Movie opinions thread (what have you seen, what did you think?)

HornheaDD said:

I loved Rogue One. Other than Empire, I think it's the best SW film.

Click to expand...

I'm not a modern SW hater, I felt VII was ok, I really enjoyed Rogue One...but god, did I despise Ep VIII...what a train wreck.

I thought Rogue One was a chunk of shit. Predictable as fuck from beginning to end, with wafer-thin, one-dimensional characters, none of whom have any kind of arc whatsoever. The main character goes through a change from not wanting to be involved at all to suddenly giving rousing speeches, but without any kind of explanation for the flip. Not the worst Star Wars movie unfortunately, but not good, never mind great.

SouthtownKid said:

I thought Rogue One was a chunk of shit. Predictable as fuck from beginning to end, with wafer-thin, one-dimensional characters, none of whom have any kind of arc whatsoever. The main character goes through a change from not wanting to be involved at all to suddenly giving rousing speeches, but without any kind of explanation for the flip. Not the worst Star Wars movie unfortunately, but not good, never mind great.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I found it to be unbearably formulaic, a ride at a theme park more than an actual film of any substance. It was a true grind watching it. Just horrible

SouthtownKid said:

I thought Rogue One was a chunk of shit. Predictable as fuck from beginning to end, with wafer-thin, one-dimensional characters, none of whom have any kind of arc whatsoever. The main character goes through a change from not wanting to be involved at all to suddenly giving rousing speeches, but without any kind of explanation for the flip. Not the worst Star Wars movie unfortunately, but not good, never mind great.

Click to expand...

I don't disagree with any of that...but I still enjoyed it. I enjoy a McDonald's 10pc nug + fries + coke...it doesn't make it quality...but I still enjoy it. There was just something I found enjoyable about the movie despite it's many technical flaws. It was less enjoyable, but I felt the same way about VII...it was super flawed, but I found it watchable.

...VIII? It was just a giant clusterfuck of never ending stupidity. There wasn't a single redeemable element from that film. Now that the absurd SJW smoke has finally cleared, it is now apparent how large of a train wreck that film really was given the full on panic Disney is in with the whole SW franchise at the moment.

HornheaDD said:

I loved Rogue One. Other than Empire, I think it's the best SW film.

Click to expand...

same here. but it's return of the jedi first for me.

smokehouse said:

I'm not a modern SW hater, I felt VII was ok, I really enjoyed Rogue One...but god, did I despise Ep VIII...what a train wreck.

Click to expand...

I felt VII was ok, too, didn't like Rogue One, as it was the least SW, liked The Last Jedi. The latter has flaws (odd slapstick, apparent book burning, half-assed child labor censure etc.), but all-in-all, it made everything better, than Ep VII. Boyega rose up to be a good Poitier imitation, Dern was that classy liberal bitch and above all was Mark Hamill and the island of Skellig Michael.

All the little touches like the old Yoda puppet cameo including Oz, Luke's meet with ArToo, the Infinity Mirror at Dark Side's, the Matrix-style Light Saber dodge -- I consider even great. I also enjoyed the Salar de Uyuni showdown. 152 minutes were a bit much, and I'll certainly have to see this one again, but the fact that I want to, is already a good sign. Yeah, tastes differ, but a train wreck? Hmmm...

oliverclaude said:

I felt VII was ok, too, didn't like Rogue One, as it was the least SW, liked The Last Jedi. The latter has flaws (odd slapstick, apparent book burning, half-assed child labor censure etc.), but all-in-all, it made everything better, than Ep VII. Boyega rose up to be a good Poitier imitation, Dern was that classy liberal bitch and above all was Mark Hamill and the island of Skellig Michael.

All the little touches like the old Yoda puppet cameo including Oz, Luke's meet with ArToo, the Infinity Mirror at Dark Side's, the Matrix-style Light Saber dodge -- I consider even great. I also enjoyed the Salar de Uyuni showdown. 152 minutes were a bit much, and I'll certainly have to see this one again, but the fact that I want to, is already a good sign. Yeah, tastes differ, but a train wreck? Hmmm...

Click to expand...

Take nearly every single plot point in VII and it is completely abandoned or warped in VIII. Pushing aside the absurd social justice shit, there's really little in the film besides the director intentionally giving old SW fans the finger.

Basically from the second Luke unceremoniously chucks the light saber off the cliff, the entire film feels like Rian Johnson telling old SW fans. "fuck off, you're not needed anymore". He shits on nearly every plot setup JJ gave him in VII, as well as nearly anything that was the original SW films including characters, themes, and even the way things mechanically work in that universe. He's made it publicly known his disdain for most SW fans...the guy is just an asshole and VIII reflects it.

There is little character development in the film, little overall plot and tons of pointless flash-bang. He did his best to make everyone, no one. His killing Snoke/Luke, making Rey no-one and adding nothing to other characters has left this giant shell of a plot. At this point, I have no clue where IX would even go.

The Meg - The little kid was completely awful in every scene she was in. 99% of her lines were ridiculous and had zero semblance of anything an 8-year-old would actually say, and her acting didn't help. Li Bingbing was also terrible (she's hot, sure, but a bad actress) and casting her made it clear just how much the movie wanted to pander to China.

Statham is still charismatic and fun to watch, and most of the actual stuff with the shark was fun, but the movie should have been better than it was.

What I liked about Rogue one was that it was *meant* as a stand alone. No, there weren't huge 3 movie spanning stories, or crazy reveals in part two. It was made about the other guys. It was made as a quick 'this is what happened in the last 24 hours' story.

It's like the Bothans, if you will. They were thrown into a shit situation, and knew they weren't going to survive, and they didn't. But what they accomplished turned the tide in the war. The rebellion went from a small resistance terrorist cell to a full on coup, eventually.

Take the star wars elements out of it, and it's still a fun gritty war movie.

You can still be jaded by the terrible pre/sequels, and enjoy Rogue one for what it was.

HornheaDD said:

What I liked about Rogue one was that it was *meant* as a stand alone. No, there weren't huge 3 movie spanning stories, or crazy reveals in part two. It was made about the other guys. It was made as a quick 'this is what happened in the last 24 hours' story.

It's like the Bothans, if you will. They were thrown into a shit situation, and knew they weren't going to survive, and they didn't. But what they accomplished turned the tide in the war. The rebellion went from a small resistance terrorist cell to a full on coup, eventually.

Take the star wars elements out of it, and it's still a fun gritty war movie.

You can still be jaded by the terrible pre/sequels, and enjoy Rogue one for what it was.

Click to expand...

not for what it is, i thought it was great, mate. the darker side to the rebellion alone was worth the watch.

smokehouse said:

Take nearly every single plot point in VII and it is completely abandoned or warped in VIII. Pushing aside the absurd social justice shit, there's really little in the film besides the director intentionally giving old SW fans the finger.

Basically from the second Luke unceremoniously chucks the light saber off the cliff, the entire film feels like Rian Johnson telling old SW fans. "fuck off, you're not needed anymore". He shits on nearly every plot setup JJ gave him in VII, as well as nearly anything that was the original SW films including characters, themes, and even the way things mechanically work in that universe. He's made it publicly known his disdain for most SW fans...the guy is just an asshole and VIII reflects it.

There is little character development in the film, little overall plot and tons of pointless flash-bang. He did his best to make everyone, no one. His killing Snoke/Luke, making Rey no-one and adding nothing to other characters has left this giant shell of a plot. At this point, I have no clue where IX would even go.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I just rewatched VIII the other night. What a mess. Just watching clips of Rian Johnson talking about what he planned to do with, VIII, you could tell he was kind of a moron and his entire objective was a big "fuck you". And nothing could stop him. If I were directing a Star Wars movie and Mark Fucking Hamill said, "I fundamentally disagree with how you are portraying Luke," I would pump the breaks and fix what was wrong. Johnson leaned into it.

The plot points themselves sucked.

The entire Fin / Rose / Codebreaker story A) doesn't go anywhere, B) introduces hollow characters, C) makes social commentary even though SW is not the time and place for that, D) is poorly written [they get sidelines because they parked in a bad spot WTF?] E) is a waste of Fin's character F) reprises Maz, the old lady alien who was the lamest character in VII...

The Resistance story A) shows that Leia doesn't understand basics of combat [ordering Poe not to blow up the gun towers on the destroyer] B) is a waste of Poe's character C) is poorly written [If Laura Dern just communicated her plan, the crew wouldn't be panicking. How did the First Order find the Resistance base before they scattered? Arbitrarily.] D) could've ended Leia's character in a fitting / emotional way but didn't, E) had the stupidest "subversion" of them all [It's a snow planet like in Empire! Wait no it's a SALT planet!!], F) undermines its own conclusion ["We're the spark that ignites a new rebellion" vs. "We've sent out an SOS and others are seeing it but just don't care enough to respond"]...

The Luke / Rei story A) is completely contrary to who Luke is, B) doesn't advance Rei's story since she doesn't get any training, C) wastes what could've been a poetically fucked up moment [when Rei finds the pit], D) doesn't even address Han's death in a meaningful way to Luke...

The Rei / Kylo story A) is edited / produced poorly [the actors just looking off-screen? lame.] B) doesn't do enough to push Rei toward the dark side which would have been more of an emotional rollercoaster, C) turned Kylo from a conflicted guy with an insatiable lust for power into just a guy who is thirsty for Rei, D) is a waste of Snoke's character, as we've only seen him as a hologram before [he could've been a 10-foot giant but instead he's just a normal guy with some deformities] E) uses prequel-style fight choreography where one guy attacks the protagonist while the other three or four bad guys spin their swords around...

Also, if the list hasn't made it obvious, there were too many stories running parallel.

What really shocked me is that Disney apparently thought that VIII was great before it was released, since they planned on giving Johnson his own trilogy.

JJ's got his work cut out for him. Hopefully Rian Johnson goes into hiding like George himself.

HornheaDD said:

What I liked about Rogue one was that it was *meant* as a stand alone. No, there weren't huge 3 movie spanning stories, or crazy reveals in part two. It was made about the other guys. It was made as a quick 'this is what happened in the last 24 hours' story.

Click to expand...

Exactly. People shouldn't be expecting big character arcs with this movie. It was a one-off. And it wasn't a traditional Star Wars movie. It was a war movie as opposed to an action / adventure movie, while also providing a peak into the inner workings of the rebels.

fakeXsound said:

The Luke / Rei story A) is completely contrary to who Luke is,

Click to expand...

Because as we know, nobody ever changes as they get old.

[REDACTED]

The Force Awakens was the last Star Wars movie I saw, I enjoyed it. Now I see they (Disney) are pumping them out left and right, I'm not interested.

When Luke said in Ep VIII, that "no one's ever really gone", was he recalling...

a) Joseph Merrick's death?

Never, oh, never nothing will die. The stream flows, the wind blows. The cloud fleets, the heart beats. Nothing will die.

or

b) N.E.R.D?

The truth will set you free. But first, it'll piss you off. Hate!

That's one of those "to be or not to be a Star Wars fan" questions and can only be answered by a child. In a mask .

LoneSage said:

Rogue One was retarded and anyone who self-proclaims themselves as Star Wars fans in 2018 is fucking retarded, end of story

Had a good movie in 77 and a cool final battle in ROTJ and that's about it

Steer clear of anyone who says "I love Star Wars" because they are normie as fuck

The movie equivalent of wearing crocs, i guess? fuck them all to hell regardless

Click to expand...

Its funny you'd say this...

I told my wife that a few years back, I'm not really a SW movie fan. I guess I'm an original trilogy fan, but I'll be honest and say that I really haven't liked most SW films after those 3. I said I enjoyed Rogue One...but Episodes I-III, VII and VIII? I really didn't like any of them...and a few I despised. I was a serious SW fanboy right up until Episode I...that was the day the music died. I'm a much larger fan of the SW universe, the games, books, comics.

Ironically, I'm a much larger Star Trek fan, I love of much of the ST universe and many of its shows/films (although ST Beyond was total trash).

SouthtownKid said:

Because as we know, nobody ever changes as they get old.

Click to expand...

So Luke goes from a nearly unshakable sense of heroism to getting within inches of murdering a teenager? And that's what turns him into a brooding homeless guy? C'mon. If they really wanted to go with that, it needed to start with hero Luke, then have something devastating happen that turns him into an asshole, then have him almost kill Ben Solo, which starts the transformation from Ben Solo to Kylo Ren and further deepens Luke's disillusion with the Jedi.

SouthtownKid said:

Because as we know, nobody ever changes as they get old.

Click to expand...

We don't watch movies like SW for a dose of shitty reality, we watch it to be entertained and taken to a world that is not as shitty as this one.

Luke was a manifestation of hope, and redemption, and good. He was a flawed human, but his character was the driving force that turned things around. I'm not sure what the intention was with Luke in Ep VIII, perhaps it was to have the plot of "someone new saves the old tired savior", but it so was poorly done that in the end, the entire message was lost (if there was even one in the first place). It wasn't much of a redemption story, it wasn't much of anything. Again, it mostly came across as Johnson saying "Fuck anything old, I'm going to kill it all off". Perhaps that was his point, perhaps it was not.

In the end, it wasn't fun to watch, it wasn't "edgy", it was sad to watch a childhood hero be such an ass only to die at the end.

jro said:

The Meg - The little kid was completely awful in every scene she was in. 99% of her lines were ridiculous and had zero semblance of anything an 8-year-old would actually say, and her acting didn't help. Li Bingbing was also terrible (she's hot, sure, but a bad actress) and casting her made it clear just how much the movie wanted to pander to China.

Statham is still charismatic and fun to watch, and most of the actual stuff with the shark was fun, but the movie should have been better than it was.

Click to expand...

Any time you go see a movie and a Chinese logo pops up in the credits, there's gonna be some pandering (and possibly some panda-ing).

Explorers 1985

I saw this as a kid, and loved it. It made me want to tear apart stuff I had to attempt to build a space ship. I hadn't watched it in probably 20 years or so. I just recently watched this and... what in the fuck was that all about?

The first half of the movie still kinda holds up with the kids discovering the McGuffin to go into space. Its got that real Goonies-ish feel of exploration, adventure and finding out what this crazy dream is all about. Then they get into space and the movie turns into a god damned Looney Tunes (the shit years) quote-along. It was completely awful. As a kid I dont remember the aliens being all that annoying, but in fairness, that part of the film was probably written for kids at the time. I didn't remember the ending quite correctly, seeing as they got another message from the stars, and then the girl that the main kid likes is included with the group.. Then again, this was the 'extended' edition I found, so maybe the version I saw as a kid didn't end like that. No idea.

First half of the movie is great, especially seeing River Phoenix as the nerd of the group. 2nd half is balls.

HornheaDD said:

Explorers 1985

I saw this as a kid, and loved it. It made me want to tear apart stuff I had to attempt to build a space ship. I hadn't watched it in probably 20 years or so. I just recently watched this and... what in the fuck was that all about?

The first half of the movie still kinda holds up with the kids discovering the McGuffin to go into space. Its got that real Goonies-ish feel of exploration, adventure and finding out what this crazy dream is all about. Then they get into space and the movie turns into a god damned Looney Tunes (the shit years) quote-along. It was completely awful. As a kid I dont remember the aliens being all that annoying, but in fairness, that part of the film was probably written for kids at the time. I didn't remember the ending quite correctly, seeing as they got another message from the stars, and then the girl that the main kid likes is included with the group.. Then again, this was the 'extended' edition I found, so maybe the version I saw as a kid didn't end like that. No idea.

First half of the movie is great, especially seeing River Phoenix as the nerd of the group. 2nd half is balls.

Click to expand...

i saw this as a kid and loved it but didn't know what it was called and went out looking for it in my teens. i always thought the second half was way out of place and turned a great adventure into a goofy mind fuck which you couldn't take seriously. it's like if they showed E.T reaching home to his planet just for the viewers to find out that his home planet was sesame street the whole time.

but i guess the movie is about the journey and not the destination. still a top notch 80 movie.

Bogard said:

it's like if they showed E.T reaching home to his planet just for the viewers to find out that his home planet was sesame street the whole time.

Click to expand...

hilarious and believable. would love to see some onscreen banter between E.T. and Grover

Saw "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" a few weeks ago and loved it. Despite the vaguely dated song, the humor was hilarious. Fuck Ethel Merman.

Alien Covenant

Second watching since release
I liked it even more than the first time around and I loved it back then.
It just ticks si many boxes for me.
Outside of Alien lore, as a standalone film.

DevilRedeemed said:

Alien Covenant

Second watching since release
I liked it even more than the first time around and I loved it back then.
It just ticks si many boxes for me.
Outside of Alien lore, as a standalone film.

Click to expand...

I watched this again on Friday, and yeah it was enjoyable. Fassypants is always fun to watch.

And honestly, I don't know why, but I kinda dig that main gal, the one from Fantastic beasts.