Today was not productive.
Today was not productive. So it's a perfect opportunity to write about TFA. Btw, when do we get to stop putting spoiler space?
W
E
H
A
V
E
C
O
O
K
I
E
S
Having read all the things everyone else posted, and much of the online stuff, mostly everything has been said. I will probably see it again, because my basic thoughts were that it was ok. Meaning, not the travesty of the non-existent movies, but certainly not on the level of the originals. Some of that is probably just due to anticipatory expectations, I assume.
Random stuff:
1) Music. Where's my fanfare?! Is that my fanfare?! That's not a fanfare!! It's inextricable from the original films, for me, so put it back. That's all.
Separately, and having read some stuff that touched on this, am inclined to feel Abrams doesn't see music as part of the story-telling. You have to give a composer scope, and make them integral, not just background or noise to fill in between dialogue. I don't think John Williams is past his prime or has lost his touch; it just looks like there was something missing in whatever he was asked to do. Or maybe they aren't a good team and there's no chemistry of vision, there.
So why do I think this? There was nothing that stuck with me as a memorable theme or leitmotif, nothing that if I heard it again would immediately flash back to that place, that scene, that character. In fact, I don't remember anything except there were a lot of callbacks to the original music. I'm not saying I expected the next greatest score ever written, but this didn't make me feel anything.
2) I assume they're going to do something with Poe in the other films. Apparently, a lot of people think he's the bees knees, but he's as close to a one dimensional character as I've ever seen (based purely on the film). Who is he? He's the best/most daring pilot! Meh. I can entirely believe the original plan was to kill him off early. That said, I didn't believe for a minute he wasn't going to miraculously reappear after the crash on Jakku. I hoped he wouldn't, but there he was.
3) What happened to Leia? Yeah, she lost her son to the dark side, etc. Well, she lost her whole planet/family/everything in the first movie and she was still feisty. Now she's supposed to be the general of a resistance and she's this static, almost silent person who makes you wonder where her personality went. After Han dies, there's this brief bit of watching her be sad in the middle of a command center and that's it. You're telling me she lost the love of her life after just having reconnected with him, and there's no moment of utter devastation in private? Which we should see, and then see her get it together and go back out and fight. Like Leia, not some sad old lady who makes me wonder if she's irrelevant. There was very little that made her look like any kind of leader anyone would follow.
4) Han - was Han. Thank the cinema gods. His dialogue, his delivery his character. He will be sorely missed, as he was pretty much the only one who consistently communicated any kind of wink and wry humor. He was still Han. Hate you for killing him, but fine. Just don't waste it. No, seriously, if you waste that I will be irate at a complete waste of a great character.
5) Kylo/Ben - I'm not impressed, although he is way better than the whole Hayden Christensen thing. Let's see what happens in the other movies. P.S. You're gonna have to do something exceptional to get me to buy any redemption for someone who kills their father that way. That is not just about it being Han, either. I get the whole father/son conflict psychology blah blah, but you don't get redeemed from that sort of set up. Maybe forgiven, but not redeemed.
6) Did anyone else see Luke and think The Dude abides? P.S. Alec Guinness was so much better looking an old hermit. Luke looks like he's been in a Jedi recovery program. Maybe he cleans up well.
7) Rey - oh, hey, look. A tough, feisty, independent, capable of taking care of herself survivor. Thank you. Could have used a more deft handling of the discovers her sensitivity to the force business, but it's probably the only story line that approaches being a story line. Plus, <3 Stop Taking My Hand! Which I thought was a pretty well done bit of not only commenting on her, but primarily showing just how insecure Finn is.
8) Phasma - From just a little bit of dialogue, a fairly clear bit of personality. I like this baddie, glad she's supposed to be back from the garbage compactor.
9) Hux - he's no Tarkin.
10) Snoke - The Great and Powerful Oz behind the curtain Voldemort. Sigh. The only egregious indulgence in CGI? I suppose I'm evil, but all that visual did was make me want to laugh. The jockeying for favor between Hux and Kylo Ren was pretty eye-roly for me, too, but ok, fine. Seriously, though, I was waiting for the Cowardly Lion to run out of the room and jump through a window, or something.
11) BB-8. I really thought I'd find it twee, but nope. Totally successful and has his own character. Wow. Could you try that with some of the humans?
12) Finn - I buy the essentially kidnapped child soldier but couldn't do it/something snapped him out of it. And, of all of the characters, he's the one that seemed to have some hope of wit and humor, which is desperately needed.
So, yeah. I'm probably going to go see it again, and we'll see how my brain processes it after that.
W
E
H
A
V
E
C
O
O
K
I
E
S
Having read all the things everyone else posted, and much of the online stuff, mostly everything has been said. I will probably see it again, because my basic thoughts were that it was ok. Meaning, not the travesty of the non-existent movies, but certainly not on the level of the originals. Some of that is probably just due to anticipatory expectations, I assume.
Random stuff:
1) Music. Where's my fanfare?! Is that my fanfare?! That's not a fanfare!! It's inextricable from the original films, for me, so put it back. That's all.
Separately, and having read some stuff that touched on this, am inclined to feel Abrams doesn't see music as part of the story-telling. You have to give a composer scope, and make them integral, not just background or noise to fill in between dialogue. I don't think John Williams is past his prime or has lost his touch; it just looks like there was something missing in whatever he was asked to do. Or maybe they aren't a good team and there's no chemistry of vision, there.
So why do I think this? There was nothing that stuck with me as a memorable theme or leitmotif, nothing that if I heard it again would immediately flash back to that place, that scene, that character. In fact, I don't remember anything except there were a lot of callbacks to the original music. I'm not saying I expected the next greatest score ever written, but this didn't make me feel anything.
2) I assume they're going to do something with Poe in the other films. Apparently, a lot of people think he's the bees knees, but he's as close to a one dimensional character as I've ever seen (based purely on the film). Who is he? He's the best/most daring pilot! Meh. I can entirely believe the original plan was to kill him off early. That said, I didn't believe for a minute he wasn't going to miraculously reappear after the crash on Jakku. I hoped he wouldn't, but there he was.
3) What happened to Leia? Yeah, she lost her son to the dark side, etc. Well, she lost her whole planet/family/everything in the first movie and she was still feisty. Now she's supposed to be the general of a resistance and she's this static, almost silent person who makes you wonder where her personality went. After Han dies, there's this brief bit of watching her be sad in the middle of a command center and that's it. You're telling me she lost the love of her life after just having reconnected with him, and there's no moment of utter devastation in private? Which we should see, and then see her get it together and go back out and fight. Like Leia, not some sad old lady who makes me wonder if she's irrelevant. There was very little that made her look like any kind of leader anyone would follow.
4) Han - was Han. Thank the cinema gods. His dialogue, his delivery his character. He will be sorely missed, as he was pretty much the only one who consistently communicated any kind of wink and wry humor. He was still Han. Hate you for killing him, but fine. Just don't waste it. No, seriously, if you waste that I will be irate at a complete waste of a great character.
5) Kylo/Ben - I'm not impressed, although he is way better than the whole Hayden Christensen thing. Let's see what happens in the other movies. P.S. You're gonna have to do something exceptional to get me to buy any redemption for someone who kills their father that way. That is not just about it being Han, either. I get the whole father/son conflict psychology blah blah, but you don't get redeemed from that sort of set up. Maybe forgiven, but not redeemed.
6) Did anyone else see Luke and think The Dude abides? P.S. Alec Guinness was so much better looking an old hermit. Luke looks like he's been in a Jedi recovery program. Maybe he cleans up well.
7) Rey - oh, hey, look. A tough, feisty, independent, capable of taking care of herself survivor. Thank you. Could have used a more deft handling of the discovers her sensitivity to the force business, but it's probably the only story line that approaches being a story line. Plus, <3 Stop Taking My Hand! Which I thought was a pretty well done bit of not only commenting on her, but primarily showing just how insecure Finn is.
8) Phasma - From just a little bit of dialogue, a fairly clear bit of personality. I like this baddie, glad she's supposed to be back from the garbage compactor.
9) Hux - he's no Tarkin.
10) Snoke - The Great and Powerful Oz behind the curtain Voldemort. Sigh. The only egregious indulgence in CGI? I suppose I'm evil, but all that visual did was make me want to laugh. The jockeying for favor between Hux and Kylo Ren was pretty eye-roly for me, too, but ok, fine. Seriously, though, I was waiting for the Cowardly Lion to run out of the room and jump through a window, or something.
11) BB-8. I really thought I'd find it twee, but nope. Totally successful and has his own character. Wow. Could you try that with some of the humans?
12) Finn - I buy the essentially kidnapped child soldier but couldn't do it/something snapped him out of it. And, of all of the characters, he's the one that seemed to have some hope of wit and humor, which is desperately needed.
So, yeah. I'm probably going to go see it again, and we'll see how my brain processes it after that.
.
ReplyDelete.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
1) I'm assuming the fanfare required reproduction rights fees that equaled, approximately, the actual budget of the movie, so :/ .
There's Rey's leitmotif. It took me two viewings to notice and remember it, though; other than that my sense of the music matches yours.
Which, if Abrams doesn't get the memo until VIII, I'll be sad.
2) Poe is Wedge Antilles, which is why many people like him. I'd like some back story please though.
3) I'm in complete agreement there.
4) Also here.
5) Also here with the PS, but unlike you, I am impressed.
7) “Stop taking my hand!” and “Escape now, hug later:” Two lines I've waited to hear in a movie for my whole life, and The Force Awakens gave me both at once. My life is complete.
Ish.
9) No he isn't, but I'm amusing myself mightily right now imagining the Tarkin Shrine in his quarters, a la Ren's Vader Shrine in his.
11) Astromech Droids are The Best Characters. Astromech Droids will Always Save the Galaxy. It Is Known.
(But I was so incredibly relieved about him too.)
3) Honestly, I think Carrie Fisher was doing the best she could. I think mostly the years have not been kind to her. :/
ReplyDeleteAllyson Williamson Sadly, I think true re: not kind. And yet, acting? directing? Sad Leia is sad.
ReplyDeleteZeynep Dilli I just couldn't think of him as Wedge? I mean, I kept trying to like him and I just couldn't. At least, not what was on screen, anyway. Maybe it'll get better in the next one.
F-L Silver - think about how Carrie Fisher smiled in the original trilogy- you can see all of her teeth and a little gum above. Her whole face lit up. In TFA when she smiled you could barely see any teeth at all. I'm not going to speculate as to why, bc it seems mean-spirited, but there's only so much a director (or an actress) can do if she can't move her face the way she used to.
ReplyDeleteI thought about that, too, but I was hoping there'd be something in her eyes?
ReplyDeleteThen again, it's pretty amazing she did this at all, considering her reported diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
ReplyDeleteF-L Silver - Yes. I imagine even the day to day rigmarole is difficult when your brain is working against you.
ReplyDelete