Reader Nate Winchester graciously concedes the point I made last year when I predicted the Star Wars franchise’s decline.
Nate comments:
Brian, I’m returning a year later to say… Rogue 1 let us down. 🙁
More on my blog if you want to rap about it: https://natewinchester.wordpress.com/2017/04/11/sw-rogue-one-round-2/
Looks like I owe you a drink.
Though I’d rather have been wrong, a sweet, sweet Coke Zero will help ease the pain of a beloved childhood franchise’s demise.
Why did Rogue One fail? From Nate’s autopsy:
Getting to rewatch the movie I was struck by the “bloat” within. I understand that Forest Whittaker’s character has a role in the SW: Rebels cartoon, but let’s face it the movie would have actually been improved by removing his segments. The Pilot too. The actor did a good job making him lovable and all but really his arc could have been combined into Jyn’s.
Indeed by the time the movie is over even Jyn’s arc seems superfluous, and isn’t she supposed to be the main character? She at least served more of a purpose by figuring out by being the codebreaker to locate the hidden file they needed but that could have been done over a cell phone.
Sci-fi screenwriters take heed. If the role of a prominent character in your script could be obviated with a phone call, text message, or email, what you wrote probably wasn’t an actual character to begin with. If the preceding describes the main protagonist, flagellate yourself thoroughly.
Nate goes on to point out how the half-assed characterization is aggravated by quarter-assed plotting.
And why was there an ongoing order to kill Galen? Cassian just saw the Death Star, WORK. There is no reason now to bother trying to kill him or send valuable personnel and equipment on a bombing run. I know the rebellion is supposed to be small and rough but that’s literally what spies are for!
“Cassian, your orders stand.”
“Base, I watched the Death Star blow up Jedah. The weapon is online and operational. Killing Galen will accomplish nothing. We’d be better off interrogating him.”
“Uh… maybe, but we don’t like what he did to James Bond!”
That last line made Coke Zero come out of my nose.
Nate’s verdict:
This was definitely a film made by committee and it would have helped having a single vision. I think it also would have helped had the makers waited one more year. It makes me leery of Disney’s plan to release Star Wars every year at Christmas – every other year would have been much better and given them the time they needed to bring these movies from adequate, to greatness.
He’s right. Fan amnesia might have inoculated audiences against the sloppy writing and PC propaganda of Disney’s Star Wars films if they’d had the discipline to release one movie every three or even two years. Remember, it worked for the prequels.
Having an SJW-converged Star Wars film shoved into our faces like whipped cream-topped mud pies every year will squander the public’s good will like MC Hammer blowing through a royalty check.
If early reactions to my recent post in response to The Last Jedi trailer are any indication, the decline is already underway.
People have already begun clamoring–and rightly so–for enterprising SFF authors living outside the corporate culture bubble to fork Star Wars. I fully endorse this call to action. In fact, I’ve already written a space opera series that’s more fun than the last two Star Wars installments. But you don’t have to take my word for it.
Stop settling. Start having fun.
Some of my favorite reviews of the recent SJW Wars movies have been from E;R:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsDtND60qB8
He really should put out more reviews.
That looks hilarious. Thanks for sharing.
I saw the video too. Awesome stuff.
(wasn't sure other comment posted, trying again)
I can't remember what exactly got me back to your old post. I think it was linked to on a superversive post and that sent back down there and when I saw our comments, thought honor demanded a posting of the account.
If the preceding describes the main protagonist, flagellate yourself thoroughly.
There is one other thing I think she does: she gives rallying speeches. Which could be done over a telephone.
What is up with that in movies nowadays? Am I just noticing it more or is there really a trope now that nothing can get done if we're not sufficiently peppy about it? I guess that's one reason why I love Interstellar so much. The only people in there that speechify… well I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it, but hint: the main character isn't one of them.
That last line made Coke Zero come out of my nose.
Yay! Mission accomplished!
People have already begun clamoring–and rightly so–for enterprising SFF authors living outside the corporate culture bubble to fork Star Wars.
Speaking of… jump point!
https://natewinchester.wordpress.com/2017/04/10/how-star-wars-episode-3-should-have-been/
I'm also working on another fix script. Hopefully will be done soon.
Indeed, sir, honor is superabundantly satisfied!
And it's not your imagination. The Big Morale-Raising Speech is now a box that Hollywood tent pole movies must check.
So I got RedLetterMedia's commentary track to the movie (because I'm a patron) and it's darkly hilarious how much their complaints and ideas overlap with what we've talked about.
RLM know their stuff.