ST Is the Force Awakens really a "safe" film?

Stuckmann's channel is really good. He has very fair reviews of all the SW films up along with a lot of other reviews and interesting videos

 

One of the reasons I love TFA is that it looks like SW and not anything like the other standard blockbusters around either now or in recent years. It takes me back to the GFFA without it looking like a green screen video game half the time as well, which is another bonus, but none of those is as important as the crucial new elements in the film for me - which are the characters we'll follow on the way forward - and in that respect I think TFA is a complete success. I think what the echoes and the legacy factor allows is for these characters to flourish whilst also harnessing the undoubted nostalgia thematically in a way I personally found very interesting. I agree certain elements could and arguably should have been pushed further to separate things out but even the most on the nose moments don't derail for me because they get the characters, tone and heart right and for the most part the story rockets along and works.

This idea they played it safe is simply not borne out narratively. People are outraged Han is murdered by his son. People are outraged that Luke has a minute of screentime. Some are struggling that a female lead can be as capable as most male leads. Some are struggling with a black lead (granted these last two categories aren't worth worrying about and race wasn't a factor in the story but still). Safe would have been everybody together and happy with a glorious new republic and a great Jedi Order led by heroic Luke Skywalker. The design trappings are safe (though entirely consistent IMO) and certain echoes parallel previous entires as each trilogy has done but there is nothing safe in the approach they took with the characters and it's the characters more than anything that have connected with most and tapped into the zeitgeist again. Their risks there paid off.

 

TFA is also, for long stretches, unapologetically joyful/ optimistic/ earnest, which I found to be a bold choice in this often cynical age.

 

How is Luke's character in remotely the same place he was in either ANH or ROTJ? That's a REALLY bad argument.

 

None of them are, unless you're just looking at the surface aesthetics.

 

ROTJ is the safest SW film imo. Possibly AOTC as well.

 

Two other factors that us obsessives also forget - one is that TFA seems to be going down very well with people who were never that into SW before.

And the second is kids. They don't give a stuff about nostalgia or rehash. They love (or at least the ones I know or have heard about from friends) the characters and the story and are wrapped up in the film in much the same way that we probably were as kids before we started caring about plot holes or how many things were or weren't rehashes. I'm not saying any film should get a free pass - but I'm saying there are other ways the film is connecting (legitimately - I think it's a very good film regardless of all this debate).

 

Great points and should not be overlooked

 

no one is forgetting this because SW never had a problem with this.
And the discussion is about the story not about the general reaction.

 

Actually the discussion is about the overall film - story, characters, settings, etc.

 

Yeah, because "plot" is only one part of a film.

 

Lucas's risks can sometimes pay off (the OT + PT, THX1138 in the long run, Willow), however, some haven't (Howard the Duck, Red Tails, Strange Magic). Same with Abrams who's made good risks (LOST, Star Trek 2009, Alias, Fringe, Cloverfield) and bad (STID, Alcatraz, MI:III, the failed Superman project).

 

So its not about the general audience and kid reaction like i said.
Thank you.

 

Ha. The most vocal of TFA's detractors, such as Bacbacca, INSIST on limiting the discussion of TFA to the very barest bones of "story," as that helps artificially strengthen their argument that the film is a crappy facsimile of the OT. If you start talking about characters, visual layers, mythology, tone, or anything else that isn't "the basic plot is this," their argument is weaker.

I understand disliking the film on the basis of your own taste, etc. But please stop dragging the conversation back to the same, dull topic. It's disingenuous, boring, and a conversation that can't last the year and a half until Episode 8.

 

Not only is it very "safe", it's very corporate. But in today's society, corporate sells. Brand names are a way of life now. Disney is no different. That is why really the title should be Disney "Star Wars". Because that's what it really is.

It does not make it better or worse in the grand scheme of things. Just different. It's 2016 and people like their brands. Personally I missed the plucky spirit of ANH since it was made my a rebel filmmaker (at that time, George was) and a mix of aspiring artists who had a quasi hippie commune feel to it.

But that is me. As I gotten older, I enjoy independent/risky films and in particular TV shows more then the stable films. I know that is not everyone cup of tea and that is fine. Just that is how I feel.

 

Exactly. It's about exploring what is "too safe". I was pointing out there is more than one aspect to that.

Oh, and plenty of people are forgetting about the kid element as well. It's "terrible because it's too safe". My kid and his friends don't feel that way. They love it. I wonder if there were adults around the release of ANH decrying the unoriginality of revoked fairy tales and space opera. I'm willing to bet here were.

Now could they have separated out design elements and the Starkiller element?

Absolutely. I probably would have done that myself to a certain extent but the only place i felt it was to the detriment of the film was the assault on the Starkiller which lasts all of 5 minutes and isn't the main deal there.

The duel in the snow is original and is fresh and the character work is taking us in brave new directions IMO so overall is the film too safe?

No, not in my opinion because even when it does play it "safe" it doesn't harm the film for me and the one time (for me) it strays too close to the originals it does harm the film.

 

Stop making up stuff about other people.
Never said such things.
I didnt drag anything here, in fact, i specifically tried to get back in topic.
So like i said in that post, let's discuss what the topic is about.

 

But that is a factor in the debate. Who is it "too safe" for? What defines "too safe?".

 

My dentist asked me is it safe before removing my root canal with no Novocain. He's a real mean bastard.

 

Who is TFA "too safe" for?... I guess pretty much anyone who has seen, or will see, ANH / the OT. Which is a lot of people; but if a lot of people like TFA regardless, good for them.

I'm kind of curious though, as I've heard of a lot of people becoming interested in watching the other SW films after seeing TFA, but I haven't seen too much of what these people's reactions are after seeing all seven films, or just the OT and TFA.

 

Really because I've seen the OT, and I didn't have that thought. Fancy that.

 

I don't know what corporate even means in the context of a film (I mean it really is kind of a meaningless term).. .but with the meaning I would probably choose ANH and maybe TESB are the only even remotely "non-corporate" SW films

 

If you actually care to read the ****ing thing rather than looking at the pictures, you'll read (paraphrasing)... "we wanted something that looked like Yoda", We wanted something that looked like Darth Vader", "We wanted X-Wings", "We wanted Tie Fighters", "We wanted the Millennium Falcon", "We wanted a new droid that was like R2D2 but not R2D2" yadda, yada, yada.

 

Calm down, PJ.

I read the entire book last weekend, and there are a hundred other ideas, either directly spoken by Rick Carter or attributed to him, that are fascinating. The visual mastery of Han and Kylo on the bridge scene, for example, is a direct result of the kind of visual ideas Rick Carter was fostering.

You cherry-picked some quotes regarding a subject you feel sore about. Great. I prefer to look at the broader visual landscape of TFA, and Carter's role in it. And I appreciate it. He's a cinematic artist of the highest order, IMO.

 

Speaking of safe. My safe word is "Chewbacca"