Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
Whether or not you enjoyed it -- and lord, did many people actually like RoS? -- Abrams was desperate to make fans love the movie.
We found the Rise of Skywalker fan, guys!
I loved Afterlife, and still can't understand that viewpoint. It seems like you have to hardcore love the original to appreciate Afterlife.It was extremely impressive, IMHO possibly the best Ghostbusters ever.
Whether or not you enjoyed it -- and lord, did many people actually like RoS? -- Abrams was desperate to make fans love the movie.
Like is a strong word, but I'll say that I mostly appreciated it when I saw it (some severe) warts and all, enjoyed the experience of going to see a Star Wars movie with my family on Christmas, and resented the hyperbolic denunciation of it online. And some of the more ham-fisted fan service had to do with trying to hit the right nostalgia notes while shooting around a dead Carrie Fisher.Whether or not you enjoyed it -- and lord, did many people actually like RoS? -- Abrams was desperate to make fans love the movie.
Like is a strong word, but I'll say that I mostly appreciated it when I saw it (some severe) warts and all, enjoyed the experience of going to see a Star Wars movie with my family on Christmas, and resented the hyperbolic denunciation of it online. And some of the more ham-fisted fan service had to do with trying to hit the right nostalgia notes while shooting around a dead Carrie Fisher.
That's the extent of the defense I'll mount for a movie that involved a MacGuffin to find a MacGuffin, and which was generally the worst in the series.
For the record I actually enjoy Rise of Skywalker better than Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones, because I like the characters better, the parts I find most annoying tend to at least go by quickly, and a part of me can uncritically just enjoy fan service. But those prequels seem like finished and complete works, whereas Rise of Skywalker feels like Abrams just lost his grasp on the project, got exasperated, and tried to slap together whatever he could however it would sort of fit and have it over and done with, and did so at the additional cost of whatever remaining shred of cohearance the sequel trilogy had as a trilogy. Which is why I think it is the worst Star Wars movie, whether or not it's my least favorite.Think I would maybe stick it ahead of AotC. I don't want to rewatch AotC again though to double check.
For the record I actually enjoy Rise of Skywalker better than Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones, because I like the characters better, the parts I find most annoying tend to at least go by quickly, and a part of me can uncritically just enjoy fan service. But those prequels seem like finished and complete works, whereas Rise of Skywalker feels like Abrams just lost his grasp on the project, got exasperated, and tried to slap together whatever he could however it would sort of fit and have it over and done with, and did so at the additional cost of whatever remaining shred of cohearance the sequel trilogy had as a trilogy. Which is why I think it is the worst Star Wars movie, whether or not it's my least favorite.
There absolutely is. Too much fanservice can feel like the director/writers aren't actually confident in their own work, and have to rely on the quality of something else in order for it to be "good" or entertaining. Too much of it can be cringey (like when Norman Osborn says "I'm something of a scientist myself" in No Way Home, which just felt out of place, unnatural, and forced).No such thing as too much fan service.