"The Force Awakens" (with SPOILERS)

I missed Clancy Brown. Have to go back. He just had a one-episode stint as LBJ in The Crown.

 

He had a significant part, but you probably have to go by voice rather than sight.

 

I was telling my wife I compare the last episode to a horror movie, except the monster chasing everyone down was the Mandalorian, and the bad guys were the innocent kids who were doomed, so instead of rooting for the kids to survive, you were rooting for the monster.

 

I heard a segment on NPR about that. The gist of it was Favreau talked to Disney about how merch is how spoilers leak these days. They agreed it was worth the loss (or delay) of sales to get a big splash on Disney+.

 

So my four-year-old was acting fidgety so I maybe I missed the dialogue, but why not blow up the scout walker while it was in park? Two of those bombs would have permanently disabled it. Then run back to the village and showdown with the marauders?

 

Because then we don't get to see the villagers show off their new skills!

Actually, it kind of fits in with what they did with the AT-AT Walkers in The Empire Strikes Back. The damn things are invincible unless you can get them off their feet, the they go up like a bitch from a few shots. There wasn't much logic to it then, either. The one Walker is blown up easily from above after it is tripped by the wire. If the weakness in the armor was up top, couldn't the speeders just fly a little higher? Then again, maybe spare a couple of X-Wings for that fight? Could they not be used in atmosphere back then? I love the battle on Hoth, but there was some serious failure in logic involved.

 

J.J. Abrams reveals his biggest 'Star Wars' regret

I don't think this had come out before. Abrams admitted that it was simply a mistake to have Leia hug Rey and seemingly ignore Chewbacca when they returned after Han Solo's death. It really was a glaring error to not have the two characters who loved him most comfort one another in that moment.

 

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Movie Reviews

 

From WaPo's review: "closing out this last chapter of the nine films that have come to be known as the Skywalker Saga with a story that delivers to the faithful exactly the movie they wanted."

The reviewer gave it 2/4.

I consider myself a Star Wars "faithful." Why the fuck would it be a bad thing if this movie is exactly the one I want?

You have to ask yourself sometimes, for whom exactly are these people writing reviews?

 

I think it depends on the reviewer. There's always that clash between "does this movie achieve what it set out to do?" vs. "would this movie be good to an average viewer?" Part of the reason why The Last Jedi was so derisive, I think, was because it was aiming for the latter group more than the former, whereas the goal was probably reversed for The Force Awakens.

 

The first goal this time around has to be giving the fans what they want. The story deserves a satisfying end. I think Abrams gets that. If not, he needed to check in with his extended Disney family at Marvel Studios because Avengers: Endgame was model for how it's done.

 

From everything he's said, I think that'll be the case, even though I think it means we're going to end up with something in the range of a B- to B+, as opposed to anything from a D to an A+.