking about.

 

This kind of mirrors my thinking.

Plus they can't keep on milking the rebels vs empire dynamic forever. Episode 10, 11 and 12 is their first and last chance to do something original instead of a reskinned OT even if it is recycling Lucas's ideas such as the SW Underworld series or his cancelled ST ideas like possibly new Sith with Darth Talon amongst them.

I think if they keep on pushing the same tired ideas of reprocessed OT, the franchise risks going down like the Hidenburg or becoming a b-list franchise like Star Trek due to the failures of the franchise holders to innovate.

JJ apparently doesn't like the prequels (despite the whole Sith thing having been mentioned since the OT in cut scenes, novelizations and other extended universe material).

 

There's something not-so imaginative about all of RJ ideas and execution in TLJ. The more deleted scenes we get, the less impressive his "vision" for SW becomes. Everything seems borrowed, silly or subverted. I get the impression that he might have made a stronger movie if he'd abandoned his attempts at humor and fun.

 

I heard this song as I read what RJ's episode IX would be like.

 

Tell @MagnarTheGreat that the Knights of Ren don't follow the rule of 2.

They're Darksiders but not Sith

 

Does this guy shut up... like ever?

 

Hearing that new Luke line and people celebrating just shows that it went right over their heads how ******* stupid that line and entire situation was. But see? They don't care about good writing. They don't care about ****** dialogue and storytelling, they just want their fanfiction to come true, regardless of how many character arcs and plots are butchered in the process.

 

Set your story centuries after the events of ROTJ, when the main trio and their adventures have become stuff of legends.

Go.

 

They are not “sith” because they were not trained by another sith.

They may do every single thing the same as a Sith would do it, but they are still not sith. A sith needs to to be trained by another sith to be one. Same with the Jedi.

 

That sounds like exactly what they’re doing after they finish out the ST. Johnson’s trilogy is supposedly disconnected from everything, and who knows what Favreau and the Game of Thrones people are doing.

They’re doing these three movies now, because this was likely (and, ultimately and unfortunately they were proven right with Carrie Fisher’s death) the last time to get the Big Three back together and cash in on that “What happened after ROTJ?” thing. And yeah, they basically didn’t pay it off, but that was a big part of the draw.

 

Han died in TFA. Before Fisher's death.

This entire ST is unnecessary and ill planned, IDGAF.

 

What on EARTH was THAT?!?!??

 

I didn’t mean all three literally on-screen together again.

You still saw Han Solo played by Harrison Ford on screen. You still saw Princess Leia played by Carrie Fisher on screen. You saw them have a scene together. You got to find out what happened to them after ROTJ and how their characters reacted to it.

They had to start off with the ST like this, because that was the biggest draw. You don’t just make some weird, esoteric spinoff about characters you’ve never met first.

Even the Filoniverse started with Anakin and Obi-Wan’s stories first, then he got to make up his own central characters with Rebels.

 

I wish I hadn't.

 

If I recall, Hasbro underestimated how children came to view Optimus Prime. Reports of children locking themselves in their rooms because their beloved hero was killed almost anticlimactically were common. And Rodimus Prime got the blunt of the fan hatred because many of them saw him being the reason why Optimus Prime was killed off both in and out-universe. It isn't helped by the fact that not many people like Rodimus's more angsty personality as leader of the Autobots or that he was introduced out of nowhere. It's only rational to kill off Optimus Prime if you hadn't even bothered to actually take note of the young fans and only look at sales. Peter Cullen was said to have been surprised that he had fan mails that were barred from him by studio people, which would have tipped off of how people were going to react to the death of Optimus Prime.

Though 1986 film may have a special place in people's hearts (namely introducing the mythos that will define Transformers), the movie itself is really just a noisy action film of killing your favorite toy characters and replacing them with new ones without care. It's not really a great movie when you think about the actual character's journey.

Personally speaking, I really think TLJ turned Rey into a Rodimus Prime for me instead of the TFP Bumblebee I saw potential in TFA. Rodimus Prime came out of nowhere and in many ways, did not earn the right of being the new leader of the Autobots since his actual journey from a hotheaded punk to a mature leader was lightly touched upon, rushed and didn't really feel genuine. If Rodimus was there from the beginning of the show, being mentored by Optimus Prime himself (or if it was Bumblebee instead), the torch passing would have been a lot more resonating with children. And Rey, unfortunately, was like Rodimus in that regard in that her journey was rushed and her status as Luke's successor was unearned. The only thing that she has over Rodimus is that she didn't technically cause the death of Luke Skywalker.

 

I'm shocked it was actually filmed.

 

Whose to say they'll even restore the republic? It didn't work last time. Maybe now it's time for new things? Something a live action series could get into. A Star Wars series like Game of Thrones. Hm. I wonder what those Game of Thrones guys are doing next...

Not that they're necessarily doing anything like that. I'm just saying the idea is ripe for exploration.

And yeah, the first order might be able to destroy itself without the Resistance even doing anything. They don't even need a full armada. Just have Finn convert the troopers, and have the troopers turn on the leadership. Add into that the almost assured Hux mutiny against Ben, with the chance of Ben turning via Rey... the first order going down will be cake.

 

I think this was definitely more of a case of “You don’t know what you got till it’s gone.” Had Optimus Prime not died, his popularity may not have ever been viewed that way. I’m sure there’s a Jesus metaphor in there somewhere, but Prime’s death resonated big time thus making him more popular.

Or, “more powerful than you could possibly imagine.”

I do agree on the Rey/Rodimus comparison, although Rodimus actually did have the character work (he fails a LOT until he gains the humility on the Quintisson planet and learns to become a leader on the junk planet after false prophet Ultra Magnus fails after thinking the Matrix will solve all his problems. Eventually, he gains the courage to go after Galvatron and redeem his failure that led to Optimus’ death). Rey hardly ever fails, which is her big issue in terms of character. Rodimus goes through a lot of trials.

Still, he didn’t take and you’re right that he took a lot of the brunt of anger from Optimus’ death. Kind of unfairly.

 

She couldn't, as that honor was already reserved to :

_ Poe, for being a horrible officer, and not caring about his comrades lives.
_ Finn, for, and i wish this was a joke, his inability to park properly (WTF ?)

Without these two guys, there's no Battle of Crait. (and some people wonder why we don't want to see their next adventure...)

 

The Last Jedi total box office in China: $42.5 million
Black Panther opening weekend box office in China: $66.5 million

 

I’m not sure why you’d expect anything other than all-powerful Rey bats her eyes at emo pouty kid and he sacrifices himself to save the day. I mean, yeah, they will flesh it out more than that and have side stories for Poe and Finn. Finn and Rose will kiss. Poe will blow something up. Rey will build a double-bladed blue saber from the shattered crystal, ghost Luke may say a word or two. But all of this comes down to Rey turning Kylo. She’s already told Luke she’s going to do it, and she is never going to be wrong, ever, so it is just a matter of how Kylo turns and whether or not he lives.

And I honestly don’t care.

 

You should pin this post until December 2019

 

And keep in mind that Black Panther has very mixed word of mouth in China. How poorly was TLJ recieved, then? I guess it's their equivalent of After Earth.

 

Well, in my opinion, they chose absolutely the worst possible story to go with. In fact, I don’t think there is much of a story at all in TLJ.

They completely mischaracterized Luke Skywalker. They took away his dignity, his integrity, his personality, his core character traits, and his legacy. They turned the guy who saved his father from the dark side after 25 years of evil into the one who was the catalyst for his nephew falling to the dark side. They want us to believe that Luke, who found good even in Vader couldn’t find a speck of good in his nephew?

If Luke would have overshadowed Rey, that would only be because Rey wasn’t a a strong enough character on her own; because she wasn’t a well-defined, developed, or written character. Obiwan and yoda were great and impressive characters, and they could do things that young Luke couldn’t do early on, but they didn’t overshadow Luke. Ben kenobi saved Luke in the jundland wastes, in the cantina, and twice on the Death Star (when he took care of the tractor beam and when he dueled Vader to let them all get away). Yet, again, Ben didn’t overshadow Luke. Why? Because Luke was engaging, well-defined, and a strong and great character in his own right.

And even if Luke would have brought down the house in this one film with an amazing feat?? So what?!!! The character of Luke Skywalker should have been considered an asset rather than a liability for their film and they should have celebrated his status as a Jedi master. If he been treated with respect and had formed a wonderful relationship with Rey, the audience would have warmly embraced her as someone that Luke Skywalker trained and cared about, and they would have been happy to follow her in future films .

People keep saying that this isn’t Luke’s story and that’s why he can’t be allowed to do much. But since it isn’t Luke’s story, why is he the one portrayed as making mistakes, struggling, failing, and needing to learn new things?? That should have been Rey in this film; not Luke. He already made mistakes, struggled and failed in the OT films, and he already learned and grew from them. Rey didn’t struggle or fail or learn or grow in this film, and it’s supposed to be her story.

And Luke didn’t save the day at the end of TLJ. He just provided a few minutes of distraction so the last 20 resistance survivors could run out the back way, where they were saved by Rey, who was levitating the boulders so they could go free. It was not a very impressive feat, because it was far too similar to the force Skyping, and it got him killed. It was a very sad and lanpme way for Luke Skywalker to exit the Star Wars universe. He died alone and from using the Force.