If You Hated 8, What Would It Take for You To Go See 9?

They should go really "bold" and just throw out plot all together. The movie could just be a bunch of explosions and jokes -- the kind of nonsense general audiences enjoy.

 

Here's an idea for IX:

IX TITLE CRAWL... FADE OUT, PAN DOWN TO A LUSH GREEN PLANET....

Episode 9 begins with Finn unconscious in a bacta pod and suit. The camera zooms in close to his face, his closed eyes are rapidly darting side to side. The view of Finn then mixes between his face and key scenes and echoing sounds from Episode 8. Finns breathing is fast and heavy, his face is sweaty.

THEN, SUDDENLY.....

Finn wakes up, sits up, banging his head on the bacta pod canopy and shouts out "NO!!!" . His eyes are wide open. He looks around, recognizing the D'Qar resistance base all around him.

"Welcome back. Calm down" General Leia smiles warmly.

"Phew!" he sighs with relief, "It was all just a bad dream" Finn realises.

"A nightmare?" Leia asks

"Yes, definately a nightmare!" Finn smiles back. The entire cast and crew then rush in, give a thumbs-up to camera with a cheesy grin and a wink to camera, then they all rush off out again to resume the scene.

"Where's Rey?" Finn enquires

"Your friend Rey has gone to find my brother " Leia smile hopefully, "Lukes droid had the missing map piece the whole time!"

 

Again?

--- Double Post Merged, Jan 20, 2018, Original Post Date: Jan 20, 2018 ---

SW does a "Newhart!!" I love the idea, but ......well.....it won't happen.

FInn awakes with drool dripping (has to have drool....i mean....right?) "Wha'ppen??"

Poe: "You were out cold bro....so much has happened in the hour or so you were asleeps!"

Finn: "You're wearing my jacket"

Poe: "MY jacket, ya dumbs!! And by the way, you ripped it, you smug motherfu......"

Finn: "I didn't rip it!! It got lighsaber'ed! By a bad guy! A really, really bad guy!"

Poe: "Aww man. It's all good. It's....all....go....."

Poe then leans in to give Finn a soul kiss only later to find he/she is his sister.

 

Actually, I based my idea on the infamous "Bobby Ewing in the shower scene" from Dallas. (Ask your parents/grandparents).

 

I can't speak for those who hated 8 (because I don't hate it), but when they are also a part of the fandom, sometimes I assume: nothing. They will go to the cinema three or four times just to talk about how bad the movie was and how greedy Disney is...

 

Yup i had gone 7 times 2 make sure it was bad & in every format......it WAS bad.

 

I'll probably watch it a home (for free) out of morbid curiosity, but at this point I have no interest in seeing it in the theater. Really, there's nothing to care about; there's no story arc or individual character arc's. Even Kylo (who had the only thing resembling a character arc in TLJ) made his choice to go all the way dark side. Even if they did try a redemption story for Kylo, there are no stakes. He has no one over him, so Kylo going back to the light would just mean a policy shift for the FO.

So the only thing that would get me to come back would be if JJ pulled a rabbit out of his hat and just made a fantastic film that fixes everything. Honestly, that's probably not going to happen because (1) JJ as a film maker isn't that good a endings, and (2) RJ broke everything so badly that JJ will have to fit three movies worth of plot development, world building and character development in to one film.

And, so help me god, there better not be a Death Star in this film!

 

Agreed on Abrams not being able to end stuff well. Just look at LOST... But really, Episode Nine; I argue that LF should just make it a two-parter. I know that has been disappearing with the Hunger Games being the curtain call on it and heck even Avengers Infinity War was scaled down to one movie. But to be honest; with how RJ basically left no new plot threads; I have really struggling to see how Abrams and whoever is writing is going to be able to both: Continue off of TLJ and Conclude the entire Saga.

Now, if someone can do that and do it well; I will stand corrected and applaud them. Heck, I'd argue they deserve to stick around! But really, I do believe that a first movie to basically address the fallout/ adjustments of TLJ with it being set up and the final movie being payoff/ an ending would work.

But what do I know? I'm not a screenwriter.

 

Not to sound glib or condescending but I wager EVERYONE on this forum ranting how much they hate Episode 8, will immediately return to Episode 9, probably on opening day.

The reason is simple, if you were all really done with the franchise, you wouldn't even be here. I hated Episode I and II, but wound up being in line for Episode III just the same. Sadly, I think I hated Episode III most of all, but I digress.

It's okay to hate installments, it's even okay to rant about that hatred here on this forum, but I don't buy for a second any of you are done with the franchise. If you were really done with it, you would not be here.

 

No......no........you don't get it. They want to save star wars. They're like that Christian homeless guy on the street corner with a sign that reads "Jesus lives! Repent!".

 

I did not like TLJ but I will always go to see a Star Wars film. If anything I'm more hopeful for Episode 9 with Rian Johnson having nothing to do with it, I think JJ Abrams did a decent job with TFA and I'm sure he will do the same for the next film.

 

Really great post.

I have similar feelings to you on JJ. I think he does lots of things incredibly well, i can't really think of a writer director out their who does intrigue better then him, but the intrigue he sets up very rarely (if ever) has a satisfying pay off, becuase he never seems to work out the answers to the questions he possess. I think he also sets up great chemistry between characters, but again he rarely manages to turn that chemistry into an arc with depth. Like you say he also seems to have one gear (full frottle) and while that can be of benefit, his films are generally really exciting on first watch plus films going at that kind of speed doesn't give the audience a chance to notice plot holes; but it doesn't give lend itself well to emotional depth something an end of a trilogy needs.
Having said all that though, One of the biggest complaints about The Last Jedi was that they didn't feel like it flowed well following on from the Force Awakens so bringing back the first films director may give the trilogy a bit more flow, of course it might do the opposite and make The Last Jedi stick out like a sore thumb.

An army of force ghosts would be incredible to see on screen, how u'd pull it off i have no idea, plus u'd have to give them an incredible threat or foe(s) for them to fight against, and currently their isn't one, we've got Kylo who at best is as strong as Rey and Hux who is a pantomime comedy villain. Even introducing the Knights of Ren wouldn't call for an Army of Force ghosts, we've already been told the Kylo is the strongest of them we arn't even sure if they are force users. So while it would be cool and Epic to see i just don't think it would fit with the story we are seeing and thats the number one thing i want to see in this film is making it feel like their is is a coherent line running through this trilogy that ties the story together!

I don't really want them to bring Snoke back either, it would feel like a bit of a cop out and think if they where going to do it then they would have to have planted hints in the last Jedi. Also think the have made Hux into such a joke character, making that character even possessed by Snoke into a character that seems threatening would be really hard to pull off.

I really don't know where they should go with Episode 9, I don't want it just to feel like Rey vs Kylo round 3, but how you avoid that when they have killed of Snoke i dunno. I certainly don't want to see a conflicted Kylo again weve seen that for two films we need to see him as a full blown villain now strong and threatening that it feels like it will be a challenge for out heroes to over come.
The best Ive got for a plot would be(sorry this goes on a bit i started writing and got carried away feel free not to bother reading lol):

• Having let some time pass(Like 5 years) between the end of the Last Jedi and the beginning of episode 9.
• Have Rey having spend the time training up some new jedi's using the teachings of the Jedi Texts(with help from a certain force ghost).
• Introduce the Knights of Ren have them as force users, so you can set up a full scale battle sequence about with the new jedi vs knights of Ren. We've never really seen that on film, it would also make up for the lack of Lightsaber fights we've seen so far in this trilogy.
• Give the New order and Kylo Ren an a goal something their trying to do other then just conquer the galaxy.
• Explain where the Snoke and the New Order(they can tie this in the New orders goal). I don't care what anyone says you cant just have one film finishing where we see the Emperor killed and the Empire defeated then have the next film start and something that looks like the Empire back with the person in charge looking a lot like the Emperor and have no explanation! And "that what it was like in the original trilogy" isn't a good enough explanation and doing it in the books is a copout.
• Make Kylo Ren finally into a proper villain have episodes 7 and 8 as kind of his Godather Part 1 where he he descends into been a complete B**tard and have episode 9 as Kylos Godfather part 2, start with him as just a complete and utter Evil piece of S***! don't redeem him don't even hint at it. And stop the paddies!
• Give Finn and Poe a real plot, most of their story line in the last Jedi felt a little bit wrote to give them something to do. Make Poe the leader of the Resistance. Maybe give Finn a family have him got married (i guess you could use Rose even if many hated her) and had a kid, then you could have Kylo Ren kill Rose and their child. It would help make Kylo look like a fully fledged villain and give Finn a motivation to go and fight with the Jedi eve if he he is completly out of his depth.
• Don't give us a clean happy ending, Maybe have Kylo kill Rey just for Finn to shoot Kylo in his moment of victory. And give us a future Maybe have kylo has had a kid the some one and Finn finds and raises so we have a Skywalker for episode 10 when it (inevitably) happens.
• Figure out what on earth to do about Leia. I suppose as crap as it would be to do the only way to deal with it is kill her in the Crawl. You cant just have her off screen getting sandwich, recasting would anger many, CGI would do the same. So having her die in between films seems the only way forward as naff as it sounds.
• Play down the humour, Star wars has always had humour but for me The Last Jedis humour was like an awful mix of the humour from the prequels sprinkled with dash of marvel and topped with a side of Spoof.
• Spend more time on the basics of the plot. Their is no doubt that the Last Jedi has some great and interesting themes but it seems at times that they spent to long concentrating on those and too often seem to have ignored basic character motivations and simple plot points.

Of course we probably won't see any of that, but thats kind of where i would go with this film.

--- Double Post Merged, Jan 20, 2018, Original Post Date: Jan 20, 2018 ---

I dunno im sure their are one or two who are quite stubborn even to the point they would spend time on a star wars forum even if they have no intention of ever seeing another star wars film.
But for the most part i agree with you, 99.9% of people on this forum will see episode 9 in the first few days or release whether they thought the Last Jedi was the greatest film ever or a complete pile of Sh**!

 

I tnink you're profondly underestimating how deeply many of us reject TLJ. To me, it twisted and ripped apart too many elements i consider core to SW's main saga, Ep I & II may have been bad movies, but they were still consistent with SW's tone, theme, values and morality. But if SW is no longer true to SW, then what's the point of even watching it ?

Also, as much as some hated the prequels (i did too, to a certain extent), at least they built a cohesive story, and were consistent with each other. The ST's bigger narrative is just an incoherent mess.

Finally, RotS did hold a massive carrot to the audience : we were going to witness first hand Anakin's turn, the fall of the Republic, and the destruction of the Jedi.
What is there to look forward to in IX ? The conflict is incredibly small and meaningless : no one in the galaxy cares about it, and everybody continue living their lives as if nothing happenned. If the GFFA itself doesn't give a damn, then why should i ?
As for the characters ? Well, the old crew is gone, and I've never been so uninvested in the new cast :
_ Rey has already beaten Kylo twice, is stronger than anybody, can do everything, never struggle (at least not with anything related to the plot), will never need help from anyone, and even her mistakes only have positive consequences. So, why should i even care ? she got this.
_ Poe is now a complete as****le who doesn't give a single f#ck about his comrades lives. He can commit the worst offenses and get as many innocents killed as he wants : his smile will get him all the freepass in the world.
_ Finn is nothing more than a "token" for a PR campaign about diversity. But the writers have no idea what to do with him. So he'll just get stuck in a meaningless role, and be there everytime the movie needs to degrade someone for the lulz.

All that to say, there are still anthologies, and the competition got a lot better too. So, i now consider it a DUTY to avoid ep IX : LFL won't set their sails straight unless they start losing money.

 

That's a stretch, I think. And if people are on this forum posting, like myself, it's to work out what we witnessed and why and to talk about it with others. When the need for that has passed, some will move on (like myself) or stay on. It takes a while to learn to let go of something that was precious - so some people posting here might just be slowly letting go of a GFFA; it does not necessarily mean they'll rush out to watch Ep. IX like a bunch of mindless sheep.

As to myself, I'll go and watch it - but more out of a sense of completionism than anything else - but, for the first time, since TPM, I won't be watching it on opening night or opening weekend. I'll give it a couple of weeks - and maybe even go alone; it certainly won't be the celebration or occasion it always was until TLJ.

 

Being a long term fan will be enough to get me to see it with some reserved optimism. I'll want to like it.

JJ coming back does give me some confidence, but my opinion of his overall body of work isn't very positive and I've felt that he had a rare hit on his hands with TFA. In other words I think TFA being as good as it is was due to having the right circumstances and collaborative talents on board. I'm not sure he can do it again. but we'll see. I can say that he at least really seems to understand what makes SW emotionally satisfying.

I would welcome that, yes. In what capacity I do not know.

I'm sure he will. Honestly I am quite indifferent to Luke as a character and TLJ didnt help that for me. His death should have been a real moment but it fell so flat. I reckon seeing him again will do the same. There could be some interesting moments they could have with him in 9 though.

I want to see some WEIGHT added to things. Finn doesn't have goals or challenges. Give him some. The same with Poe. Rey, I just don't know. How is her parent's identity even important? It isn't. They could change that I suppose but I still fail to see how that can drive her character in any satisfying direction. They will really have to come up with something interesting for her to do. Maybe she has been training other Jedi for a few years and she feels the burden of that.

I'd like to see Ren go full psycho bad guy. Make him scary. Make him irredeemable. Have him train the KoR in the force (those padawans that chose to go with him have to be somewhere...make them what became the Knights). Have them face off against Rey's Jedi learners. I don't know.

And keep the 3 main protagonists together for the majority of the movie. Show them as friends.

 

I remember reading a few years about the writer Harlan Ellison; he sometimes used to write in a book store and put the pages up in the window of the store after he had finished each page. There was no going back, no editing, nothing. What was out there, was out there.

Whilst I liked some of TLJ, there’s a large chunk I wasn’t keen on. Whatever comes next needs to follow on from TLJ but honour the rest of the Skywalker saga at the same time – they are all ‘pages in the window’; different but still equal.

For me, what I want to see is more. I want to see some of the threads from TFA picked up by JJ; the Knights of Ren in particular. I want the new cast to be challenged; Rey in particular. Perhaps most of all (given the events of TLJ) I want to see Luke as a Force Ghost, trolling Kylo and mentoring Rey from afar.

Of course this is all moot. Like most fans I’ve got a wish-list as long as my arm. Whatever happens, I imagine that I’ll get sucked along by the hype anyway and end up going opening night, as usual...

 

Just out of curiosity, did you enjoy Rogue One?

 

Spoilers and leaks.
I'll wait for them to choose if to buy a ticket or not.
The "let's save the surprise" for me, ended on December the 13th 2017.
I realized I didn't eat a bite after the movie, only the day after ...

 

Usually this is true as I remember most of friends saw the PT movies atleast 2 or 3 times to make sure their initial reaction was wrong. But with TLJ, those same friends (including me) saw it once and that’s it. There was something different about this SW film that didn’t drive many of us back for repeat viewings despite our fandom. That could be one reason why it’s 275 million (domestically) and 900 million (worldwide) behind TFA.

 

I feel so sorry for you that you feel so off-put by this film. This film, at least in my opinion, feels incredibly close to the George Lucas' SW films, as does Rogue One, while TFA feels the least Star-Warsy out of these three. I feel really frustrated that there are people who feel the opposite way about it and there's nothing I can do about it, especially since we all care so deeply about Star Wars. My only hope is that with time you (and others) will change your mind and will be able to derive as much fun from Episode VIII as I do.