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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Film / Nerd Flogging a Dead Horse, Disney Will Be

Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Feb 5, 2013 at 1:25 PM

I'm sorry, but a stand-alone Yoda film is not a good idea. I'm not saying that a good Yoda movie can't be done—talent can often overpower a bad idea. But exploring Yoda's backstory is a dead-end that only weakens the character. It hurts the original films. It renders the creative soil of the Star Wars universe fallow.

The modern blockbuster film industry reminds me of the comic book industry in the 1990s: Obsessed with gimmickry and dead-set on milking any popular intellectual property to the point of irrelevance. Now, the "mainstream" comic industry only appeals to a few thousand diehard fans who want to read the same stories over and over again. And comics are propped up by a film industry that's mining those stories for the first time in a series of well-received films. Who's going to prop up the film industry when all those ideas are mined? Where are the new ideas going to come from? After you've revealed all the mysteries behind a 33-year-old supporting character, where else is there to go?

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Other things that may remind you of the comic book industry in the 1990s:
The comic book industry in 2013
The comic book industry in 2000-2012

Posted by jzimbert on February 5, 2013 at 6:57 PM

Predator vs. Yoda.

Posted by Michael of the Green on February 5, 2013 at 5:34 PM

It's lovely when we can agree on something. This is a lame idea, purely for commercial exploitation of an already damaged brand. I think it's ok to reexplore myths and archetypes and the back story would've appealed to me more before 1999.

Posted by dirac on February 5, 2013 at 4:32 PM

@17 You've got a lot of nerve, showing your face around here, after what you pulled.

Sadly, it would end up being Miami Vice, the sequel, with Zac Efron and Corbin Bleu fighting over Miley Cyrus while Seth du Jour does gross cosplay jokes.

Posted by Sir Vic on February 5, 2013 at 4:14 PM

Maybe a remake of Samurai 7, the anime, with Yoda in the starring role might work.

Check it out on Cartoon Network, it's OnDemand (free).

Posted by Will in Seattle

on February 5, 2013 at 4:11 PM

I hope this is just a rumor.

Posted by Simone on February 5, 2013 at 4:09 PM

Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm very much opposed to a Yoda back-story movie. I think one of the better things about the character is that you have no clue what his origins are, and you never will know.

Posted by keshmeshi on February 5, 2013 at 3:54 PM

@9,

I propose a Han and Lando buddy movie.

Posted by keshmeshi on February 5, 2013 at 3:51 PM

@9 (stabs) There's a back story on the Rancor Keeper in Tales from Jabba's Palace. You can read it here beginning at the bottom of page 3: http://gpnp.net/backshelves.gpnp.net/sta…

Or, buy the whole book here: http://www.amazon.com/Tales-Jabbas-Palac…

Posted by PA Native on February 5, 2013 at 3:27 PM

Damn autocorrect

Posted by Rotten666 on February 5, 2013 at 3:26 PM

@13
Licks didn't fuck up my childhood memories, in many ways he gave me my childhood. I'll never say a bad thing about the man.

Posted by Rotten666 on February 5, 2013 at 3:24 PM

Lucas already fucked up your childhood memories beyond all recognition. I don't see how Disney could do any worse.

At the very least, if they make the mistake of hiring an egomaniac hack, they can fire him, which the eponymous Lucasfilm could obviously not do.

Posted by Westside forever on February 5, 2013 at 2:54 PM

Yeah, none of the characters are that interesting on their own. They're all pretty stock characters - "The Badass" "The Wise Old Man" "The Wise Old Man Who Is Also a Green Alien Midget" "The Hero Who Wants To Bone His Sister" (hey, Wagner did it too). The only reason we liked the original Star Wars movies was because the stories they told with these not-very-interesting characters were good.

I'm getting less and less excited about Disney's Star Wars the more I hear about it. If they just loosely adapted some of the Extended Universe books for a new trilogy and then VERY loosely remade the prequels (rewrite Revenge of the Sith with good dialogue and then completely redo the origin story in the first two), everyone would love them forever. They could keep milking it through cartoons and videogames like they do now. Everyone but kids and fanboys ignores them, and they make a profit while not watering down the brand the same way that putting a shitty movie in theaters does.

Posted by redemma on February 5, 2013 at 2:45 PM

Ready Player One is going to be an awesome movie.

Posted by biffp on February 5, 2013 at 2:38 PM

We already did the backstory for Boba Fett. It was terrible.

Posted by evilvolus on February 5, 2013 at 2:33 PM

There's seriously at least 10 other characters whose back (or fore) stories I would be more interested in than Yoda
BOBA FETT
Mace Windu (not likely)
Any of the other cool looking nameless jedis on the counsil
Lando Calrissian
Almost any of the characters from the KOTOR series
The poor dude whose rancor got killed in RotJ
Expanding the universe it the name of the game.
What about all those bounty hunters from KOTOR?

Posted by Stabs on February 5, 2013 at 2:18 PM

Backstory is the worst idea for any movie. I thought we all learned that with Episodes 1-3.

Posted by MacCrocodile

on February 5, 2013 at 2:08 PM

Get a hold of yourself Paul!

Hollywood will simply recycle the same movies over and over for decades. It's no different from what they do now.

Posted by Urgutha Forka on February 5, 2013 at 1:57 PM

I'd rather see Po and Yoda team up to defend the Moon of Endor from the evil sand people.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on February 5, 2013 at 1:56 PM

They can just re-release Kung-fu Panda, with the panda removed and Yoda inserted.

Posted by eclexia on February 5, 2013 at 1:51 PM

If they were smart at Disney, they'd reboot the series Knights of the Old Republic style. But they aren't that smart. People are more interested in the Star Wars universe than the stale characters that Lucas populated it with. But Disney is going to squeeze out every dollar they can from the original IP, even if it destroys it. It is all that they know how to do.

Maybe it is finally time for another Wookiee Christmas movie. I have a feeling this would turn out better than what Disney is planning.

Posted by delirian on February 5, 2013 at 1:49 PM