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Lumpy the Cook posted:After watching this a second time with the family, I really have to say that so many things from cinematography to editing to shot composition and what I guess could be called mis-en-scene, pacing, aesthetic and lighting and even just the general 'tone' of the whole thing, really, seems exactly like a Marvel movie. On a raw stylistic level there really doesn't seem to be anything separating this from the 3-4 other soulless capeshit flicks Disney pumps out each year. Yeah.
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Dec 24, 2015 21:38
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jivjov posted:The rank and file grunts are never a "dire threat" to protagonists. Just like Kylo!
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Dec 24, 2015 21:45
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I'm trying to think of a memorable shot from this movie and the only thing that really comes to mind is that final shaky low quality helicopter panning shot that looked like something from the training sequence in a lovely early 90s action movie because I'm still somewhat in awe that that happened. I guess that is a little different stylistically, but in a bad way.
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Dec 24, 2015 21:45
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The star destroyer blocking out the planet was cool. And the shots of Rey next to the crashed Star Destroyer.
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Dec 24, 2015 21:47
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Lumpy the Cook posted:I'm trying to think of a memorable shot from this movie and the only thing that really comes to mind is that final shaky low quality helicopter panning shot that looked like something from the training sequence in a lovely early 90s action movie because I'm still somewhat in awe that that happened. I guess that is a little different stylistically, but in a bad way. As much as I thought the actual scene was a rushed mess from a story perspective, the whole First Order Rally / Starkiller base blowing poo poo up sequence was at least pretty to look at. I thought the final forest fight was remarkably well shot as well.
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Dec 24, 2015 21:56
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Let's be honest: JJ Abrams has only ever been capable of directing shapeless, heartless two hour long products devoid of any sincerity or message instead of actual films. He's easily one of the most deeply insincere people in Hollywood(e: yes, yes, even more than Tim Burton), which if you think about it puts him really high up in the list of most insincere people in all of recorded history.
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Dec 24, 2015 21:58
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Smoking Crow posted:the cgi dude was bad but isn't as bad as the prequels because it isn't shot entirely in george lucas's bluescreen hellscape Neither were the prequels.
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Dec 24, 2015 22:00
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team overhead smash posted:Just like Kylo!
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Dec 24, 2015 22:00
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team overhead smash posted:Just like Kylo! Did you miss the part where he captures and torture/interrogates two of them, kills one, and critically wounds another?
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Dec 24, 2015 22:03
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zen death robot posted:Right he used green screens too As well as plenty of sets, miniatures, etc.
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Dec 24, 2015 22:03
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I thought a lot of the stuff on Jakku was memorable. I guess maybe not the shots themselves, they were just pulled out shots of SW wreckage, but still pretty visually arresting. The fight with the Millennium Falcon on Jakku also seemed well shot and edited, at least I thought; it was a high speed dogfight through star destroyer ruins but I was never confused by the geography of the fight. I'm not good at noticing this type of thing the first time around though, so I'll have to rewatch and pay attention. Of all the stuff JJ gets crap for, being visually boring/cookie cutter is usually not one of them, so I'm confident it's as good as I remember.
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Dec 24, 2015 22:06
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Lumpy the Cook posted:Let's be honest: JJ Abrams has only ever been capable of directing shapeless, heartless two hour long products devoid of any sincerity or message instead of actual films. He's easily one of the most deeply insincere people in Hollywood(e: yes, yes, even more than Tim Burton), which if you think about it puts him really high up in the list of most insincere people in all of recorded history.  jivjov posted:As well as plenty of sets, miniatures, etc. There weren't any moments in TFA that stood out to me as "These actors aren't really here, they aren't actually looking at anything, there isn't anything to physically touch on this set, they're just standing and talking in front of a pretty background"
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Dec 24, 2015 22:06
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Augus posted:
Nice counter argument my man. I feel totally different about Brian Singer now.
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Dec 24, 2015 22:13
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I mean JJ Abrams. Sorry I'm always getting tepid gutless superhero movie directors mixed up.
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Dec 24, 2015 22:16
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jivjov posted:1) Kylo was already wounded, and 2) he didn't hold his own for much longer than those 2 seconds. Well fair enough I guess. So long as nobody in the audience has the faintest clue about fencing. wait, wait, I know... Kylo was toying with him. That makes more sense. It's the inner struggle between light and dark side.
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Dec 24, 2015 22:16
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Lumpy the Cook posted:I mean JJ Abrams. Sorry I'm always getting tepid gutless superhero movie directors mixed up. Do or do not. There is no try.
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Dec 24, 2015 22:23
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Abrams is generally pretty strong with visuals and that continues here- the colors are nice and intense with a heavy focus on the red/blue contrast from pretty much the start of the movie, the whole bit with the suspended bolt is inspired too. The action sequences are a bit messier than the norm for the series but not to the point that they're hard to follow. (Basically the spaceship action needed better choreography and I think some more variation in ship design might have helped.)
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Dec 24, 2015 22:41
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Lumpy the Cook posted:Let's be honest: JJ Abrams has only ever been capable of directing shapeless, heartless two hour long products devoid of any sincerity or message instead of actual films. He's easily one of the most deeply insincere people in Hollywood(e: yes, yes, even more than Tim Burton), which if you think about it puts him really high up in the list of most insincere people in all of recorded history. Pretty much sums up JJ.
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Dec 24, 2015 22:42
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Super 8 had sincerity up the wazoo, Trek '09 had an infectious enthusiasm that papered over the dodgier story bits, even Into Darkness had that whole "Starfleet as the military industrial complex" angle. Like sure he's no Ridley Scott or anything, but I think he done well here.
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Dec 24, 2015 22:45
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I do miss truly memorable shots in movies, they're getting harder and harder to come by. I don't have any issues at all with the tone though. It's more modern, and it should be. There are certainly some ways this movie doesn't "feel like Star Wars"; in fact I may even go so far as to say it "feels like Star Wars" even less than The Phantom Menace. But in another way, by aspiring to simply be a good action movie, I think it's the most Star Wars-y movie that can possibly be made these days. Because the original Star Wars was just a good action movie. Or maybe I'm just rationalizing, I dunno. Only seen it once.
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Dec 24, 2015 22:45
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Dec 24, 2015 22:46
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I really liked Super 8 but Ive only seen it once and besides the ludicrous train crash sequence everything I remember most clearly is pretty obviously Spielberg's influence over JJ's.
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Dec 24, 2015 22:48
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net cafe scandal posted:I really liked Super 8 but Ive only seen it once and besides the ludicrous train crash sequence everything I remember most clearly is pretty obviously Spielberg's influence over JJ's. I'm sure Abrams was consciously attempting something in the Spielbergian spirit, but doing that right is not easy and I think he managed it well.
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Dec 24, 2015 22:50
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The crashed Star Destroyer scene was pretty memorable, very evocative of the airbrushed environments in a lot of early fantasy, and it gave a great sense of scale in IMAX. The shot of the Millenium Falcon being consumed by the terrifying behemoth ship's maw was pretty great. Ignoring the CGI quality, the scenes where Kylo and Hitler are speaking to Snoke do a great job of immediately conveying their subservience to him without using any words. The entire forest fight was gorgeous, tense, and memorable. I'd go as far as calling it TFA's Trench Run scene in terms of what moment from the film will be remembered first when thinking about it. The effects work on the water could have been better, but the overall shot of the rebel ships flying in over the ocean was fantastic. I'd have more, but again, only seen once so far, and typing on a phone sucks.
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Dec 24, 2015 22:52
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Super 8 felt like a sad and hollow attempt to bring the corpse of pre-daddy issues Spielberg back to life.
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Dec 24, 2015 22:53
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Dec 24, 2015 22:53
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Maxwell Lord posted:Abrams is generally pretty strong with visuals and that continues here- the colors are nice and intense with a heavy focus on the red/blue contrast from pretty much the start of the movie, the whole bit with the suspended bolt is inspired too. The action sequences are a bit messier than the norm for the series but not to the point that they're hard to follow. (Basically the spaceship action needed better choreography and I think some more variation in ship design might have helped.) I feel that the entire ship sequence could have been vastly improved with some more characterization of the other pilots; as is Poe's the only reason I cared. The "BUT NO DAMAGE!" line was hilariously bad. I cant decide if I love it or hate it.
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Dec 24, 2015 22:54
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I will say that I've watched the film three times and every single time I kinda just blanked through the part where Poe blows up the Starkiller core or whatever. By which I mean, I don't even register that he's successfully crippled the superweapon until after the scene is actually done. ANH was really good about showing the audience the exact parts of the final mission where Luke was failing vs the parts where he was succeeding. TFA needed to be clearer about which times Poe (and his team's) multiple ongoing pew pew explosions were supposed to be ineffective and which times they were supposed to be the money shots.
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Dec 24, 2015 22:55
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Neurolimal posted:The "BUT NO DAMAGE!" line was hilariously bad. I cant decide if I love it or hate it. 
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Dec 24, 2015 22:58
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BrianWilly posted:I will say that I've watched the film three times and every single time I kinda just blanked through the part where Poe blows up the Starkiller core or whatever. By which I mean, I don't even register that he's successfully crippled the superweapon until after the scene is actually done. ANH was really good about showing the audience the exact parts of the final mission where Luke was failing vs the parts where he was succeeding. TFA needed to be clearer about which times Poe (and his team's) multiple ongoing pew pew explosions were supposed to be ineffective and which times they were supposed to be the money shots. I agree. I can't remember anything about the narrative of the air forces other than the part where one ship goes inside (somehow) and wrecks stuff.
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Dec 24, 2015 22:59
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The only ship combat scene I can remember in distinct detail was the Milenny Falcon vs the TIE fighters.. probably because they made the Falcon so fun to watch.
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Dec 24, 2015 23:00
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That scene where Poe shows up and chains together a monster kill out of nowhere was pretty great.
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Dec 24, 2015 23:06
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I want a name for this Stormtrooper who just throws aside his weapons like he's in Power Rangers and goes up against a lightsaber 100% no fear where's his Wookiepedia article already.
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Dec 24, 2015 23:12
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Sir Lemming posted:My only real complaint was the final space battle, if you can call it that. (Clearly Abrams has a bit of a fetish for space ships doing stuff on planets instead of in space.) The final saber fight was great. But the destruction of Starkiller didn't really give us anything comparable to, or better than, either Death Star sequence. I think it was written well enough, with the more character-based "ground" mission complementing the larger-scale ship attack. But it lacked something in execution. I didn't really feel anything when it blew up. I had meant to reply to this before, but missed it. But I think the duel between Kylo Ren and Finn, and then Rey was definitely meant to be the "trench run" setpiece of the film. The literal trench run on Starkiller Base was more so a narrative backdrop component for the duel, if that makes sense. Like there the primary emphasis was on the duel since it's Rey's story, so maybe that's why the destruction of the base felt so secondary. I know exactly what you mean, I'm just having trouble articulating what I want to say properly, hah.
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Dec 24, 2015 23:16
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BrianWilly posted:I will say that I've watched the film three times and every single time I kinda just blanked through the part where Poe blows up the Starkiller core or whatever. By which I mean, I don't even register that he's successfully crippled the superweapon until after the scene is actually done. ANH was really good about showing the audience the exact parts of the final mission where Luke was failing vs the parts where he was succeeding. TFA needed to be clearer about which times Poe (and his team's) multiple ongoing pew pew explosions were supposed to be ineffective and which times they were supposed to be the money shots. Jewel Repetition posted:I agree. I can't remember anything about the narrative of the air forces other than the part where one ship goes inside (somehow) and wrecks stuff. None of their attack runs disabled the weapon. Only after Chewie detonated the explosive charges, creating an opening, was Poe able to fly inside and blow it up.
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Dec 24, 2015 23:21
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BrianWilly posted:I will say that I've watched the film three times and every single time I kinda just blanked through the part where Poe blows up the Starkiller core or whatever. By which I mean, I don't even register that he's successfully crippled the superweapon until after the scene is actually done. ANH was really good about showing the audience the exact parts of the final mission where Luke was failing vs the parts where he was succeeding. TFA needed to be clearer about which times Poe (and his team's) multiple ongoing pew pew explosions were supposed to be ineffective and which times they were supposed to be the money shots. Through all the x-wing battle scenes my most positive reaction was "welp, that'll make a really cool rogue squadron game".
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Dec 24, 2015 23:23
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This probably has been said already, but I felt really iffy about the protagonists slaughtering all those stormtroopers like it was nothing. Finn especially, they are the only friends and family he has known and he's just murdering them left and right with no remorse. It's dumb.
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Dec 24, 2015 23:24
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team overhead smash posted:Just like Kylo! Now you're just being childish, get over being proven wrong. It's ok. Monglo posted:This probably has been said already, but I felt really iffy about the protagonists slaughtering all those stormtroopers like it was nothing. Did you like A New Hope? Finn essentially had his own awakening too; he grew a conscience.
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Dec 24, 2015 23:30
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[edit] whoops
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Dec 24, 2015 23:31
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Monglo posted:This probably has been said already, but I felt really iffy about the protagonists slaughtering all those stormtroopers like it was nothing. It was pretty funny when Finn freaked out over his first combat deployment, only to later turn around and pewpewpew blast the hell out of his former friends and colleagues on board the Star Destroyer.
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Dec 24, 2015 23:33
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