Absolutely. The Kylo Ren character is not going to be a static one. This is not a Hayden Christensen clone, which is exactly what would happen if George Lucas was still in charge.
Honestly I don't blame Hayden Christensen at all. He was given terrible dialogue and worse direction. Lucas at this point in his career is bad enough to make damn near any actor look awful no matter how talented they are. Him no longer being a part of the process is the best thing that could ever happen.
I think Episode 3 was by far the best of the prequels, so if I'm going to make a comparison, it'll be with that one. That said, the terrible CGI and the even worse dialogue that appear in all the prequels is still present in episode 3 so I give the nod to TFA. When people say that it took no risks, taking risks wasn't the point, salvaging the Star Wars franchise was the point. George Lucas pretty much destroyed Star Wars with the prequels, TFA was an attempt at a soft reboot to get things back to the way they should have been and headed back in the right direction. Basically, make everyone forget about the prequels and remember why they loved Star Wars in the first place, and it was a big success.
I like Empire. Why am I arguing with someone that likes TFA? A completely unoriginal film with NOT ONE memorable scene and 100 percent cardboard acting. We are comparing a turd and a smelly turd here.
It is better, just as Empire is better than New Hope, Jedi, and all the rest. Just face it, The Force Awakens was a huge stinker that did its best to not be "Jar-Jar bad", but in doing so it took on a terrible quality of its own, complete unoriginality. It did not take one risk, and is the largest piece of sellable cardboard that I have ever seen, which Disney is known for.
You are allowed to like what you want and you don't need to pump up a lazily made, crap movie like Phantom Menace to critique Force Awakens. Phantom Menace is a crap movie with very poor acting, dialogue and cinematography. You mentioned the pod race and fight scene and I would add the CGI as positives for the movie. I never liked john woo action, at the time many people did and that was reflected in the prequels. Quality CGI at the time was brand new, now it is decades old and tired so the movie has aged very poorly. But people hated it when it came out for it's obvious flaws. Force awakens is a remake hidden inside a reboot. This is the way to make money off of valuable IP. It is what Gremlins will be and every remake until it stops working. If this is your problem with it then you are looking at it as not a remake which it is. Remakes are not original.
It honestly blows my mind that people stick up for The Force Awakens. For all the **** the prequels got for being awful, which they are, this crock of **** is essentially a Michael Bay Transformers movie with light sabers. Zero memorable dialogue, zero memorable scenes, zero redeeming characters. Just beautiful set pieces, and they didn't have Jar-Jar. Star Wars fans have dropped their expectations significantly.
Yes they are, I can give you many examples. I'll give you three that come from the top of the dome. 1. True Grit 2. Scarface 3. Cape Fear I can go for days... The Thing, etc. Remakes can ABSOLUTELY be original in the way they write dialogue, and the way the actors perceive the material. They SHOULD be original, If they are any good.
That's the truth. Phantom ALSO came after the phenomenal original series, so expectations were WAY higher. TFA came after the Prequels, so everyone was just happy to not have Jar-Jar and douchey Anakin.
There are two ways to go, just use the IP and do a completely different thing, or do a real remake. To make money, you have to make the fans happy. Star Wars has always been product. You do the safe thing and that is what the star wars fans wanted. I applaud your fight for originality but which movie in your estimation had more work and passion in making? The prequels mainly had people walking in a green screen or sitting while talking at each other. Yes both were graded on a curve. The CGI was not a bad word at that time. People wanted to see the latest and greatest and Lucas had that.
I largely agree with you Bandwagoner. They gave the mass what they wanted, they are selling merchandise. Kids love Kylo (How???) and whoever else. I totally get that. For me personally, I would love another Empire level film obviously, but short of that I would much rather have a spectacular failure that takes chances, which is exactly what Phantom was, a spectacularly bad failure, with a couple memorable moments. To not take a chance and pump out happy meals for the masses, is frusturating. Those types of films to me are the very worst films of all. Jar Jar Abrams... I want the Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve Star Wars reboot.
Really good movie. Spoiler It feels very different than the regular "Star Wars" films. More for adults. Definitely a war film. I really liked the new characters. It's interesting who they CGI back to life for this. Where the movie jumps into high gear and kicks major a$$ is in the last third. Good Lord, that last act does not disappoint. Darth Vader is used sparingly but his scenes are some of the best.
Just got back from seeing it. I thought it was fantastic. It had a few misses here and there and it jumps around a little bit at the beginning, but the third act is epic and right up there with some of the best Star Wars sequences around. Most of the characters were great and it had some grittier parts. It had just enough call outs to the main story, but not overwhelming. It also did a good job of having some classic light banter here and there. I liked that it showcased that a lot of the rebels weren't just goody goodies, and would do dirty work. They connected it very nicely right up to episode 4.
I'll say this though, the last 10 mins alone is better than Force Awakens. You know what scene I'm talking about too. Very Gritty, battle scenes take you right in the thick of things.
movie's not out yet here, will be out in a few days. can we get a few spoilers of what happens in it? who dies and who is the main villain?