Bluelitespecial

Why couldn't you take a hint and walk away you crazy bitch.

Draven

Classy.

I think Kennedy has done a fantastic job with a tough property (and shitty fanboys who don't like anything unless it's exactly what they've had in their head for 30+ years). I say more power to her

Mike86

So it’s fine to criticize fans and call them shitty fanboys because we don’t agree with decisions being made but it can’t go the other way around? Talk about your double standards.

Now for the record I wouldn’t go as far as personally attacking Kennedy, Johnson, anyone involved, or fans (disagreeing with some posters and having heated debate is a different thing entirely). Bluelitespecial, that’s going too far and you clearly have issues from other threads all over this forum.

TGM

a tough property???? LOL.

DthRdrX

Shit movies are still shit movies.

DthRdrX

The real kicker is when the director says he went out of his way to change everything because the series, "needs to change to survive."

... when the movies were making 1-2 billion theatrically.

Bluelitespecial

I actually liked Solo, I would call it a step in the right direction. My attitude has improved in a lot of ways, but I make no apologies for how I feel about what Star Wars has become under Kathleen Kennedy.

Draven

Yep, because if Chewie's hair is a slightly different shade there will be 1000 think pieces immediately posted online on how Kennedy is ruining the franchise and doesn't understand Star Wars.

It's exhausting on this end - I can't imagine what it's like to make one of these things.

Mabuse

The real kicker is when he claims he changed everything when the whole thing is a 1 for 1 remake of ESB.

dex14

Don’t regress.

Mike86

It goes both ways. People on the other side get shit on for giving an opinion on why they don’t like something too. It’s exhausting having to argue about why you don’t like something and having to justify your reasons with some people without being called a hater or a shitty fanboy or being accused of not liking something because of a female or minority group.

fumanstan

There are shitty fanboys that put out petitions or toss insults, some of which are sexist, at those behind the movie and take their dislike for a movie to an extreme. There are also shitty fanboys that stomp all over and de-value the opinions of those that didn't like a movie and seem to lump everyone together in to one group. Star Wars sure can bring out the worst in people.

I think it's weird to attack and pin everything on Kennedy, from a business standpoint it sure seems like she's done a great job even if Solo underperformed.

Mike86

I don’t have an issue with Kennedy necessarily. I don’t think she’s the ideal choice to be running things on her own though either. She’s no Kevin Feige where I have complete confidence in how she’s steering the ship. It seems like she can have successes but maybe makes questionable decisions. I mean of the four Star Wars films under her reign three have had issues of some sort. In a lot of ways I think the first three films under Disney did as good as they did because they had the benefit of still having hype from being new Star Wars movies. I think that’s maybe wearing off a bit and especially if they think they can release multiple films a year.

Draven

I’m pretty sure the Original Trilogy had issues during production and they turned out okay.

Mike86

I’m just saying it seems like things could be run better is all. I’m not trashing her or calling her names and for the record I’ve liked three of the four new films. I don’t see why we have to be protective of her and act like there aren’t some looming issues with how the brand has been ran despite making money.

It’s not exactly normal for two major franchise films to switch directors partway through production, and despite being liked by some people The Last Jedi is clearly a controversial film. You can write that off as shitty fanboys as you put it, but those shitty fanboys are a big part of what’s kept the brand alive and are as entitled to their opinions as those who liked it.

Hokeyboy

The best thing Star Wars can do right now -- besides flooding the cinema with product every year -- is generate a real sense of vision and evolution. I actually liked The Last Jedi but it was too safe, too confined, and its misguided attempts to "subvert expectations" ended up causing more problems than intended.

Hokeyboy

And Toxic Fanboys will always Toxic Fanboy, but trivializing legitimate criticism as such is no way to build and evolve a product.

gryffinmaster

Absolutely.

Josh-da-man

It’s rare that someone claims TLJ was “playing it safe.”

I generally find that the term, when applied to movies, is kind of useless because everyone has their own opinions as to what “playing it safe” means.

A lot of the stuff Johnson did with TLJ seemed arbitrary and capricious (killing Luke, killing Snoke, Rey’s parentage, destroying Poe’s black X-Wing, tearing apart the lightsaber), like he wanted to break as many toys as he could before he left the final chapter to the next guy. He basically came on board, decided that he wasn’t going to commit to any of the mysteries that were set up in TFA, and put out a movie that just feels really small like a tv episode and not some kind of epic adventure. Even though he killed off Luke Fucking Skywalker, he had him go out with a whimper and not a bang. It’s Captain Kirk falling off of a bridge all over again.

Mike86

Luke’s death is so much worse than Captain Kirk’s in my opinion though. It sort of feels like Johnson didn’t respect the character at all really and just treated him like he was just a disposable character. Like he may have just not mattered at all in a lot of ways. I think that’s what really gets under my skin about that particular aspect of that film. You’re talking one of the most iconic movie characters of all time and he’s treated as basically a second rate character.

At least with Kirk he went out after a showdown and getting one last chance to make a difference as he put it to Picard. I can see why some fans had issues with that death too but I think it was done a bit more respectfully to the character and he wasn’t made a joke of half the film. Luke is a grumpy old man most of the film who’s basically nothing like he once was and goes out by using too much of his power despite being a Jedi Master. Such bullshit.

TGM

I guess I'm just going to reserve any more criticism of TLJ until Ep9 (and 10?) come out. Hopefully JJ will salvage this story for me and redeem Luke as a Force Ghost (or something new/more/different?).

I am under no delusion that Luke as ever going to survive the sequel trilogy, I just wish it was done better, and in the final movie. I wonder if they would have delayed his "death" if they new Fisher was going to die.

Shannon Nutt

Movies that Kathleen Kennedy has produced or executive produced:

E.T.
Gremlins
The Goonies
Back to the Future
The Color Purple
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Jurassic Park
Schindler's List
The Sixth Sense
Seabiscuit
Munich

...to name just a few.

The idea that she doesn't know what she's doing or doesn't know what it takes to put together a quality film is ridiculous.

Mike86

A lot of films where she worked with big name talents like Steven Spielberg or Robert Zemeckis who probably elevated those films.

Not that the directors who have worked on the new Star Wars films don’t have talent but I feel like some weren’t the best choices maybe. Clearly that was the case too if three of them (Lord/Miller and Edwards) had to be replaced. I think she took a gamble with Johnson. I kinda even thought before the film he was an odd choice. Not that he’s a bad director but he doesn’t seem like the type who plays well with a franchise and has his own style.

kefrank

We've been over this already, but it's worth reiterating that I couldn't disagree more. To quote Luke, "Amazing. Every word of what you just said was wrong."

Josh-da-man

She has an impressive resume, but she’s been burning through directors like crazy while helming Lucasfilm.

And I don’t think she really has a feel for Star Wars. The films you list aren’t part of franchises save for things like BTTF, which is totally Zemeckis’ vision, and Jurassic Park, which is just a dinosaurs eating people. She can produce Seabiscuit and Munich, but I donkt think she has the vision to call the shots for a science fiction franchise.