Star Wars Discussion Thread v. Rise of Skywalker / Mandalorian (merged)

[gmillerdrake]

I envy all those who found Kylo's story and character engrossing. It did nothing for me.

Same.

I wouldn't use the word 'engrossing'. For me, his character was more developed and had more layers than Rey's. And for me.....Ren/Ben was the only character that held the three films together and Adam Driver far and away delivered the best acting of the sequel series.

[gmillerdrake]

Without saying too much I’ll just say I think they handled this anticipated introduction of a beloved character about as good as they possibly could have.

Another good episode and I am very pleased.

[lordxizor]

Agreed. I'll wait until Monday to post spoilers and speculation.

The Mandalorian is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows of all time.

[axeman90210]

Great, great episode.

[lonestar]

Outstanding stuff, so much to unpack, so much to build off of.

[faizoff]

I'm so glad Dave Filoni wrote and directed that episode, it was entertaining through and through. What an intro scene that was! What an excellent stretch of episodes there have been. With 3 more episodes left I imagine the main storyline will converge and really can't wait.

[jingle.boy]

   My face when Ashoka asked the question "Where is <spoiler>?>

Makes me want to go back and read the trilogy (which I did in 1990 when it was released).  Still have the books in the cupboard right beside me.

Edit ... 1992.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Another great episode. When baby yoda responded to his real name, I melted! That was so cute. 

[lonestar]

  My face when Ashoka asked the question "Where is <spoiler>?>

Makes me want to go back and read the trilogy (which I did in 1990 when it was released).  Still have the books in the cupboard right beside me.

I'm sure we were all like that.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Rey:  I hear you.  And I'm just going to have to disagree.  Yeah, her arc didn't feel "earned."  But, to me, it didn't need to.  I'll just leave it at that.

Yeah...I think we've talked about this before. I don't know....I'm not claiming to be 'right'....I just didn't connect with her at all. Cool character and it's not that I hated her....her story just didn't resonate with me like Ben/Ren's did. But whatevs....still a cool character....I'd actually love to see more of Rey now that her story isn't bound and limited by the OT.

And for the record.....I enjoyed the sequel trilogy as a whole as movies and entertainment. I just don't see how they'll ever reach the iconic status of the OT....not that then need to but I just think it was a big miss for Disney as I'm sure they were hoping for iconic status.

I'm probably just being cynical, but I'm not sure that SW movies will ever get to iconic status again. We've now had, what, eight live-action movies since the OT (?), and most of them have been rejected by large portions of the fanbase. The prequels were mocked for their acting, CGI, dialog, and pace. The sequels were mocked for having both too much and too little fan service, as well as their general indecisiveness. Then you have Rogue One, which I actually feel like people don't complain about all that much, and Solo, which a lot of people didn't even bother to see.

I think that the current situation is the result of [1] genuine screwups by the people in charge, and [2] insane expectations on the part of the fanbase that are sometimes not grounded in reality. I've had so many of conversations with people that went something like, "The sequels sucked because they just kept ripping off the original movies, because they never did anything with any of the characters, and because they were just plain dumb sometimes. Oh, and by the way, my favorite SW movie is Return of the Jedi." Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy Return of the Jedi, but if you can't find a single thing to criticize about that movie, then you've got blinders on.

Unless they somehow get Denis Villeneuve to direct 10-12, with Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau as writers, I feel like we're just bound for more controversies, sadly.

[The Walrus]

Yoooo. New Mando RULES.

[gmillerdrake]

I’ve watched this episode four times. It’s remarkable how well Rosario Dawson captured Ahsoka’s mannerisms, the ‘way’ she speaks....it’s all there. It helps having Filoni as the director since he basically created the character.....but any of the nervousness I personally had about being able to transition Ahsoka to live action. It just makes me wish her series was ready to go like tomorrow. 

[lonestar]

I’ve watched this episode four times. It’s remarkable how well Rosario Dawson captured Ahsoka’s mannerisms, the ‘way’ she speaks....it’s all there. It helps having Filoni as the director since he basically created the character.....but any of the nervousness I personally had about being able to transition Ahsoka to live action. It just makes me wish her series was ready to go like tomorrow.

You and every other geek in the world 

[faizoff]

Yeah I've seen that opening intro like 10 times. Such an amazing introduction. And I've not even seen the clone wars cartoons yet.

[gmillerdrake]

I’ve watched this episode four times. It’s remarkable how well Rosario Dawson captured Ahsoka’s mannerisms, the ‘way’ she speaks....it’s all there. It helps having Filoni as the director since he basically created the character.....but any of the nervousness I personally had about being able to transition Ahsoka to live action. It just makes me wish her series was ready to go like tomorrow.

You and every other geek in the world 

Yeah I've seen that opening intro like 10 times.

Makes me wonder if it'll be shared how many views this episode gets. I mean, rumor was Disney was curious to see fan reaction to a live action Ahsoka before they committed to her series. From everything I've read online it seems to be resoundingly positive. There were a few outliers on reddit that were screaming foul but I think that voice is small.

There's a 80% chance I'm going to watch it one more time tonight because like RJ said.....I'm a geek and am just stoked that they were able to pull this off.

[lonestar]

Yeah, pretty much across the board it's being watched multiple times, at least in all the Mandalorian /Baby Yoda FB groups I'm in.

[jingle.boy]

Yeah, pretty much across the board it's being watched multiple times, at least in all the Mandalorian /Baby Yoda FB groups I'm in.

Grogu.  Get it right.

When you look at the animated Ashoka (especially latter years), it's amazing how accurate they got the look of Rosario as Ashoka.  I mean, if we didn't know better, ya'd swear the animation was based off of Rosario's look.  Truly phenomenal.

[The Walrus]

^Ahsoka. Get it right! 

[jingle.boy]

^Ahsoka. Get it right! 

[lonestar]

Yeah, pretty much across the board it's being watched multiple times, at least in all the Mandalorian /Baby Yoda FB groups I'm in.

Grogu.  Get it right.

When you look at the animated Ashoka (especially latter years), it's amazing how accurate they got the look of Rosario as Ashoka.  I mean, if we didn't know better, ya'd swear the animation was based off of Rosario's look.  Truly phenomenal.

Funny you say that, there's actually a small scale freak out going on about his name in the same groups. It's fucking hysterical.

[lonestar]

[jingle.boy]

 

[lonestar]

 

[Adami]

Great episode!

But I’ll be honest, Filoni could’ve used a seasoned co-director to help. It was mostly good but a fair amount looked pretty rough or video game quality. Not really a big problem but I did notice quite a bit. But overall? Loved it. Excited for more!

[TAC]

David Prowse RIP..

[lonestar]

[jingle.boy]

[faizoff]

David Prowse RIP..

Indeed, RIP OG Vader.

Lol at lonestar.

[gmillerdrake]

Great episode!

But I’ll be honest, Filoni could’ve used a seasoned co-director to help. It was mostly good but a fair amount looked pretty rough or video game quality. Not really a big problem but I did notice quite a bit. But overall? Loved it. Excited for more!

Nah. The single most important thing for that episode was to transition Ashoka to live action without destroying the character and he nailed it. The gritty look was fine and worked perfectly.

I’m sure others caught the fact that Morai was there as well.....perched in a tree when they had that drawn out shot of Mando searching the burned out forest for Ashoka. And I love how Filoni used the Loth-cats running around the city when Ashoka’s question for the Magistrate was about Thrawn.....and Ezra was last seen with Thrawn and those Loth-cats and Ezra have a history. Very neat call back and tie in.

When you look at the animated Ashoka (especially latter years), it's amazing how accurate they got the look of Rosario as Ashoka.  I mean, if we didn't know better, ya'd swear the animation was based off of Rosario's look.  Truly phenomenal.

While I totally agree the look was there I never doubted they’d nail the look. That was the ‘easy’ part. I’m truly impressed at Dawson nailing her physical mannerisms like her walk, crossing her arms....her fighting stance and style....smile....it was all there. And more importantly the way Ashoka speaks and those intricacies were there. That had to be a tough thing to learn as Ashley Eckstein basically created that for Ashoka.....you can tell Dawson did her homework.

[bosk1]

Rey:  I hear you.  And I'm just going to have to disagree.  Yeah, her arc didn't feel "earned."  But, to me, it didn't need to.  I'll just leave it at that.

Yeah...I think we've talked about this before. I don't know....I'm not claiming to be 'right'....I just didn't connect with her at all. Cool character and it's not that I hated her....her story just didn't resonate with me like Ben/Ren's did. But whatevs....still a cool character....I'd actually love to see more of Rey now that her story isn't bound and limited by the OT.

And for the record.....I enjoyed the sequel trilogy as a whole as movies and entertainment. I just don't see how they'll ever reach the iconic status of the OT....not that then need to but I just think it was a big miss for Disney as I'm sure they were hoping for iconic status.

I'm probably just being cynical, but I'm not sure that SW movies will ever get to iconic status again. We've now had, what, eight live-action movies since the OT (?), and most of them have been rejected by large portions of the fanbase. The prequels were mocked for their acting, CGI, dialog, and pace. The sequels were mocked for having both too much and too little fan service, as well as their general indecisiveness. Then you have Rogue One, which I actually feel like people don't complain about all that much, and Solo, which a lot of people didn't even bother to see.

I think that the current situation is the result of [1] genuine screwups by the people in charge, and [2] insane expectations on the part of the fanbase that are sometimes not grounded in reality. I've had so many of conversations with people that went something like, "The sequels sucked because they just kept ripping off the original movies, because they never did anything with any of the characters, and because they were just plain dumb sometimes. Oh, and by the way, my favorite SW movie is Return of the Jedi." Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy Return of the Jedi, but if you can't find a single thing to criticize about that movie, then you've got blinders on.

Unless they somehow get Denis Villeneuve to direct 10-12, with Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau as writers, I feel like we're just bound for more controversies, sadly.

I don't really disagree with anything you wrote.  But I'm totally okay with all of that too. 

On the non-trilogy films:

R1:  One of my top 3 favorite Star Wars films, and can end up in the top spot on a lot of days.  It has a couple of glaring continuity mistakes (well, only one is a true continuity error; the other is just dumb).  But it is still fantastic.

Solo:  I went into it with pretty low expectations, and just hoped for something that barely cracked "good."  Expectations FAR exceeded.  Other than the dumb part about his name, Solo didn't really have anything to criticize.  Very good film.



Anyhow, as far as the Mandalorian, GREAT episode!  I'll have to see it again, but this may be my favorite of the entire run so far.

[lordxizor]

OK... wading into Spoiler territory now that everyone has had a few days to catch up:

Who does everyone think will be the next Jedi that they meet after going to the Jedi temple Ahsoka mentioned? Any chance we have a run-in with Luke? It would almost seem odd if he didn't at least get a mention at some point. What about Ezra Bridger? I think with the other tie-ins to Rebels he's the most obvious option.

Curious if Grand Admiral Thrawn makes his way into The Mandalorian or if that's setting up a future Ahsoka spin-off.

[gmillerdrake]

I think Ezra seems to be the Jedi that’d answer the call.....simply because of all of the other tie ins to the two animated series.

[lonestar]

OK... wading into Spoiler territory now that everyone has had a few days to catch up:

Who does everyone think will be the next Jedi that they meet after going to the Jedi temple Ahsoka mentioned? Any chance we have a run-in with Luke? It would almost seem odd if he didn't at least get a mention at some point. What about Ezra Bridger? I think with the other tie-ins to Rebels he's the most obvious option.

Curious if Grand Admiral Thrawn makes his way into The Mandalorian or if that's setting up a future Ahsoka spin-off.

I'm guessing Thrawn is for the Ahsoka show, that she is done with the Mandalorian for now (maybe making an appearance for the finale but that's it).

If somehow Ahsoka does run into Luke, this has to be that scene...

[gmillerdrake]

I'm guessing Thrawn is for the Ahsoka show, that she is done with the Mandalorian for now (maybe making an appearance for the finale but that's it).

I had read a rumor over the summer that she appears in two episodes....but who really knows? I think it'd be cool for her to show back up and dispatch of those Death Soldiers (or whatever they're called) that Mof Gideon has being mobilized. Not sure Mando can handle those on his own.

No matter what....I need more Ahsoka.....like now.

[Orbert]

Once again, I was quite pleased at how well the new episode held together without requiring knowledge of either animated series.  They're doing a great job of introducing the characters for those of us who've only ever seen the movies, but including things that provide some extra payoff for people familiar with the animated stuff and/or the books.  Nicely done.

On another board I visit, I'm seeing shit like "So who is this Ashoka (sic) and why's she so important?"  Answer: She's the one Bo-Katan said to find.  Not that hard to follow.  If she has greater importance than that, it's not explored here, and I never felt like I was "missing" anything by not knowing her backstory.  She's obviously a badass in her own right, and strong with The Force.  For the purpose of this story, that's all we needed to know.  I happened to know some of her backstory from discussions here, so her remarks about emotional attachments had a little more weight, but everything she said and did worked fine for me.

Same with Bo-Katan and the other Mandalorians we met a few episodes back.  I saw three Mandalorians obviously from some other sect.  When she pulled off her helmet, I thought "Whoa, this group obviously doesn't have the helmet rule" while others went "Holy shit, it's Bo-Katan!"  Then she introduced herself and the others and we were all on the same page.  Cool.

I think people just like to complain.  They're not "missing" anything; they're just whining that they don't get the extra reward that others do for knowing the other material.  Sorry, that can't be helped.  I think Filoni, Favreau and company are doing a hell of a job keeping a delicate balance.