A Geeky Viewpoint

Never have I wanted to like a movie as badly as I wanted to like Mortal Engines. Movies like Kingdom of Heaven, Gods and Generals and the recent entry in the Wizarding World Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald comes to mind as movies I wanted to like but left the theater wishing they were better.   Mortal Engines is clearly further down that path. 

The first 25 minutes of the film is awe inspiring, it is as gripping as the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan.  I was sitting on the edge of my seat wanting more.  Than the movie fell off its tracks slogged along and as a viewer I felt like I was getting gut punched for the next hour and half.

Mortal Engines is an adaptation of the first in a series of Young Adult novels by Philip Reeve of the same name.  Set in a post apocalyptic world hundreds of years after a "Sixty Minute War" that decimated the world and inhabitants causing great geologic upheaval and other disasters.  The film focuses on the story of two young antagonists who attempt to expose a conspiracy in the great traction city of London.  Our two antagonists, Hester Shaw and Tom Natsworthy, are portrayed by two relativity unknown actors Hera Hilar and Robert Sheehan.  Other notable cast members include Hugo Weaving as the protagonist Thaddeus Valentine, Jihae as Anna Fang and Stephen Lang as Shrike, the undead warrior.

There will be discussion as to why this film fails, to which there are numerous culpable issues.
Produced and written by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh with writing assistance from Phillipa Boyens the production company has a pretty spectacular resume, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay Oscars for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and four other Oscar nominations over the years.  
Directed by Christian Rivers who is making his directorial debut after years of assisting Peter Jackson on almost everyone of his projects for three decades.   Many will question whether he was ready to be the primary voice behind the camera.
To me the biggest problem with this film was the script.  It was bad in every way that the Lord of the Rings was good.  We were given no time to appreciate our two antagonist and it turned a very good character actor, Hugo Weaving, into a boring, one trick, predictable villain.   There were no surprises and everything you expect to happen, happened. 

In the end a promising premise is left crushed in the dust by the massive weight of the bad script and poor direction/acting. 

One Star (only for the the first 25 minutes of the film) out of Five Stars.

Aquaman is a movie that's meant to be old fashion fun, and I understand why a segment of the people who see this movie will feel that way, I am not in that crowd however.   A wisecracking, fish out of water story, starring Jason Momoa in the title role of  Arthur Curry, the Aquaman.   Guided by Princess Mera, portrayed by Amber Heard, Arthur travels to the lost city of Atlantis to begin his journey to find the lost Trident of King Atlan in an attempt to unite the peoples of the seven Kingdoms to stop them from uniting to make war upon the surface.

It sounds like a great comic book story arc, its just not a good movie.  At two hours and twenty three minutes the film is too long for the story they are trying to tell and not long enough for the story they wanted to tell.  At least three times I was so bored and unimmersed in the film that I had to fight off the urge to look at my watch, and I wasn't the only one in the theater suffering from the same compulsion.  When you look around and people are looking at their phones attempt to gauge how much longer they need to watch the film, it is not a good sign.

I enjoyed the interactions between Arthur and Mera, the had good chemistry, but many of the characters were one trick wooden ponies and their acting is difficult to watch.  Willem Defoe as the Grand Vizier,Nuidis Vulko, counselor to King Orm (Patrick Wilson) was almost painful almost as if he was simply reading his lines for the first and only time.   Neither antagonist King Orm, who is Arthur Curry half-brother by his mother Queen Atlanna (Nicole Kidmen) nor Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) are given the opportunity to truly appear as Aquaman "equal" or capable of defeating him.

As my son put walking out of the theater Aquaman is simply a bad retelling of the first Star Wars film, with Arthur Curry talking the place of both Han Solo and Luke Skywalker, Mera talking the place of Princess Leia and Vulko is Obiwan Kanobi.  Throw in King Orm's Elite Guards as Stormtroopers incapable of hitting any target with their blaster and I think it is a right assessment.  Except the story, acting and VX is no where near as good.

The VX looked half completed.  There are some spectacular shots, moving through the City of Atlantis is an example of beautiful work, but there are dozens of other VX shots that look half rendered, unbelievable.   The scenes depicting the violent sea were incredibly bad.   It is the same problem that has plagued many of the DC Extended Universe films.

I enjoyed the score and the soundtrack to the film.  The work of Rupert Gregson-Williams the score is a clear bright spot in the film.   Gregson-Williams also did the score Wonder Woman another DCEU film.   

In the final battle between Aquaman and King Orm, when King Orm was defeated, you could almost hear a pin drop in my theater, except for the one five year old who was clapping, I think everyone was supposed to be clapping or cheering when that happened, but no one was invested enough in the  film for that to actually happen.

I think there is a segment of people who will truly enjoy this film, even suggest that it is the rebirth of the DCEU into a better form, not that would take much after Batman v. Superman or Justice League.  As I said earlier I am not in that crowd.   I would have preferred that they either added the story to make this two films or shaved the story to make this a two hour film, both ideas would have been an improvement.   Even though I enjoyed the chemistry between Jason Momoa and Amber Heard as the protagonists, the poor script, wooden acting and seeming unfinished VX dragged this movie to the bottom.   

Spider-Man is a difficult character to bring to life in any show or film.    The ability of comic book artists, like Steve Ditko, to create a sense of uniqueness and motion on the still pages of the comic books brought Spider-Man to life.  Spider-Man's movements and super abilities do not easily translate from comic book panel to film, regardless of whether it is a Animated TV show or Live Action or somewhere in between.   Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the first show or film that captures that essence and brings it to life.  The life like animation style of the Film which is clearly neither Live Action or Old School Animation grabs hold of the comic book roots and springs Spider-Man onto the Screen.   In many ways the animation of this film is the perfect medium for Spider-Man.

I am not a hardcore Potterhead even though I have some tendencies that lean that way. This knowledge gives me a basic understanding of the story and what is going supposedly going on.   That is an unfair advantage over any one who may have only seen a few of the movies in the Harry Potter series.

The Bad

It is the difference between X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse.   In the former Bryan Singer and John Ottman cut the Rouge sub-plot from the film and in the latter the cut the connective tissue.   From an audience stand point the former earned 90% on Rotten Tomatoes and 75 on Metacritic; the later 48% on Rottentomatoes and 52 on Metacritic. 

• There are at least three scenes that we the viewers saw in the trailers and or previews that have been greatly reduced and or eliminated in the final cut of the film.   From my viewing of the trailers I am not talking about scenes that I would have viewed as inconsequential.    The actors have indicated that there are several more scenes that were cut but as an audience we haven't seen them.
• In looking at each of the sub-plots and character story arcs presented through out the film I would say we get the important aspects or the meat of each story, what is not present is the connective arcs of each story.   The audience if left to wonder how each of the sub-plots and story arcs connect with the main story.  Why is this important and why are you showing me?
• J.K. Rowling has incredible creative control over the Fantastic Beasts (and Harry Potter) films.  Through out the Harry Potter books she had detailed stories and connection for even the most trivial characters.  J.K. Rowling commented that are very lines throughout the series that are not connected to something either previously mentioned or to be mentioned in the future.   

Add in Newt's dislike of his brother and other acts that lack human compassion and Newt is a jerk, an very much unlikeable one.  An unlikeable character is hard too emotionally attach yourself to throughout the course of the film.  You have no reason to cheer for them when they succeed or feel bad when they fail.   It is just a character on the screen.

It is possible that J.K. Rowling wants to clearly delineate Newt's growth as a character over the course of the films, starting Newt at stage 0 on the Kholberg Scale of morale development, but at the end of the second movie I would suggest he has regressed rather than grown. 

The Good

The bad in this movie well ultimately be more remembered than the good and drag down its box office.  That is not to say there isn't good aspects tot this film.  In many ways this is an exceptional film from a technical aspect not an artistic one.

Cinematography

Philippe Rousselot, as the Director of Photography, does an exceptional job with this film.   I would contend if the film was better edited this film would have an outside chance of being nominated for an Oscar is Cinematography.    Philippe Rousselot has previously won the Oscar for Cinematrography in 1992 for a River Runs Through It, and has several other nominations for his work in Interview with a Vampire, Henry and June, and Hope and Glory.   While the transitions can be jarring and interrupt the flow of the film, as a whole this film is beautifully shot.   The angles, lighting, and choices of lenses are exceptional.

Special Effects

Having rewatched the entire Harry Potter saga and the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them over the two weeks it was interesting to watch the maturation of the special effects, VX, used throughout the 10 films.   The VX in Crimes of Gindelwald are substeacially better than even Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Film 6, let alone looking back at Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone or Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.   The effects are simply beautiful and believable. 

Score

Another beautifully scored film in the series. 

The Opening Sequence

Direction

Johnny Depp 

Conclusion

"Things that aren't in this movie. There are like 30 to 40 minutes worth of scenes that aren't in this movie... all of them. Mad puppeteering scenes, dark comedy scenes. You know what I mean? They just never made it in."

There is a scene in the 1977 release of Star Wars, later renamed Star Wars: A New Hope, in which Alex Guinness as Obi One Kenobi use the force to manipulate the thoughts of multiple Storm Troopers.   With a wave of his hand and stating "These are not the droids you are looking for." the Stormtroopers allow the heroes to move along.
In many ways that is an adept trick that LucasFilms played on the audience with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.   This is not the film you were expecting regardless of how many times you watched the trailers, scoured the Internet, or read everything released by LucasFilms.   That's a good thing.   There are many surprises in the film and you have to wonder for a couple of them how on earth LucasFilms and one of the most scrutinized films in history kept them a secret.

Your enjoyment of this film will be dictated by how much you know about the Star Wars universe.   Have you memorized every episode of Droids, read Cataclysm, have a signed copy of Splinter of the minds Eye, binged every episode of Star Wars: Rebels and know who Saw Gerrea is?   If you answered yes to all those questions than you will think this Film is Oscar worthy, the more you said no the more likely you will say "It's an okay movie I don't get what all the hubbub is about."

There are several flaws in this film.
The film opens without a crawl.   "In a Galaxy Far Far away."  And away you go.   There is no short background statement about what is going on.   This was a novelty that many take for granted in the other Star Wars films, Kathleen Kennedy announced this months ago, and you know what it fails.   If any of the Star Wars Films need that opening crawl, this was it.   The less of a hard-core fan you are them more confused about whats happening in the beginning of the movie you will be.   It really puts the casual fans behind the eight ball in understanding what is going on.

Michael Giacchino score needed more work.  That's not saying it is a bad score by any means, it is just not as solid as John Williams work on the previous films.   Considering he only had 4 weeks to get it done it was already a Herculean effort.   Given another four weeks it probably would have melded into the film a lot better.

There are some problems with the script, particularly in the second (of three) acts.   The middle part of the film slows down.  This is a you love it or hate it kind of situation.   Many will like the effort that the films writers, Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, put into the developing the story, but it is the pacing that has me concerned.   The first act and the third act move along at fairly robust pace it makes the slower second act seem to drag on and on.
You are going to here many viewers questioning the lack of character development or rather the lack of explanation on character motivations.  I'm one of those, but I understand the problem here.   The movie is two hours and thirteen minutes long, to start bringing in that development and motivation for many of these characters you have to either replace something from this film or simply add to the length of the film.   There are many people complaining about the length of the film already adding five more minutes to the second act won't set well with anyone.

Their are some minor issues with the CGI.   There is caveat to this, no one has ever tried to do what they did with this film let alone at this scale.   If what people are doing in say Jungle Book which many thought was shoe in for the Oscar this year is a 10 for difficulty and 10 for execution, than what is occurring in several scenes for Rogue One is 25 for difficulty and 8 or 9 for execution.

This film needs to be seen on a big screen.  Your typical movie screen of yesteryear is 25 to 30 feet in width, big screens today are 30 to 40 feet wide and bigger for large format and iMax.   You want to see this film on as big of screen as you can find.   It doesn't need to be in 3D, but a 35 foot wide screen just makes this film "pop" more than a 25 foot screen.

What the film makers got right!
This films like a prequel to Star Wars:A New Hope.   It feels like if they showed the 1977 Star Wars film immediately after the credits you would honestly have a hard time telling the movies were almost 30 years apart.   That was something Gareth Edwards strove for when creating this film and he succeeded.

I really like the acting.  I'm not suggesting Oscar worth, but they are multifaceted characters brought to life by the actors.  You can tell these characters are fleshed out, you may not know why a character is doing what they are doing but you totally believe the characters.

The script is full of surprises.  There are half-a-dozen times you will be asking if that just happened and Two times, at least, you will exclaim "holy sheets".   It one of those things you have to experience to appreciate, and if you know it is going to happen it takes away from the film.

The final act, well if it wasn't bad form you'd be standing to watch it rather than sitting in your seat, honestly.   Think of a great play at sports events and how the audience jumps to their feet to watch, same thing for 30 minutes.   The audience will cheer and oww and ahh the first time they see it.

When this film is done, you may truly want to visit Star Wars land when it opens.   You feel like you have been immersed into the universe and now you want to touch and feel and...

A few following thoughts
This is an adult version of Star Wars.   While the original trilogy, more so the second (prequel) trilogy were accessible to your younger audience, this film is not.   It is not Deadpool, but it is a dark war film more akin to Das Boot, Full Metal Jacket, The Dirty Dozen and the opening scenes to Saving Private Ryan than the feel good stories of Star Wars.   There is sadness and lots of gray area in this film.   Younger children may not be ready for it and if you take them bring the Kleenex.  Heck you might be the one to need Kleenex.

Overall I gave this film 3 1/2 stars out of 4.

There is a scene in X-Men: Apocalypse that sums up the movie in a very ironic way.   Scott Sommers / Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Jean Gray (Sophie Turner), Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee (Lana Condor) are exiting a movie Theater after watching Return of the Jedi while discussing whether or not third movies in a trilogy can be as good as others.   How Ironic.

Much like Return of the Jedi, fans will like this film, but it will be far from their favorite and many will have a dozen suggestions on how it could have been made better.

There are a number of solid story arcs through out the film and each character has a unique point of view.  Their stories are muffled by the sheer number of characters and constant action in the film.   X-Men: Apocalypse features a strong cast with a good mix of returning actors and new up and coming actors.    As an audience you never become fully attached to many of the characters on the screen.   Even though they have a unique story most story arcs and characters are not on the screen long enough for us to truly care about them as characters.

In X-Men: Evolution (2000), the animated television show, the central story arc of "Age of Apocalypse" spent 4 seasons  and 46 episodes leading up to the showdown with Apocalypse.   The same story arc in this movie is given just under two and half hours, it just doesn't work.   It is too involved of a story.   The first 40 minutes of the film is made up a series of very short scenes that jump from place to place to place to place at break neck speed that only Quicksilver could appreciate.   Those not versed in X-Men lore may find it difficult to keep up and lose interest in the secondary story arcs.    

There are six true tent-pole super-hero movies this year; Deadpool, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War, Suicide Squad, and Doctor Strange as well as X-Men: Apocalypse.   The other five, if just in the trailers, attempt to separate themselves from the pack by taking chances in creating new and different situations for their super-heroes.   You can argue how successful BvS: DoJ was but the other two so far this year were very successful.  X-Men: Apocalypse doesn't necessarily take chances, it is extremely formulaic, even though it is set in 1980's.   As an audience you kind of know what is coming next because that is what the blueprint says to do.

Marvel Studios (Disney/Buena Vista) has a clear advantage when it comes to VX/CGI.   X-Men: Apocalypse being released so close to Captain America: Civil War highlights the disadvantage most studios are faced with today.   The VX/CGI effects looked dated and incomplete in comparison to Captain America: Civil War.   The film felt more in line with X-Men: X-Men United (2003) than it does with X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).

Mostly Spoiler Free

I was sitting in my movie seat and after a great scene I took a quick look at my watch, I figured we had to be maybe an hour into the film, maybe 75 minutes, nope we were just under two hours. It is that kind of movie, a two and half hour movie that feels like it is 90 minutes long. Captain America: Civil War is a 2 hour and 26 minute long spectacle of a movie.

Many reviewers and audience members are suggesting it is the Avengers Sequel we deserved and I have to be honest while it is a good if not great movie it is not an Avengers movie, it is a Captain America movie and that is why it is good. It has a clear focus and even though many Avengers are in the movie it rarely deviates from Captain America perspective.

As an aside I want to address the other aspect of the Avengers Sequel we deserve philosophy; The Age of Ultron was an overly broad and complex story line, whose 2 hour and 21 minutes were far too short to cover the whole story. Age of Ultron could have been 3 hours and 21 minutes and not had enough screen time to tell the entire story that Josh Whedon wanted to tell. Age of Ultron suffered from the under telling of the secondary stories. Yet Age of Ultron did setup the story of Captain America: Civil War, in a similar fashion to how the story of Iron Man 3 was born out the original Avengers film. Without Age of Ultron you could not have anywhere near as compelling of story in Captain America; Civil War.

Captain America: Civil War is a re-envisioning of the 2006/2007 Marvel Comics crossover storyline Civil War. The story centers on conflict between Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) and Tony Stark/Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) on whether or not the Avengers Initiative should have Government Oversight or not. Tony Stark is in favor of Governmental Oversight and Steve Rogers is not.   The film looks at many of the other known MCU super heroes as they come to terms on what side of the equation they belong.

The Film makers, not only the directors of Joe and Anthony Russo, but the scriptwriters Christopher Marcus and Stephen McFeely have done an excellent job of giving everyone a believable reason to be in the film, no one is simply there because they are a Marvel character. Every character contributes to the story and some answers are given to others who are not in the story.

Everyone I think can agree that Chadwick Boseman brought T’Challa/Black Panther to life in a way that people will be excited to see his standalone film. Tom Hollland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man will either be hit or miss amongst the audience.
 The actor or character that I found that advanced themselves, for the lack of a better term, was Paul Rudd as Scott Lang as Ant-Man.

Marvel’s diehard fans will appreciate the nearly 2 dozen Easter Eggs or subtle references to comics and prior Marvel Films, not all of which are in the MCU. I suspect as the film get more playtime more Easter Eggs will be spotted.

While I think Captain America: Civil War is a good movie, it is not a great film.

Certain directors have the ability to frame a Comic Book fight between super heroes, Captain America: Civil War could easily have been Cold War Spy Thriller in terms of action. It is hard to explain but the action lacks that certain something that makes it Comic Book Super Hero film.

The Marvel Comic Book storyline is one of the best story lines over the years, AVX and Secret Wars being the others, the film is not as good as the comic book story line simply because you don’t have 12 cross over issues and dozens of other comics to tell these stories in.

I am a big fan of cinematography and soundtracks in films. I want moments that make you ow and ah and marvel at what on the screen. I don’t want to say this film lacked those moments, but those moments weren’t as good as past Marvel films.

A Few Thoughts on the Trailer

As Marvel digs a little deeper into their collection of Intellectual Properties as they studio they need to spend more time introducing the characters to the wider audience.   The general public has a notion who Ironman is, who Captain America is, who Thor is, but the deeper characters in their Universe is a different story.   The same held true for Guardians of the Galaxy.  This first trailer is all about introducing us to the main character, Doctor Steven Strange, his accident, and search for meaning after it.  

The trailer also gives us a glimpse Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One without providing to much detail.

Doctor Strange is not a character I actively follow in the Marvel Comic Book universe, I know who he is and his place in the Universe but I am not much of follower.   I know that several of my friends would have loved to see more detail in the trailer, more of the information on the story; however I am quick to point out where the world has come to.   When Doctor Strange is released in November it has the potential to out earn in the box office Batman v. Superman, the first time the two biggest heroes on the planet are in film together, who would have thunk that ten years ago, five years ago, heck even a month ago?   Five years ago this film probably would not have been made.

I would like to add a few interesting tidbits on the Star Wars: Rogue One teaser trailer.

The lack of iconic characters in the trailer.   No Darth Vader, or rather probably not as there is a seen with two Imperial Body Guards  and a cloaked figure.    The idea of inquisitors and the fact it does not "truly" appear to be Darth Vader, not commanding enough presence,  suggests it is something else.




In Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Mon Mothma was cut from the film to shorten the length of the film.   She returns here as one of the leaders of the rebellion.    We here questioning Jyn Erso and giving her orders.

Adding too many images really length out these reviews so here are a few more thoughts.

It is nice to see the "classic" rebellion uniforms, a visit to the rebel base on Yavin.   I like that the have a more tropical environment setting with a battle with classic AT AT Walkers.    
It was a nice mix of new and old.    Even on a 31" HD display I could not appreciate the magnitude of the Death Star as the Deflector Dish was moved into place.   Can you imagine that scene in Imax?

What I didn't like about the trailer, it was a good trailer but didn't get me as hyped as many trailers have about movies.  It was purposeful in introducing us to the new story and the characters in the story but it lacked the that grabbing moment of say the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailers.   Could you imagine the ending of the Trailer with Darth Vader's breathing rather than the musical notes?

Image courtesy of Warner Bros.

At 7 PM central on Thursday December 17th I caught a midnight showing of Friday's release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens - SWTFA for short.   Yeah, it's complicated. 
Here's the deal.  I would like to make this review as spoiler free as possible, but it wouldn't be a very good review.  There will be some references to the movie and some will be contextual, but if you haven't seen the film you have been warned everything in here is a potential spoiler.

In case you missed the warning spoilers. I am going to talk about what happens in the movie.  If you are not apart of the 32 Million Americans who saw this movie already and care about what happens stop reading.   You have been warned.

Quick Commentary

Reviews of the SWTFA by movie going masses probably mirror that of the critics.   Five percent of the audience are probably not happy with the film (thumbs down), ten to fifteen percent will give the film mixed reviews and the remaining eighty to eighty-five percent will give the movie a solid thumbs up and better. 

One of my favorite review was from a gentlemen who usually reviews Shakespeare's plays in Europe, in which he basically wrote, not my cup of tea but my boss said I had to review the film.  He of course is not in the 95% of reviewers that generally like the movie.

Regardless of where most reviewers came down I think they all have some very valid points.   I clearly fall into the ten to fifteen percent of people who have very mixed emotions about this film.  I liked the film overall and think the people who put the film together did a fairly decent job; however I think this film could have been galactically awesome had circumstances allowed it.

I am going to rip into the heart of this movie, not because I think it was a bad movie, rather because it teetered on greatness and fell short.  Its like looking at the silver medal and thinking about how you lost gold rather than what an achievement a silver medal is.

The Bean Counters at Disney!

The biggest flaw to SWTFA is most likely directly pointed at the actuaries in Disney's accounting office.   To maximize profit the film needed to fit into a very tight time window.   If you include the trailers at the beginning of the movie, the public service like commercials for the theater, the movie itself, and the amount of time to change over a theater to show the movie again (people out, clean, people in) you have approximately 3 hours if you want to show the film 5 times per day per screen.    In that three hours you have 2 hours and 15 minutes for the film.   SWTFA clocks in at 2 hours and 16 minutes.  Needless to say there is not a whole lot of additional time, if any at all, to keep SWTFA in that 3 hour window needed to show a movie 5 times.   Even one or two additional minutes of film could have resulted in the window being 3 hours and 15 minutes and reducing the number of showings to 4 at some/many or all screens depending on who you talk to.

How does that decision effect the movie?   It is clearly evident in the editing of the film.  Numerous scenes lack flow within the film.  One in particular during the light of the dying sun,  the scene, the music score and the importance of the act do not necessarily sync properly.  Through out the movie there a dozen plus scenes in which a few seconds here and there seemed to be shaved off each of them.  
The transition from one scene to the next in many instances is abrupt and lacks the smoothness typical of Oscar winning films; for the lack of a better way to describe it.  A few were done by choice others seemed forced.
These edits clearly effect the ebbs and flow of the film.

The editing appeared to effect the timing of the score; like the score was written for a slightly longer movie and then edited to fit the shorter box.

Beyond the Ebb and Flow of the film there are several entire scenes removed from the final cut.  There is some question on when many of the scenes were cut from the movie, but three in particular have been identified.

The movie was to originally open with the Battle of Jakku.  The battle occurs 1 year and 4 days after the battle of Endor, in the Star Wars timeline and was Grand Admiral Akbar's greatest victory.   To me personally that 5 minutes worth of film should have better connected the original trilogy with the latest films and provided much context for the films backstory.
A second scene provided back ground on Captain Phasma and the rise of the First Order. 
A third scene involved Chewbacca and Rey and explained why Chewbacca and Rey became a "team" at the end of the film.
Those are three scenes that I know of that were left on the cutting room floor, what other scenes are there?   J.J. Abrams has acknowledged that 20 minutes of near completed film was cut to bring the film down to 2 hours and 16 minutes.   Another 40 minutes worth of story was filmed, so is it a 60 minutes or 40 minutes of additional story?

Definition of Insanity!

It is never explained why the First Order is attempting to use the same blue print to control the Galaxy as the Empire, which failed, twice.   It is for all intensive purposes a huge plot hole large enough to fly a Super Star Destroyer sideways.  

There are a number of plot holes in the film, the biggest one being its basically a copy of two films smashed together.  

Its all about the Characters.

We are introduced to some new characters and reintroduced to some old characters.   Not everyone of these characters works in this film; and for different reasons.

Before jumping into this on a deeper level I have a disclaimer to put out.  I have read all of the former cannon materials, supposed treatments of the final trilogy of movies by George Lucas, and pieced together things that were cut from this movie from all the interviews everyone has done.   So I am not just talking about what's on the film, but in many cases what isn't.

In the original script (supposedly it was changed after principal filming was concluded) Poe Dameron, played by Oscar Isaac, sacrificed himself by crashing his X-Wing into the Starkiller base to destabilize the weapon.   When the end of the story was changed it didn't change his story arc during the movie.   I understand why he wasn't killed off but it should of had a ripple effect through the story, it didn't.  As he is now a "principal" character he is very much under utilized through out the movie.   I am in many ways reminded of Wedge Antillies in the original trilogy.

FN-2187 - aka Finn - played by John Boyega is the most complete character in the film.  I wouldn't be shocked to discover that I some of the earlier drafts of the film he was the primary character on who the story centered upon.

Rey - aka Mary Sue - played by Daisy Ridley.  Here is the deal, if Finn was the most complete character in this film, Rey is the most incomplete.  Don't get me wrong that may be done on purpose so it could be explored in the next films, but it was really disheartening considering she became the primary vehicle in telling this story.  
So why did I call he a Mary Sue?   Let start by explaining what a Mary Sue is in terms of writing.  A Mary Sue (or Gary Sue if the character is male) is a character inserted into a story that is too perfect, too good at everything.   These characters are extremely popular in Fan Fiction in which the author inserts a perfect copy of themselves into a story.  What isn't she good at?  
Rey is so good at everything, her character is never truly at risk. This is very much unlike the original trilogy where everyone is always at risk and we bond with those characters because they appear more human.

Ben Solo - Kylo Ren - This is a wonderfully complicated character that almost works perfectly.  The portrayal of this character is so close to perfect it makes the flaws much more apparent. 
To begin with lets start with the name.  Jacen Solo is the character in the books who becomes a Sith Lord (Darth Sideous) and changing his name to Ben distracts from the character.   I understand that they are changing the continuum and wanted to move away from what was formerly cannon, but the name change gnaws at me.
They have all but said the character suffers from a Multiple Personality disorder, but don't quite go that far in the film.  If the character does than do it, if he doesn't well you went too far in demonstrating it.  Like so many things in the film you end up in the grey area when either black or white would have been better. 

Han Solo, if Poe Dameron was underutilized during the film than the opposite is very true for Harrison Ford's character, Han Solo, who is over utilized.  I get it that the story became Han Solo centric when the powers that be decided to kill off Han Solo.   The problem is the film isn't and Han Solo is forced upon us.  There are a number of very good scenes with Han Solo, but too many are simply there for the character to be on the screen as if too remind us how wonderful he is.   In my first viewing I uttered he was a dead-man when he finally hugged Leia.

Each of those characters have a unique and fairly complicated story arc in this film.  It is incredibly ambitious of a filmmaker to try and tell two story arcs in a single film, you could argue that Peter Jackson is one of the only successful filmmakers to do it recently with Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.  Here J.J. Abrams is telling four major story arcs and three or four minor story arcs interwoven into a single movie.   SWTFA is mostly successful in telling these various stories.   

General Hux, Captain Phasma, why are they important to the story?  Too little is known about these characters and it also touches upon what we know about the Knights of Ren?   

Failed Cliff Hanger!

WTF was with the end of the movie?  
Why in the name of the force did the Rebel Alliance who has been looking for Luke Skywalker for years allow Rey and Chewbacca to go and find him?  You know two characters who literally walked into their alliance two days prior? 
And that final scene, oh how it doesn't work in film.   Clearly a TV guy wrote that ending because it does work on that medium but not in Movies.   It frustrates movie audiences.   Further it deprived the audience of that moment to clap and cheer.   People kept waiting around for more.   It may have worked as a post credit scene.

Unanswered Questions?

Many sites have compiled lists of unanswered questions ranging from "who is Lor San Tekka?" and "what is the division of power in the galaxy?" Maybe in another post I will break down the questions but the problem remains that there are just too many simple questions that should have been answered. 

Oscar worthy?

Best Picture - Sure to be nominated.  The only category with ten nominations I doubt Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be excluded simply because of the fact it could draw 10 million more viewers to the show.

Best Director - With only five directors to be on the ballot I think chances are J.J. Abrams will not be nominated.   Ridley Scott (The Martian), George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road), and Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) are shoe ins for the ballot.   The remaining two spots sees Todd Haynes (Carol), Alejandro Inarritu (Revenant), Ryan Coogler (Creed) and Adam McKay (The Big Short) duking it out.   

Best Actress - Daisy Ridley performance as Rey in most years would easily garner a nomination and in some years a much closer look.   However this is not most years and just like Best Director category the Best Actress category is stacked with four shoe ins for the nominations and four or five deserving actresses vying for the fifth nomination.

Best Actor in a supporting role - Harrison Ford will receive a lot of consideration for the award.  I would only be mildly surprised if he receives a nomination but not shocked.  Out of the all the major categories I feel this is the weakest in terms of depth this year.

Best Score - John Williams will surely be nominated for what many people believe is his last major project.  With a long history with the academy and many wins and more nominations it is not inconceivable that this score wins one last award for John Williams.

Screenplay - The first problem is what category does this film belong in, original or adapted?   That confusion alone will be enough to keep it from being nominated.

Lesser Categories
Cinematography - Editing - Sound - Costume Design - Production Design - Visual Effects - Hairstyling/Makeup - The academy in recent years has liked more indie style films than large scale epics in almost every one of these instances.  Unless their is a change of heart in the voting booth this year I do not see SWTFA receiving more than a token award.  

I never thought writing a movie review was going to be this difficult.

I like the film but (that's a very big but) was extremely disappointed as I felt it should have been so much better than it was.   Those are two very different emotions that arise within me from seeing this film.

Two films slammed together, mercilessly trimmed down in length by well over an hour that force feeds the story to the audience.

Exceptional Cinematography, sound, music, score....   

So many missed opportunities

One of the best Cameos by Stan Lee

In response to a special request I received about my opinion of the latest episode of Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D: Writing on the Wall S2E7.

Short Version: If you have watched every episode of Season 1 and the first six episodes of Season 2 you would find this episode reWARDing in many ways.   If you haven't caught every episode or weren't paying close attention to all the details than this episode just didn't fit together.   This episode was assembled more along the lines of a Mystery (whodunit) than the typical action oriented episodes of the previous five weeks.  

Long Version:
Skye told Director Coulson "It's All Connected" and I couldn't agree more.   There have been soo many Easter Eggs and hints about the show and where it is going that is intriguingly interesting if you are a puzzler and want to assemble the puzzle.   Speculation on what you don't know and how it fits into the over all puzzle.   It's not just this week episode but in almost every episode there are multiple references to a larger Marvel Universe.   I'm still trying to understand Agent 33's connection to MCU as she is the individual in the comic universe who recruits Hercules in a similar fashion as Coulson recruited Thor in the MCU.  

In discussions after Captain America: The Winter Soldier was released show runners Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon explained how they were presented with a copy of the movie script and told to plan changes to the series around it.   At that point either May or Ward had to become Hydra mole and due to some logistics it became Ward. (1)
While there were many complaints about Ward and whether Brett Dalton was airmailing in performances it clearly in hind sight was all building to make him a great antagonist to the team.   We can only hope he isn't over used as the story progresses.
IMHO this progressing to the point where Grant Ward will be a Mercenary for Hire, neither supporting Hydra in its entirety or completely an enemy of the rebuilt S.H.E.I.L.D.     Several bloggers have suggested that Grant Ward could a representation of the "Swordsman" and a couple have suggested he could be the next Punisher.  As far fetched as that idea seems its grown on me. 

Another thing this episode attempted to do was tie up a great number of personal character story arcs but it wasn't just about ending but starting some new potential issues going forward.
IMHO many of the story lines that they were ending, went on one episode too long.  I have said this about the show before but you have 7 episodes of story told in 8 episodes, same deal last year.
Clearly this episode ends the prequel stage to the fall series and next episode starts the 5 episode run up to the fall season finale. 

Could we have are first connection to the Punisher?   When Director Coulson asks Skye about the images from the murder scene She replies "One of my sources, Micro, he is kind of a crime scene junkie."   Is Micro short for Microchip, an Tech savvy ally of Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, who happens to be a crime scene junkie in the comics.   It's an Easter egg that bears watching.

Spoilers Below - You have been warned.

This is a great shot from the end of the Episode.


It shows the small ragtag bunch Director Coulson is leading:
Director Coulson is separate from the team, he is no longer the father figure of season one, but the man in charge, the man who has to make difficult choices.
Agent Simmons is fascinated by the map, in Making Friends and Influencing People she said it was the Science that mattered not the team.   She is also not standing by Agent Fitz.
Agent Morse is staring at Director Coulson, it really looks like she is questioning his authority to lead S.H.I.E.L.D.
Hunter has the look of what the heck did I get myself into, is this worth what I am getting paid.
Skye wants to know more from Coulson, like maybe why isn't she going crazy?
Agent Fitz is the background obscured and covered in Shadow
Agent Tripplet is looking to something off screen and away from everyone else.
Mac is clearly intrigued with the map.

So much thought went into this one five second shot it mind numbing. 

Another interesting tidbit we learned this week Adrianne Palicki who plays agent Bobbi Morse revealed that she has a agreement to appear in one of the Phase 3 Movies.  I should also note the Frank Grillo who plays Brock Rumlow, aka Crossbones, has a contract for up to 5 Movies. 
Originally Adrianne Palicki character Mockingbird was supposed to appear in a handful of episodes but with such fan support its believed she will be elevated to regular (or as close as you can get) for the remainder of the Season.  
Adrianne Palicki is on record suggesting (2) that Jeremy Renner who plays Clint Barton / Hawkeye may be appearing in a later episode of MAoS if his work schedule allows it.   Jeremy Renner who is currently working on Mission Impossible 5 would be tentatively available before filming of the Bourne Betrayal begins which would be during the filming of the spring MAoS series, just saying.

Could we be reaching the point where MAoS has multiple teams in the field?

We also learned that Brett Dalton (Grant Ward) next week ends his run a regular cast member to the show.   He technically didn't appear in S2E2 but he was still a credited star of that episode.

Next week episode list of guest stars include Hayley Atwell (Agent Peggy Carter), Lou Ferrigno Jr. (Agent Hauer), Reed Diamond (Daniel Whitehall) and Kyle MacLachlan (Skye's Father).
The new interesting character on the list is Agent Hauer, could this be Joesph Hauer the British Super Soldier (A mutant who is a cross between Wolverine and Captain America) who's primary ally in the comics is Commander Lance Hunter.   

We are expected to learn more about Skye's Father, could Skye's Father be Gordon Nobili, an Inhuman with Superhuman Strength (and the ability to talk to his dead ancestors) who goes on to lead the Nobili crime family in the comics and is later consumed with hatred of the Punisher who's actions he believes lead to the death of his sons?   I should note that in the comics Gordon Nobili is transformed from a relativily normal looking elder gentleman to purple rock like dude.

There are rumors that a number of C and B list characters will be making an appearance in MAoS especially during the Spring Series of 10 Episodes.   These include Taylor Kitcsh as Nova, Fran Kranz as Speedball and a list of other potential members of the New Warriors whose failed attempt to capture Nitro on a reality TV show created the crisis that leads to Marvel Civil War.   If true that indicates MAoS is no longer just reacting to MCU but helping setup the minor details of a bigger universe before hand.


(1) http://collider.com/agents-of-shield-season-2-story-details-easter-eggs/\
(2) http://screenrant.com/mockingbird-hawkeye-movies-adrianne-palicki/ and http://www.mtv.com/news/1991433/agents-of-shield-adrianne-palicki-hawkeye/