"The Force Awakens" (with SPOILERS)

Disney can also start crossing over its huge properties to pump new life into them if it become necessary. Watch out for a Jedi frozen in carbonite for thousands of years and found floating in space by the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Want to hear the purists scream? That idea would do it. But I certainly wouldn't put it past Disney. And if that one doesn't drive them nuts, try Jedi vs. Aliens! That's another franchise Disney acquired as part of the deal with Fox.

The test case is going to be incorporating the X-Men, Fantastic Four and related characters into the MCU. Sure, that's a more natural move because they all have Marvel Comics as the source material, but in terms of the movies, each has been very much its own thing.

 

Bob Iger said he wanted a Star Wars film every year.
That has hamstrung the operation. It is artistically untenable.
Sure they will make money - the toys alone will carry the day - but they will become unwatchable Marvel dreck at that clip.

 

That may be the biggest issue with Solo, that they didn't take the time to get things set up properly from the start.

That said, they are probably encouraged by the results so far. They have had their share of critical and commercial success with all three movies in that plan so far.

 

I buy toys and go to multiple viewings of the movies.
They've got people like me by the nuts no matter what they do.
But I don't want the worlds colliding - the thought of it is repulsive.

 

And if you don't think Disney/Marvel will try such crossovers, here's one they actually published when Marvel started publishing Star Trek comics.

 

Yes, but I don't think they have the audacity to do it.
They paid $4 billion for something not to turn it into hammered shit.
X-Men is not the crown jewel Star Wars is. Your cynicism is noted as usual.

 

I just posted the fan art to mess with you, but I do think they have the audacity. I don't believe they would do it as long as the Star Wars franchise is succeeding on its own, but if a movie or two flops?

 

My thoughts on TLJ

What I loved

-> The Luke/Rey scenes. Really wish they would have done more with this. In reality, this could have been the whole second film with it transitioning midway to the whole Rey/Kylo Ren interaction, which I found fascinating. That really pulled me in, even when I found out it was Snoke all the time manipulating the communication.
-> The visuals were fantastic. Damn impressive stuff. Loved the final planet. Really alien look with the red dust kicking up by the old speed fighters. Loved this part of the film.
-> Rey/Kylo in Snoke's throne room is one of my favorite scenes in the entire saga.
-> The opening "bomber" scenes were great. I liked the shots of Rose's sister as she was scrambling to get the trigger for the bombs.
-> Like Poe's interactions with Leia. With the Laura Dern character - not so much. More on that later.
-> Yoda
-> The final Kylo/Luke standoff. Liked the cool direction the film went with Luke projecting the force ghost.

What I hated

-> No Snoke backstory, though he's supposed to be this incredible force of dark side power. We got more backstory on the Rose character.
-> The Laura Dern character. I dont know. It seemed like she was shoehorned in and the film really tried to make us like her and feel a sense of loss when she gave herself up in the kamikaze scene. I thought Admiral Akbar should have been the one to sacrifice himself. At least there's some backstory with him having been in previous films. I didn't care one bit about Dern taking one for the team. Though the scene itself - with the absence of sound - was well done.
-> The Leia scene. Nuff said.
-> IMO, they should have just left Finn in that medical pod for awhile - maybe the entire film and bring him back for Episode 9. His travels to the gambling planet seemed manufactured, and while I did like his interactions with Rose, the plot went nowhere. I did like the casino/planet itself though and the Del Toro character. Perhaps we will see him in 9? But really, the whole sub-plot could have been edited out and made the film much more lean. I found myself wanting to see more Luke/Rey interaction.
->The Finn/Phasma battle? Cmon - what a waste of a total cool character with Phasma.

Overall a B-minus. Definitely no ESB. About on par with Return of the Jedi.

Just to let peeps know where I rank TLJ

ESB
TFA
Star Wars
Rogue One
RTJ
TLJ
Prequel crap, though the third one was passable

 

Ackbar would have made more sense in the role taken on by Dern's character. Given his history, it makes a lot more sense to see him as the one to take charge.

 

oop, say what you will about Disney, but - much like the Catholic church - it knows how to make money.
Don't forget the theme park is opening in 2019.
They are not going to want to poison the well.
Abrams will be back with something safe and there will be order in the galaxy once again.
I don't give a fuck what the fanboys think and neither should Disney.
They want to grow a new generation of fans, they don't even necessarily care about guys like us anymore.
They want our children and they want new heroes for our children.
I can respect that.

 

That's a good point, Batman.