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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2020-11-20, 09:44

PS - I realized why Cara Dune might appeal to me so much...there were 3-4 scenes where she looked A LOT like Mariska Hargitay, especially from those first 5-6 seasons of SVU.

And y’all know how I loves me some MH.

PS #2 - I've said it before, but episodes like this really drive it home: it's hard to believe this is a TV show sometimes. I know it's a lot of CGI and projection tech responsible for much of that overall look/vibe, but damn...does it ever look amazing and so "big" and cinematic. You could stitch some of these related episodes together into a two-plus hour feature and show them on the big screen at the multiplex and it would feel every bit as "movie-ish" and "Star Wars-y" as the rest. Even more so (writing and overall tone-wise), in some cases.

It kinda makes me sad to realize that Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni should've been the ones to head up/plan/write/cast the sequel trilogy. I truly mean that.

This show isn't perfect, no. But it "gets" the property/tropes/lore in a way J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson never did. I think I could've loved a sequel trilogy - whether or not Hamill and the others were involved - had they simply been in the hands of people who obviously truly love and get the property, and weren't setting out to undo/subvert all that had come before or to make it through of-the-moment filters/mores. Because, unlike the OT (and, to some degree, even the PT), these latest ones aren't timeless and they will not age well. They're too Earth-bound, too heavily tied to current culture. They positively scream "made in 2015-2019", where the others don't say 1977 or 1980 or even 1999-2005 to me at all (I'm not talking about the visuals/effects, mind you).

It's night and day in the approach, big and small. This show is so understated and exposition-free at times. I love that, as a viewer. I may not love every single episode - but I do like them all, for various reasons - but I've never once felt dumb, insulted or yanked around by the 12 installments I've seen. Even the slower, quieter parts keep me engaged more than any chase or shootout in the sequel installments. The worst I can say about them is that they're a bit tied to the OT and other previous, existing stories. But would anyone want to watch if they weren't? I don't know, but they appear to be working, their current approach. And as long as they introduce new, unique aspects and plot lines to play off the stuff we already kinda know about, then that should be a nice mix that works.

If I were running things, Abrams and Kennedy would be gone, long ago (or, more accurately, never brought on board to start with), and folks like Favreau and Filoni - and their handpicked collaborators/associates - would be overseeing Star Wars. Give those guys a new feature film - or trilogy - to play with. I bet it'll be enjoyable, no matter when it's set or who/what it centers around. But it'll feel like Star Wars. Which is kinda important if you're gonna slap that name on it.

You can't just set something in space or funky planets, throw in some lightsabers and "pew pew pew" and have it all magically hang together and work. I think that's been clearly demonstrated.

Last edited by psmith2.0 : 2020-11-20 at 12:24.
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