ST Canto Bight

They didn't seem like townies that would be that up to speed with Canto's by-laws. And they were impetuous to try and save the resistance too. It's not even the worst slip up they make either.

 

Finn and Rose were inept to the point of slapstick comedy...

Go to Canto Bight to find the master code breaker. Find him but oh no get arrested for parking on the beach. While in jail meet a weird character who claims to be a code breaker. Oh and because he rescues you in a ship...trust him to be able to do the job and forget about mission to find the actual master code breaker.

This whole sub plot could have worked so much better.

 

Well slapstick comedy is slapstick comedy. Ineptitude is not a prerequisite to slapstick.

The whole mission is supposed to be heroically ill advised due to their desperation. There's a constantly ticking clock that they keep referring to which drives their haste. By doing everything that you prescribe, they'd have been out of time before they even convinced the master codebreaker, who was seemingly very happy with his winning streak at the tables.

If you could have done with less comedy I can understand that. But there's no objective barrier to comedy being a big feature of their quest.

 

Personal taste. Respect your view but I didn't "get it" and FOR ME it continued to undermine Finn as a character.

 

I’ve seen the movie twice and missed the whipping bit both times. The first I just can’t remember, as I tried to forget my disappointment. The second (as a big fan I had to give another chance) time, I missed it as I think fell asleep in Canto: Vegas it ain’t!

 

I found nothing narratively wrong with the Canto Bight mission being a failure. Indeed, that failure is central to a running theme in the film, which makes it somewhat of an essential storyline. So much so that I wish the whole episode featured more heavily in the story.

The issue I have with Canto Bight is how heavy-handed the populist message was. "Finn, look through this viewfinder, and you will see the themes of greed and inhumanity immediately displayed." The little alien (and DJ) frantically grabbing all the coins. And all that signposted thematic stuff. Reminded me of that awful sequence in the last Hobbit movie of Alfrid, the Master of Laketown's goon, stuffing the gold coins into his shirt and generally being cartoon greedy. Far too on-the-nose. Which also served to make the sequence feel less like an actual location, and more like a clumsy stage for injecting a pretty uninteresting and pedestrian social critique.

 

Thanks for clarifying. I’m glad I missed it/can’t remember!!!

 

On the one hand I agree but on the other I feel like the Canto Bight plot in particular feels the most aimed at kids who are watching. Cutting to it almost reminds me of cutting to Endor with the Ewoks during ROTJ in that way. The tone feels slightly more aimed at tweens to me. There's more aliens. Greedy aliens picking up coins. More BB8 gags, including him hacking into a walker and basically becoming a war machine. Introductory social criticism. Falthier riding and freeing. Actual kids to relate to. I think just as the Ewoks of Endor were likely meant to connect more with younger audiences as the older audiences were probably more intrigued by the Force plot drama... This plot line is more for the tweens watching and it wouldn't surprise me if it was some of their favorite parts in the movie just as Endor was one of my favorite parts as a kid initially.

 

They didn't park on the beach, Finn crash landed there because he's not a very good pilot.

 

You’re absolutely right. And not surprisingly, my young nephew responded really well to the whole sequence. It was his favorite. Which is why this is a personal taste critique, more than anything. Though I do feel that the very introductory, children’s cartoon-style “messaging” in this section was tonally at odds with the more mature and complex themes being explored elsewhere. I’m a believer in tonal consistency, and so chunks of the Canto Bight sequence feel like a different film to me.

That said, I wanted to spend more time there, not less. It’s an interesting setting. If I were RJ, I would’ve brought the First Order/ Phasma plot to Canto Bight rather than bringing Finn, Rose and DJ to the First Order. Though I see how that would hurt the really strong narrative crossroads (merging of storylines) of the Holdo/ Rey/Kylo/Finn/Rose climax on the Supremacy, as it’s cut in half.

 

I can't remember where I read it now but at some point I read an interesting analysis of the Simpsons and its different styles of humor related to each character. The article was about writing and it was basically that Bart was sort of who the tweens connected to first. Then his friends at school. Then when you're a teen you find Homer funnier and eventually Homer's supporting cast friends and Mr. Burns. Then you get older from there and appreciate Lisa and Marge more and Smithers and there's sort of this cycle of connection points to the material. I feel like Pixar does that with its writing too sometimes. You can sense humor that's aimed squarely at the parents but also physical comedy aimed totally at the kids.

 

Yeah - I have no problems narratively or thematicaly with it, but I can see that it is a little on the nose. The only issues I have with it are that I'd tone down a couple of bits of humour. I love the Fathiers though, and I love DJ so on the whole it's a win for me. It's Poe's arc that's more problematic. Not the in the concept of it, but he could just do with showing more contrition and having to win people back around in act 3.

 

I guess there's room for a bit of bluntness regarding the kind of things the resistance is fighting amongst the perennially blunt aesthetic of the guys in the black hats versus the guys in the white hats

 

Yeah - it is blunt - but then, I'm not sure that SW has ever been particularly known for its subtlety - and for SW the general point being made was a new one, so I'm OK with it even if it's not my favourite bit of the film. I wish there were a few more beats of the Fatheir chase in the film. And personally - just my taste - I'd have trimmed the monocled alien's burp. I'd also have cut Finn's double-take at boob-diva alien. And I might have given Finn a bit more to do in terms of shooting back at the cops. Those are nitpicks though. Oh, and I'd have changed Slowen-Lo's goofy voice. I don't mind the absurdity of the beach violation, that's kind of the point of it. The worst thing these elitist a-holes have to put up with is someone parking on their 5 star beach. It underlines their isolation - although I can appreciate that didn't have to be the only approach that could have worked.

 

Hasn't Mark Hamill suffered enough? You're trimming his mocap debut cameo now!

My POV on the alien burp was that it backed up Rose's revulsion at Canto by showing it as just wretched a hive as the Tatooine's social hotspots. The comparisons with Jabba's court are striking.

 

Would it have worked better had Finn & Rose been arrested for causing a scene with their arguing rather than what's been said?
Instead of sent by themselves they're sent along with a small specforce unit who actually need Finn's FO experience to help infiltrate the Supremacy but they're unaware the spy on Holdo's ship is one of them and set this all up to capture Finn as Snoke ever the Vader fan wants to use Finn to draw Rey out of hiding before Luke finishes her training?
Are there other ways you'd suggest that might make this part of the movie work better?

 

Agreed. However, while Star Wars hasn’t always been subtle, its themes have usually flowed organically (visually and through story), without the need for the kind of pontification we got in TLJ, where characters were literally describing the themes of the film immediately after (or before) those themes played out in the story. The signposting in Canto Bight, in that context, felt more like Spielberg at his worst, than Star Wars.

And yeah. More fathiers please. I really liked the 80s fantasy feel of that sequence.

 

Hey SW fans!
This year I was late and just watched the "new" SW film and I got confused on Canto Bight...
Not for the obvious reason - as most fans found it as usless part of the story - but for the sybolic resons to draw parralels to real life..

I tried googling and thought that I would find million of discussions opened already, but I had no luck, so I'll just post here and probably get a total ignore or few hundred hate messages.

So the Canto Bight struck as a direct similarity to rich countries such as our western ones (USA, EU etc.) that sell weapons and get rich with war.
I don't want to get political or anything, just as a discussion, and even more so because there were theories that the rebels were basically terrorists.
And Rose clearly states that she would like to trash the city (which they later do)...
Richest people, with the most fancy high tech stuff and decadent style of living on one hand and on the other the opressed who want to rebel.

 

You are not wrong, though If you want a deeper dive check out the DJ One Shot Comic and the Canto Bight novel.

One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Even if that freedom is only to oppress others. In the end the labels seem are applied by the winning side and what influence they and their allies wield in telling/selling the narrative.

 

This belongs in the Sequel Trilogy Forum. Moving now.

 

Welcome to the Forums!

 

I loved the Canto Bright part of TLJ. I thought of that part of the storyline as an education to Finn, and even the audience, as to why the Resistance is fighting, and why there are so few people as part of the Resistance. When DJ shows Rose and Finn the ship they are on was owned by someone who is profiting off both sides in the war, you see where that type of knowledge can make some people cynical. So I saw the Canto Bright part as more speaking about people's attitudes than speaking about countries.

bran

 

I can't believe I didn't notice it the first time, but the master codebreaker is obviously just James Bond, Canto Bight is a just a James Bond casino, and I just couldn't shake the fact that I was watching a James Bond set crammed into a Star Wars movie.

I also don't really buy that Canto Bight is the sort of place Finn would love. It's not a great choice for that. It doesn't quite line up. Finn has never had money in his life, and has never had anything he could do with it even if he did have it, so why would he care about gambling and riches? Finn had his childhood stolen. He should have more childish desires. He should want to experience the things he's missed out on. A toy store or an amusement park would blow his mind. Even an ice cream parlor would have more appeal to him. I don't see a casino doing a lot for him, even with all the flashing lights and ding ding ding jackpots. Never mind that he doesn't have any money to gamble.

Well, we know Rian had his points to make on Canto Bight. We've said quite a bit about it. I guess what stood out to me this time is that the war has been going on for a day. Maybe a one day war isn't the best inspiration for a war profiteering theme. "We're with the Resistance". What does a resistance fighter in a one day war mean to some nine year old stable boy who probably has no access to media? How/where do these kids learn about the legendary Luke Skywalker's appearance on Crait? Sigh.