This. (Off-Topic)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Tuesday, December 19, 2017, 08:11 (2532 days ago) @ squidnh3

I thought it was weird. The way in which it kept setting up specific expectations and then subverting them (along with the fan service moments) was almost 4th wall breaking for me.

It saddens me to write this, but maybe I've outgrown Star Wars, or Star Wars has outgrown the kid in me who loved it. I was excited about these movies because of the original cast returning (and Lucas' non-involvement), but now I don't know if it was such a good thing. Harrison Ford did the best job of convincing me that Han was actually back. Otherwise, it's Tom Hanks syndrome. On some level you don't perceive Tom Hanks as a character--he's always Tom Hanks. I'm sad to say that in TLJ I always saw old Mark Hamill pretending to be Luke, I saw old Carrie Fisher pretending to be Princess Leia. And the new actors become such instant celebrities it's basically the same across the board, not including the A-list actors chomping at the bit to set foot on a Star Wars soundstage.

It's easy to begin to feel like Star Wars has become a collection of metas that have little to do with telling a compelling story. The cute creature meta (for merchandising). The big star cameo meta (for the celebrity obsessed). The callback meta. The easter egg meta. The space battle meta (with its predictable beats). The last-minute rescue meta. The loose string meta (to enable more movies forever). I'm not usually the most cynical person in the room, but to me it all feels calculated to achieve an effect, I don't know what the purpose of Star Wars is anymore. It doesn't seem to be to crib from Joseph Campbell's "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" and create something new out of these disparate influences. The faces have changed, but what is new about it? Nearly nothing as far as I can see.

Maybe the Han Solo movie will have to be different enough to interest me. The future of the main movies interests me less and less.