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Was my memory wiped or was the Star Wars sequel trilogy just that forgettable? (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by LadyButterfly@piefed.blahaj.zone to c/movies@piefed.social

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The Force Awakens and its follow-ups had so few memorable characters, it’s a wonder Disney – and Oscar Isaac – are still talking about potential spin-offs

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[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca -2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Star Wars was really just fun action adventure movies. But because we watched them as kids they feel like really important movies. Also they made crazy amounts of money so they are very important to the film industry.

JJ Abrams made some fun action adventure movies. But we're adults so they don't feel very important. And they aren't important movies. In between two fun action adventure movie there's a pretentious movie trying to be Star Wars Citizen Kane that failed at being either of those things.

Also the ST is ultimately about death. Part 1: death of Han Solo. Part 2: death of Luke Skywalker. Part 3: death of Princess Leia. Rise of Skywalker has a theme around the grieving process because of what the trilogy ended up being. Disney cheaped out on paying actors and the real life death of Carrie Fisher meant it ended up being an action adventure funeral. Nobody likes funerals, and prefer to forget about them in favour of remembering people in the best moments of their lives.

Personally I'd like to see Poe, Finn, and Rey in a new movie. Sure it's like they're people we met at a funeral, but they're fun characters. There's too much looking backwards in Star Wars and too much acting like Star Wars is supposed to be important. Too many monologues about politics that I'm supposed to take seriously while the toys I played with as a kid fly around on the screen. That's kinda weird. Can we please have some fun action adventure movies that move the story forward? Seems only JJ Abrams can make fun movies, but they don't seem to want to do that any more because of whinging on the internet against anything fun.

[–] Noblesavage@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I'd take your statement about Star Wars sequels being about death a bit further - they're about learning about the past and moving forwards (sometimes that means destroying the past to be able to move forwards).

My cousin was actually deeply affected by the sequels because the theme of the wiser, older generation passing on knowledge to a younger generation that was resistant to becoming the next leaders.

I thought the scene between Yoda and Luke in the Last Jedi perfectly captured the theme of the movies. I'll copy paste the quotes from IMDB:

Luke Skywalker: [Yoda appears as a ghost] Master Yoda.
Yoda: Young Skywalker.
Luke Skywalker: I'm ending all of this. The tree, the texts, the Jedi. I'm going to burn it all down.
Yoda: [Yoda summons lightning to burn down the tree and the Jedi texts. He laughs] Ah, Skywalker. Missed you, have I.
Luke Skywalker: So it is time for the Jedi Order to end.
Yoda: Time it is for you to look past a pile of old books, hmm?
Luke Skywalker: The sacred Jedi texts?
Yoda: Oh, read them, have you? Page-turners they were not. Yes, yes, yes. Wisdom they held, but that library contained nothing that the girl Rey does not already possess. [Skywalker, still looking to the horizon.] Never here, now, hmm? The need in front of your nose.
Luke Skywalker: I was weak. Unwise.
Yoda: Lost Ben Solo you did. Lose Rey we must not.
Luke Skywalker: I can't be what she needs me to be.
Yoda: Heeded my words not, did you? Pass on what you have learned. Strength. Mastery. But weakness, folly, failure also. Yes, failure most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is. Luke, we are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all masters.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 days ago

It's definitely about relating to the past, it is a sequel trilogy after all.

And there's stuff there about how authoritarians use our relationship to the past to gain power. Kylo Ren is more of a communist type of authoritarian that wants to destroy the past. That puts him in conflict with the traditionalist authoritarians who are more in line with fascism.

Ultimately the message is that you can't ignore the past, but you also shouldn't let it dictate who you are. Ben Solo doesn't have to be like Darth Vader, Rey Palpatine doesn't have to be like the Emperor. In fact Rey doesn't need to identify with her ancestors at all, she can identify as a Skywalker. This upset a lot of people because apparently no one in Star Wars should ever change their name to indicate their alignment with good or evil? Some people are angry that "she can't be a Skywalker because she's a Palpatine" which is completely missing the point. You aren't defined by your ancestors.

So it wasn't about rejection of the past but it wasn't about conforming to the past either. So that made everyone upset.