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I think that is a good point. I mean ultimately, most of Star Wars is guilty pleasure, so reviewing these movies on a basis of being a quality movie could be somewhat futile.
I think that between marketing, the internet's weird little worlds, scholarly essays and obsessed fandom, that gets lost. These films are not high art, nor do they need to be. Entertainment can be a forgettable diversion and doesn't *always* need depth.
It's in the best interests of anyone with a financial stake in pop culture properties, to elevate these trivial pursuits and stoke the fires of fandom with pomp and circumstance. If it weren't for the internet I probably wouldn't give Star Wars as much time and thought as I do. It was well in the background of my life for a long time and I expect at some point it will be again.
The ESB might be the one movie that probably is a 'good' movie. It isn't pandering or filled with fan service or dumb action beats. It evolves its characters in complex and unpredictable ways. Their feels like real losses when it happens. The acting is solid. The tone at times feels lighthearted, but there is a current of darkness and dread in the background. The action feels well choreographed, and done in interesting ways.
That's actually a great description of ESB. Kind of a dark fairy tale, especially by the time we get to Dagobah.
Rogue One to me is like an unoriginal war movie. Nothing I haven't seen a dozen times. The problem is the characters are not memorable. So the only thing I am left with is some ships and weapons that look like Star wars. It just is executed so poorly, even if filmed competently and the CGI good.
What stuck with me wasn't the characters, it was the textures, colours and production design. And everything more or less did what it needed to do, which was fine by me.
If it took real chances, or built some strange and driven characters, I would be signing up for it. Without characters, or purpose, or concern or fear, I have no interest in rewatching the movie.
I think it did take a couple of risks, but they were either timed or executed in such a way that we had no deep investment.
Cassian for instance: killing his contact for the greater good was jarring, and established his character and the tone of the film, but we barely knew either of them at that point, so it could only have so much impact.
I also think it was surprising to see *all* of them die. This was a film about Red Shirts. We've seen countless such rebels die in Star Wars, and here they were up close and personal. It's true, I didn't care about them that much, but it's still out of the ordinary for Star Wars. A different script with maybe fewer characters to track, may have had more emotional impact, but we got what we got.
Chances, that is what is needed. Mandalorian started exploring that. But I am worried season 2 will be adding Boba Fett and Tusken Raiders, and we lose the stepping stones of EXPANDING the Universe. Not recycling the same 20 things over and over again.
I agree with you here. I didn't need to see Boba Fett and if I never saw Tatooine again I'd be fine with it:
"Well, if there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet that it's farthest from."
What a load of bull****.
It is like in another 5 years we get a new Star Trek movie, and they have Khan as the villain. It is like can we explore other things, or go to a new place? Maybe I am asking too much from corporate popcorn with artifical flavoring, which I agree is probably true as well.
Taking risks by definition means a chance of failure and I think that's part of the reason Lucasfilm and the fandom itself tend to be conservative; and I think I wrote elsewhere on this board that Star Wars isn't a very flexible property. You have Empire vs. Rebellion, Jedi vs. Sith, and you have Scum & Villainy. Stepping too far outside of these eras and tropes tends to divide fandom.
It's a big galaxy but outside of The Great War you have some pretty contentious territory.