Well, that's the main job Abrams has.. revitalizing the Star Wars movies after the Prequels and setting up the stage for a new generation of movies. Nobody will be able to replace Han Solo / Harrison Ford in that iconic role (or the others) so why bother trying? I don't expect them to have central roles in the new trilogy and if Abrams really has balls he may even kill off one of them if it serves the story well. We know far too little about story, have not seen any of the actors truly act (just some short expressions in the trailers) so it's far too early to disregard anything. Yes, the original trilogy left some huge footprints but maybe they are unecessary, made too big by the fandom itself. I think it really is time for a sort of Next Generation reboot Star Trek style and it worked out well for Star Trek for a long time because they got the right actors and the right direction to be able to stand on their own and now Next Generation is able to stand right besides the original series and to many it is even the better series. I think Star Wars needs to follow the same direction and while i love the old guard and their story is fantastic it's time they cut the umbilical cord so to speak and do their own thing. I'm kinda getting sick of seeing Vader being brought up in everything possible as the final and most deadly opponent so i have high hopes they will come up with a new style of villain who has his own story that's equally interesting. I believe Abrams is capable of doing that, the question is if he's able to do it in Star Wars but judging from the general direction the movies are taking i believe they've come to the same conclusion and want to build something of their own while respecting the original material.
I don't need exposition on the clones or what conditioning has been infused beyond that they have orders programmed in from birth (not in dialog or hinted out, save for Order 66). Its an element, like the Clone Army, that is left to the user's imagination to fill in the gaps, but the clues given are not enough to satisfy me. And, if that sounds nitpicky, then I'm sorry for that. I wanted to like the prequels, and love ATOC as my favorite, with TPM ok, and ROTS I take in bits and pieces. The novelization of ROTS actually improved my attitude towards the film because it filled in more gaps than the actual films did, both ROTS and AOTC. I guess my biggest struggle with the Prequels is that I don't buy Anakin as a character. I find his motivation satisfactory, but his behavior is disorganized, at best. Like, he was mentally unstable before Qui-Gon found him (and that is not meant as a joke. I could see that working, with the whole Messiah-complex storyline. It just didn't play that way in the film). The story may have been intended to be about Anakin's fall and the rise of the Empire but I find the Emperor's speech to be the more satisfactory scene with establishing it, not Order 66. I'm sure that Rex and company overcame their orders through something artificial, and I don't have a problem with it. I don't even have a problem with the idea of preprogrammed orders, like Order 66. It just feels like a switch was thrown that we didn't know was there before. I don't have a good way to explain it other than it felt both inevitable and forced as well as unexplained and no set up. TO use film making parlance, we never saw Chekov's gun to know that a gun was going to go off.
When I was watching the trailer again with the audience reaction, I had a thought. I could definitely see these three ladies being related.
The only reason this movie has a prayer of being anything more than one more action blockbuster and of staying in the public consciousness for more than two months is the nostalgia factor of Solo, Skywalker and WhatsHerHair.
Exactly. While I appreciate the argument that it's time to pass the torch, continue the story with a new generation, etc...the whole reason this has generated the level of excitement it has is because it's got the original cast involved. It continues THEIR story in THEIR world, and THEY are there, along with the Falcon and the X-wings and everything else. Why am I excited for it? To see how the galaxy has changed in 30 years and to see the original characters again and the continuation of the story. Full stop. The new characters may indeed be awesome and we may grow to love them. But for this movie, the draw is Han, Luke, Leia, Chewbacca and their new fight. Otherwise, the excitement level would be 50% of what it is.
If by "drag it down" you mean "ensure that it'll get millions of people excited, attract an immense global audience and set record premiere and weekend box office totals while at the same time reminding fans what made Star Wars great" then I agree.
It's like if, instead of The Force Awakens, this was one of the standalone films. The trailer would come out and people would go "A new Star Wars. Um, cool!" Instead of "OMG WTF!@#$%&*!!!!!!"
Part of me is more eager for the anthology films.. there are so many possible stories and characters in this galaxy
I'm excited about all of them. This is an amazing time to be a Star Wars fan and the most excitement I've seen about the Lucas franchise since the epic buildup to and premiere of Episode I sixteen years ago.
I have an element of excitement about all of them too, since the universe is so well-developed and there are endless possibilities. I'm just saying that the excitement grows exponentially when you tell people "There's going to be a followup to Return of the Jedi, and the original characters will return." In terms of the first standalone film, since it's a prequel to Episode IV and they've revealed the plot, I will be very interested in the production design. How close will they go to the "look" of the sets from what we saw in the 1977 film, or will they update it in spirit 'ala NuTrek?
It's an archaic and seldom used word from old english called "continuity". I know people are becoming conditioned but you can't reboot everything.
I did notice in the close-up shot of Poe Dameron in his X-Wing cockpit that there are big, blocky button controls very similar to the '70s-vintage computer buttons and switches in the Rebel starfighters of the Original Trilogy. If Rebel technology more than 30 years after Return of the Jedi looks much like the tech seen in the older films then I imagine the equipment and controls depicted in Rogue One will closely resemble if not match the originals, if achieved with modern computer screens and software.
With Lucasfilm, they still have everything. If you want to rebuilt an X-wing down to the last blinky light, they have that information, and likey the blinky light.
I'm the opposite. I've found it hard to be engaged in the universe outside of the original trilogy of films. I'm sure I'll see the stand-alone films, but there's really no excitement factor there.
The Phantom Menace stayed in the public consciousness for almost 16 years, now. Hell, even the 13-years old AOTC is still being discussed and reviewed, despite it being the epitome of lackluster. That thing is literally "Meh: The Movie". On the other hand, most people have already completely forgotten about the Hobbit movies...
Maybe because the Hobbit movie was seen as more of a naked cash grab trying to capitalize on LOTR. As a fan of tolkien's work, I haven't even seen it despite the fact that Watson from Sherlock is Bilbo.