Also, The Mandalorian Season 3 drops Feb 2023, here is an article that also has descriptions of the trailer that was just shown...which will probably be online very soon.
Also, The Mandalorian Season 3 drops Feb 2023, here is an article that also has descriptions of the trailer that was just shown...which will probably be online very soon.
I figured it out, the mole, he got it removed, that's why he looks so different. Come on Lucasfilm!
Watched the first two episodes of Obi Wan. Not bad, but not great. Def. angling for the crowd that actually liked the prequels...big time actually. That's clearly the point of the show imo. I get that & it's actually smart, but I am not that target audience, because I have taste.
McGregor is solid, duh. Guy's always been a pro. The main villains are interesting so far and seem like worthy opponents. Trying to keep things vague here so far.
It's just that what seems to be the main thrust of the show thus far is NOT something I want to follow for 8 episodes. I hope the character at the heart of the chase so far is not there being essential to the plot the entire series, cuz I aimagine everyone's patience will run thin...just like the prequels actually.
- some HEAVY Blade Runner worship in episode 2
- it really takes me out of things when there are characters that have localized American accents, like Bill Burr & the woman who appears to be the main villain for the season.
- the stunt casting has been really annoying so far. The Safdi brother was fine, but can't we give that job to am actor that could really use the work? Same goes for fucking FLEA, who also sucked. Jacked Indian dude from Eternals made me roll my eyes at first, but he got better.
- we get the big tease of that huge character they're incorporating into this show at the end of episode 2. Let's see how bad they fuck this up.
- even if this show ends up being a home run. they really are taking away a ton of the prestige of this entire property with all this content. Star Wars sued to be an EVENT. Now we get new things every few weeks, so far with extremely varied results.
I just caught the first two as well and I pretty much agree with what you're saying here. The prequels had some bad moments and characters but one thing that made that so frustrating was that there was an interesting story in there as well. I hope this series learns to lean into the stuff that's compelling and not try to do all this other stuff that ends making the show feel all over the place tonally. I mean there are only 6 episodes so let's not waste time.
I also find the casting off-putting sometimes. It's fine for some shows and it's not the actors' fault but it does take you out of the story every time they throw a celebrity in a cameo role just because.
Over saturation is a good possibility with all the shit they got coming out. It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't try and connect so many things. Like having a Mandalorian and Luke episode in the middle of a Boba Fett show. I'm a long time fan of the OT and I stick around because I like the story but I also just don't have time to watch 14 different shows. Obi Wan, more than any other show needs to stay focused. It's got the potential to be the centerpiece of the franchise going forward.
But only if they stick to what people want to actually see. It's not hard. It's Star Wars. Lightsaber fights. Epic ones with stakes. Make it happen and without spoiling too much, make this show focus on these two guys for about 95% of the runtime...
Eh.
I don't know why I keep hoping for anything different.
Loved them both, except for as @bobbie solo said, the localized American accents take me out of the immersion pretty hard.
A question though for our friends in the UK, do the British accents take YOU out of the immersion when you hear them?
I haven't watched any of the Star Wars series yet because... I just haven't. But I am going to binge watch this one once it's available in it's entirety.
For decades I've had this image about Obi-Wan waiting in his cave, watching over Luke as he is growing up. To me, Obi-Wan was like the dog that has food put in front of him and is made to wait before he eats it. I'd imaging him going through two phases: the batshit insane one and the Buddha under his tree one. At first, I'd think he would have throw tantrums because of all that he had witnessed and now he was stuck in a cave watching a kid from afar. And then, I'd think he would have calm down and reflect on everything that has happened and grow in the ways of the Jedi, ending up with the wise yet a bit eccentric old man we saw in Episode IV.
I'm really looking forward to watch this. And maybe Baby Yoda because let's face it: he's adorable.
Just finished up watching “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” animated series… ooooof. Hea-vy. If you want to get way deeper into the galaxy of SW, this is a good show for that. Strong morality themes all throughout. See also: so that’s what happened to Maul.
I wanted to watch it the whole thing before getting into the Book of Boba, and I think I'll watch Bad Batch before I get into the live action series again. I'll still watch the other animated series as well, but I also don't think I need those stories as much to fill in the live action stuff (but maybe I'm wrong, I'll take the risk).
Bad Batch SEASON 2
HYYYYPE!
JFC just how many simultaneous SW shows do you people need. (I know the right answer)
I noped out after episode one. The cgi landscape is embarassing, a toddler outrunning adults is lazy writing, and overall it just hits you in the head with member berries. Honestly, it hits you in the head with everything. I can't wait for Disney to let all this nostalgia-pandering out of their system so they create something original. At this point I don't even care if it's going to be a romance series starring a hutt. There is so much possibility in this franchise, but they rather make a new show so that we learn how this one character from the original trilogy got it's scar on their pinky finger, so that the nostalgia-craved viewers can say "OMG, this is how they got that scar!!! amazing!! been waiting for this for 40 years!!!"
you should try Knotwords, it's like a crossword sudoku. that's not lazy writing, that's lazy direction. the writing was probably "there's a chase" and the director said "let's chase!" and the cinematographer chose the camera placement. if the cameras were better placed so you couldn't see just how close everyone was to her and yet doing nothing and then it could have been a better scene. There are anime and cartoons that do this very well because they know how to block the scene, this one not so much.
for me this feels like the most Star Wars Kids show yet, which is weird considering how dark it opened with the Order 66 execution. side note - I half expected to get a Grogu easter egg in that scene.
also what you said is what makes me excited for Andor - it's not the Skywalkers! granted it's not really new ground either - hey let's show Mon Mothma in the Senate! - but at the same time it's showing the Imperial Senate. Which, uh, looks like the Republic Senate?
Last edited by allegate; 06-01-2022 at 09:29 AM.
There's just zero magic here. The sets in all these shows are dumb. so much CGI it makes it feel like im watching a cartoon.
Its also that we're at a point where the cameras we have are so pristine, that it just doesn't look good anymore without proper post production to grit things up a bit. The problem with these Disney shows, is that they aren't spending the time in post to take them to the next level. Just pumping them out for our 9 dollar a month subscriptions.
I want the darker version that disney was afraid to release.
also that Vader fight was stupid. Felt like watching paint dry.
Ewan McGregor Defends ‘Obi-Wan’ Co-Star Moses Ingram Amid Racist Backlash
why is it so hard to just be like "It's ok that not everyone on the screen is a proxy for how I wish to see myself"? or even "It's ok that this isn't my version of beauty"?Ingram previously acknowledged that Lucasfilm “actually got in front” of the anticipated racism, after similar incidents with John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran.
Casting executives told her, “‘This is a thing that, unfortunately, likely will happen. But we are here to help you; you can let us know when it happens,'” Ingram said earlier this month. “Of course, there are always pockets of hate, but I have no problem with the block button.”
People suck.
I got chills when ObiWan saw that vision of Anakin in his robes.
Also, Vader is a savage MF.
edit: that suit up montage!!!!
Last edited by SM Rollinger; 06-01-2022 at 11:26 AM.
True, that scene was mostly a directing error, but the overall writing was pretty dumb as well. As a counter-point you often hear "duh, it's a kid's show!", but as you said, the trailers suggested a more mature approach, moreover just because something is kid or family friendly, it doesn't automatically means it has to be dumb. I had lots of fun with animated movies for example.
And as DVYDRNS said, the sets were dumb. Why do a few tents in the middle of the desert have to be animated? Especially if it's badly animated. It looks cheap, like watching a B movie.
Hey, I thought you noped out after episode one?
No, but I agree with you about the directing issues. In fact my biggest criticism of the series is the direction. Most of the things people are mad about (the kid running, fire being enough to escape Vader) are fixed with better direction.
That said, another thing I don't quite get is the high expectations people have for everything star wars does. I mean the OT was and will always be the peak. Take it from a horror fan, nobody tops the original. But even the OT is full of quirks that make it imperfect, though the story and writing is much better.
I can still find a way to enjoy this kind of stuff even if its not the best. I mean I asked to see Obi Wan and Vader strike a lightsaber and I got that much at least. Honestly I thought they'd save that for the last episode and I'm glad they didn't.
I did, so my comments only refer to that. I heard other complaints (parkour, 3rd sister over-acting, terrible blastervshootouts) from ep 2, but did not check those. The only scene I saw from ep 2 was when (spoiler?) 3rd sister does her betrayal and says "who's in the gutter now?". That made me sigh.
I agree that it can't be expected to get the same vibes as ot and that at the end of the day it is a kind of a fairy tale, but it felt wonky and rushed. I mean, you just said that there was a cool scene with Vader, and that is also what tips me off. Vader should be a thing of the past, instead he is the "break in case of emergency" button. Think of R1 and "that hallway scene".
Oh ok I'm sorry I thought you were replying to SM Rollinger 's post above you about the 3rd episode.
But, nah, Put Vader in as many light saber fights as you want and I'm still going to watch it. Quality be damned. Plus, they may as well do this sort of thing while Ewan and Hayden can/want to.
Watched S1 of Bad Batch. Not too bad, lays some groundwork for some potential interesting futures. Curious to see what S2 brings.
I am fine with the quality on this, it's a TV show and I have been entertained by far worse than this.
I agree, as long as Ewan and Hayden want to keep coming back, then there are lots more stories to be told with these two characters, during all points in their lives.
I have always been all for Disney doing new/different things with the IP, some has been great and some has been terrible.
Star Wars means lots of different things to different folk, and that's cool that there is so much to draw from. But for me, as someone who grew up on the OT, came of age with the prequels, I have been waiting 17 years for a true follow up to Revenge of the Sith and over the last week i feel like I have finally gotten that.
RoTS ment so much to me when it came out, it was the first movie I bought tickets for in advance, took the day off work for and went to twice the opening day. I remember crying in the theater because that opening scene with the battle over courscant just was so overwhelming.
Anyways it might mean more now because they waited so long to do something like this. But to me , Vader with his lightsaber in one hand, using the force with the other while surrounded by flames, just seems like it should have been a no brainer for Di$ney. Just like Baby Yoda it's printing money, and when it comes down to it it's the merchandising rights that Disney wanted in the first place because they generate so much more than the films themselves . But I have always felt that deep down Disney hates the fact that they bought a franchise where the most popular character was/is a villain. Everyone agrees Anakin is cool and all and an awesome good guy especially in the Clone Wars, but Vader is that BADASS we all want to be. Remember some of the reactions to the hallway scene in Rogue One? People were cheering at the theater I was at. (But then again it's all about perspective, Vader was just cleaning up the rebel scum wheres Luke and Lando are the cold hearted SOBs responsible for the deaths for potential MILLIONS by blowing up the two Death Stars. All those contractors working on the places and conscripted storm troopers. INNOCENT)
(And I'm not bashing this because George Lucas from day one made star wars to make toys and sell them, but damnit George here is my credit card because it's awesome and I have been hooked since I was like 5, as far back as I can remember watching RoTJ on TV in the late 80s and then my mom got the vhs from the library and we copied that and I watched those tapes till they wore out)
Last edited by SM Rollinger; 06-02-2022 at 09:23 AM.
I think they need to stop advertising it as such because the last episode a Storm Trooper fell to his death, in the middle of the frame, and the death was being sliced in half by an active force field. very dark stuff.
Third Sister is very sinister and I haven't had an issue with her other than she's making me dislike her a lot but then you're supposed to dislike the bad guys. Those people running around with Empire and First Order stickers on their cars missed the point.
One thing that bugged me about episode three was the tunnels and the TV Trope of Bad Guy Beats You to the End of the Tunnel (And Manages to Kill the Kontact!). The close captioning was so dumb too: "(VOICE): blah blah blah" but you knew it was Reva because you could hear her voice. gaslighting the deaf, guys? come on.
Firstly, I don't think that at all.
Disney loves their villians! If anything they're mad it's not an Evil Queen/Princess pairing that they can sell costumes to.
Secondly: I wonder if Anakin ever had the "Are We the Baddies?" conversation with himself. Like, I get how he was tempted and all that and I feel for him. But then he killed all the Jedi and Younglings and that's like a canyon too far, not just a bridge. Saving his son in RotJ was a good moment based on the previous three movies; it's not enough to redeem the guy from RotS though.
And there I go thinking these are real people. The story is what it is.
Yeah I'm in a similar place with it all. I too, was a 90s kid but it sounds like I'm just a bit older than you. My intro to the franchise was from one of my childhood friends showing me his VHS copies and he fast-forwarded to the lightsaber fights at the end of all the movies because he wanted to show them all to me. When he first started fast forwarding through A New Hope I was like "What are you doing man, what's going on here." He responded "Oh, these scenes are just people talking, I'm getting to the good part." He was that kind of kid. It was really a terrible introduction to the franchise when I think about it now. But it was enough for kid me to want to actually see the movies in full and I ended up getting that gold 3 VHS set. Then, that same friend and I went to the theatre to watch all the OT movies when the released those in anticipation of the Phantom Menace. So, its weird, but even though I was a 90s kid, the OT is my Star Wars more than the prequels. But, I agree with you. RotS is awesome. By far my favorite stuff of the prequels is that last hour.
But wait a minute! You can't just come in here and blaspheme the name of Luke Skywalker like that. The greatest Jedi of them all (save maybe for Yoda). And to make matters worse, the argument you use as to why he's worse than Vader is the same argument from Clerks. But you gotta remember, in that scene an actual contractor walks in and clarifies that contractors know the risks of the locations they work and are therefore responsible for their own actions. They knew the risks!
Vader blew up an entire planet! And those people were innocent. And trigger warning, but I'm just going to say this. Vader is the school shooter of the Star Wars universe. He wacked all them kids. There just isn't any redemption after something like that. haha
But yeah, the way they had him walking through the desert at night in this and the shot of his shadow passing the buildings, they were treating him like Michael Myers and it was awesome. This show has its flaws but its also had some nice moments. And thank god for Ewan McGregor's performance. Even with sub par writing he is making this watchable through his display of inner turmoil. The scene where he first sees Vader coming down that street? He sells the fear. He knows he's fucked. His face tells the story better than the writing.
Last edited by burnmotherfucker!; 06-03-2022 at 08:44 AM.
The only real problem with the Clerks argument is that it was based on limited data... only the 3 movies (and Droids, Ewoks and the holiday special really being the only real additions).
The Empire has shown itself not exactly a... hmmm... fair employer (either to TK soldiers or command staff or bounty hunters), it would not be a stretch to think that they would not necessarily pay contractors as such but "encourage" their labour (amd compliance). Or watch their families, friends, communities and even planets eliminated just to make a brutal point. And while maybe the crime syndicates may be more... lenient in their hiring and paying (and therefor more in-line with Clerks argument), they certainly aren't above the coercion of individuals and communities to get what they want, they don't really have the scale to do it Empire style.
Now that I've consumed Clone Wars and Bad Batch, the ruthlessness of it all is much more apparent.
And the New Order continued that trend.
Anakin Skywalker was one of the very best last Jedi. His natural skills and training have shown that.
However, he was really became toxic over time (one could say that whole Emperor's influence part of the equation) and then culminating with him being the very worst Jedi of all time... that whole younglings mass murder and following up Order 66. And then everything after up until he stood up to Palpatine.
Luke... Luke tried to make things like they once were but finally came to the realization it was time to let it go and see what could bloom in its place.
The Republic would have been a better, if bloated, employer.