Did the Book of Boba Fett flop?

[ctg]

I leave this here as study material

Spoiler

 

[Phyrebrat]

I loved it all but I wish they had not had the Ray Harryhausen Kraken...

The way I look at it is this: I love the immersion and the increase of diversity in the SW universe. It's about time we had characters like mods feature more commonly in the SW canon. Certainly the young people I work with identify much more with MCU than SW because they say (paraphrasing) there's nothing they can relate to. Having young adults in the fray with hot rods that look souped-up-but-are-actually-a-bit-crap is well-observed. Spending money on the bling instead of what's under the hood.

What I don't understand is the effort people make beyond reviews and critiques, turning SW into something where we draw lines on whether we engage with people based on their views of the different threads. Who'd've thought the prequels would have so much love twenty(ish) years on? I understand SW is such a cultural touchstone that many fans go into the cinema etc with expectations of what they want/are going to see. When that doesn't happen they can get nasty. Not going to go there, because honestly, I don't care about people's SW opinions because I love it all.

The wonder of Twitter is that if you carefully curate and block and use the mute posts like this option, you get a far more rewarding experience. I block The Fandom Menace and live in Twitter's blissful echo tank of other SW fans who love BOBF, Rey, Rose, the prequels, mods, and the animated series.

 

[ctg]

The wonder of Twitter is that if you carefully curate and block and use the mute posts like this option, you get a far more rewarding experience. I block The Fandom Menace and live in Twitter's blissful echo tank of other SW fans who love BOBF, Rey, Rose, the prequels, mods, and the animated series.

I don't use twitter, so I don't have that problem. And I didn't hate it. I'm one of those fanboys who wear Boba Fett or various mandalorian related t-shirts all of the time. I wanted the series be more than Mando 2.5. Sorry.

 

[Phyrebrat]

I don't use twitter, so I don't have that problem. And I didn't hate it. I'm one of those fanboys who wear Boba Fett or various mandalorian related t-shirts all of the time. I wanted the series be more than Mando 2.5. Sorry.

Lol you don’t need to apologise to me

 

[Dave]

...there's nothing they can relate to. Having young adults in the fray with hot rods that look souped-up-but-are-actually-a-bit-crap is well-observed.

But surely, SW can have something that young people can relate too that doesn't involve riding 50cc mopeds? (Which the UK in the 1970's was primarily young males [I could cite market research] but that may no longer be true today.)

The prequel trilogy was aimed at a younger audience (and having a son of the correct age at that time, I can say that worked for him, while I was in that camp that thought those films weren't a patch on the original trilogy - having seen the sequel trilogy, I now think they weren't really that bad at all.) Anyway, he liked the Pod Racing, Jar Jar and everything adults disliked.

I missed out on all the Clone Wars animation, but that has a younger following, and no scooters anywhere to be seen!!

many fans go into the cinema etc with expectations of what they want/are going to see.

I do have expectations of a Star Wars film, that's true, just as I have expectations of a James Bond film. I would be disappointed if they changed the same formula that has worked for so long. Bring in new elements, new characters, widen the scope, but it has to still be 'Star Wars' (or James Bond) and not turn into 'my favourite teen angsty show'.

 

[The Crawling Chaos]

The way I look at it is this: I love the immersion and the increase of diversity in the SW universe. It's about time we had characters like mods feature more commonly in the SW canon.

There have always been mods in the SW universe. Luke and Vader, Grievous, Lobot... are mods.

It's important not to confuse the idea and the execution. I love the idea of a gang of modders using rusty droid parts and driving speeders in SW. But this particular gang? No. Even if I ignored the silly costume and prop design (and Rodriguez's poor direction and cheap stunts), they just felt out of place on Tatooine. Put them on Coruscant or some other high-tech, low-life setting. Spend some time really working on their design, on figuring out who they are and what made them so, and how they fit in the world they are portrayed as inhabiting.

Just like I loved the idea of Rey, the idea of Rose, the idea of hermit Luke and a cloned Palpatine etc. until they were left in the hands of screenwriters and rudderless filmmakers who didn't know what to do with them and wasted all their potential. Just like I loved the idea of Leia blown out into space using the Force to survive, until it was actually put on screen with such laughably bad VFX that they turned it into a meme.

For some reason, SW fans like to debate the ideas, the underlying concept behind such and such scene. "Should this be possible?" "Would Luke really do that?". But for each of the major issues flagged over the past 7 years by the community, I believe the execution was at fault rather than the idea ("It's possible but it looked so cheap it didn't sell the trick." "Yes he would but not for those stupid reasons"). And as I age I find myself demanding more than just cool ideas, valuing consistency and presentation over mindless entertainment hastily cobbled together at the risk of ripping a whale-sized hole into the saga's worldbuilding (weaponizing hyperspace?!), and less and less willing to look past the warts and love the material for what it could have been as opposed to how it was actually presented to us.

The execution, not the idea.

But more power to those who don't care.

 

[HareBrain]

I missed out on all the Clone Wars animation, but that has a younger following

Give it a go. It's the best SW stuff I've seen, including the OT (which I now find very patchy).

 

[Fiberglass Cyborg]

...
What I don't understand is the effort people make beyond reviews and critiques, turning SW into something where we draw lines on whether we engage with people based on their views of the different threads. Who'd've thought the prequels would have so much love twenty(ish) years on? I understand SW is such a cultural touchstone that many fans go into the cinema etc with expectations of what they want/are going to see. When that doesn't happen they can get nasty. Not going to go there, because honestly, I don't care about people's SW opinions because I love it all.

The wonder of Twitter is that if you carefully curate and block and use the mute posts like this option, you get a far more rewarding experience. I block The Fandom Menace and live in Twitter's blissful echo tank of other SW fans who love BOBF, Rey, Rose, the prequels, mods, and the animated series.

I wish I could find that echo tank.... whenever I go online to share my enthusiasm for anything SF TV and film related, I just encounter all the One True Fans who define their fandom mainly by how much of their chosen franchise they hate. I swear some of these people go to see films they have decided in advance they will hate, solely to get their fix of self-righteous indignation. And they will NOT let the rest of us enjoy it. Dare to say you enjoyed the latest installment and they will come at you like a pack of rabid dogs.

 

[Phyrebrat]

I wish I could find that echo tank.... whenever I go online to share my enthusiasm for anything SF TV and film related, I just encounter all the One True Fans who define their fandom mainly by how much of their chosen franchise they hate. I swear some of these people go to see films they have decided in advance they will hate, solely to get their fix of self-righteous indignation. And they will NOT let the rest of us enjoy it. Dare to say you enjoyed the latest installment and they will come at you like a pack of rabid dogs.

I think it’s a case of engaging only with happy threads and mutual follows. So, my SW Twitter followers/mutual tend to have something like ‘I love all Star Wars’ in their bio/name. Or handles like ‘Rey’s space bread’. If they like the sequels they tend to like all Star Wars. That’s where I started. There are still voices of dissent, disagreement, and half-malcontents but in my experience they’re measured and argued rather than screamed and ranted.

 

[Mon0Zer0]

It's about time we had characters like mods feature more commonly in the SW canon. Certainly the young people I work with identify much more with MCU than SW because they say (paraphrasing) there's nothing they can relate to. Having young adults in the fray with hot rods that look souped-up-but-are-actually-a-bit-crap is well-observed. Spending money on the bling instead of what's under the hood.

The problem is that there's something about the way it was implemented that did not feel like Star Wars. SW has a spirit that runs through it that dictates the types of stories, the aesthetics, the character archetypes, the technology. It's always been Flash Gordon meets WWII meets the heroes journey. (I tend to agree with Red Letter Media when they say SW has limited scope).

The mods felt like... [searches for word]... [gives up]... whatever the contextual equivalent of anachronistic is. Even though there's precedent for the 1950's diner aesthetics in the prequel trilogy, they were daft and out of place there.

Disney SW does feel like they scooped out the heart of Star Wars.

 

[BT Jones]

The problem is that there's something about the way it was implemented that did not feel like Star Wars. SW has a spirit that runs through it that dictates the types of stories, the aesthetics, the character archetypes, the technology. It's always been Flash Gordon meets WWII meets the heroes journey. (I tend to agree with Red Letter Media when they say SW has limited scope).

The mods felt like... [searches for word]... [gives up]... whatever the contextual equivalent of anachronistic is. Even though there's precedent for the 1950's diner aesthetics in the prequel trilogy, they were daft and out of place there.

Disney SW does feel like they scooped out the heart of Star Wars.

Agreed again @Mon0Zer0, although I'm late to this party. Yes, Boba Fett was a measured failure for my money. Not enough spice or energy, especially from Temura Morrison, who looked slow, old and lethargic throughout. Aside from the two Jedi / Mandalorian episodes (which shouldn't really count), it was plodding and vaguely pointless.

I thought Temura Morrison could of brought some of his Maori culture to the piece and shown a far deeper, more emotional bond with the Tuscans, making for more motivation at the end. The cyper-punk mod guys were just totally out of place. They belonged in a different show altogether.

I'm writing this AFTER my comment on the first 2 episodes of Obi-Wan, but it is evident Disney didn't have the time to learn from their mistakes here and had already completed the follow-up show, so couldn't take the justifiable criticisms and use them to hone a better product.

Very much hoping The Mandalorian doesn't suffer the same fate as these latest two titles.

 

[Dave]

Temura Morrison, who looked slow, old and lethargic throughout.

Wait 'til you see him in Obi-Wan Kenobi

 

[Brian G Turner]

I haven't watched The Book of Boba Fett yet, but out of curiosity I watched the Pitch Meeting version, and that didn't inspire me to want to!

 

[Rodders]

I haven't seen this, but I'll buy this and Obi-Wan on blu-ray for my little collection and binge them then. It has gotten a lot of negativity for some silliness (the biker gang with there Vespa style speeders comes immediately to mind). I don't believe it to be well regarded.

I have to confess that what i have seen has been disppointing. Movie quality effects, but the scripts have been silly. I have to remember that this is a kids thing though.

I think that Disney have confused more with better.