The Mandalorian

[Sirwalterraleigh]

In regards to females...

Spoiler

There are several bad @$$ female characters that will make recurring appearances later in the season. It is also worth noting that the Mandalorian blacksmith was a female. [/spolier]

And I’m not sure why that HAS to be a requirement. I can’t figure why lucasfilm continues to design based on the physical characteristics of the character...as opposed to what story you want her character to sell? Start with story.

as does Ming-Na Wen, Julia Jones and Natalia Tena.

Now I’m interested...
...I’m sorry, my biology says it’s ok to play favorites

I shall not yield...I shall not waiver

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I’m not getting much out of this show, so far.

The narrative has been largely straightforward and predictable, the main character has no discernible personality, and the second episode was largely filler, outside of one specific moment, which again, was predictable.

There were 2-3 fun action secquences, though, so that’s a plus.

I’m sure it’ll kick in, but this needs more substance. It’s mostly surface level action/characterization thus far.

Considering how bad the movies have sucked...I think you might be a tad too demanding

 

[MisterPenguin]

And the kick-butt female Mandalorian in Rebels.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

And the kick-butt female Mandalorian in Rebels.

Sabine wren

Both those female characters were great


As was the ultimate character Ashoka in clone wars

Supposedly they’re considering an actress marvel fans “love” to play her

 

[doctornick]

Honestly I would’ve taken that whole squad from Rogue One as the new main heroes of the sequel trilogy. They were sooooooooo much more interesting as characters.

See, I know it's not a common view, but Rogue One has been my least favorite of the Disney released SW movies. And, ironic to your comment, my main reason is because... I thought the characters were boring. I mean, they could have been good, but the movie IMHO did a poor job of providing them any development or having me care about them. Since the climax of the movie was them all dying, without actually caring about them, it rang hallow. Like they spent more time in slow mo killing them all than they did actually giving them any sort of arc in the film that would make me care. YMMV.

I did like K-2S0 though, a lot. Was bummed about him dying.

Mind you, i'm not saying I couldn't care about those characters - I'm hoping that Cassian becomes more interesting once they expand on him with the new series (like what happened with Anakin with the Clone Wars toon). I just think Rogue One didn't do them any favors.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

See, I know it's not a common view, but Rogue One has been my least favorite of the Disney released SW movies. And, ironic to your comment, my main reason is because... I thought the characters were boring. I mean, they could have been good, but the movie IMHO did a poor job of providing them any development or having me care about them. Since the climax of the movie was them all dying, without actually caring about them, it rang hallow. Like they spent more time in slow mo killing them all than they did actually giving them any sort of arc in the film that would make me care. YMMV.

I did like K-2S0 though, a lot. Was bummed about him dying.

Mind you, i'm not saying I couldn't care about those characters - I'm hoping that Cassian becomes more interesting once they expand on him with the new series (like what happened with Anakin with the Clone Wars toon). I just think Rogue One didn't do them any favors.

Ok...I think that a fair viewpoint. I think they should have cut out the daddy issues entirely and made it more of an espionage based movie myself...but I’m ok with it.

So let me ask: what is redeeming about the trilogy debacle characters? They’re like watching paint dry. Honestly they could kill them all and it won’t move an inch...

...because I won’t be there...

...which means they’re bad characters in bad stories.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

‘The Mandalorian’ Already Feels More Like ‘Star Wars’ Than Any Of Disney’s Sequels

Television is the future of this franchise.

www.google.com

 

[doctornick]

So let me ask: what is redeeming about the trilogy debacle characters? They’re like watching paint dry. Honestly they could kill them all and it won’t move an inch...

...because I won’t be there...

...which means they’re bad characters in bad stories.

To each their own, but I though Rey and Finn were solid interesting characters in TFA and Kylo had a good start. I loved the story arc for Rey/Kylo/Luke in TLJ, bot Finn was botched (and Rose was certainly in the same sphere of boring as all get out as the characters in RO to me) and regressed/stagnated.

Poe at this point seems like an amusing supporting character than a main member. I actually think there's good potential there but that not enough has been done with him (I would say something similar for Cassian/Jyn/Chirrut - like they were fine but didn't do enough to let me care about them but could have been interesting with more development).

But hey I'm someone who rather enjoys the ST so feel free to disagree

 

[erasure fan1]

‘The Mandalorian’ Already Feels More Like ‘Star Wars’ Than Any Of Disney’s Sequels

Television is the future of this franchise.

www.google.com

I will still say that star wars is a movie, big screen event. Now if you told me TV was replacing the "a star wars story" movies, I could except that. As good as the Mando has been, and looks like it is going be. It will never replace that blockbuster event for me. I get what the article is saying and it makes sense. The problem we've had so far is we haven't gotten a movie from a Favreau or similar yet. If whatever Feige is doing, falls flat, then the big screen might just be done for star wars.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I will still say that star wars is a movie, big screen event. Now if you told me TV was replacing the "a star wars story" movies, I could except that. As good as the Mando has been, and looks like it is going be. It will never replace that blockbuster event for me. I get what the article is saying and it makes sense. The problem we've had so far is we haven't gotten a movie from a Favreau or similar yet. If whatever Feige is doing, falls flat, then the big screen might just be done for star wars.

The Biggest shock in the last 25 years of Hollywood is that neither Lucas nor Disney can make a good Star Wars movie.

Striking out on a level not thought possible.

To be fair...”event movies” aren’t like they used to be. The reality is that empire and Jedi had the house to themselves for nearly a year. There were no other tent poles...mainly beside ILM had the monopoly on SEFX...

So the times have changed...every studio spends big and frankly, ilm no longer wows. Can’t do it.

But the problem is they aren’t trying to make Star Wars...modernizing and expanding audience has to be an organic by product of the spirit and tone of Star Wars - and they are bass ackwards as to which comes first.

I’d still like real Hollywood Star Wars fans to get cracks at these. Money has to be second. (Bob Iger just fainted)
But the money always came from the investment in the lore. No Wharton accountant can grasp this.

Abrams ain’t it. He pays it lip service as he tries to catch uncle Steven’s billions

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

To each their own, but I though Rey and Finn were solid interesting characters in TFA and Kylo had a good start. I loved the story arc for Rey/Kylo/Luke in TLJ, bot Finn was botched (and Rose was certainly in the same sphere of boring as all get out as the characters in RO to me) and regressed/stagnated.

Poe at this point seems like an amusing supporting character than a main member. I actually think there's good potential there but that not enough has been done with him (I would say something similar for Cassian/Jyn/Chirrut - like they were fine but didn't do enough to let me care about them but could have been interesting with more development).

But hey I'm someone who rather enjoys the ST so feel free to disagree

No matter what way I tried to watch those movies...I couldn’t find ANY of what you see.

Just doesn’t pop

 

[BrianLo]

Honestly I would’ve taken that whole squad from Rogue One as the new main heroes of the sequel trilogy. They were sooooooooo much more interesting as characters.

I think this is a bit of revisionist history to find any and every reason to dislike the new trilogy.

Mine (and quite a bit of the initial reaction) to Rogue One was the movie was great, some of the side characters were great, but the leads were the most boring and bland to ever grace Star Wars. Cassian was flat and Jyn was a bit of an emotional brick wall. I had read the lead in novel (primarily following Jyn’s parents) and was dissapointed what a non-entity she grew into compared to her mother.

Rey and Poe’s charisma on the other hand (at least in TFA) were the some of the strongest parts of that movie.

The other similarly timed movie with bland leads is Fantastic Beasts (Eddie Redmane makes Newt Austistic - something that would totally be fine if they actually wrote the character and plot to intend that) and his female lead is boring.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think this is a bit of revisionist history to find any and every reason to dislike the new trilogy.

Mine (and quite a bit of the initial reaction) to Rogue One was the movie was great, some of the side characters were great, but the leads were the most boring and bland to ever grace Star Wars. Cassian was flat and Jyn was a bit of an emotional brick wall. I had read the lead in novel (primarily following Jyn’s parents) and was dissapointed what a non-entity she grew into compared to her mother.

Rey and Poe’s charisma on the other hand (at least in TFA) were the some of the strongest parts of that movie.

The other similarly timed movie with bland leads is Fantastic Beasts (Eddie Redmane makes Newt Austistic - something that would totally be fine if they actually wrote the character and plot to intend that) and his female lead is boring.

I can concede your point about the R1 characters...

But you invalidate it a bit when you promote the awful sequel characters. “Charisma” isn’t really evident at all. They play characterures trying to mimic the emotional appeal of the originals (an Abrams calling card) without providing any real reason why we should believe in their characters or story. Very flat.

The R1 praise is a bit of an over reaction...but the reasoning is clear: it’s the only movie that matched the feel of Star Wars (which is 100% what the mandalorian is trying to do) and any real conflict in the plot.

They had an entire movie that was a car chase over gas...
And a deconstruction of the main IP character as a side plot.

Ehhh...another day here in the Star Wars vacuum - I suppose

 

[RandySavage]

There were nameless Extras in Rogue One, with only a few seconds of screentime (such as the Rebel who desperately tried to get the disk through the door as Vader pursued) that I found much more compelling than the combined casts of characters in the Prequel and Abrams Trilogies.

A very high caliber of casting, acting and screenplay was the rule rather than the exception in Rogue One (I find opposite to be true for the Prequels or Abrams/Johnson trilogy, with a great deal of script-writing and acting that feels amateurish), so even without the hours of screentime or backstories, characters like Jynn Urso and Cassian had much more gravitas/weight/audience-connection than any of the Pre/New Saga characters (who?). In Rogue One, emoting or simple interchanges didn't sound cheesy or forced, as I had become accustomed to - I almost forgot that was a possibility in a Star Wars movie... that free, natural, professional acting of a 1980s Han Solo or Obi Wan.

And that's just the acting/characters. R1 has stellar production design (perfectly recalling AND expanding the Original Trilogy vision in everything from ships to hairstyles to costumes) and visual affects (the best looking Star Wars ever made, particularly in terms of battles - CGI looked like models) and story (galaxy-shaping, momentous events unfolding; believably-balanced battles; flawed heroes; life & death choices/sacrifices).

Rogue One is the first and only Star Wars movie that I have seen as an adult that stirred/electrified/gave me goosebumps throughout - one of the best movie theater experiences of my life (no expectations or spoilers helped). It made me care about Star Wars again... which lead me to this thread's subject.

While nothing in the Disney era has - for me - approached "Rogue One" in terms of quality, I put Mandalorian around "Solo" level, maybe slightly above. This is a good thing. So far, the Jawa battle is the easy highlight.

 

[RandySavage]

double post

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

double post

You must have deleted both

 

[RandySavage]

^I just finished watching Mandalorian, so I'm a bit excited...

One of my quibbles with Solo and especially the cinema-style games Jedi: Fallen Order and Battlefront II, is when Aliens speak English, particularly with a Brooklyn accent. It makes it feel more like Star Trek or GotG. Star Wars' unique aspect is not only are a lot of aliens non-humanoid, but that they have strange voices/languages that are subtitled. I think Mandalorian has done a pretty good job of re-establishing this Star Warsian trait (with the blue guy in the very beginning being an exception).

An initial thought...

 

[Mike S]

^I just finished watching Mandalorian, so I'm a bit excited...

One of my quibbles with Solo is when Aliens speak English, particularly with a Brooklyn accent (like the MCU Raccoon). It makes it feel like Star Trek. Star Wars' unique aspect is not only are a lot of aliens non-humanoid, but that they have strange voices/languages that are subtitled. I think Mandalorian has done a pretty good job of re-establishing this Star Warsian trait (with the blue guy in the very beginning being an exception).

An initial thought...

Should’ve ended that with “I have spoken.”

 

[BrianLo]

I can concede your point about the R1 characters...

But you invalidate it a bit when you promote the awful sequel characters. “Charisma” isn’t really evident at all. They play characterures trying to mimic the emotional appeal of the originals (an Abrams calling card) without providing any real reason why we should believe in their characters or story. Very flat.

The R1 praise is a bit of an over reaction...but the reasoning is clear: it’s the only movie that matched the feel of Star Wars (which is 100% what the mandalorian is trying to do) and any real conflict the plot.

They had an entire movie that was a car chase over gas...
And a deconstruction of the main IP character as a side plot.

Ehhh...another day here in the Star Wars vacuum - I suppose

Fair enough, but the true Rogue one criticism is the characters are the bigger problem then the tone or story beats. The criticism of the trilogy is more to do with story beats and moments being unearned. The characters are interesting, just where they take them is what people have an issue with.

I think the critical side of the fan base strongly over-exaggerates nearly every little flaw, some of which aren’t really fair critiques, in this case.

Rey is a memorable character, Jyn is not.

That doesn’t mean people have to like Rey and believe me we’ve heard very clearly people don’t. But not liking her doesn’t mean she’s not charismatic. Jyn was anti charisma.

 

[BrianLo]

There were nameless Extras in Rogue One, with only a few seconds of screentime (such as the Rebel who desperately tried to get the disk through the door as Vader pursued) that I found much more compelling than the combined casts of characters in the Prequel and Abrams Trilogies.

A very high caliber of casting, acting and screenplay was the rule rather than the exception in Rogue One (I find opposite to be true for the Prequels or Abrams/Johnson trilogy, with a great deal of script-writing and acting that feels amateurish), so even without the hours of screentime or backstories, characters like Jynn Urso and Cassian had much more gravitas/weight/audience-connection than any of the Pre/New Saga characters (who?). In Rogue One, emoting or simple interchanges didn't sound cheesy or forced, as I had become accustomed to - I almost forgot that was a possibility in a Star Wars movie... that free, natural, professional acting of a 1980s Han Solo or Obi Wan.

And that's just the acting/characters. R1 has stellar production design (perfectly recalling AND expanding the Original Trilogy vision in everything from ships to hairstyles to costumes) and visual affects (the best looking Star Wars ever made, particularly in terms of battles - CGI looked like models) and story (galaxy-shaping, momentous events unfolding; believably-balanced battles; flawed heroes; life & death choices/sacrifices).

Rogue One is the first and only Star Wars movie that I have seen as an adult that stirred/electrified/gave me goosebumps throughout - one of the best movie theater experiences of my life (no expectations or spoilers helped). It made me care about Star Wars again... which lead me to this thread's subject.

While nothing in the Disney era has - for me - approached "Rogue One" in terms of quality, I put Mandalorian around "Solo" level, maybe slightly above. This is a good thing. So far, the Jawa battle is the easy highlight.

I know you’re a big fan of Rogue One and I feel like I actually argued this with you pre-Last Jedi!

I’m not criticizing the movie or the side cast. Just Jyn and to a lesser extent Cassian. That was the only movie that I ever read the prequel novel for beforehand, so perhaps that colors my disappointment with Jyn in particular. But long form story telling in a novel lets things be built out more and Jyn’s character didn’t really align to the trajectory the novel set out.

It just shocks me to hear the Rogue One cast (which lets be frank needs to start with the leads) were so much better than the new sequels. Frankly I think that opinion has more to do with every other aspect of the movie people prefer (the story, the tone, the supporting cast). No kid is buying Jyn merch after that movie.