The new "Star Wars" trailer

Critics love it. 99 percent.

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

 

There's a heavy herd-mentality process going on there. A couple years ago on RT, "Man of Steel" was in the high eighties in critic reviews within a week or so of release, and ever since, it's continually dropped to its current 56%. After the first euphoric wave of adoration, it dumped down to the mid-60s within about a month and has slid ever since (I can never figure out, who the hell is writing reviews of movies months or years old?)

I suppose there's also some excitement attached to writing a review about the hottest new movie release, and probably some general pissed-offness about being assigned to review something that's been out for months, that contributes to those numbers.

I doubt TFA will fall to 56%, but I'd bet a year from now it'll be somewhere in the 70s.

I haven't seen TFA yet of course, but from skimming a few of the semi-spoiler reviews, I'd say it's superficially a slam-bang action-packed spectacular as is customary with JJ, but repeating his M.O. with "Star Trek Into Darkness" he recycled too many previously-used plot points pretty much verbatim.

More specifically, it appears that despite the loudly-proclaimed (and also loudly-bemoaned by some segments of the fanbase) decision to completely wash hands of the EU novels and storylines, that he seized upon one of the most predictable, cliched and hackneyed themes of EU canon and picked it up almost whole-cloth. That when the supposedly screen-shaking big reveal arrives, about 45% of the audience sighs and says, "oh yeah, of course." Just like the gut-wrenching "death scene" in STID.

Ahhh what the hell, I'll still go and see it. Probably a couple times.

 

I just have no interest, and the favorable reviews I have read this morning have not changed that. It's like if someone asked me to go back to college. Sure, if I could also be 20 again. In my current iteration, no thanks.

 

The success of the new trilogy will depend on one element above all other: Will we care about Rey and her journey, whatever it may be?

Everything else is a distant, distant second place.

 

I always like to read thoughtfully negative reviews of well-reviewed movies. Rotten Tomatoes counts this as a "rotten" review, although the author does call it a "good movie" at one point.

http://www.cinemalogue.com/2015/12/16/star-wars-the-force-awakens/

Where he and I are in lockstep:

What I connected with in STAR WARS is not the spectacle, but the central story of a boy afraid of becoming his father. I identify with that on a personal level.

"Star Wars," as I keep saying, was not Stormtroopers and Sand People and the EU and Jar-Jar and Slave I.

It was Luke Skywalker's journey.

 

I feel the same way about Springsteen.

 

You already decided pages and pages ago that this was solely a money grab.

 

Dick, I calculated last night that if a random fan bought every product that's had a Star Wars advertising tie-in this month, they'd be too broke to buy a ticket. Walt Disney Co. does NOTHING that's not about the money -- that's why they make so much of it.

 

OK. But so what?

I'm not saying that the marketing interests won't compromise the film - "Cars 2" is the classic example from modern times.

But the film is still there to evaluate on its merits. I can acknowledge that the Ewoks were included in "Return of the Jedi" to sell toys. But I'm still interested in seeing and evaluating how they add or detract from the story, and I can do that independent of the commercial stuff.

You see this as binary: They want to make a lot of money. Hence, it can't be good.

 

No, that's not quite right. Art and commerce are always linked to some degree. Since it takes money to make one, no movie in history wasn't made with at least the hope it'd break even. I don't think Lucas thought the first Star Wars would be such an astonishing hit, but of course he knew it'd have to turn a tidy profit if he wanted to make any more of them. This particular film will be judged a failure on some level if it doesn't gross at least $2 billion. That has to skew every decision that went into it. That's why Josh Whedon said two Avengers movies was all he could take. There's just too much added to the already hard job of producing superior entertainment.

 

OK. But, again: So what?

They want to make money. Obviously.

But I think it is extremely clear that they also want - desperately, even - to make a well-received movie.

 

I read the Wash Post review today and was glad to see it favorably reviewed. I am going and would regardless of the reviews. Seriously, it's a few hours in a theater and the cost of a ticket (OK 4 tickets and bucket of popcorn).

Not a big Star Wars fan, definitely not fanboy or geek about it but I want to see it. It accomplished for me what George Lucas originally, I believe, intended. A serial movie about action and adventure, good guys and bad guys, a protagonist who wants to be good and struggles with it, but ultimately he (and we) will win out.

It's about fun and it's got me.

I just want to know who Anakin's father was(is) and is R2D2 some sort of God or Jedi.