Mandalorian and Grogu (Spoilers)
Aimee and I went to the cinema yesterday to see the new Star Wars film, the first one released in about 7 years.
I have to say, before starting this review, we were both a bit disappointed with it, and below I'm going to list a couple of reasons why we felt that way.
It was such a good feeling being in the cinema for a new Star Wars movie.
A Really Strong Opening
The movie kicks right into the action as Mando infiltrates an Imperial Base and annihilates everyone inside.
His mission, as told in the opening title, is to hunt down ex-imperial officers and bring them to justice.
He makes easy work of fighting his way through the base, and then he mounts a walker, charges down a steep hill on it, (Why didn't he just use his jetpack - because spectacle.)
When he reaches the bottom of the hill, he destroys 3 AT-ATs and kills his target.
Mando is portrayed as near invincible, in this, like some sort of video game character.
In fact, after this intro, there is a bit of a title sequence as he goes back to the rebel base to get his new contract, and it very much felt like the opening of a video game. Where you do your first mission/ tutorial, then the titles come up, and the game truly starts.
Was the opening cool? Yes. Was I excited for the rest of the film? Yes.
When Did It Stop Being Enjoyable?
For me, personally, it was when he reached the planet, Shakira, or Shakari, or whatever it was called.
He goes to this world in search of Jabba the Hutt's son.
The music of this planet was like a weird sci-fi mumble rap backtrack/ lo-fi song. It was strange and just didn't feel like Star Wars.
It was just too, this world, and not a galaxy far, far away...
In fact, there were lots of things in the movie that were too, this world.
Too This World
Two major things in this movie were way too close to home for my liking.
Shakari, was one of them.
I could almost hear the writers sitting down together in the room and saying,
Writing Committee Member 1 - "Hey, you know what would be so funny! Imagine having New York in Star Wars."
Writing Committee Member 2 - "Yeah, that would be so awesome, we can even hire Martin Scorsese to play a monkey character in it."
Writing Committee Member 3 - "I've crunched the numbers, people like New York, Martin Scorsese and Monkeys."
Writing Committee Member 4 - "People also like Japan, so can we combine the two cities?"
There were just too many times when I could hear the writers saying, "Hey, you know what would be funny," and it was just annoying.
Creativity is just dead, not just for Star Wars, but for nearly every franchise.
It's a lot of people sitting around who want to reference and nod to the past, or our world, rather than thinking outside the box and creating something different.
Another annoying one was the Louisiana swamp person on a rocking chair. Cool stop motion puppetry, but again, the writers were in the background saying, "You know what would be funny."
They can only reference and nod to things from this world, and it's annoying. That's not even just an issue for this movie, but it's an issue that has appeared numerous times in this Franchise since Disney bought it.
Creativity
The OT and Prequels had some amazing designers working on them, and they didn't have half the money at their disposal that Disney has, yet we can't seem to create something new.
They took Phil Tippet's monsters from the chessboard in the original and added them to the gladiator pit, which was nice to see.
They brought back the Razor Crest, which is arguably one of the only things the new creators have created for Star Wars. It was a bold decision to destroy it in the show, but they reversed that now.
There was a bit of a dogfight where they were chased by 3 fighters, and those fighters (I think) are the same ones from the Jedi Starfighter game, which was a cool reference.
But that's all they seem to be able to do, reference. Either their own IP, other IPs, or our world.
I wish they would just hire a band of misfits, give them a warehouse and a bunch of material, leave them there for 2 years, and see what they come up with. I guarantee, they'll produce some really cool stuff.
I'd love to see Disney gather a bunch of passionate, bright-eyed students or dropouts and give them a chance to work on Star Wars.
What they are and have been doing these last 13 years just isn't working.
Star Wars has inspired me so much since I was a kid; it inspired me to write, create, build stuff and imagine. The documentaries about the crew who worked on it opened my eyes to so many possibilities.
What is the new Star Wars inspiring exactly? It's not even inspiring people to open their wallets and by the figures anymore.
It's Okay
It was okay, it was basically an extended episode, the characters go on a mission, they complete it, and they live to go on another mission.
The only thing that has changed now is that Mando has the Razor Crest back. So, we've essentially reverted back to Season 1 of The Mandalorian.
It was uninspired, and there was a lot of time wasted in the film to bulk out the runtime. There were just too many conveniences for the characters and no tension.
Mando is invincible, until the writers need something to happen, and then he isn't.
He can breathe underwater, like in the TV show, but gets knocked out by gas.
He can wipe out 3 AT-ATs and an Imperial base, but gets bested by 1 bounty hunter.
He gets poisoned, but it just so happens that Baby Yoda stole fish from the right person, who just so happens to have the makings of an antidote.
He needs to destroy the twins' base singlehandedly, but has no weapons... Oh, wait, here is the Gunrunners' entire arsenal... luckily, no one raided these useful weapons.
He was looking for an elusive imperial officer, "Oh, Coyne, that's the guy you were just talking with."
There are too many moments like this that let the movie fall flat on its face.
One big gripe with the film was Rota the Hutt. His voice went through me for a shortcut. Worst. Casting. Ever. Irritating, and in general, his dialogue was nearly as bad as his delivery. They should have just had him speak Huttese.
Also, for a big portion of this, it felt like I was watching the Minions movie.
"It's for kids." Piss off, Mando is murdering everyone that steps in his way, and Yoda is popping eyeballs. So, really? Is it intended for babies?
If Kaleb and Ollie were older, we would have brought them, because I'm genuinely curious about what they would think.
To me, it seems to be intended for kids, but the runtime is way too long for a little kid. Also, there is a lot of dialogue, so I don't think it would keep their attention.
I believe it was trying to be for everyone, and ended up being for no one... like nearly every Disney Star Wars show or movie.
I've heard a couple of others saying this one isn't great. Mostly I've kind of given up on following Star Wars because I don't want to pay for Disney+, but from what I've seen here and there most of it is watchable if you don't think too deeply, but it's pretty patchy. The two I've heard good things about are Andor, and Ahsoka (but then I'm a huge fan of Grand Admiral Thrawn, one of the few truly convincing adversaries who proves that not everyone who was part of the Empire was an evil psychopath).
I've heard others compare it to a video game with a series of missions. It may just be a bit violent for young kids. That Shakiri world was a bit Blade Runner, but then that has influenced so much. I may have enjoyed it more than you did, but then my expectations may be different.