***Han Solo movie***

The card game had zero tension and we didn't even know the rules so we couldn't get invested, we knew the outcome so was boring to watch.

I thought the first version was a clever play on audience expectations. The second was unnecessary and actually added negative value. Better to leave that so they've got meat for a potential sequel

Lando's droid was worse than Jar Jar, made me cringe.

She was awful, and completely out of kilter with the Droids of the Star Wars universe. I always liked the fact that Droids in Star Wars were treated as tools. The free-the-robots section was particularly off-key, some visual comedy, but just a silly addition to the film.
 
i'm not surprised - i have no desire to see this movie and star wars (the proper ones) was my childhood

Disney seems to have no idea what to do with sw and is relying on 'hey remember this!' - its boring and stale.
They need new stories, new ideas - they have none atm.
 
I knew this was going to bomb when the trailer came on before Infinity War. Normally some of the crowd will cheer at the start of a Star Wars trailer. But this time people just ignored it. They didn't cheer and didn't go silent. They just carried on chatting, eating, etc. There was no reaction at all.
 
From what I gather it works differently in different territories. For instance in the States then all of the ticket price goes to the studio and the cinema makes money on snacks etc, whereas in Europe then they get a percentage of the ticket price. I could be wrong, but I think that's why the domestic US take is so important.

http://theweek.com/articles/647394/when-buy-movie-ticket-where-does-that-money

This explain it well. For the big blockbusters the first 1-2 weeks are really critical for the studio as that's when they gain the high % of the box office. So they would prefer an instant hit, rather than a slow burner even if the final box office was the same, because they'll take a larger chunk of the box office that way.
 
Just got back from this - I liked it! Pleasantly surprised.

I found the pre-release marketing of the film, which made it look like the film has a 'kitsch' / retro / Star Trek TOS style (see here), which was putting me off, didn't translate into the actual film at all. There was almost nothing stylised as being 'old school' about the vast majority of the sets / scenes / plot. I did, however, like that the falcon was full of buttons and switches - minimal CGI garishness... but it never felt kitsch.

Bits I liked:
It has a genuine adventure vibe and I quite enjoyed that I didn't know where it was going until the 'steal the unrefined ore' plot was set into motion.

The characters were, with one glaring exception, all rather likeable. Lando in particular was great.

Solo himself definitely became a bit more cheeky / plucky as the film went on - reprising his role in other films quite well.

I liked the lore about the crime syndicates.

Decent villain - very unlike any other Star Wars film.

The final scenes were intriguing and the Maul 'cameo' was fun... then a little confusing, thinking about it... but I did note he had metal legs, so I guess he survived episode one.

The maelstrom scenes were good. That Star Destroyer shot was amazing! The large space alien was unlike anything else I've seen in the series.

Kira's backstory was only hinted at, which kept me intrigued.

Very, very deliberately (and very rightly), they gave it back to the fans - Han shot first.

Bits I didn't like:
That annoying droid! Oh dear lord, how did that get green lit. Easily more annoying than Jar Jar Binks. What were they thinking! I actually cheered when she died. BB8 and the droid in RO were both great. But this...... wow!

The train scene was a bit of a forced spectacle.

Otherwise, not much at all.

Without thinking about it too much and just distilling it down do a simple question ("did I have fun?") - yes, I had a lot of fun and would recommend it. 8/10

Just for funsies (and partially to troll you :p) a couple of criticisms that could be laced at it if I decided to apply "herp derp I must overzealously criticise The Last Jedi" mode:

Why was there a train with the available technology? Really stupid, awful. I walked out.

Why was there a slave driven mine when it could be done robotically with the technology. Really stupid, awful. I walked out.

Light speed in the maestrom would have killed them. Really stupid, awful. I walked out.

Really big alien is unlike anything else in the series. Really stupid, awful. I walked out.

Darth Maul didn't quite look the same. Really stupid, awful. I walked out.

Han doing something nice is totally out of character. Really stupid, awful. I walked out.

Japes aside I concede:

... there were two fairly non-debatable flaws with TLJ that are pretty difficult to defend:

Kamikaze light speed - why have they never done that before?

Just light speed ahead and shoot them.

My current ranking of the newest films (best to worst):

TLJ / S:ASWS
TFA
RO

Still, as always I'm curious how this will hold up on a rewatch.
 
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End of the day Rogue One had a new story to tell with completely new characters this is mostly neither.
It's interesting you say that because, to me, RO set it's entire plot in motion within the first, maybe 20 mins? The rest of the film was on autopilot and the outcome was already known. It was... OK, the weakest of the new lot I think. It did have the best original character though (that droid).
 
Marvel made 19 movies in 10 years and they have one of the biggest grossing movies of all time in Infinity war

Not really buying the whole "Audience fatigue" explanation

And they made some absolute dross too (*cough* Ironman 2/3).

Disney just aren’t able to get the quality together for such frequent releases, there’s no hype, no excitement - “Oh another Star Wars movie......great......”. They’re just flogging the license for what it’s worth.
 
Marvel made 19 movies in 10 years and they have one of the biggest grossing movies of all time in Infinity war

Not really buying the whole "Audience fatigue" explanation

Marvel have a different approach. They have multiple franchises operating alongside each other. Star Wars has "Star Wars" and "Spin Offs" and the spin-offs are, thus far, pretty obviously one shots. Because of Marvel's different structure they are able to use each film to build interest in the other films by having cross-over elements. Star Wars, thus far, isn't doing that - and it's not obvious to me how it could with the array of films they've had so far. And, honestly, with the exception of Infinity Wars, Marvel's films don't seem like an event; they're just Box Office Candy. The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi were events. You can't do event cinema with a five month gap.
 
I wonder how long Disney will allow their newly bought franchise to be harmed by the fairly poor attitude of a few people at Lucas-Film?

Like her or hate her there is no denying that Kathleen Kennedy has taken a franchise beloved by the vast majority of people and turned it into something toxic over the past few years and I'm not sure Disney is happy with that!
 
Really? Based on one film that some people didn't like?

Disney recouped their outlay for the rights to Star Wars last year. So I'm sure they are fairly happy with what she's done.
 
Like her or hate her there is no denying that Kathleen Kennedy has taken a franchise beloved by the vast majority of people and turned it into something toxic over the past few years and I'm not sure Disney is happy with that!

TFA is the 3rd highest grossing movie ever (10th if you account for inflation, making it one of only two films this millennium in the top 10-adjusted-for-inflation list). TLJ is the 11th. Even Rogue One makes 25th place. Between them they've grossed just shy of $3.5bn and that doesn't include all the merchandising deals from them. I hardly think one unsuccessful movie is going to sour them on the outstanding success and quality of the three outstandingly good and successful movies that have gone before.

Whatever episode IX is called, I rather suspect it'll be hitting the billion mark in the box office too.
 
Not really buying the whole "Audience fatigue" explanation

I don't buy the audience fatigue explanation either - some people are a bit wary after TLJ and I think Ehrenreich as a choice hasn't captivated the interest of would be watchers as much as it might have done - can be seen here and elsewhere the announcement that he was filling the role had rather mixed reaction.

Really? Based on one film that some people didn't like?

Disney recouped their outlay for the rights to Star Wars last year. So I'm sure they are fairly happy with what she's done.

Star Wars is a behemoth mind you - you'd have to really screw up not to make good money from it. I wouldn't call what they've done with it particularly a success or innovating - until TLJ they managed to avoid anything that might put the brakes on it.
 
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