#one of the best live action sw eps ever | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

unexpectedreylo · 3 years

Text

Yes, It’s Been Half A Decade Since TFA Was Released

Five years already? Geez!

If you’ve been following my humble Tumblr blog since the beginning, you’ll know I was not truly a Reylo until I saw TLJ. Before then, I was dealing with a movie that left me with a lot of mixed feelings. Why? I missed George Lucas for one thing. He has an indelible style that few can match and few really cared about that universe and its characters as much as he did. I was very unhappy to hear a month before TFA’s release that Disney tossed out his story and came up with something he didn’t really like very much (as later confirmed in Bob Iger’s memoir). As a long-suffering prequels fan I didn’t like either the vaguely anti-prequel tone the pre-release hype took. Whatever you do in life, don’t disrespect the man who created the GFFA.

The post-release hype probably annoyed me even more. Remember the doofuses screeching on t.v. that it was the best SW movie since TESB? LOL. (No, that would be ROTS and the only thing that came close since was TLJ.) I hated that a movie I felt was flawed not only got passes from the media that really trashed Lucas and everybody who worked on the prequels, but also got lavish Best 10 lists and award nominations. I was one bitter chickie for a while and later got a good laugh out of the backlash.

I thought it would be funny to post what I thought at the time, with added commentary:

Oh yes, the movie. My mother called it…it’s good, we all enjoyed it and were entertained, but Lucas’s touch is definitely missing. The romantic epic sweep of Eps I-VI, the goofy and whimsical touches, the feeling of being immersed in another galaxy, and Lucas’s gift for aesthetics aren’t there. The visuals don’t have that beauty and some of it is kinda ugly. The creature designs just aren’t as good. It’s not the kind of movie you watch dozens of times to catch little things. Even John Williams doesn’t have a knockout track like “Duel of the Fates” or “The Imperial March.” But it’s hard to think of how this was ever going to live up to any of it any more than I’d expect Suzanne Collins to write a Narnia book as good as C.S. Lewis. We lost those things when we lost Lucas.

I like the visuals a lot more now but TLJ’s cinematography rules the ST. Still feel the same about creature design; I see better aliens and creatures on The Mandalorian. One weird thing about the ST is how the filmmakers seemed to have avoided putting in anything at all that we’ve seen before. No Jawas, no Togrutas, no Twi’leks, no Zabraks, no Quarren, etc.. Just Chewbacca and Admiral Ackbar.

The music didn't leave much an impression on me at the time but now I love “Rey’s Theme,” “Kylo Ren’s Theme,” and “March of the Resistance.”

As long as we’re on that note, I’ll get to the film’s flaws first. The movie has a lot of snappy, arch, and funny dialogue but you can tell the script was cranked out in a hurry. It lacks the careful structure of its predecessors and cribs a little too much from ANH. Poe disappears and you are led to believe he’s dead then he suddenly shows up healthy and hale with no explanation. Abrams’s first Star Trek film was riddled with unbelievable coincidences and unfortunately this movie has some of those too, such as when Han and Chewie just happen upon the Falcon in space. The film does very little to set up what’s going on and why, such as why the hell is the Republic fighting the same a-holes after all of these years. Abrams prefers instead to keep the action going instead of doing much exposition, which is pretty much what he did with the Trek films. Those little moments in Lucas’s Star Wars films don’t happen much here. Things must always be occurring, which dumps all of the responsibility for character development and world building on Rian Johnson and Colin Trevorrow. I have no idea why they decided to be all teasy-weasy with who Rey’s parents are instead of just telling us. (I suspect Luke is her father.)

LOL! I guess the adoption by proxy thing at the very end of TROS proved me right or...did it? Yes, my first assumption after seeing TFA was that Rey and Kylo Ren were cousins.

As for the rest of it, I still feel the same. Rushed script, borrows too much from ANH, precious few explanations/set-up, not as good structure but still full of humor.

BB-8 is a charmer, Finn and Rey (who are so going to hook up) HA! But remember I thought Rey and Kylo were cousins! have some charm and potential growth as characters, and it was great seeing our old crew again even if not under ideal circumstances. (Personally I would’ve preferred NOT to have broken up Han and Leia.) Hux had some mustache-twirling moments and Abrams was at least smart enough not to kill off him, Ren, or Snoke just yet. Finn and Poe have a good rapport (maybe they’re going to hook up).

Stormpilot definitely pinged the slash-dar. It was completely unsurprising to find fans shipping them.

Abrams seemed to have avoided the mistake James Cameron made in “Avatar” when he killed off his most threatening villain while planning sequels. As you might have guessed, I was really shocked at Snoke’s death in TLJ. I wasn’t expecting that until IX. I was also really shocked at the casual, quick-get-rid-of-him ways both Hux and Ben were killed off in TROS.

The most compelling aspect of TFA for me was the Skywalker family drama, which made me wish it was more up front rather than a subplot. Ben Solo/Kylo Ren is a conflicted guy with a huge chip on his shoulder and it makes you wonder exactly what happened to him because I think he may have mental issues. Leia knows there’s still good in him but can a guy who commits patricide be saved? (RIP Han…I so knew this would happen because I figure it was the only way Ford would’ve done another film). Can his cousin/half-sister or whatever Rey save him? Would she want to? With Luke back in the picture and Artoo activated again, what will happen next? Even though they split up Han and Leia I liked the banter between them; it’s sad because they clearly still loved each other.

This is still true for me. A few days after posting this it struck me just how nihilistic TFA was because I found Han and Leia’s split unnecessary (had Han gone out for Chinese food or on a mission for the Resistance instead of just being a loser smuggler, it wouldn’t have changed anything that happened in the film) and what I thought was Kylo’s certain fate to be a narrative bummer. TLJ made me think they weren’t going on that direction only to be proven right in TROS (sadly).

I’ll dispense with the stupid Snoke is Plageuis theory and my dad wondering if Finn was Mace Windu’s lost son or something, though I’ll give him half a point for Finn turning out to be Force-sensitive after all.

I don’t know why people have said this takes them back to the ’70s because the film really is a 2015 movie made for an audience reared largely on the MCU, YA flicks, and other staples of contemporary geek culture. It is what it is and we aren’t going to get back the films of George Lucas and his influence. TFA might not be an awesome Star Wars movie but it is at least a good sci-fi action flick.

I still stand by most of this. Time and TLJ made TFA a better movie in my eyes.

#tfa #star wars #sequel trilogy #reylo #kylo ren #ben solo #rey #jj abrams

18 notes · View notes

lightaroundthecorner · 4 years

Text

TROS - What did I even watch? Or how I lived to see the day Disney murdered a prince, left Cinderella alone in the desert, and hoped for the world to rejoice because it was “fun”?

Dear friends, I’ve been here for the spoilers and I’ve even talked with some of you. I went to watch the movie today, with 0 hope of anything except of seeing my baby Ben Solo and Adam’s fenomenal acting (and listening to some good John Williams).

I knew it would be horrible, but as @nevernerdenoughblog said seeing it makes it even more. Like @clairen45 it felt so wrong. Should I rejoice with a Reylo kiss that Rey gave but seconds later didn’t even cry over Ben’s dead body? I refuse to acknowledge this characterization of Rey. She was the only one that ever believed in Ben Solo, she shipped herself to make him know he was loved and wanted and to help him. Where was this Rey in this movie?

I am sorry guys (especially for the tagging) but I need to write this out or it will eat me and you guys are the few ones that relate to my pain. You know what really hurt me the most in all this? Toxic masculinity disguised as feminism.

1) FAREWELL HEROINE’S JOURNEY

They trashed the Heroine’s Journey. They murdered it and spit in its face. JJ Abrams simply decided that the Heroine’s Journey (done in act 1/ep. VII and act 2/ep. VIII) was not cutting anymore and decided to send Rey on a Hero’s Journey (ep. IX only, new 1st, 2nd and 3rd act altogether), where she has become this almost toxic masculine fighter under Leia’s training — Badass girl? Yes. Full of anger? Yes. Logical? Yes. Connected to anything? No, not even herself, she kept on the run, afraid. In search of the Jedi detachment? Yes. —, only to send her happilly off to a desert planet in the end of her journey and finishing with her alone talking with an old lady.

Which remind us of the start of TFA, meaning she has comeback to what? Luke didn’t even comeback to that “home” in Tatooine the end of his Hero’s Journey? So she went to a place of death to what? This is a slap on the face of the Heroine’s Journey. This is how toxic masculinity corrupts and interrupts the most uncomfortable (to psychologically unhealthy bystanders) and fundamental (to the woman herself) phase of Heroine’s Journey: You want love, family, a partnership, connection, nurturing or progeny? That is weak, it is foolish. You need to fight, to conquer, to take, take and take. Otherwise you won’t be strong or independent.

REALLY???????????

I AM CRYING! WHY? WHY? WHY? Daisy, are you really seriously satisfied with this ending? Because REY DESERVED BETTER.

BTW, BEN SOLO DESERVED BETTER! The true feminist of this story DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER! ADAM DRIVER DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER! He always respect the director’s view, does his best to accomplish it and brings his best acting to the table. The only saving grace in the whole movie to me was Ben’s arc because 1) Adam was doing it and 2) He honored his character. Man he deserved so much better!!!!!

I’m not even going to repeat what everyone already said about where is George Lucas’ Fairytale Story, because you guys said it all. But I have a beef with Disney executive decisions:

2) WALT DISNEY - HOW I WISH WALT WAS ALIVE

Walt Disney. Much have been criticized concerning his choices to make HEA in fairytales. But what now? We find balance by wanting our children to grow up to be cynic and seeing the feminine as weak? Unhelpful? Bad?

“Yo independent women! You need no prince even if you have one. He can compassionately and selfelessly die to save you because he loves you and you can go off, happily, to celebrate with your friends! You don’t mourn his body, oh no. You don’t tell him you love him. You forget him. You go be that cool lonely warrior.”

Excuse me but I can kick ass and have the romantic love life and children I want! I can have both! Because I am a human being and I deserve it. This is not a matter of being a men or women. This is a matter of balancing the feminine and masculine within.

But that is not just it. BEN SOLO DESERVED BETTER! WALT WOULD NEVER, EVER LET A CHARACTER THAT WENT THROUGH ABUSE AND SO MUCH PAIN DIE THE WAY BEN SOLO DID! Is that a Disney movie??????? I mean, what did I just watch????

Walt Disney, the man who promised P.L. Travers, upon knowing who Mr. Banks was to her (her deceased alcoholic father) and what Mary Poppins, her work, meant to her, said:

“George Banks and all he stands for will be saved. Maybe not in life, but in imagination. Because that is what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again.”

THAT IS WHAT STORYTELLERS DO! Like so many fanfic writers in this fandom @nite0wl29, @stargazer1116, @intp-slytherin97, @eleanor-writes-stuff, @postedbygaslight, @raven-maiden, and so many others!! Btw, thank you all!! My vacation starts tomorrow and I’m going to read again all your amazing fics to regain exactly that: HOPE!

What was TROS? Leia and Luke believing in the good in Rey? The whole Jedi Order believing in her? I have nothing against that but why didn’t they believe or help Ben too? Ben didn’t receive any of that love, WHY? What was wrong with him? What did he do?! He was the most selfless of souls, just like his Father and Grandmother. Is this vicntim blaming??? WHY DISNEY, LUCAS FILM and JJ ABRAMS, WHY?!

I used to think people were wrong when they said Disney was only doing SW for money. Because Walt Disney also said and lived by this rule:

“The important thing is the family. If you can keep the family together — and that’s the backbone of our whole business, catering to families — that is what we hope to do.”

SW is about family and I refuse to accept ep. IX as SW. It has all the make up of SW, but it lacks the heart and very essence of it.

As dear @eleanor-writes-stuff said, so much for criticizing Rian Johnson, only to consagrate his work. That man honored the storytelling art and I’ll be forever grateful to him for his touch in SW and for how his writing touched and changed my life. And I know Waltz would have approved too because he also said:

“I prefer to entertain people in the hope that they learn, rather than teach people in the hope they are entertained.”

3) PLOT? WHAT PLOT?

Leia’s feelings for Ben have remained ambiguous, you can both read her as someone who wants her baby boy dead (because her death allows Rey to stab Ben to death if she wants to, when Ben was never going to harm Rey) or not. Actions speak louder than words, and this was the movie when Leia would have the chance to assume the responsability for her mistakes and take action, instead of only claiming she believed her son was alive.

If she clearly wanted to reach Ben, was Maz’s words needed? No, they weren’t. It was exactly because Maz needed to voice it that proved Leia’s actions could be read as ambiguous. Again, actions speak louder than words. Her body only disappeared after Ben’s did too because what? She was expecting him to die so she could collect his soul?

I dearly love Leia’s character but LEIA DESERVED BETTER! CARRIE DESERVED BETTER! In the end I’m not sure what to make of the ST Leia. She could have helped Ben but clearly sent him away to Luke because? What?

Ben Solo get his redemption from his own 2 hands + his father’s memory (not force ghost) + Rey’s confession. In the end he becomes the bride of the monster, only to die right after, in a what? Plot twist?

Finn, who? That was so messed up! Rose? Poor Rose!!! Hux? Oh Hux deserved better too. I was glad to see that Poe matured though and grew in his arc.

I’m also mad and confused about other plot points:

Ben throws his bleeded kyber krystal away because of his father. Okay. Why did no one help him when he cried on the Force to crack his kyber and soul, but Luke Force Ghost appears to catch Rey throwing a lightsaber in an on fire tie fighter?

Rey would turn to the Dark side if she killed Palpatine, right? 5 minutes later she won’t turn to the Dark Side anymore even if she still kills him in anger? Just because the self righteous jedi chose to let Ben get thrown down the abysm by himself but Rey was the Chosen One?

Still on this topic, so she choses to give up her soul so Palpatine uses her body as the vessel of his soul and the legion of siths, in order to save her friends, but she won’t take Ben Solo’s hand, even if she claims she wants to + retaining her body, to do the same?

I think force bonds don’t make much of a difference anymore when one of the parts dies. Ben can die and Rey seems pretty okay?

INTERESTING FACT: Beside me there was a father with his 6 or 7 year old son. The child kept asking what was going on everytime the movie introduced any plot twists or too much information too quickly. When the Reylo kiss came on screen, you know what the kid said? “I told ya!” I wanted to cry when seconds later the boy was claiming now was Rey’s turn to bring Ben back. Children understand the Heroine’s Journey and it doesn’t scare them. It is beautiful like that. The father then had to try and explain to the boy that other things were going on and that no, “that guy was gone”. What have you done people?

4) EPISODE X

I must have a clown face. They lied to us about this movie being “The Rise of Skywalker”. Maybe they lied to us about this being the end of the saga? Considering JJ claims this is fun, happy and hopeful, yeah, I doubt they are making an episode X or ressurecting Ben Solo after throwing in the garbage the Heroine’s Journey. I vaguely remember Adam also said he wasn’t going to appear in another SW.

IF they do announce an ep. X, I’m not watching it unless Ryan or someone like him directs the movie.

I loved to see Han Solo’s memory helping his son. That man trully loved him and it is tragic that he screwed up as a father only because he thought he wasn’t enough to be a good one and that Leia and Luke would know better.

I also loved to see Ben Solo as his father son and grandchild to his grandmother and great grandmother. He was beautiful and I love him and he’ll be forever with me.

I liked the Reylo kiss... but Rey’s actions in this movie have affected me so that it doesn’t feel like they scrapped the surface of making justice to this that could have been the happiest and most balanced of all SW couples.

IT COULD HAVE BEEN EPIC. IT COULD HAVE BEEN GRAND. But it wasn’t.

I’ll forget TROS. YBTOTT is now canon to me, because it is a perfect 3rd act in this trilogy, and @postedbygaslight honors the Heroine’s Journey like few writers have the gut and courage to do. Thank you so much Wayne!

And if anyone had the patience to read this to the end, thank you. I feel it too guys, this was awful and horrible.

#star wars #sequel trilogy #heroine's journey #tros spoilers #ep. ix spoilers #the rise of skywalker spoilers #spoilers #I extremelly rarelly consider a movie horrible #but this I can't deal with

189 notes · View notes

mevahvistumme · 5 years

Note

Thank you for sending me (@corelli-han) those star wars asks! In case you wanna answer some more yourself, how about 1, 9, 19, 29 ? :)

Thank you! I always wanna talk about Star Wars :D

1. How do I feel about the prequels? I love them. They’ve always been a part of Star Wars for me - I watched them as a very young kid just like I did the original films - so I’ve grown up with them and to this very day I still love those films with my whole heart. The characters are very important to me and the world-building and the way those movies expanded the world created in the original films is wonderful. I won’t deny that the movies have some issues in terms of writing etc. but I still love them.

9. Was Anakin ever truly redeemed? I’d say not really. He did decide to do good in the end and he found the strength within himself to renounce the Dark Side, but I don’t think those good actions undid the horrible things and the pain he inflicted on the galaxy. So yeah, I don’t think he was truly redeemed, in the end.

19. Do I like Yoda? I have really, really mixed feelings about that little green fellow. Yoda is without a doubt one of the most iconic characters in Star Wars and he has some pretty epic lines (his whole speech about the Force and how it’s everywhere that he gives to Luke is one of the most beautiful moments in all of SW) but I still don’t really like him. Yoda, to me at least, represents in many ways the Old Jedi Order and their ideologies, and I think there are many things wrong with the Old Order. So, it just annoys me sometimes that Yoda is held as the ultimate wise guy mentor of the Jedi when I think what he believes and the rules he lives by aren’t always that great. I’ve mixed feelings about him. Sometimes, in some movies and in some eps of the Clone Wars, I like him, and in some, I don’t.

29. What is Luke Skywalker’s best moment? Well, I’ve already said in a previous ask that my fave scene in all of SW is when Luke throws his saber away in ROTJ and says that he is a Jedi, like his father before him, so that is quite obviously my favorite Luke moment. BUT some of my other favorite Luke scenes are the Binary Sunset scene (utterly iconic), the Luke/Leia scene in ROTJ where he tells her she’s his sister, the whole Bespin duel with Vader and the way he whispers, to Ben: “Why didn’t you tell me?” after Leia and Lando rescued him and Vader tries to contact him - that’s some brilliant acting from Mark Hamill in that scene!!!!

Star Wars Inspired Asks - feel free to send me an ask!(: I love these so much.

#corelli han #star wars #me #just me talking

2 notes · View notes

inafieldofdaisies · 3 years

Text

C-drama review/rant | Stealth Walker

(I've been watching this one recently and couldn't help but post some of my thoughts so I can vent some of my frustration :D)

I'm a huge fan of crime & mystery shows, so naturally when I saw the blurb for SW, I was super excited to watch it.

The drama is quite catchy and keeps you invested, but the amount of anxiety it gave me with a certain thing is unreal...

Aside from the awkward & rushed "romance" between Lin Qiang & Zhang Xian He (Bcs of how forced it feels I honestly wish this this drama had no romance, that instead it would just stay focused on the crime & action), what would give me a pause time & time again was Zhang Xian He's "parenting" and how the show pretty much brushed over his actions to the point I'm on (Ep16).

For context: Zhang Xian He supposedly adopted the baby of dr*g addicts and has been raising Zhang Ke Ke for years.

Problem is his parenting consists of leaving Ke Ke all alone the whole day, sometimes even at night (at one point to meet the heroine in a hotel room; keep in mind Ke Ke's probably 8 at most and he's working with shady people that wouldn't be above taking her to keep him in check), he had a sh!tty way of handling her tantrums & emotions, he'd shout at her when she gets bad grades, but wouldn't do anything to help her with homework to a point she had to approach the neighbor (Lin Qiang) for help. At one point he made a comment how she stayed at another family's house for few days and thanks to the wife that she got better grades (Gee, I wonder why).

The child literally said she'd rather live with Lin Qiang and eat take-out every day instead of being his daughter. From Xian He's constant moving around she had no friends until Lin Qiang.

It's insane how supposedly Xian He has so much money, yet he can't get his daughter a tutor or a nanny to watch her. At one point he sent her away for a short while to "protect her" but for some reason thought it's safe for her to return the moment he started business with the most unstable man ever, someone that he most certainly can't trust to not hurt Ke Ke.

In Ep 16 I just had a BRUH moment, bcs yet again he left Ke Ke all alone:

Lin Qiang: Ke Ke stayed alone at home last night. Is she okay?

Zhang Xian He: I texted her. I asked her to buy something to eat. She can stay alone for now. (talks about how it's better if she doesn't stay with him) I'm not a good dad.

Lin Qiang: You're not a good dad, but you chose to raise a daughter when you were so young.

(The show loves to point that out. Like so what? All is excused bcs he adopted a child? He's certainly not doing a good job at raising Ke Ke, he's neglecting her on the regular, putting her in danger)

Zhang Xian He: If I hadn't adopted her, she would have spent her childhood in an orphanage. It doesn't feel good to be an orphan.

(And leaving her alone at home when you're doing shady stuff with dr*g dealers is better?)

Like I know he doesn't have the best family background, that he doesn't have such good examples of parenting thanks to his adoptive father, but it would have been nice to see him try to be a good dad. Just cooking for Ke Ke isn't enough, esp when he had so many chances to be there for her, to put her first.

I so wish this show didn't have such questionable take on parenting and wasn't avoiding addressing Zhang Xian He's actions, let alone praise him for the bare minimum & expect us to just be okay with it all since he "admitted" he's not a good father.

All that aside, I'm still invested in finishing the drama.

#stealth walker #cdrama #chinese drama #mini rant #tvshows #tvshow #thriller #crime show #asian drama

1 note · View note