and i just hope they paid mike stackpole for that one bit, you know?
I have seen the War of the Stars! Outside of the cut text, I wanted to say a thing which isn't a spoiler per se first.
So, PSA: they are not fucking kidding about the flashing lights warning.
It is largely concentrated in one part of the movie but it goes for a LONG while and I should have put my sunglasses on immediately instead of 10min in, bc even I got headachey as a result and I'm not particularly sensitive to that usually.
I am not feeling particularly coherent - I had to sit in the theatre until the very end of the credits because the combination of flashy lights and feelings overload meant I was NOT good to drive or in fact be around people for a little bit afterward - so this is mostly going to be a jumble of thoughts as I have them rather than a review or anything like actual meta.
To start with, I want to say that when I did this for the last movie I fucked up; I was not aware of the stereotype/dog whistle that applied to some of Poe's storyline in TLJ and as a result didn't read that part well. Not knowing doesn't mean it wasn't still a fuck up to do that, and I'm grateful for everyone who talked about why that was an issue, and I'm sorry that you had to do it.
So, Rise of Skywalker thoughts, in no particular order:
-overall I'm glad I saw it and so much of it absolutely got me where I live and I loved a lot of it deeply, especially some of the new characters <3
-god it was weird to keep having moments in it where I could feel the impact/contribution of Lord of the Rings and of Endgame. I mean, part of that was obviously just Big Damn Epic energy, and the fact that the older you get the more likely you are to be influenced by earlier stuff AND to be able to pick up narrative themes/patterns, but that was definitely In There at points in a way I hope someone smarter than me can articulate.
-obviously, I didn't love that Kylo got redeemed, even though we kind of pretty much all could see the writing on the wall with that one. I guess it helps a little for me that it's so obvious they didn't have a fucking plan (a thing I wish was not the case!) and so it reads to me more like three movies that follow each other a little disjointedly than one big true arc and as a result I can kind of see how they're adjusting character to fit a story they wanted to tell rather than having character dictate it. Like... it's not my favourite thing to happen but in the way that it played out I can live with it and I was less upset about all of that part than I would have expected to be. And I was definitely thinking IN the theatre about a few of you guys who I knew the way it worked out would REALLY work for and I was happy for you guys <3
-look we all know that when Denis Lawson showed up I blurted "WEDGE" out loud and burst into tears, right? because obviously that was the only way that part was gonna go. my FEELINGS ;_____;
-the bit where the Star Destroyer, like, breaks through the crust of the planet and starts lifting off? PAY MIKE STACKPOLE HIS MONEY. that was 100% the Lusankya visual and I will not hear a word otherwise.
-I realise all I can do is accept it and move on but the way (across all 3 of the recent movies) that they distorted the way hyperspace works and the concept of travel time in general being seen as nonexistent really fucking breaks my immersion just because, like, something doesn't have to be realistic but when it's not CONSISTENT then it's hard to treat it like convincing world building! The whole micro jumping thing was obviously Very Cool to look at on a visuals and momentum building level, and I love beyond the telling of it that beautiful cross-purposes multi-directional argument ABOUT it when Poe and Finn got back to meet Rey, but also it makes no goddamn sense as a concept which is irritating.
-god all the Finn/Poe/Rey interaction through the whole movie was fucking beautiful and I loved it and obviously I ship it like burning but also their friendship and care for each other and ways they know each other ;________; MY FEELINGS
-also real talk I will forgive a lot for that three person hug at the end, GOD. my HEART.
-I wish Rose had had more to do but I still love her so muuuuch
-Jannah was fucking awesome and I dug her a lot and also loved the way that she and Finn got to bond over their shared experience of turning their backs on the brainwashing and pushing back to do the right thing (although I worry that ascribing some of that to the Force acting through them robs them of agency?? Not my lane, so I will be happy to see what other people took from that scene.)
-Finn undeniably using/feeling the Force was also great
-if I had been spoiled for Dom being in it I had completely forgotten so that was an absolute delightful surprise
-I think I maybe saw Lin but I wasn't certain of it; I ABSOLUTELY sat bolt upright during the scene at the festival and hissed THAT'S LIN because it was so clearly his music <3 <3 <3
-I get what JJ Abrams was trying to achieve with the whole lightning effect for like thirty fucking minutes, like, I get it, the creeping constant dread and hypervigilance effect, but I suspect what he actually achieved was just physically hurting a lot of people by not letting us do the movie magic of fiction where you do it like three times and let us just take as read that it has continued happening but for the sake of being able to watch the movie we stop showing it. You know, like how they SHOULD have just lit things in Buffy as we all understood it was Night Time, but instead it was Dark-O-Vision for years. I'm salty about this because I still have a low grade migraine from it :| (lens flare and gender fail joke goes here??)
-so when we saw Endgame (spoiler for endgmae I guess??) it got to the bit where Natasha went over the cliff and I went "oh god, Amy" and sobbed; this time we got to the bit with Snap and I went "oh god, Be" and cried :| I'm sorry, buds <3
-didn't realise I was still at the point with Billy Dee Williams where I recognise him by his walk but hell yeaaaaaah <3
-the movie did a lot of satisfying narrative gears-turing-gears things, which I do appreciate overall; like things played out in patterns that made sense, and I definitely had a lot of feelings about Chekhov's X-Wing being plot relevant in the most obvious and also perfect way.
-thinking about it now I'm not sure if they said Rogue Five or Red Five; I think it was Red Five, but either way MY FEELINGS OH GOD
-I do get why they tied up Leia's story the way they did but man it really does bum me out that literally every one of the Original Three got killed off in this series, which is why I will continue to see it as an Alternate History Canon alongside the EU because I refuse to give up the people I love on both sides of that.
-when Maz handed Chewie the medal I had this moment of joy/rage that I can't even do justice to. like, thanks for acknowledging the fucking injustice that he didn't get a medal in A New Hope but also *claws face* what a goddamn cost
-I was not at all upset when that transport blew and we were meant to think Chewie was on it, and I don't know if that's because they telegraphed it blatantly or just that my rebound rage from the New Jedi Order meant I'd already honed my This Didn't Happen and You Can't Make Me Believe It muscle
-continuing emphasis/evidence to remind everyone that LEIA IS A FUCKING JEDI, about which all i will say is SUCK IT, SUCK IT, S U C K I T everyone who EVER tried to downplay that. eat! rancor! shit! haters!
-sorry not sorry but the way the Hux thing played out was a) wonderfully predictable and b) made me cackle out loud. top marks, A+, would appreciate again.
-there were so many moments, mostly with the main trio, where it landed on exactly the same character beats/feel that made me fall in love with them in the Force Awakens and those bits were lovely.
-the opening crawl didn't quite feel like the right tone/voice (idk why) but I definitely appreciated the classic Star Wars pan down, first-chapter-belongs-to-the-Empire
-I'm so over 'planet destroying super weapon!' which becomes easier and easier to deploy/greater threat as stakes, just--find something ellllllllse.
-one nice retcon in this timeline: Ewoks not wiped out!
-I don't know how much was the size of the screen/how close I was sitting to it but the giant fucking waves around the Death Star ruins made me WILDLY anxious /o\
-it was blatantly manipulative but "the Falcon soaring away from the Imperial Defeat with two X-Wings following" call back shot got me right in the feels as well
-CARRIE ;______________________________;
...that's all I can remember right now. my brain is just--d o n e, that was a lot on top of a busy week/month/year and I am still in immense sleep debt hanging over from November. at least tomorrow I get to sleep in, and hopefully the migraine will have gone because we have to Dungeon and/or Dragon tomorrow :D
This entry also posted at dreamwidth.
comments/ view comments at dreamwidth.
So, PSA: they are not fucking kidding about the flashing lights warning.
It is largely concentrated in one part of the movie but it goes for a LONG while and I should have put my sunglasses on immediately instead of 10min in, bc even I got headachey as a result and I'm not particularly sensitive to that usually.
I am not feeling particularly coherent - I had to sit in the theatre until the very end of the credits because the combination of flashy lights and feelings overload meant I was NOT good to drive or in fact be around people for a little bit afterward - so this is mostly going to be a jumble of thoughts as I have them rather than a review or anything like actual meta.
To start with, I want to say that when I did this for the last movie I fucked up; I was not aware of the stereotype/dog whistle that applied to some of Poe's storyline in TLJ and as a result didn't read that part well. Not knowing doesn't mean it wasn't still a fuck up to do that, and I'm grateful for everyone who talked about why that was an issue, and I'm sorry that you had to do it.
So, Rise of Skywalker thoughts, in no particular order:
-overall I'm glad I saw it and so much of it absolutely got me where I live and I loved a lot of it deeply, especially some of the new characters <3
-god it was weird to keep having moments in it where I could feel the impact/contribution of Lord of the Rings and of Endgame. I mean, part of that was obviously just Big Damn Epic energy, and the fact that the older you get the more likely you are to be influenced by earlier stuff AND to be able to pick up narrative themes/patterns, but that was definitely In There at points in a way I hope someone smarter than me can articulate.
-obviously, I didn't love that Kylo got redeemed, even though we kind of pretty much all could see the writing on the wall with that one. I guess it helps a little for me that it's so obvious they didn't have a fucking plan (a thing I wish was not the case!) and so it reads to me more like three movies that follow each other a little disjointedly than one big true arc and as a result I can kind of see how they're adjusting character to fit a story they wanted to tell rather than having character dictate it. Like... it's not my favourite thing to happen but in the way that it played out I can live with it and I was less upset about all of that part than I would have expected to be. And I was definitely thinking IN the theatre about a few of you guys who I knew the way it worked out would REALLY work for and I was happy for you guys <3
-look we all know that when Denis Lawson showed up I blurted "WEDGE" out loud and burst into tears, right? because obviously that was the only way that part was gonna go. my FEELINGS ;_____;
-the bit where the Star Destroyer, like, breaks through the crust of the planet and starts lifting off? PAY MIKE STACKPOLE HIS MONEY. that was 100% the Lusankya visual and I will not hear a word otherwise.
-I realise all I can do is accept it and move on but the way (across all 3 of the recent movies) that they distorted the way hyperspace works and the concept of travel time in general being seen as nonexistent really fucking breaks my immersion just because, like, something doesn't have to be realistic but when it's not CONSISTENT then it's hard to treat it like convincing world building! The whole micro jumping thing was obviously Very Cool to look at on a visuals and momentum building level, and I love beyond the telling of it that beautiful cross-purposes multi-directional argument ABOUT it when Poe and Finn got back to meet Rey, but also it makes no goddamn sense as a concept which is irritating.
-god all the Finn/Poe/Rey interaction through the whole movie was fucking beautiful and I loved it and obviously I ship it like burning but also their friendship and care for each other and ways they know each other ;________; MY FEELINGS
-also real talk I will forgive a lot for that three person hug at the end, GOD. my HEART.
-I wish Rose had had more to do but I still love her so muuuuch
-Jannah was fucking awesome and I dug her a lot and also loved the way that she and Finn got to bond over their shared experience of turning their backs on the brainwashing and pushing back to do the right thing (although I worry that ascribing some of that to the Force acting through them robs them of agency?? Not my lane, so I will be happy to see what other people took from that scene.)
-Finn undeniably using/feeling the Force was also great
-if I had been spoiled for Dom being in it I had completely forgotten so that was an absolute delightful surprise
-I think I maybe saw Lin but I wasn't certain of it; I ABSOLUTELY sat bolt upright during the scene at the festival and hissed THAT'S LIN because it was so clearly his music <3 <3 <3
-I get what JJ Abrams was trying to achieve with the whole lightning effect for like thirty fucking minutes, like, I get it, the creeping constant dread and hypervigilance effect, but I suspect what he actually achieved was just physically hurting a lot of people by not letting us do the movie magic of fiction where you do it like three times and let us just take as read that it has continued happening but for the sake of being able to watch the movie we stop showing it. You know, like how they SHOULD have just lit things in Buffy as we all understood it was Night Time, but instead it was Dark-O-Vision for years. I'm salty about this because I still have a low grade migraine from it :| (lens flare and gender fail joke goes here??)
-so when we saw Endgame (spoiler for endgmae I guess??) it got to the bit where Natasha went over the cliff and I went "oh god, Amy" and sobbed; this time we got to the bit with Snap and I went "oh god, Be" and cried :| I'm sorry, buds <3
-didn't realise I was still at the point with Billy Dee Williams where I recognise him by his walk but hell yeaaaaaah <3
-the movie did a lot of satisfying narrative gears-turing-gears things, which I do appreciate overall; like things played out in patterns that made sense, and I definitely had a lot of feelings about Chekhov's X-Wing being plot relevant in the most obvious and also perfect way.
-thinking about it now I'm not sure if they said Rogue Five or Red Five; I think it was Red Five, but either way MY FEELINGS OH GOD
-I do get why they tied up Leia's story the way they did but man it really does bum me out that literally every one of the Original Three got killed off in this series, which is why I will continue to see it as an Alternate History Canon alongside the EU because I refuse to give up the people I love on both sides of that.
-when Maz handed Chewie the medal I had this moment of joy/rage that I can't even do justice to. like, thanks for acknowledging the fucking injustice that he didn't get a medal in A New Hope but also *claws face* what a goddamn cost
-I was not at all upset when that transport blew and we were meant to think Chewie was on it, and I don't know if that's because they telegraphed it blatantly or just that my rebound rage from the New Jedi Order meant I'd already honed my This Didn't Happen and You Can't Make Me Believe It muscle
-continuing emphasis/evidence to remind everyone that LEIA IS A FUCKING JEDI, about which all i will say is SUCK IT, SUCK IT, S U C K I T everyone who EVER tried to downplay that. eat! rancor! shit! haters!
-sorry not sorry but the way the Hux thing played out was a) wonderfully predictable and b) made me cackle out loud. top marks, A+, would appreciate again.
-there were so many moments, mostly with the main trio, where it landed on exactly the same character beats/feel that made me fall in love with them in the Force Awakens and those bits were lovely.
-the opening crawl didn't quite feel like the right tone/voice (idk why) but I definitely appreciated the classic Star Wars pan down, first-chapter-belongs-to-the-Empire
-I'm so over 'planet destroying super weapon!' which becomes easier and easier to deploy/greater threat as stakes, just--find something ellllllllse.
-one nice retcon in this timeline: Ewoks not wiped out!
-I don't know how much was the size of the screen/how close I was sitting to it but the giant fucking waves around the Death Star ruins made me WILDLY anxious /o\
-it was blatantly manipulative but "the Falcon soaring away from the Imperial Defeat with two X-Wings following" call back shot got me right in the feels as well
-CARRIE ;______________________________;
...that's all I can remember right now. my brain is just--d o n e, that was a lot on top of a busy week/month/year and I am still in immense sleep debt hanging over from November. at least tomorrow I get to sleep in, and hopefully the migraine will have gone because we have to Dungeon and/or Dragon tomorrow :D
This entry also posted at dreamwidth.
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