Last movie you watched......

The original trilogy definitely did a better job of connecting the protagonists to one another. The relationships among Han, Leia and Luke and their non-human sidekicks were a huge part of the success of those three films. The closest thing to that in the current trilogy is a protagonist and a villain, Rey and Kylo Ren.

 

And, realistically, it's too late to capture that camaraderie that Han, Luke, Leia, Chewie, C-3PO and R2-D2 all had. Two-thirds of the way in, these characters don't feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves. Finn didn't want to be a part of the Resistance, he just wanted out of the First Order. Poe, ostensibly is the Han character in this trilogy, but while he shares the similarities with Solo, Han very quickly became attached to Luke and Leia, while Poe still barely knows Finn and Rey after two films. Rey, meanwhile, has been drawn into this conflict because of her powers, but she still doesn't feel like a part of the Resistance.

 

Actually, I think Poe is the Leia of the group. Think about it. Both characters who were raised by rebels. (Poe's parents were part of the rebellion at the time of the original trilogy). Both were part of the resistance before the start of the trilogy. Both were captured early in the first movie. Both became important leaders in their resistance (which is clearly where the current trilogy is going with Poe.)

 

Nah, it's pretty obvious he's the same archetype as Han (who also became in important leader in the Rebel Alliance, General Solo). The charming rogue who initially seems to be in it for selfish purposes (glory/rewards), but ultimately becomes a part of the movement.

 

Poe is full-on dedicated to the resistance from the start. Finn is actually the one who is in it for selfish purposes, to escape the First Order and then for Rey.

Are some of the characteristics mixed up? Absolutely. Like Han, Poe is a pilot. He's arrogant. He is clearly willing to defy authority. But when has he ever shown any motivation beyond the good of the resistance?

 

I actually wouldn't mind if they bumped out the "trilogy" and added another segment to the current plan. Figure the next film has two and a half hours to tie up the battle with the Empire, reconnect Rey and Finn, resolve the Rey and Kylo Ren "relationship", and spin the thing forward to the next thing.
I would have thought one of the "universe" side projects (like Rogue One) would have been about whatever force ends up showing up to help the Rebels and ends with them getting "the signal" that they need help.

 

"The Hostiles" with Christian Bale. Some very slow parts, but I thought there was some very emotional spots that were well done. Reminder that PTSD didn't start in WWII (I didn't think this but it was eye-opening).

 

The two Lord of the Rings movies. Christ, was a slog. Nearly seven hours of my life gone watching that. They could have cut two hours — easily — and made it much better. I don't mind a long movie — Godfather, Godfather II — if the story moves, but LOTR was long to the point of pointless excess. Fuck Peter Jackson.

 

I think the big difference lies in the structure of the first two films of the original trilogy. There you had relatively slower paced first and second acts, with scenes that built up characters and helped establish relationships. I don't recall anything like the chess-playing scene from Wars or the hanging out in an asteroid field scenes from Empire in the new set.

 

I'll bet you cut 30 minutes out of any one of those films and the only thing you miss is walking.

 

This is definitely true, as is bigpern23's point about how, now, it's too late, and too far along, to build much on whatever camaraderie there could have been. This relative lack of connection between characters has been the biggest problem for me with the latest Star Wars installments, and why, as good as the recent films have been, they have not been as good as the original trilogy.

Other than whatever happens between Rey and Kylo Ren, I just don't think we care as much about the people in these films.