When you think of the Star Wars movies, it's hard to not think of the music in some way or another. It's easily one of the most iconic components of the Saga and is instantly recognizable, even to people who wouldn't consider themselves fans of Star Wars. The music of John Williams is so crucial to the Saga as a whole that it really helped in shaping its identity. In fact, I would argue that Star Wars wouldn't have been as much of a success without Williams' music. His music is the glue that brings it all together. It's just so hard to imagine any Star Wars movie without it
That's why some fans are a little skeptical of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which will be the first time a live action Star Wars movie is not scored by Williams. In his place will be Alexandre Desplat, a French composer who has had numerous successes in his own right. His numerous credits include the score for Godzilla, The Golden Compass, and even contributions to the Harry Potter series of films. But the simple fact that he isn't John Williams is enough to make some people concerned, and that's reasonable given the impact that Williams has had on Star Wars as a whole.
The unfortunate fact of the matter is that one day, this will be the norm. There will come a movie that will be the last Star Wars movie ever scored by John Williams. That seems far away, but with Williams being hesitant to return for Episode 8, it may come sooner than we Star Wars fans may want.
It's going to happen, there's nothing we can do to change it, so we might as well just accept it. But what does the future hold? There's the possibility that Lucasfilm will find a unique composer for each movie. An argument could be made for this decision, since you could say it will make each Star Wars film feel distinct and unique. But, I personally disagree with it. As I mentioned earlier, I believe that the music is the glue that holds the entire franchise together. Having the music be the one thing that's a constant throughout the years seems fitting. However, I can agree with having a different composer for each of the Star Wars Stories, since these are by nature supposed to be different and a little separated from the main saga.Aas long as they still retain some of the basic musical themes, I have no objections to branching out a little bit for the Stories.
The other option is for Lucasfilm to find a successor to Williams that will score all Star Wars films for the foreseeable future. There's definitely plenty of composers out there who can emulate Williams' style, some of whom are currently involved with various Star Wars projects, whether its video games like Star Wars: The Old Republic or the popular Star Wars Rebels TV series. But if Lucasfilm wants a big-name Hollywood composer, Michael Giacchino seems more than capable of taking over the helm from Williams. His credits, to name a few, include the Star Trek series of films and numerous Pixar films including the Incredibles and Up. More recently, he composed the score for Jurassic World, and has even provided Star Wars-style music for the Star Tours attraction in the various Disney Parks. With these two projects, he's proven that he's not only capable of breathing new life into existing music composed by Williams, but is also capable of creating brand new pieces that blend in seamlessly.
No matter what route Lucasfilm decides to take, the simple truth is that eventually Star Wars music will change. Nobody can say how much it will change, but if I'm being honest, I would hate to hear the same three musical themes over and over for the next three decades worth of Star Wars movies, so we do need some change. There's people out there that can bring change to the music while still utilizing the foundation that John Williams has so artfully created. Replacing Williams would be a monumental task, and a monumental decision to find the right composer(s), but when the time comes (and I hope it isn't any time soon), I have confidence that Lucasfilm will do everything they can to make the best decision. Lately they have proven that they don't take any decision lightly and I get the sense that everyone involved in these new Star Wars films is truly trying to make the best movie they can. So I have faith that whatever they ultimately decide will be the right choice.
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
New Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Official Trailer!
As the release date for Rogue One gets closer and closer, marketing for the film is continuing to ramp up.
With just a little over four months to go until the release of the film on December 16, we finally have another official trailer. Check it out, and make sure to watch until the very end!
With just a little over four months to go until the release of the film on December 16, we finally have another official trailer. Check it out, and make sure to watch until the very end!
Friday, August 12, 2016
My Thoughts on Suicide Squad
SPOILERS
Earlier today I was finally able to see Suicide Squad. For me, it was one of the most anticipated movies of the summer (but I was interested in a lot of movies this summer so it's really hard to say), easily much more so than Batman vs Superman. I'll admit, this was primarily due to my disappointment with Man of Steel, but over all, I think what I found more appealing about Suicide Squad was that it was something different. It seemed like it was going to bring much more to the table than your traditional super hero movie, much like Guardians of the Galaxy did back in 2014.
Before I talk about what I thought, lets get something out of the way. When it comes to the recent DC movies, I'm not much of a fan. It's not that I am some die-hard Marvel fanboy. I enjoy DC super heroes, I just feel that their movies fall short. As I mentioned already, I was disappointed with Man of Steel. I felt like it was a movie that had a lot of potential, but ultimately didn't live up to it due to story problems. In my opinion, Batman vs Superman had even more potential and could have been something truly amazing. But again, I feel like it suffered with story problems, got distracted, and tried to be too many things at once. Even with all of this in mind, I was still really looking forward to Suicide Squad and went in with an open mind.
So now, what did I think? Well, I think that Suicide Squad is easily the best movie we've had so far in the DC Extended Universe. It did a lot of things right that the previous two movies just didn't.
Let's talk about the cast first. For the most part, the acting is good. There's nothing that stands out as terrible or underwhelming. But on the flip side, I thought that Margot Robbie and Jared Leto as Harley Quinn and the Joker, respectively, were fantastic. Jared Leto's performance may have been a bit cartoonish and over the top, but I think that's acceptable for the character, and I think I'll come to like his take on the Joker.
Suicide Squad, in my opinion, easily had a more focused and prominent story than Batman v Superman. In that movie, we're lead to believe that the main story is the fight between Batman and Superman, but in reality, that was just a plot device to bring about a much large (and in my opinion) much less interesting story of defeating Lex Luthor and his plans.
This isn't to say that Suicide Squad's story was perfect. I still feel like at times it was a bit distracted. I know that Harley Quinn and the Joker are hugely popular characters, and I will freely admit that I would like to see a movie dedicated solely to them, but in a lot of ways I felt like the subplot involving the Joker was in a lot of ways unnecessary. The people in charge of making the film must agree with this to a certain extent because there were many scenes involving the Joker that ultimately didn't make the final cut. Certain of these flashbacks were necessary, particularly the ones telling us more about Harley, but the ones that dealt almost exclusively with characterizing the Joker weren't needed. I feel like they existed solely to set up another movie.
And that's hitting on something that's really bothered me with the DC Extended Universe thus far. It's obvious that DC is trying to emulate the highly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe by making a series of movies that are all interconnected and lead to a big crossover movie. However, Marvel does this very naturally and DC seems to be doing it rather clumsily. All f the Marvel movies flow very well into one another. There's no awkward or forced connections, no unnecessary and shoehorned set ups for the next movie or next character. Marvel introduced all of it's Avengers super heroes either through their own stand alone films, or as side characters in those movies. But these side characters, like Black Widow (Iron Man 2) and Hawkeye (Thor) and their place in the film don't feel forced. They fit very naturally into the existing story and the movie is never truly about them.
However, I feel DC does the opposite. In Batman v Superman, Wonder Woman is shoehorned into a little subplot, solely to introduce her character, instead of more naturally introducing her in her own movie, which is coming out next year anyway. The bottom line is that because its not naturally part of the story, it feels awkward and distracting. The movie momentarily becomes about her, rather than Batman and Superman. That's what the Joker scenes in Suicide Squad felt like to me. Yes, the Joker does serve some purpose in that his death provides the catalyst for some characterization of Harley, and ultimately something Harley could trick Enchantress with in the finale. But did the film really need all of the scenes involving the Joker that it actually had? I learned more about the Joker and his character than I did about half of the actual members of Suicide Squad, and I think that's a problem. And it seems like this was done for no other purpose that to introduce Joker for a later movie.
So with that in mind do I hate the movie? No, it's a fun ride. Yeah, it has problems. Yeah, certain depictions of the characters may be a bit unconventional, the story might not be air tight, and the soundtrack may seem strange at points, but it's still a fun, enjoyable movie. I still would rank this the best of the DCEU movies thus far and see it as an improvement.
Earlier today I was finally able to see Suicide Squad. For me, it was one of the most anticipated movies of the summer (but I was interested in a lot of movies this summer so it's really hard to say), easily much more so than Batman vs Superman. I'll admit, this was primarily due to my disappointment with Man of Steel, but over all, I think what I found more appealing about Suicide Squad was that it was something different. It seemed like it was going to bring much more to the table than your traditional super hero movie, much like Guardians of the Galaxy did back in 2014.
Before I talk about what I thought, lets get something out of the way. When it comes to the recent DC movies, I'm not much of a fan. It's not that I am some die-hard Marvel fanboy. I enjoy DC super heroes, I just feel that their movies fall short. As I mentioned already, I was disappointed with Man of Steel. I felt like it was a movie that had a lot of potential, but ultimately didn't live up to it due to story problems. In my opinion, Batman vs Superman had even more potential and could have been something truly amazing. But again, I feel like it suffered with story problems, got distracted, and tried to be too many things at once. Even with all of this in mind, I was still really looking forward to Suicide Squad and went in with an open mind.
So now, what did I think? Well, I think that Suicide Squad is easily the best movie we've had so far in the DC Extended Universe. It did a lot of things right that the previous two movies just didn't.
Let's talk about the cast first. For the most part, the acting is good. There's nothing that stands out as terrible or underwhelming. But on the flip side, I thought that Margot Robbie and Jared Leto as Harley Quinn and the Joker, respectively, were fantastic. Jared Leto's performance may have been a bit cartoonish and over the top, but I think that's acceptable for the character, and I think I'll come to like his take on the Joker.
Suicide Squad, in my opinion, easily had a more focused and prominent story than Batman v Superman. In that movie, we're lead to believe that the main story is the fight between Batman and Superman, but in reality, that was just a plot device to bring about a much large (and in my opinion) much less interesting story of defeating Lex Luthor and his plans.
This isn't to say that Suicide Squad's story was perfect. I still feel like at times it was a bit distracted. I know that Harley Quinn and the Joker are hugely popular characters, and I will freely admit that I would like to see a movie dedicated solely to them, but in a lot of ways I felt like the subplot involving the Joker was in a lot of ways unnecessary. The people in charge of making the film must agree with this to a certain extent because there were many scenes involving the Joker that ultimately didn't make the final cut. Certain of these flashbacks were necessary, particularly the ones telling us more about Harley, but the ones that dealt almost exclusively with characterizing the Joker weren't needed. I feel like they existed solely to set up another movie.
And that's hitting on something that's really bothered me with the DC Extended Universe thus far. It's obvious that DC is trying to emulate the highly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe by making a series of movies that are all interconnected and lead to a big crossover movie. However, Marvel does this very naturally and DC seems to be doing it rather clumsily. All f the Marvel movies flow very well into one another. There's no awkward or forced connections, no unnecessary and shoehorned set ups for the next movie or next character. Marvel introduced all of it's Avengers super heroes either through their own stand alone films, or as side characters in those movies. But these side characters, like Black Widow (Iron Man 2) and Hawkeye (Thor) and their place in the film don't feel forced. They fit very naturally into the existing story and the movie is never truly about them.
However, I feel DC does the opposite. In Batman v Superman, Wonder Woman is shoehorned into a little subplot, solely to introduce her character, instead of more naturally introducing her in her own movie, which is coming out next year anyway. The bottom line is that because its not naturally part of the story, it feels awkward and distracting. The movie momentarily becomes about her, rather than Batman and Superman. That's what the Joker scenes in Suicide Squad felt like to me. Yes, the Joker does serve some purpose in that his death provides the catalyst for some characterization of Harley, and ultimately something Harley could trick Enchantress with in the finale. But did the film really need all of the scenes involving the Joker that it actually had? I learned more about the Joker and his character than I did about half of the actual members of Suicide Squad, and I think that's a problem. And it seems like this was done for no other purpose that to introduce Joker for a later movie.
So with that in mind do I hate the movie? No, it's a fun ride. Yeah, it has problems. Yeah, certain depictions of the characters may be a bit unconventional, the story might not be air tight, and the soundtrack may seem strange at points, but it's still a fun, enjoyable movie. I still would rank this the best of the DCEU movies thus far and see it as an improvement.
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