Bad Boys for Life is the third film in the series and stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence once again as they deal with a mysterious group killing off people connected to the case that put their ring leader in prison so Smith and Lawrence must ride together one last time to save the day.
Bad Boys for Life is good fun and first off Mr Smith and Mr Lawrence have good chemistry together and watching them spar back and forth is good fun throughout the film, secondly Joe Pantoliano is great as the disgruntled police chief who chews them out for causing a mess and its nice to see him in a movie again.
Also I have to say that I love the little nod to the late Don Simpson who produced the first Bad Boys film in 1995 before sadly passing away a year later in 1996.
But special praise has to be given to the films directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, they did a great job directing the film in taking on Michael Bay’s style as much as possible while also not cutting every tenth of a second and slowing things down wherever possible and giving action fans some good old fashioned MA15 rated violence, these guys are currently lined up to direct Beverly Hills Cop 4 for Netflix and I hope that Eddie Murphy trusts these guys to do a good job as after this movie I am very keen to see what they do with Axel Foley provided Eddie trusts them enough to do it.
And so that was Bad Boys for Life and its good fun though its not the best action film you’ll see out there, 3 out of 5.
Saturday, January 18, 2020
Film Review - Dolittle (2020)
Dolittle stars Robert Downey Jr as Dr Dolittle, a man who can walk with the animals, talk with the animals, laugh and squeak and squawk with the animals but who has gone into exile after his beloved wife dies at sea but when the Queen (Jesse Buckley from Wild Rose) falls ill he has to go on a dangerous journey to find a cure and save his animal sanctuary.
Dolittle is not the flaming pile of poo that other have said but its not far off it either, this movie for me is a regular pile of poo for these reasons:
- Firstly Robert Downey Jr one of the most likeable, charismatic actors on earth, the man who made us all cry with his sacrifice in Avengers Endgame last year is terrible in this, he talks so fast so quickly and does a variety of different accents at the same time that every time he opens his mouth it pulls you out of the film as you have no idea what on Earth he’s saying and I really really wish that someone had pulled him aside and said “Robert can you slow down please?” it would’ve made for a better performance I think.
- Secondly the journey is not a very fun one, the editing at times feels very choppy and it relies too much on Emma Thompson providing voiceover to tell us stuff that should have been a part of the movie in terms of said journey, the films humour falls very flat save for making a few kids laugh in my session and the tone of it feels off at times, it wants to be whimsical but also mournful about Dr Dolittle’s lost wife and plots to take over the crown of England.
Um Okay, why exactly couldn’t we have done without the faceless men trying to knife a leader and killing off the wife, this could’ve been fun and whimsical with cute animals and music and Chief Wiggum even.
I did however like Mr Michael Sheen as the villain, yes he’s snooty and dastardly but he at least is having some sort of fun with this role and he does try an awful lot to salvage something, anything out of this abominable mess of a movie.
Dolittle is sadly a turkey that the good doctor should have put down for its own good, its tonally off, has a bad lead performance and fails at giving people outside of young children a fun adventure with laughs to be had, poor Mr Sheen he really did try, 1.5 out of 5.
Dolittle is not the flaming pile of poo that other have said but its not far off it either, this movie for me is a regular pile of poo for these reasons:
- Firstly Robert Downey Jr one of the most likeable, charismatic actors on earth, the man who made us all cry with his sacrifice in Avengers Endgame last year is terrible in this, he talks so fast so quickly and does a variety of different accents at the same time that every time he opens his mouth it pulls you out of the film as you have no idea what on Earth he’s saying and I really really wish that someone had pulled him aside and said “Robert can you slow down please?” it would’ve made for a better performance I think.
- Secondly the journey is not a very fun one, the editing at times feels very choppy and it relies too much on Emma Thompson providing voiceover to tell us stuff that should have been a part of the movie in terms of said journey, the films humour falls very flat save for making a few kids laugh in my session and the tone of it feels off at times, it wants to be whimsical but also mournful about Dr Dolittle’s lost wife and plots to take over the crown of England.
Um Okay, why exactly couldn’t we have done without the faceless men trying to knife a leader and killing off the wife, this could’ve been fun and whimsical with cute animals and music and Chief Wiggum even.
I did however like Mr Michael Sheen as the villain, yes he’s snooty and dastardly but he at least is having some sort of fun with this role and he does try an awful lot to salvage something, anything out of this abominable mess of a movie.
Dolittle is sadly a turkey that the good doctor should have put down for its own good, its tonally off, has a bad lead performance and fails at giving people outside of young children a fun adventure with laughs to be had, poor Mr Sheen he really did try, 1.5 out of 5.
Saturday, January 11, 2020
Film Review - 1917 (2020)
1917 is the new film by Sam Mendes who made Skyfall and Spectre the 2 previous James Bond films but this movie takes place in April 1917 where 2 young soldiers (George Mackay and Dean Charles-Chapman) must make a treacherous journey behind enemy lines to prevent an attack on enemy territory that will end in a massacre of 1600 soldiers but the journey will prove perilous for our young soldiers.
1917 is very very well crafted and at the top of that list is Mr Mendes himself, he directs the film to look like it was all done in one long continuous take and for the vast majority of the film this technique works very well and along with cinematographer Roger Deakins crafts a very immersive experience that is well worth seeing on the big screen with a good sound system, one sequence in a bombed out town at night is particularly good and on more than one occasion I was on the edge of my seat watching every frame to see if they would find the enemy or a mine or a gunshot from afar it works that well.
The 2 young actors Mr Mackay and Mr Charles-Chapman are also very good in the film, they are asked to carry a lot of this movie and they pull it off very well especially Mr Mackay who really steps up to the plate and does a great job while the 2 young actors rattle off stories to each other in a way that never feels boring to watch, there are also some great cameos by Mr Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott and Benedict Cumberbatch in small scenes.
If I have a complaint about this movie however I have to say that the one continuous shot trick does start to wear a little thin once you get to the end of the film and as a result the film as a whole starts to feel a little long at nearly 2 hours whereas Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk was only 107 minutes and the film was stronger for it in that it didn’t let its time bending techniques overstay its welcome and also the one continuous take approach at times made me think I’m watching Call of Duty: 1917 where you walk around the levels and explore every nook and cranny to find something useful and look it creates an immersive experience a lot of the time but there were times where it felt like a video game.
And so that was 1917 a film that is well worth watching on the big screen but one that I was happy to watch once but not go back to in a big hurry, 3 and a half out of 5.
1917 is very very well crafted and at the top of that list is Mr Mendes himself, he directs the film to look like it was all done in one long continuous take and for the vast majority of the film this technique works very well and along with cinematographer Roger Deakins crafts a very immersive experience that is well worth seeing on the big screen with a good sound system, one sequence in a bombed out town at night is particularly good and on more than one occasion I was on the edge of my seat watching every frame to see if they would find the enemy or a mine or a gunshot from afar it works that well.
The 2 young actors Mr Mackay and Mr Charles-Chapman are also very good in the film, they are asked to carry a lot of this movie and they pull it off very well especially Mr Mackay who really steps up to the plate and does a great job while the 2 young actors rattle off stories to each other in a way that never feels boring to watch, there are also some great cameos by Mr Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott and Benedict Cumberbatch in small scenes.
If I have a complaint about this movie however I have to say that the one continuous shot trick does start to wear a little thin once you get to the end of the film and as a result the film as a whole starts to feel a little long at nearly 2 hours whereas Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk was only 107 minutes and the film was stronger for it in that it didn’t let its time bending techniques overstay its welcome and also the one continuous take approach at times made me think I’m watching Call of Duty: 1917 where you walk around the levels and explore every nook and cranny to find something useful and look it creates an immersive experience a lot of the time but there were times where it felt like a video game.
And so that was 1917 a film that is well worth watching on the big screen but one that I was happy to watch once but not go back to in a big hurry, 3 and a half out of 5.
Thursday, January 9, 2020
Film Review - The Gentlemen (2020)
The Gentlemen is directed by Guy Ritchie and concerns Raymond (Charlie Hunnam) the number 2 man to Mickey (Matthew McConaughey) and his drug empire but one night he is visited by a reporter (Hugh Grant) who knows about his operation and wants to know more while also telling him a story about it at the same time.
The Gentlemen is a fun movie that has an awful lot of coarse language in it which more than justifies its MA rating so those who don’t like that sort of thing would be best to skip this movie especially as there is multiple uses of the C word in the film but it didn’t bother me I enjoyed the language and the violence for the most part and it was nice to see Mr Ritchie go back to his Lock Stock/Snatch roots though he made those films with Matthew Vaughn and Mr Vaughn was clearly the better of the two there.
Also the cast is here to play and it shows, Mr Grant continues his good fortune after his great turn in Paddington 2 as the villain and is good fun here, I enjoyed seeing Mr Hunnam in this movie though he very much plays a support act here while Mr McConaughey also does a good job as the seasoned man who wants the quiet life while Mr Henry Golding, Eddie Marsan, Colin Farrell and Jeremy Strong are fun and enjoyable in their roles as well.
Though I have to give a special shout out to Ms Michelle Dockery who yes plays the standard Gangster’s Moll character but plays it very well that every time she came on screen I really enjoyed every moment she was on it plus there is a very cool play on the F word that had me laughing the most in this movie.
If I have one complaint though I have to say that the story does get a little too twisty turny at times in terms of who’s where and what’s what and who’s trying to do what and who all the players are and their allegiances changing sometimes that becomes very hard to follow while your watching it and while it doesn’t make the film overall feel like a mess it does knock it down a peg or two for me.
And so that was the Gentlemen and it’s a fun time in the Summer Movie calendar that won’t become a big favorite but you’ll have fun for 2 hours nonetheless, 3 out of 5.
The Gentlemen is a fun movie that has an awful lot of coarse language in it which more than justifies its MA rating so those who don’t like that sort of thing would be best to skip this movie especially as there is multiple uses of the C word in the film but it didn’t bother me I enjoyed the language and the violence for the most part and it was nice to see Mr Ritchie go back to his Lock Stock/Snatch roots though he made those films with Matthew Vaughn and Mr Vaughn was clearly the better of the two there.
Also the cast is here to play and it shows, Mr Grant continues his good fortune after his great turn in Paddington 2 as the villain and is good fun here, I enjoyed seeing Mr Hunnam in this movie though he very much plays a support act here while Mr McConaughey also does a good job as the seasoned man who wants the quiet life while Mr Henry Golding, Eddie Marsan, Colin Farrell and Jeremy Strong are fun and enjoyable in their roles as well.
Though I have to give a special shout out to Ms Michelle Dockery who yes plays the standard Gangster’s Moll character but plays it very well that every time she came on screen I really enjoyed every moment she was on it plus there is a very cool play on the F word that had me laughing the most in this movie.
If I have one complaint though I have to say that the story does get a little too twisty turny at times in terms of who’s where and what’s what and who’s trying to do what and who all the players are and their allegiances changing sometimes that becomes very hard to follow while your watching it and while it doesn’t make the film overall feel like a mess it does knock it down a peg or two for me.
And so that was the Gentlemen and it’s a fun time in the Summer Movie calendar that won’t become a big favorite but you’ll have fun for 2 hours nonetheless, 3 out of 5.
Film Review - Little Women (2020)
Little Women is based off of the novel but this time Greta Gerwig who wrote and directed Lady Bird steps into both roles in adapting the book and directing the film, the story concerns the life of the March sisters Jo (Saiorise Ronan), Amy (Florence Pugh), Beth (Eliza Scanlen) and Meg (Emma Watson) as they go through life in civil war era America with all the ups and downs they bring.
I was very keen for this movie mainly due to Ms Gerwig taking it on, I really liked Lady Bird in early 2018 and was keen to see what she would do next but Little Women had already been adapted by Gillian Armstrong in 1995 with a great cast all its own so could this movie do a good job or would it just sit in the shadow of the Armstrong film.
Well this is definitely a new and fresh take on this material and I adored it, watching this movie felt like someone giving me a great big hug the entire time and there are some reasons why:
- Firstly I have to talk about Ms Gerwig’s direction and scripting here, the way she adapts this story is a very fresh and modern take that plays around with the overall structure of the story itself but it really makes the storytelling and characters feel real and relevant to the entirety of the film instead of Jo just dominating everyone and the other Sisters falling into the background that is not the case here each of them get story arcs all their own and it really makes the film come alive.
As for her direction its pretty good but I thought her direction in Lady Bird was better as watching that film I felt this strong, powerful voice emerge in a way that felt confident, assured and ready to roar with all its might whereas here the direction really serves to highlight how well the book was adapted for a new generation and honing in on the idea of owning your story which I really loved.
- Secondly the performances here are wonderful, Ms Ronan for someone so young has given one great performance after another and that is no exception here her Jo is someone that you can’t help but fall in love with she’s warm, feisty, wears her heart on her sleeve and reminds me now that I think about it of Belle from Beauty and the Beast someone who wants so much more to this provincial life even if it feels somewhat out of reach.
Ms Pugh as Amy continues her good work and makes what could have been a very unlikeable character someone who you can watch and understand, Ms Scanlen is good as Beth as well while Ms Watson finally gets to shed the Hermione Granger typecasting I feel has shadowed her since the Harry Potter films and I really enjoyed that.
As for the other performances Mr Timothee Chalamet is pretty good as Laurie though at times he comes across as a bit of a dick, Meryl Streep and Laura Dern who you either love in movies or you don’t are very good here while I also enjoyed Mr Chris Cooper in his small role though I also loved seeing Mr Tracy Letts again after loving his work as Henry Ford the second in Ford V Ferrari last year.
- And lastly there is some great craftsmanship on show here mainly Nick Houy’s editing and Alexandre Desplat’s score, the editing work here does a great job of not letting the non linear structure run away from Ms Gerwig which it does have a habit of doing at times under Mr Christopher Nolan while Mr Desplat’s score feels very classical but also modern at the same time and it really highlights the film well.
And so that was Little Women and after the bitter disappointment of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker this movie with its warm cuddle was the perfect tonic, its warm, sad, heartfelt and I adored every moment of it, 4 and a half out of 5.
I was very keen for this movie mainly due to Ms Gerwig taking it on, I really liked Lady Bird in early 2018 and was keen to see what she would do next but Little Women had already been adapted by Gillian Armstrong in 1995 with a great cast all its own so could this movie do a good job or would it just sit in the shadow of the Armstrong film.
Well this is definitely a new and fresh take on this material and I adored it, watching this movie felt like someone giving me a great big hug the entire time and there are some reasons why:
- Firstly I have to talk about Ms Gerwig’s direction and scripting here, the way she adapts this story is a very fresh and modern take that plays around with the overall structure of the story itself but it really makes the storytelling and characters feel real and relevant to the entirety of the film instead of Jo just dominating everyone and the other Sisters falling into the background that is not the case here each of them get story arcs all their own and it really makes the film come alive.
As for her direction its pretty good but I thought her direction in Lady Bird was better as watching that film I felt this strong, powerful voice emerge in a way that felt confident, assured and ready to roar with all its might whereas here the direction really serves to highlight how well the book was adapted for a new generation and honing in on the idea of owning your story which I really loved.
- Secondly the performances here are wonderful, Ms Ronan for someone so young has given one great performance after another and that is no exception here her Jo is someone that you can’t help but fall in love with she’s warm, feisty, wears her heart on her sleeve and reminds me now that I think about it of Belle from Beauty and the Beast someone who wants so much more to this provincial life even if it feels somewhat out of reach.
Ms Pugh as Amy continues her good work and makes what could have been a very unlikeable character someone who you can watch and understand, Ms Scanlen is good as Beth as well while Ms Watson finally gets to shed the Hermione Granger typecasting I feel has shadowed her since the Harry Potter films and I really enjoyed that.
As for the other performances Mr Timothee Chalamet is pretty good as Laurie though at times he comes across as a bit of a dick, Meryl Streep and Laura Dern who you either love in movies or you don’t are very good here while I also enjoyed Mr Chris Cooper in his small role though I also loved seeing Mr Tracy Letts again after loving his work as Henry Ford the second in Ford V Ferrari last year.
- And lastly there is some great craftsmanship on show here mainly Nick Houy’s editing and Alexandre Desplat’s score, the editing work here does a great job of not letting the non linear structure run away from Ms Gerwig which it does have a habit of doing at times under Mr Christopher Nolan while Mr Desplat’s score feels very classical but also modern at the same time and it really highlights the film well.
And so that was Little Women and after the bitter disappointment of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker this movie with its warm cuddle was the perfect tonic, its warm, sad, heartfelt and I adored every moment of it, 4 and a half out of 5.
Saturday, December 28, 2019
Once Upon a Hollywood Player: A Tale of 2 Filmmakers
Well recently I picked up Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in 4K and I had heard good things about the 4K disc so I wanted to see it for myself and to my surprise and delight I really enjoyed it, the film plays really well in the home environment maybe better than it did in the cinema environment as watching it on my TV allowed to take in much more the dialogue setpiece/short story structure that is similar to Pulp Fiction while also throwing in a dash of Inglorious Basterds as well.
But while I was rewatching it another movie that is similar but different to it started to come to mind and that film was the Player from 1992 by Robert Altman and I began to think that they would make an interesting double bill at a specialist cinema one day, but why did that feeling come to mind.
Well both movies came at an interesting point in each of their respective directors careers, firstly with the Player Mr Altman was at a point in his career where it had stalled to some extent having had some success in the 1970s and then Popeye in 1980 really setting back his ability to work within the changing studio environment and while he did do some smaller scale work during the 80s the Player was his grand return to mainstream success and that then allowed him to make the movie he tried to make before the Player called Short Cuts.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood meanwhile was Quentin Tarantino for the first time since Reservoir Dogs working without the Hutt esque Weinstein brothers though going back to one of previous studio homes Sony/Columbia who had distributed Django Unchained in 2013 and when watching this movie the freedom flows through each scene as it really feels like Tarantino is able to do his thing while also having a studio that will finally push back to some extent on some of his decisions.
And also both the Player and Once Upon a Time craft something of a fictional narrative within their Hollywood narratives, the Player first and foremost while based off of a novel that Mr Altman helped adapt to the big screen there is a very fun murder mystery at the centre of that story that also allows for a whole lot of great cameos as well as poking fun at the studio executives that populate that story.
The Tarantino film has its element of fiction with its 2 leads Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth played in career best form by Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as they try to navigate a changing Hollywood landscape while also telling the story of Sharon Tate a real life person played by Margot Robbie very well which is done in a very interesting direction.
And so that was that column, it was an idea that came to my mind and I decided to write it down in a blog post for everyone and maybe that double bill might happen one day, it would certainly create some interesting discussion if it goes down well enough.
But while I was rewatching it another movie that is similar but different to it started to come to mind and that film was the Player from 1992 by Robert Altman and I began to think that they would make an interesting double bill at a specialist cinema one day, but why did that feeling come to mind.
Well both movies came at an interesting point in each of their respective directors careers, firstly with the Player Mr Altman was at a point in his career where it had stalled to some extent having had some success in the 1970s and then Popeye in 1980 really setting back his ability to work within the changing studio environment and while he did do some smaller scale work during the 80s the Player was his grand return to mainstream success and that then allowed him to make the movie he tried to make before the Player called Short Cuts.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood meanwhile was Quentin Tarantino for the first time since Reservoir Dogs working without the Hutt esque Weinstein brothers though going back to one of previous studio homes Sony/Columbia who had distributed Django Unchained in 2013 and when watching this movie the freedom flows through each scene as it really feels like Tarantino is able to do his thing while also having a studio that will finally push back to some extent on some of his decisions.
And also both the Player and Once Upon a Time craft something of a fictional narrative within their Hollywood narratives, the Player first and foremost while based off of a novel that Mr Altman helped adapt to the big screen there is a very fun murder mystery at the centre of that story that also allows for a whole lot of great cameos as well as poking fun at the studio executives that populate that story.
The Tarantino film has its element of fiction with its 2 leads Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth played in career best form by Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as they try to navigate a changing Hollywood landscape while also telling the story of Sharon Tate a real life person played by Margot Robbie very well which is done in a very interesting direction.
And so that was that column, it was an idea that came to my mind and I decided to write it down in a blog post for everyone and maybe that double bill might happen one day, it would certainly create some interesting discussion if it goes down well enough.
Wednesday, December 25, 2019
Reflections in the Force of the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
With Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker now out in cinemas, I have been thinking about not only that film on its own but the overall sequel trilogy which consisted of this movie, The Last Jedi and the Force Awakens as a whole and how I feel about it now that the pieces of the puzzle are now in place and we can now see the story in 3 parts instead of just 2.
The Rise of Skywalker on its own was a very disappointing movie and the taste of it felt very bitter when it was over and as it got towards the end I just began to feel sad that this whole trilogy was going to end this way instead of the magnificent ending the original trilogy got with Return of the Jedi in 1983 and the good ending the prequel trilogy got with Revenge of the Sith in 2005.
And as many discuss Rise of Skywalker in the Twittum Realm and the Real World alike, I have increasingly turned my thoughts to the sequel trilogy as a whole and the Force is not with me this time.
For increasingly I feel now that the story of this trilogy has been fully told that Kathleen Kennedy and those in charge at Lucasfilm really had no idea what to do with this trilogy when she was anointed by George Lucas himself in 2012 when George sold Lucasfilm to Disney and Ms Kennedy was chosen to be his successor.
And look I can understand the decision by Disney not to use the treatments for 7, 8 and 9 that George gave them in that sale as I’m certain many had the feeling that the Prequel Trilogy was unpopular, George was very much hated by the fans for those Prequel films and his constant tinkering with the original trilogy while also denying fans a properly restored unaltered original trilogy to go with the revised versions which when adding in his stubborn and inflexible attitude can lead you to why Disney went the direction they did.
But herein lies the problem George for all of his faults and for all of the many faults of the Prequel Trilogy at the very least sat down and had a clear idea of where that trilogy was going and the story those 3 films were going to tell which was essentially the backstory of the original films which Sir Alec Guiness told us all about so memorably in the original Star Wars film.
Same with the original trilogy, George had this crazy idea in his head for a 1930s/40s style Republic Serial movie that thanks to those like Steven Spielberg and Alan Ladd Jr who was running 20th Century Fox when the original film was being made stuck it through and created at that time the biggest movie in history that was ahead of its time and when you got to Empire and Jedi and others came in like Irvin Kershner, Richard Marquand and Lawrence Kasdan to take over directing and writing duties there was still a strong sense of cohesion and continuity that makes that trilogy feel like a one big movie told in 3 parts as well as those 2 films now becoming the standard those like it at the time had to reach and that wasn’t easy.
Disney meanwhile just didn’t do that work at all and reflecting back it increasingly feels like they had an idea for one movie (The Force Awakens) and then another movie (The Last Jedi) and then were left with really nothing to think of for the third film (Colin Trevorrow of Jurassic World was going to do it but he ended up being fired and his script was thrown in the bin which left JJ having to start from complete scratch and put a movie out in 2 years.)
Now let’s go back to those previous 2 films as on their own they actually work pretty well, The Force Awakens sets a tone of fun adventure in the style of the original film and borrows very heavily from it while the Last Jedi changes that tone for a more realistic style where good and bad feel much more a shade of grey and goes for some very big and unexpected story and character choices that when melded together as a complete script sadly don’t show the clockwork precision of the writing in Looper and Knives Out.
And when you put the puzzle together it creates this image of a trilogy that was in constant search of a consistent story, idea, tone, vision and characters and their arcs; JJ had his version, Rian had his version and they just to me didn’t fit together at all and just act in reactive panic to each other:
- The Force Awakens going back to the structure and tone of the original Star Wars film to react against the Prequels
- The Force Awakens gets a lot of complaints for doing just that so here’s a new director in Rian Johnson who with the Last Jedi will go his own way with his own style and tone and vision that will subvert all expectations
- The Last Jedi’s subversion of expectations and the more real world tone divides and fractures the fan base so JJ now has to come back and do the same job he did with the Force Awakens all over again
And when you look at it that way you just see this jumping at shadows style of movie making that just does not work and could so easily have been avoided if Ms Kennedy had given the directive to JJ, Kasdan and Michael Arndt who wrote the first script for Force Awakens to come up with a blueprint plan for 7, 8 and 9 much like George had before he sold it off.
And this approach is known to work as the very same studio Walt Disney Pictures put out Avengers: Endgame this year and Avengers: Infinity War the year before, 2 movies that wrapped up 7 years of storytelling by bringing Thanos into the limelight, having all the heroes step up to try and stop him and then end the Infinity Saga in a way that leaves critics and fans satisfied and they fucking well did just that as Kevin Feige had a plan, a vision, a consistent tone all in his head and he hired the people he felt he could work with and trust with his children and who could execute his vision and barring a few missteps along the way they did that very thing.
Sorry to get a bit rambling and long winded with this column but it just felt like the way of the Force to sit down like this and confess into it but before I do wrap up this column fully we have to look forward which as Master Yoda says in Empire is difficult to see as always in motion is the future but I feel there are 2 big things Disney and Lucasfilm must do going forward.
First and foremost is that those in charge if they decide to commit to a new series of films after this have to sit down, come up with a treatment plan for 3 films and commit to that vision and stick with it otherwise we will just end up back where we started where we got a series of reactionary movies that really end up satisfying very few and causing the faith to be tested.
Second and last, I think Disney and Lucasfilm have to commit to doing a 4K restoration of the unaltered original trilogy which I know will be not an easy task given how adamant Lucas was that they never see the light of day again but I feel it has to be done as the fanbase is divided between those who only love the original films and those who love the broader saga and both versions being available will buy peace and bring balance to the Force, it sounds silly I know but this is how I feel.
The Rise of Skywalker on its own was a very disappointing movie and the taste of it felt very bitter when it was over and as it got towards the end I just began to feel sad that this whole trilogy was going to end this way instead of the magnificent ending the original trilogy got with Return of the Jedi in 1983 and the good ending the prequel trilogy got with Revenge of the Sith in 2005.
And as many discuss Rise of Skywalker in the Twittum Realm and the Real World alike, I have increasingly turned my thoughts to the sequel trilogy as a whole and the Force is not with me this time.
For increasingly I feel now that the story of this trilogy has been fully told that Kathleen Kennedy and those in charge at Lucasfilm really had no idea what to do with this trilogy when she was anointed by George Lucas himself in 2012 when George sold Lucasfilm to Disney and Ms Kennedy was chosen to be his successor.
And look I can understand the decision by Disney not to use the treatments for 7, 8 and 9 that George gave them in that sale as I’m certain many had the feeling that the Prequel Trilogy was unpopular, George was very much hated by the fans for those Prequel films and his constant tinkering with the original trilogy while also denying fans a properly restored unaltered original trilogy to go with the revised versions which when adding in his stubborn and inflexible attitude can lead you to why Disney went the direction they did.
But herein lies the problem George for all of his faults and for all of the many faults of the Prequel Trilogy at the very least sat down and had a clear idea of where that trilogy was going and the story those 3 films were going to tell which was essentially the backstory of the original films which Sir Alec Guiness told us all about so memorably in the original Star Wars film.
Same with the original trilogy, George had this crazy idea in his head for a 1930s/40s style Republic Serial movie that thanks to those like Steven Spielberg and Alan Ladd Jr who was running 20th Century Fox when the original film was being made stuck it through and created at that time the biggest movie in history that was ahead of its time and when you got to Empire and Jedi and others came in like Irvin Kershner, Richard Marquand and Lawrence Kasdan to take over directing and writing duties there was still a strong sense of cohesion and continuity that makes that trilogy feel like a one big movie told in 3 parts as well as those 2 films now becoming the standard those like it at the time had to reach and that wasn’t easy.
Disney meanwhile just didn’t do that work at all and reflecting back it increasingly feels like they had an idea for one movie (The Force Awakens) and then another movie (The Last Jedi) and then were left with really nothing to think of for the third film (Colin Trevorrow of Jurassic World was going to do it but he ended up being fired and his script was thrown in the bin which left JJ having to start from complete scratch and put a movie out in 2 years.)
Now let’s go back to those previous 2 films as on their own they actually work pretty well, The Force Awakens sets a tone of fun adventure in the style of the original film and borrows very heavily from it while the Last Jedi changes that tone for a more realistic style where good and bad feel much more a shade of grey and goes for some very big and unexpected story and character choices that when melded together as a complete script sadly don’t show the clockwork precision of the writing in Looper and Knives Out.
And when you put the puzzle together it creates this image of a trilogy that was in constant search of a consistent story, idea, tone, vision and characters and their arcs; JJ had his version, Rian had his version and they just to me didn’t fit together at all and just act in reactive panic to each other:
- The Force Awakens going back to the structure and tone of the original Star Wars film to react against the Prequels
- The Force Awakens gets a lot of complaints for doing just that so here’s a new director in Rian Johnson who with the Last Jedi will go his own way with his own style and tone and vision that will subvert all expectations
- The Last Jedi’s subversion of expectations and the more real world tone divides and fractures the fan base so JJ now has to come back and do the same job he did with the Force Awakens all over again
And when you look at it that way you just see this jumping at shadows style of movie making that just does not work and could so easily have been avoided if Ms Kennedy had given the directive to JJ, Kasdan and Michael Arndt who wrote the first script for Force Awakens to come up with a blueprint plan for 7, 8 and 9 much like George had before he sold it off.
And this approach is known to work as the very same studio Walt Disney Pictures put out Avengers: Endgame this year and Avengers: Infinity War the year before, 2 movies that wrapped up 7 years of storytelling by bringing Thanos into the limelight, having all the heroes step up to try and stop him and then end the Infinity Saga in a way that leaves critics and fans satisfied and they fucking well did just that as Kevin Feige had a plan, a vision, a consistent tone all in his head and he hired the people he felt he could work with and trust with his children and who could execute his vision and barring a few missteps along the way they did that very thing.
Sorry to get a bit rambling and long winded with this column but it just felt like the way of the Force to sit down like this and confess into it but before I do wrap up this column fully we have to look forward which as Master Yoda says in Empire is difficult to see as always in motion is the future but I feel there are 2 big things Disney and Lucasfilm must do going forward.
First and foremost is that those in charge if they decide to commit to a new series of films after this have to sit down, come up with a treatment plan for 3 films and commit to that vision and stick with it otherwise we will just end up back where we started where we got a series of reactionary movies that really end up satisfying very few and causing the faith to be tested.
Second and last, I think Disney and Lucasfilm have to commit to doing a 4K restoration of the unaltered original trilogy which I know will be not an easy task given how adamant Lucas was that they never see the light of day again but I feel it has to be done as the fanbase is divided between those who only love the original films and those who love the broader saga and both versions being available will buy peace and bring balance to the Force, it sounds silly I know but this is how I feel.
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