Star Wars: The Last Jedi (SPOILERS)

[EdSolo]

I am starting to see reports that Avatar 2 "won't be finished in time" for a December 2017 release.  Imagine that.

[JediJman]

The most important thing is getting it right.  I find it hard to believe they will finish it off and just sit on it for six months, so they'll be doing some kind of improvement I'm sure with the extra time.  That's a good thing.  What actually bothers me most about it though is losing the tradition of May releases.  All of the movies outside of 7 were released in May and for some reason that timing feels special to me.  That tie into the end of the school year/start of Summer kicking off with Star Wars just feels right.  Nice to have some fun Christmas blockbusters, but I wish they were back on a May release schedule for this one.

[Rob]

Irrational Me: DAMMIT CAN'T YOU DISNEY CLOWNS DO ANYTHING RIGHT?!? I COULD LITERALLY BE DEAD BEFORE THIS NEW STORY ARC COMPLETES. HOW THE HELL HARD IS IT TO MAKE A BLOCKBUSTER MOVIE?!? NOW WE DON'T HAVE A STAR WARS MOVIE TO CELEBRATE THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FRANCHISE!!!!! STOP RUNNING THIS FRANCHISE INTO THE GROUND YOU FOOLS.

Remember when it was THREE years between star wars films back in the day?

[Nicklab]

The anthology movies really make the wait between saga films a lot easier to deal with.  Especially since it seems like things with the new saga are going to be far more secretive than during the prequel era. 

[Rob]

  Really?  They all have a very different feel to me.  Even the fringe stories that should bomb (Guardians, Ant Man) have been fantastic and huge box office successes.  What don't you like?

I think Matt is comparing the basic things principles across the movies.  Lots of action mixed with a little humor and characters that don't take themselves too seriously.  It seems to be working pretty well for them so far.

Sorry, I missed this somehow until now... I didn't see Ant Man yet, but I did really like Guardians.  When I say they've gotten stale I mostly mean the Avengers and all the individual movies that go with them.  Thor, Thor 2, Captain American 1-3, Iron Man 1-3, Avengers 1 and 2... they're all blurring together to me.  Especially the last few I've watched (Winter Soldier and Avengers 2).  It seems like Hulk and Hawkeye and Black Widow just keep showing up to show up... the stories seem to be getting less exciting...

To me at least.  I'm just hoping Disney finds enough ways to differentiate the films from each other - to really let the one-off's be legitimate one-off's.  Guardians is a good example of things that still work better, and I don't think it feels as problematic to me mostly because it has nothing to do with those other ones.

Just my 2 cents... Star Wars always left people wanting more, with 2 or 3 years between films, and then 10 or 15 years between trilogies.  My fear is that we get a movie a year for the next 10 years and everyone just gets completely sick of it and it gets really hard to keep things as exciting as they are at this point in the game.

[Phrubruh]

Well as Lucas says Disney is a bunch of white slavers. They will bleed it dry.

[JediJman]

Sorry, I missed this somehow until now... I didn't see Ant Man yet, but I did really like Guardians.  When I say they've gotten stale I mostly mean the Avengers and all the individual movies that go with them.  Thor, Thor 2, Captain American 1-3, Iron Man 1-3, Avengers 1 and 2... they're all blurring together to me.  Especially the last few I've watched (Winter Soldier and Avengers 2).  It seems like Hulk and Hawkeye and Black Widow just keep showing up to show up... the stories seem to be getting less exciting...

To each their own I guess.  I grew up with a monthly sub to Avengers comics, so I'm sure I have a bias towards seeing these characters on the big screen.  The first Iron Man and Avengers were amazing films IMO, so I can see where sequels to these might be a let down.  Each of the first "individual" movies was an origin story, so I don't really see any of those as re-hashed with the sequels.  Thor 2 felt a little more like the first Thor to me, but all of the others have been really different from my point of view... 

• IM2 gets War Machine in on the act and they have to battle both Whiplash and HAMMER industries' Iron Man drones.  Both are classic Iron Man baddies and they complemented each other versus being forced into the story like we've seen with Spiderman.
• IM3 has Tony building out a plethora of his own unique Iron Man suits (awesome to see in itself), but also did a great job adding some character to the story when he goes off the grid for a while, panicking about the new super hero life he's taken on.  This a terrific lead in to Avengers 2 and why he even builds Ultron
• Cap2 has the boy scout betrayed by the government he's so loyal to, which is more great character building.  The fight scenes in this one were amazing and it introduces a really great take on Falcon.  Nice lead into Civil War as well
• Cap3 guessing you didn't really see this since it doesn't exist yet, but Civil War pits the heroes against each other, which is another really original concept.  We see some earlier bickering among the heroes, but not as anything serious.
• Avengers 2 has a really unique villain in Ultron -  being the first real baddie that the team needs to join together to beat.  Two new characters and a surprise death, with almost the whole team turning over by the end.
• Ant-Man easily cleared my top 5 for Marvel movies and has a very different feel again with more of a redemption story than the others.
  

I guess I just don't see what's stale about any of these.  The characters and storylines are meant to intertwine, so it feels like one really big story with a lot of fun chapters.  I even read the comics these movies are mostly based off of and felt the stories were pretty original, but like I said earlier, maybe I'm just too much of a fanboy. 

[Jeff]

I guess I just don't see what's stale about any of these.  The characters and storylines are meant to intertwine, so it feels like one really big story with a lot of fun chapters.  I even read the comics these movies are mostly based off of and felt the stories were pretty original, but like I said earlier, maybe I'm just too much of a fanboy.

I can see it both ways.  People who loved the comics/characters are of course going to love the universe-building and the stories.  Your analogy is a good one - a big story with lots of new chapters... but that's only interesting as long as you are someone who wants new chapters.

But, there are a lot of people on the other side who are looking for a new book.  My wife for example is pretty bored of the Cap/IM/Thor centered Marvel movies now.  I'm kind of hitting a little bit of a wall too, which is why I probably enjoyed Ant-Man and GotG more than Avengers 2 at this point and why I'm looking forward to stuff like Black Panther or Dr. Strange a lot more than Cap 3 or Thor 3.

[Dave]

I guess I just don't see what's stale about any of these.  The characters and storylines are meant to intertwine, so it feels like one really big story with a lot of fun chapters.  I even read the comics these movies are mostly based off of and felt the stories were pretty original, but like I said earlier, maybe I'm just too much of a fanboy.

I can see it both ways.  People who loved the comics/characters are of course going to love the universe-building and the stories.  Your analogy is a good one - a big story with lots of new chapters... but that's only interesting as long as you are someone who wants new chapters.

But, there are a lot of people on the other side who are looking for a new book.  My wife for example is pretty bored of the Cap/IM/Thor centered Marvel movies now.  I'm kind of hitting a little bit of a wall too, which is why I probably enjoyed Ant-Man and GotG more than Avengers 2 at this point and why I'm looking forward to stuff like Black Panther or Dr. Strange a lot more than Cap 3 or Thor 3.

You nailed it for me Jeff.  I'm more in Rob's camp than Justin's, but I've never read any Marvel superhero comic in my life.

Loved GotG and some of the earlier Mavel stuff (Iron Man 1 & Captain America), but was thoroughly bored with Iron Man 3 and Cap 2.

I'm hopeful that the Star Wars anthology stuff largely stands on its own and doesn't try to intertwine too much.  The stuff in the works (Rogue One) and the proposals (Han Solo, and potentially Boba Fett and Kenobi movies) sound like they could be fairly independent if they wanted them to be.  Although I guess there is a danger that the Han Solo and Boba Fett movies turn in to an intertwined mess.

[Jesse James]

I was absolutely 100% not a fan of comic books (just weren't my thing growing up) so the movies maybe have a different impact with me than people who genuinely are fans.

I really enjoyed the Nolan Batman movies, but the 3rd one felt pretty bad to me and I left disappointed. 

I liked the first Spiderman but anything after, just didn't interest me.

I liked all 3 Iron Man movies but the 3rd one kind of was like the last Batman movie and left me a little disappointed.

I've never sat through the Avengers movies, and I couldn't sit (tried) through Captain 'Murica...  I really just didn't care for them when I tried watching those.   Likewise I couldn't deal with the X-Men movies much either and couldn't sit through them.

I don't know why I liked Iron Man but couldn't get into the rest of it?

I didn't catch Antman, but I did watch Guardians of the Galaxy when it came to Starz and I absolutely LOVED that film.  Great, and left me wanting to see more.  It was funny, weird, exciting...  A little confusing, but really I enjoyed it completely and look forward to more there.  I'd also like more Iron Man on his own I think despite the 3rd film.  I'd have liked more Nolan Batman too but meh.

I'm maybe the wrong guy to critique stuff since again, I really didn't like super heroes when I was little.  That's just my take on them.  Nothing's perfect.  I wholly suspect some of these Star Wars films will be complete ass at some point.  As it stands it's not like I didn't have some critique (minor) of TFA...  So I am keeping my expectations fairly even on any of them.  It may suck, it may not. 

[Nicklab]

Nice tease from Daisy Ridley on her Instagram account today.  It looks like an Episode VIII letterhead with a note from Kathleen Kennedy to the cast & crew. 

[Matt]

I was absolutely 100% not a fan of comic books (just weren't my thing growing up) so the movies maybe have a different impact with me than people who genuinely are fans.

(snip)

I'm maybe the wrong guy to critique stuff since again, I really didn't like super heroes when I was little.  That's just my take on them.  Nothing's perfect.  I wholly suspect some of these Star Wars films will be complete ass at some point.  As it stands it's not like I didn't have some critique (minor) of TFA...  So I am keeping my expectations fairly even on any of them.  It may suck, it may not. 

Cosign. Was never a comic book guy. I liked the Nolan Batmans, but all the other superhero films can FOAD. The prospect of Star Wars becoming the new Marvel frightens the **** out of me.

[Phrubruh]

What we really need is a live action TV show.

[JediJman]

The prospect of Star Wars becoming the new Marvel frightens the **** out of me.

Maybe it's just IBS.

[Jesse James]

What we really need is a live action TV show.

I've thought, if it was as well written as ST:TNG and ST:DS9 became, I'd be interested in this...  It doesn't have to have direct implications on any movie even, just set in the universe, and not "dumbed down", which I feel Star Wars: Rebels is far too dumbed down at this point.  It's losing me...  It'll never lose me to the point I won't watch because I like eye-candy on it, but it'll eventually lose my interest enough where I won't care if I wait to see an ep on the interwebs or something.

Last week's Leia episode was enough for me to start rolling my eyes, actually.

I'm afraid Disney would flub up a TV show then too, but then I hear guys all raging over Agents of Shield and stuff.  And Fox (not involved, I know) seems to have people's attention with their Batman show that doesn't have Batman in it.