RJ Trilogy The Rian Johnson Trilogy

I'm absolutely in love with TLJ. Like it even more than Empire (and I'm old enough to have been around for the OT.) I've always said I liked the prequels. I'm used to not being able to voice my Star Wars opinions to agreement.

But legit - I've voluntarily watched the Holiday Special more times than Rogue One.

 

Takes all kinds! It’s certainly baffling to me how a film that’s so beautifully shot, tautly told, and with such realistically human characters, can be honestly placed alongside the Holiday Special nightmare.

But fandom is large. It contains multitudes.

 

I don’t really like any of Disney’s new SW films. I hate to admit it and I feel really left out that everyone seems to enjoy them other than me but I just see no vision with the property. All I see is corporate recyclings of things George Lucas already did.

 

I was thinking about this yesterday. I kind of wish the new films could combine the vision of Lucas' films with the fun of the newer films.

I don't particularly enjoy the prequels, but I appreciate that they had a lot more original ideas than what we see in the more recent films.

On the other hand, I find the newer films much more entertaining to watch because of the acting, pacing, dialogue, etc, but I feel they rely a bit too heavily on ideas we've already seen.

So if we could get a film that offered the originality of the prequels but with the writing, pacing, acting, etc, of the newer films, it would be great. And I'm hoping that's what we get with the RJ trilogy and the B&W films.

 

That’s exactly what Rogue One felt like to me. So more of that, please.

 

And TLJ for me. But generally speaking you've laid out the strengths and weaknesses of the PT and Disney SW pretty well there, it's just a matter of what wins out from film to film.

 

Oh, I can agree that it's beautifully shot. I'll watch gifs of the Scarif space battle all day long. I can even agree with you on most of the characters - Baze and Chirrut are some of my favorites ever. BUT, I disagree with the telling of the story being good, and the two characters I just can't buy are Jyn and Cassian - which definitely causes problems with my enjoyment of the story.

 

Right. I also don’t understand that though.

To me, they’re the most realistically human characters in SW. The least broadly drawn. Why they do what they do is not artificially amplified/ exaggerated as character motivations often are in pulpy genre films. I suppose for some, that makes them appear flatter than other SW characters. For me, it was refreshing to not have hyperactive characters for once. People who didn’t seem to be on a constant sugar high.

 

Not to go off topic, but I disagree. Let's look at Cassian. We set him up as the "I'll do anything" Rebel by having him shoot a guy in the back. Which would be cool, if it wasn't so obviously to strong-arm that character point into him. Then, when he gets the shot lined up for Galen, he ... hesitates? Dude was gung-ho to take on that assassin mission, and we've pointed out that he's not big on hesitation. But now he does because... well, it's Jyn's dad? I just don't buy it. But seriously - if we get into my problems with Rogue One, we could be here for DAYS. Plus, if you like it, why would I try to convince you otherwise? I mean, the movie came out years ago - how lame would I be if I was still crusading against it trying to prove to everyone how bad it was? Really, what kind of person does that?

 

dp

 

It doesn't really fit in here, but I don't really gree with your statements on Cassian

I didn't see any indication that he was "gung-ho to take on that assassin mission", he just didn't object that it might be necessary to go as far as killing Galen Erso in front of his superior. And he didn't just randomly hesitate either. He had already shown minor signs of questioning that order before, though ultimately he kept that to himself in front of the others. His aggressive tone towards others just prior to it also indicated that he was in quite an emotional state of mind, which wouldn't really fit to a person who was perfectly fine with following through on the orders.

 

Hey, dorks... take it elsewhere or I'll give you a swirly in the second floor toilet. Yes, Jim, the toilet that the janitor never plunged.

 

Lots of fans don't want him near another SW film.

I have mixed feelings.

There are some very bad things in TLJ but they are mixed with very good bright spots.

Not sure RJ should write it as the plot of TLJ was very weak.

I also did not agree with making Luke this deranged hermit. Luke could have been a troubled recluse. However his character was taken too far to the extreme and I believe that is why and where fans disagree with RJ and his writing for Luke. Luke character was too far to the opposite of what we were left with at the end of ROTJ. Luke was a hopeful "I am a Jedi, like my father before me" then the next time we see him he is ready to end the Jedi and disagrees with everything they did. Too much of an abrupt change without any explanation or middle ground story telling.

Some of the actors chosen for parts were too static or seemed as if they were puppets on strings.

The Canto Bight chase was useless for me.

The film felt choppy and didn't flow easily.

Some scenes were well written.

Some amazing shots.

I liked the way he had Kylo break out of his shell, even though I want more Snoke.

The cave scene was really good.

The Rey and Kylo vs. Guards scene was very good.

Loved seeing Yoda FG. Great Dialogue.

Great at getting his actors to give what was needed to make the scene believable. (aside from the ones that were static or on puppet strings)

So I guess my assessment is RJ could direct but not write.

Though, I think RJ may be too much of a liability at this point.

 

Sorry, my bad. I guess that'll teach me to glean my SW rumours from dodgy tabloids.

 

Serpico you hit this on the dot. I had to quote this because this is how I feel towards the Disney Star Wars movies. They are bland, filled with nostalgia like using film, and have exaggerated the force powers to a degree the throws off the six movies. I don’t worry about the old eu, because George Lucas never counted them as official Star Wars, and they super outrageous force powers. The stories anyway feel like they trying to cash in on the franchise than real movies.

 

So now they somehow just cashed in? How is that supposed to make any sense?

You really can't have it both ways. Either RIan Johnson is oh so horrible for "ruining Star Wars", or they tried to cash in by going for nothing but nostalgia. It can't really be both at the same time.
If they had wanted to cash in, Episode VIII would have been a cookie-cutter movie that couldn't possibly offend anyone, but it is anything but. If they had wanted to cash in, they wouldn't have made a movei in which the entire friggin main cast dies, like in Rogue One.

I haven't seen anything in the movies that would suggest in any way that force powers are somehow "outrageous" now. They haven't introduced anything that is somehow far more powerful than what has been shown in the past. Yoda absorbed force-lightning in AOTC, Plagueis supposedly influenced midichlorians to create life or at least to keep people from dying. What is so over the top in the sequels that it could clearly overshadow that?
The only truly epic new power was Luke appearing as a vision on Crait. And that cost him his life. It was nothing but a last-ditch effort. It wasn't exactly something that was out of the realm of the past movies either. In fact, even Lucas once had the idea of Yoda and Obi Wan coming back from the dead to help Luke against the Emperor, which would be far more powerful than what Luke actually did.

At no point have I felt that they were trying to cash in either, or that they somehow made "bland" movies. On the contrary. So far, all movies felt to me like they had a heart. They tried their best to make it feel like Star Wars without beating you over the head with it. The only part that felt a bit lacking in creativity was going for another super weapon, which led to the accusations of being a bit of a ANH-remake. But even then, the new characters felt alive and unique. It seems rather weird to pretend that these movies are all just "corporate recyclings", when only one of the movies has any similarity with past movies. Neither TLJ, nor Rogue One or Solo were in any way recycling something Lucas already had done.

 

I do believe that Rian Johnson is directing one movie of his new trilogy, if its going to happen.

 

To say they don't "feel like films" is a ludicrous statement. Each of the "Disney era" films has had its own unique voice and personal stamp. This cannot be denied. None of them have felt like a corporate product (look at the early MCU films for perfect examples of that, IMO). Each of them has been bursting with its own personality, style and tone. Yes, they have called back to the previous films at times, but so did the prequels (they did it a lot). Why does no one talk about that, or have people just forgotten? TFA, TLJ, RO and Solo are still very much their own films, with their own voices. None of them are alike. Of course we were going to get callbacks and nods, and "rhyming patterns" (where have I heard something very similar before?), its bloody SW for crying out loud. If we didn't, people would just be complaining that they didn't feel like SW films.

At this point, I really don't know what you want. Seriously, if you haven't liked any of the new SW films so far (which have all been very different to one another), then……. I don't know. I really don't know what to suggest. Maybe call it a day? Don't know.

 

Yes, many fans would prefer to call it a day at this stage. This is such a bubble. RJ is not going to be directing another SW film - he is absolutely toxic property and anything he writes or helms will be immediately controversial, regardless of its supposed artistic merits.

 

Huh? RJ is quite officially developing a SW trilogy, and will likely direct the first of that trilogy. This is confirmed stuff.

 

I hope some development regarding these movies happens soon, so we can stop discussing the merits of baseless rumors and actually discuss what Rian's trilogy might be.

 

Part of the problem with Star Wars fandom at the moment is that I have difficulty deciding if some posts are serious or sarcastic.

 

Quality >>>> Quantity

I too, was very excited back in 2013, that we would actually get Episodes 7-9, as it had been rumored for two decades.
Now, I wish George Lucas had made it a non-negotiable term to be the storyteller for these movies.
Or I wish that Disney had just bought the rights to the franchise, without being able to touch the Skywalker Saga.

On topic, I don't see what good could come from not one, but three movies made by Rian Johnson. We all have traumatic experiences from when we were kids, whether it was a bee sting on the hand, or something much more serious, but we don't turn them into abysmally non-sensical movies of an otherwise well established franchise. I was hoping that the rumor after the most recent developments in the SW universe (TLJ divisive amongst fans, reshoots of Solo and poor box office, Trevorrow departing Ep. 9) which said that Disney would actually do something and cancel his trilogy was true, but it seems to be false. Sadly, for me.

 

Way to pretend as if your opinion of something is somehow the definition of reality...

Just because you don't like something, doesn't mean that everyone else believes that as well. Just because you don't like something, doesn't mean that something is actually "abysmal", "non-sensical" or going against what has been established in the franchise. I've been a fan for a long time, I haven't seen anything abysmal or non-sensical in the new movies, much less anything that would "ruin" the franchise. And now? Are you going to declare yourself to be the "true" fan whose opinion defines what everyone wants? Because that is the only way you could possible keep true to what you are saying.

I for one don't see anything bad that could come out of Rian Johnson delivering the start of a new trilogy, apart from maybe more whining from people who can't stand the fact that they don't always get what they want. At worst, the story won't work and I won't like it, tough luck, happens all the time, no reason to whine endlessly about it. I have gotten ten enjoyable Star Wars movies so far, some more, some a bit less. If worst came to worst, I could ignore new material that I don't like and simply enjoy what I already have. No one forces me to spend time with something I don't like. After all, there are very likely people out there who will enjoy something even if I don't, and why would I try to ruin their enjoyment?

There has been SW-material that I didn't like all that much in the past as well. The old EU had some ideas that were plainly hideous to me. I may have voiced my unhappiness about something, after all, criticism is one way to cause improvement and make your arguments be heard, but afterwards I certainly didn't spend my free time harping on and on about how much something sucks and how everything was ruined by it. I simply ignored the bits that weren't working for me and focused on the stuff that was. In my case, that meant ignoring quite a bit of the main storyline in the books and focusing more on things like the KOTOR-games and comic-series instead. I never cared much about Clone Wars or Rebels either, but I didn't have to. If ithose brought enjoyment to other people, all the better.