The Star Wars Cinematic Universe

[Asura]

Apparently, you need to watch Rebels to understand something at the end of the last episode,

I think this is also the case for Forest Whittaker's character in Rogue One.

[Dogg Thang]

One curious thing to watch right now is how Abrams and his co-writer Terrio (of Justice League and Batman v Superman but also, to be fair, Argo) are coming across in interviews versus how Rian Johnson handled criticism. Even in advance of Rise of Skywalker, Abrams seemed to try to throw Johnson under a bus and, since release, the two writers have been scrambling to blame other people and circumstances for things they wrote and it's really weird to see.

Now, I think they're just movies. I get why they mean a lot to people and I also think criticism is fair game. Being an ass is not. And so I personally don't think they even have to answer to anyone - it's not their job to explain why they did certain things. But the two are basically coming across as "we know we did a bad thing but, sir, it wasn't our fault!". Whereas Johnson, whose movie got review bombed and also had his stars hounded by racists and misogynists (there is definitely a difference in how those particular people conducted themselves versus those who have taken to social media about Rise), always remained humble and thankful while never dismissing or apologising for the movie he made.

It's a weird sign of our times. Honestly, I think Abrams and Terrio shouldn't rise to it (no pun intended). Even if the film was a million times worse, it is what it is and it's not up to them to have to defend it or, as is the case, excuse it.

[wakka]

The kowtowing to ‘the fans’ is even weirder when you consider just what a big deal Star Wars is. What percentage of people who actually see these films are engaged in the online discourse/flaming/toy out pram throwing around them? It’s probably a pretty small number. Star Wars is nothing if not mainstream.

I actually didn’t like Last Jedi that much, but, much like my enjoyment of Rick and Morty and various other things, it’s hard to share that opinion without accidentally lumping yourself in with the incels with ‘legitimate grievances’ (air quotes) about the direction Johnson took the story.

[Asura]

So, we just got back from the movie.

I'll probably have more thoughts tomorrow, but I'll echo what has been said here; the movie is among the most dense films I've ever seen. It feels like watching a movie in fast-forward; there's a major plot element seemingly every 90 seconds and almost no stillness for the entire thing. Hell, there's even a major plot point in the opening text crawl that is skipped over. It isn't complicated; no aspect of it is difficult to follow, but it just packs so much in.

It also carries on what I've said before about how so much of it feels like a "greatest hits" of recycled ideas from the Expanded Universe. I lost track of the number of times I saw something and was pretty sure I knew where they'd sourced it from, but without the build-up, so it fell a little flat.

However, the end result was a ripping good yarn. I'm not the sort of person who is personally precious about movies etc. so all of that stuff, which is likely being discussed (I've been avoiding it all due to spoilers) isn't much of a concern for me. I enjoyed the story about the flashy samurai space wizards.

The kowtowing to ‘the fans’ is even weirder when you consider just what a big deal Star Wars is. What percentage of people who actually see these films are engaged in the online discourse/flaming/toy out pram throwing around them? It’s probably a pretty small number. Star Wars is nothing if not mainstream.

That's not it, though; the movies are only a part - if a big part - of the "brand value" of Star Wars, which unfortunately includes the portions of the fanbase that can be pandered to (forgetting the genuine sociopaths and twats; they have no value to anyone).

People spend $10 on a cinema ticket to see Star Wars, but for every 1,000 of those people, there's someone who spends $500 on a statue of Chewbacca. The brand might be part of mainstream pop culture, where every Star Wars movie is seen by most of the moviegoing public, but not everyone puts down that kind of cash. Lucasfilm have spent ~40 years cultivating that garden; now Disney need to look after the crops if they want things to keep trucking along.

This is like most things. A relatively small number of people probably contribute the bulk of the revenue the Star Wars brand makes. Think about how much the brand has made off you, as a punter, in the last few years. If you've been to see the films and that's it, you might be worth £60 to them (concessions at the cinemas etc.). There are Star Wars fans who go to Disneyworld annually to visit Galaxy's Edge, bought Battlefront and all the DLC, spent a wedge in The Old Republic, own a shelf of the books, visit the conventions... One of those guys might be worth a hundred of you in cold, hard, cash.

It's a ****ty situation for their creatives to be in, but that's what you sign on for if you take on a big brand. It can be a poisoned chalice, and people will crucify you for the slightest mis-step. Previous generations did it over religions; now we do it over movies.

[Blobcat]

Well I thought it was pretty good, not the best film of them all but defiantly better than The Last Jedi.

[Zaki]

I enjoyed it. My expectations were set very low, which I think helped a lot. It's not great, but it was fun.

[Dogg Thang]

Yeah, it's a fun film. It's by far the stupidest Star Wars film. But it's never, ever boring. It's never dry. It has fun and creates a spectacle. And that puts it head and shoulders above the prequels because that's what they missed.

Not sure where I'd rate them all now and it doesn't really matter but, for me, I think I just fall back on the view that I'm really happy we got fun new Star Wars films at all. With all the publicity around bringing the Skywalker Saga to a close, I hope they really believe that and stick to it and build something new in this universe because it feels like there is so much to explore that doesn't need to be about the rebels and the Empire and everyone being related to each other for no reason.

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.slashfilm.com/star-wars-the-clone-wars-season-7-release-date/

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 07 launches on Disney+ on 17 February 2020

[Neon Ignition]

https://makingstarwars.net/2020/01/the-next-star-wars-film-saga-to-be-set-during-the-high-republic-era/

Reportedly the next full chapter of the Star Wars series will take place 400 years before the Skywalker saga and will take place during the High Republic Era. The plan is said to be to make a series of films set during this era that could include a younger Yoda but not specifically a trilogy, more to shift focus away from the OT era by the sounds.

[Dogg Thang]

You had my interest until “young Yoda” and the description at the link sounds worse.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Give me something new!!

[fishbowlhead]

I think the films are going to kill the StarWars brand sooner than later.

Series are the way to go for StarWars, that way you can explore characters and locations over a longer period, have better overall plots and much deeper character development, with the odd one off film to explore a different time period or a very specific event.

They also need to sort their writing team out for any future films, the new trilogy was an absolute disaster quality wise, Solo & Rogue One made sense and were decent.

[Neon Ignition]

http://www.darkhorizons.com/star-wars-rebels-sequel-series-planned/

A report that a sequel series to Star Wars: Rebels is in the works

[beecee]

I think the films are going to kill the StarWars brand sooner than later.

Series are the way to go for StarWars, that way you can explore characters and locations over a longer period, have better overall plots and much deeper character development, with the odd one off film to explore a different time period or a very specific event.

They also need to sort their writing team out for any future films, the new trilogy was an absolute disaster quality wise, Solo & Rogue One made sense and were decent.

Agree, but going by The Mandalorian, they need to improve on that as well, as that is just slow and boring, just throwing OT throwbacks here and there is not enough.

[Zaki]

Agree, but going by The Mandalorian, they need to improve on that as well, as that is just slow and boring, just throwing OT throwbacks here and there is not enough.

No way!

I found the pace of Rise of Skywalker exhausting.

Mandalorian had great pace, story and characters. Too much action is also boring.