I'm the farthest thing from a "film snob" you'll ever see, but little things like that just annoy me...when movies ignore/downplay things they themselves set up in previous installments (or even earlier scenes in the same movie). When I see things like that, I really find myself asking "who's writing this?! Nobody's paying attention...they're blowing a neat opportunity here to do something that they hinted at or demonstrated earlier!" It would've been cool to see the camera kinda close in on Rey as she closes her eyes and raises her hand and then we see those Skytrooper (and their vehicles) rising into the air, then thrown around and crashing back down, and all her friends looking at her with awe and gratitude. It could be played for both humor but also "okay, she's really coming into this Force stuff...she's learning/growing". You swell that Williams music just right as you show Finn and Poe staring and not sure what to say, and you have a nice moment that serves 3-4 purposes. Show, don't tell...she loves/cares for her friends and will protect them, she isn't someone to be messed with, she deliberately chose to tap into this power when it mattered most vs. relying on a "clumsy, random" blaster, etc.
I'm going to laugh my head off if this is what actually comes to be in the movie. Maybe that's what the scene is building to? The entire sequence wasn't shown, after all. That would pretty much be the first thing I predicted, and got right, in any of these movies.
It's getting to where I just can't watch these big-budget genre type movies anymore because they all seem to be written for reasons other than making sense or serving the story. Whether its toy sales, eliciting neckbeard jizz/seal-clapping, showing off what their computers can do, etc., I just find myself unable to hang with badly-written, lazy stuff the older I get.
And I discount all those who use the "but these movies are for kids, Paul...you're not the market anymore" excuse/explanation. Nonsense and bullcrap. Adults in the theater in 1977-1983 clapped, laughed and enjoyed them just as much as I did. I was there, and heard/saw all of it. And today, at 50, I still love/watch the original trilogy and get all the same jolts and enjoyment I always have (I discussed that upthread, I think). For that theory to work, then I should also dislike, and no longer watch, any of the original trilogy. But that's not the case. 1-2 times a year, I'll sit and watch
Star Wars,
The Empire Strikes Back and
Return of the Jedi and I'm glued to the screen. So, no...I haven't changed on that front.
But moviemaking, writing, casting, marketing, pacing, etc. definitely has. Things are shorthanded or dumbed-down more than in the past. You can't have thoughtful three-hour movies in wide release because it cuts into "butts in the seat" thinking and the number of showings each room can have in a day, so everything has to get whittled down to fit desired, optimal timeframes. There are exceptions of course, but they're just that...exceptions. And even long genre stuff, you're seeing the most edited-it-can-be-and-still-make-sense version. But back to Star Wars...go find some aliens or even some isolated tribe of islanders somewhere...show them all eight movies in no particular order, with whatever subtitles or overdubbing is required to allow them to fully understand what's taking place. The original trilogy releases would surely come out on top with the prequel and sequel installments all duking it out for 4th to 8th place (with Rian's little student film a lock for 8th).
All this just makes me eager for
The Irishman. I'm pretty sure De Niro isn't going to be doing any three-point landings.
