https://libertyislandmag.com/2018/04/23/did-star-wars-jump-the-shark-or-was-it-devoured-by-parasites/
When that beloved franchise got dragged down the PC cesspool, the rats and vermin took it over.
Yes, and the parasites are called “Ewoks!”
Mark
Did they?
Robot Chicken is the best thing that ever happened to that franchise.
They jumped the shark when they made Star Wars II in 1980. None of the sequels or antecedents that I have seen are as good as Star Wars I, which I stood in long lines to watch multiple times in 1977.
The directors and producers seem to hate the fans, and are determined to turn both the shows into something completely different than what made them hits. Star Trek is no longer about boldly going where no man (or one) has gone before, but going where no one wants to go. What little science it had has been completely stripped. Star Wars is no longer about the epic conflict of good vs. evil, but about ridiculous justice issues that liberals feel is so important.
The fact that The Last Jedi scored 91% on Rotten Tomatoes with professional (read: leftist) film critics but only 47% with audiences should have been a big clue for Disney. Ditto post-TLJ toy sales falling off a cliff.
Yes, the shark has jumped for Star Wars. I wanted to like TLJ, truly I did. But when Rian Johnson had Luke Skywalker non-chalantly toss his light sabre over his shoulder into the ocean in the **very first scene** is when I had realized that Johnson was giving a big FU to the franchise. Small wonder that Mark Hamill had griped about the film to the point Disney had to muzzle him.
What amazes me is that Disney let Rian Johnson wreck the franchise so thoroughly that there is nothing left going forward, where Kylo and General Hux are so laughable as antagonists that it leaves JJ Abrams screwed for the third film.
The Ewoks were the initial parasites, and then Jar Jar Binks killed them off. Can’t bring myself to take them seriously ever since then, especially when now they are into politically correct remakes of earlier movies. Perhaps if they had had Jar Jar Binks meet a particularly cruel fate involving prolonged torture or dismemberment they could have redeemed themselves, but it didn’t happen.
The new trilogy is basically sjwars now and just a vehicle for propaganda. Even the prequels are better because at least they aren’t trying to push an agenda.
The only thing left is a proper jump the shark theme...Kylo and Rey get married to bring balance to The Force.
I thought the first two were great fun. Even “Return of the Jedi” started off Ok but like everyone else, the Ewoks were just too much.
After that it just took itself too seriously and it didn’t matter how bad they were to some fans.
I will watch the last one when it comes out on free TV but after trying to watch the one before and having to turn it off from boredom, my hopes are not high.
Star Wars jumped the shark the moment Leia was blown out into space and somehow returned to the spaceship using Mary Poppins superpowers.
From that point forward, I really couldn’t take much of “The Last Jedi” ... it felt like they hacked and spliced a decent beginning sequence (yes, I know bombers/flying fortresses in space are useless, but man did it look “futuristic WWII cool”), ending sequence (I liked Crait ... salt and all), and sword fighting sequence with a bunch of nonsense.
I didn’t mind the Ewoks. I would have loved to have seen a final battle on the Wookie homeworld, but that wasn’t practical back in the early 80s. The Ewoks weren’t the shark jump. They kind of worked in my humble opinion.
I didn’t like the prequels. I didn’t *hate* them ... I actually didn’t mind “The Phantom Menace” ... but Attack of the Clones really made me want to join the empire and put an end to anti-talents Natale Portman and the kid that played Anakin ... Haydensen, that’s his name :-) . Still, nothing in those really reeked of shark jumping.
That takes us to “The Force Awakens” ... I enjoyed this one. It was a great nostalgia trip and I actually liked the new characters. I dug the fact that it mostly centered around Han Solo. I didn’t mind that Rey seemed to start using her Jedi powers “conveniently” (what were they calling her? Mary Sue? :-) ). I had a good time watching it and still like it after seeing it a few more times.
After that came Rogue One ... I thought it was a great setup for “A New Hope”. It’s always tough to make a prequel, but they crafted a pretty slick movie to tell the tale of how the Rebels were able to snag the plans for the Death Star.
Then came “The Last Jedi”. Everything was fine up until Carrie Fisher is blown out into space. Now ... if you’re going to do something like this in a Star Wars movie, plan on spending some money to make it look a bit real. Or, better yet, write something else. However, who in their right mind thinks “Let’s blow her out into space, then have her look like Mary Poppins when she floats back to the spacecraft, but almost dies”. That scene looked *horrible* and made absolutely no sense even when suspending disbelief.
The movie only gets worse from there. The sword fight was cool and the final sequence was rather good (and Kylo Ren also becomes a really interesting character though I know most here on FR can’t stand him) ... but only 1/3 of the film is worth watching. The rest is filler garbage mixed with implied PC nonsense.
I suspect the next one (the “last” one of this “Skywalker” series) will be a decent movie, but when the middle story of your trilogy stinks to high hell, almost worse than “Attack of the Clones”, nothing will save the final act. Nothing. I have absolutely no desire to sit through that in a theater when its released next year.
I’m hoping Solo is a good movie. Han can’t afford to be PC. They could make a pretty cool set of films centered around Han and Chewbacca, but I doubt Disney wants to go that route.
As for the entire Skywalker story, I really hope they all simply become one with the Force and all vanish. The only parts of that entire series I’ll sit through are Rogue One and Ep IV thru VII ... anything afterwards is useless :-).
What a bunch of grouchy get-off-my-lawners we got here :)
Star Wars is Fun. Looking forward to Solo in May.
It jumped the shark after “The Empire Strikes Back”.
It died from an attack of politically correct Mary Sueism.
The original cast never once appeared on-camera at the same time.
That was just disgusting. I will never forgive Disney for that.
What they did to them in the “plot” was just a big slow-motion murder of them and FU to the fans.
I thought Daisy Ridley (Rey) was quite good, and I liked her and her character.
I was uneasy about John Boyega (Finn) at first because I assumed he was the Affirmative Action hire, but I think he did a credible job.
It looks like Rey and Finn are destined for a romantic relationship, so it remains to be seen if they can bring the necessary emotions for that. Previous Star Wars films were just terrible at Romance, namely, Natalie Portman and what's-his-name.
I thought Oscar Isaac (Poe) is not quite good enough for his part. Bottom Line - I have zero emotional involvement with his character. Are Poe and Finn destined to become rivals for the hand of Lady Rey?
Kylo Ren is terrible. The character is unconvincing, and the acting (Adam Driver) is unacceptably weak.
In any event, I still liked the movie, and I watched it twice from beginning to end.
I have heard that “The Last Jedi” is Social Justice Warrior crap.
Lucasfilm hired Kathleen Kennedy as CEO, she fired the mail Chief writer and replaced him with a black female. That black female head writer fired every male writer on staff and hired women only. No one should be surprised by the disastrous results.
The first three episode of Star Wars were excellent...as was Star Trek TOS. The sequels/prequels never have held,and never will hold,the slightest interest for me.
“In that vein, the major failing in Star Wars: The Force Awakens of having Holdo stupidly refuse to share critical information even in the face of impending mutiny because of said silence … is stupid.”
I’m not a star wars fan but even I know that the above scene was in The Last Jedi, not the force awakens.