Can this trilogy be salvaged?

I can't answer because I disagree vehemently with the premise that the trilogy need "saved."

 

Disney Shareholder, "I don't care if TFA is the #1 domestic box office movie of all-time, I want MAJOR changes to Episode 8!!!!"

 

TFA wasn't BAD by any means but I didn't like how JJ pretty much said that he was going to leave it up to the other directors to make up for what he lacked .

 

You'res starting on the assumption that it needs salvaging. I think it did a lot more than you're giving it credit for. A lot of what you need to know about Rey's or Finn's characters is handled in their first few scenes, but in a show-don't-tell manner. Her history is something that could similarly be handled, Kylo Ren is another character whose core is already there inTFA. One of the best qualities of TFA is how much you can get out of these characters with just a couple of hours of screen time. Also, the fact that I, and it seems many others, care about these characters, makes the additional world building that much easier.

And really, how much more exposition do we *need* to know? Things like how the first order came about or how Maz Kanada got her hands on Luke's lightsaber are interesting but probably not necessary for the purposes of the story going forward. That's best left to the new EU, IMO. All we really need are Rey's and Kylo Ren's backstories, which could be elegantly handled without ham-fisted exposition.

about the reqrites, that's a slight concern but not alarming. The way I read it, it's not like there's a major shift in focus of character, but rather that some dialog or scenes that would have been handled by the new characters would be given to the returning ones.

About Luke, they filmed al of his stuff at once. How long were they filming on the island?

 

Fully agree .

 

True but he did it "for the fans" .

 

Everyone is entitled his/her opinion but I don't think TFA ruined the series or new trilogy at all. I don't think salvaging is in need, rather it set up the stage for a great second movie and third trilogy.

PS - I loved TFA

 

What’s odd is that all of the “loose ends” that you’ve listed above as being TFA’s negative attributes were the very things I found interesting, and have been keeping my imagination occupied in the time since I last saw it.

- “Snoke looks just like Gollum”.

I think Snoke looks just like Gollum because the same actor portrays both mo-cap characters. As such, his bone structure is serving as a scaffold for all the movements, and such. I’m willing to let this slide; after all, when you think about it, Mace Windu looks almost exactly like Jules Winnfield from Pulp Fiction.



- “The "fleet of the New Republic" has been destroyed, so the resistance has like, 10 Xwings and some transports.”

The First Order lost their big-time weapon, and the Resistance and New Republic Fleets have been destroyed/greatly impacted. To me, this provides all sorts of great chances for seeing how the different factions will interact/fight.



- “Maz is incredibly similar to Yoda and will have to return for exposition.”

The only thing Maz and Yoda had in common that I can think of (and I’ve seen the movie 8 times) is their height and age. Yoda was a Jedi Master and leader of a Council. Maz is “sensitive”, but from what we know, has been nothing more than a pirate/bartender. She has more in common with Guinan from Star Trek: The Next Generation than she does with the little green mensch.


- “BB-8 was a fun character, but can they keep that part of the next two films fresh?”

I don’t know, can they? Probably. The little droid has all sorts of bells and whistles hidden under his bowling ball-body, and if his predecessors --- R2D2 and Chopper --- serve as any indication, there will be any number of quirky/interesting/engaging/endearing things BB8 will do over the course of the next films.



The rest of your bullet points were your emotional takeaways from the film, and I don’t think having me address them will make a lick of difference. I will say, again, that much of what you pointed out as being drawbacks have been, for me, interesting parts of the story that I’m willing to wait two years to see fleshed out on screen.

 

I agree also, I always thought the start of the sequel trilogy had to impress big time, then if it didn't we could talk about calling the salvage squad but I know we can look forward to episode 8 to try to top it.

 

"I'm 90% pessimistic versus 75% optimistic."

Can someone please help me with this math?

 

Another angry white guy in his late thirties.

--- Double Post Merged, Jan 29, 2016, Original Post Date: Jan 29, 2016 ---

 

We all expected a three-course meal from TFA, but were given appetizers. In that same regard, I believe the next two will be less derivative from the OT and now firmly stand on the shoulders of what TFA set up. Another analogy would be that TFA is the skeleton and now all the loose ends will be fleshed out upon that skeleton. I understand that some people were upset at the parallels between TFA and OT, but I also understand that others were thrilled that they decided to go that route. My advice to the skeptics: focus on all of the NEW plots, characters, relationships, planets, weapons, etc. we were given and let your imagination wander until December 2017!!!!

 

I'll let Mark Hamill answer that:

Absolutely.
Consider Kylo Ren for instance... in a single film, J.J. and team have managed to provide as much character development as George Lucas managed to provide in 3 (ROTS, ANH, and TESB).

It wasn't up to JJ...
TFA is the movie that Disney/Lucasfilm wanted JJ to make. The intention was always to make a "soft reboot."

 

You are right, but I would not call it bad story telling.
They don't tell a story, they don't even tried it.
TFA makers thought, who cares, we make money and Rian Johnson will clean up the mess for us in VIII.
If he can't, who cares, the folks will swallow it like it's the best invention since the wheel, it will make money, with or without a coherent story.

J.J. and his team thought: "sorry folks we wanted to show you more exposition scenes, but we decided to skip them, we will show you action scenes after action scenes instead, because our new and younger audience only understands stupid one liner jokes and explosions"
By the way Hollywood is lacking in creativity and originalty since years, it's known.
So much remakes and reboots nowadays and most of them are weak rehashes.

Edit: You guys can disagree with me as long as you want, the truth can't be changed only ignored.

 

I don't know..Not like the last three Star Wars films we got were received with mixed reception, with some negativity pertaining to exactly that. Exposition.
Explosions and corny* one liners > Trade Negotiations

Unoriginal, I get. No story? Whatsoever? Completely incoherent? Nah.

 

The Force Awakens WAS the salvaging - it salvaged Star Wars from the prequel fiascos.

 

Baby steps. To steal a sportsing term I also think it's about building momentum (and value) here.