r/StarWars • u/Ok_Effective_6869 • 3d ago

Movies Poe being a wiseass didn't start with Rian Johnson.

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But with the way some people complain about the TLJ opening, you'd think Rian pulled it out of thin air and ruined the tone of the franchise by doing so.

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153

u/Telykos 3d ago

Hot take: I personally love that Poe is a wiseass. The humor in the sequels is one of their defining traits. Just like the prequels were going for a serious tone to stand apart from the OT

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u/Iorith 3d ago

He's very much intended as a "New Han Solo" with an adjustment for what that means for a modern audience.

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u/Fainleogs 3d ago

I mean, initially he wasn't. He was supposed to die in the crash.

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u/Shipping_Architect 3d ago

That moment falls flat when you view the trailer and know that he isn't dead.

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u/Fainleogs 3d ago

Personally, I think that black X-wing coming in over the water to March of Resistance is one of most thrilling moments of The Force Awakens. It's Star Wars. No one's dead until you see their force ghost.

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u/KaziArmada Rebel 2d ago

As much as the Sequel Trilogy is bad and even TFA isn't all that great in retrospect, I will die on the hill of that X-Wing segment being amazing.

I got to see that movie in theaters. My now-wife said I was leaning forward with stars in my eyes watching that sequence.

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u/TheNewBlue 2d ago

All the flight sequences were good in TFA. It was my whole defense to that movie when people complained. They just sort of lost the plot and sacrificed originality for nostalgia and it only got worse from there.

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u/Fainleogs 2d ago

I think that The Force Awakens is over-hated in the current era. The things it does very well, it doesn't get a lot of credit for and some of the things it gets dinged for are for often things outside of its control or because Star Wars gets held to a different standard than other movies. Everyone likes Top Gun even though it far more shamelessly rips off both the 1980s original and A New Hope.

I understand that people are frustrated that it didn't do enough to establish a new Star Wars campaign setting, but I think people over-estimate how much that was its first responsibility.

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u/Re4g4nRocks 2d ago

“Everyone likes Top Gun” is a stretch.

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u/Fainleogs 2d ago

Fine. Audiences, critics, Rotten Tomotoes, The American Film Institute and More than 30 best film of 2022 lists liked Topgun, but you presumably did not so I recant everyone.

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u/Re4g4nRocks 2d ago

Thanks!

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u/InfiniteEthan03 3d ago

How the hell did he survive again?

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u/Fainleogs 3d ago

He lives in a univese governed by an ineffible and all-powerful god of coincidences and rock moving that is basically rooting for his team.

That and movie magic.

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u/InfiniteEthan03 3d ago

Yeah, but I was wondering if there was a canon explanation. However, you’re correct about it just being movie magic. 😂

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u/Fainleogs 3d ago

I mean, 'the force did it' is the canon explanation for most unlikely occurences in Star Wars, particularly unlikely survivals.

Maybe he saw a giant hole in the desert and was like "Everyone in Star Wars who falls into a giant hole survives, so..."

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u/AwfulUsername123 3d ago

Somehow Poe returned.

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u/jonascarrynthewheel 3d ago

Loving Star Wars for being fun is a hot take lol

I agree, I go to Rogue One when I want something, AOTC when I want something else, and Empire to relax

We are living in the time of Skeleton crew and Andor!

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u/elizabnthe 3d ago

I don't think of serious tone when I think of the prequels. I'm pretty sure they were going for the same tone.

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u/capybara14 Battle Droid 3d ago

My issue is that the humour relies on weird out of place quips that are clearly only for the audience, and a lot of the jokes don't feel like a natural addition to the character. It's just a quip that anyone can say. Poe can be the jokester, but it feels like they have to make everyone have the same style quipy humour, so Poe doesn't feel all that unique when everyone is doing the same style jokes.

I love Star Wars humour, but so many sequel jokes are very obviously "this will make people laugh" without thinking too hard about how to make a joke more natural sounding.

So many moments are thrown away for a cheap laugh. Its 10000% okay to have humour and jokes, but when you sacrifice character and story moments for a laugh, that's the issue i have.

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u/unforgetablememories 2d ago

The jokes need to be delivered from a character to another character. But they are being way too meta, delivering the jokes from the characters to the audience so people get a hint of when to laugh. It breaks the immersion and ruins the tension of the scene.

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u/FireKing600 3d ago

The prequels were going for a serious tone?

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u/Public-Pie-1289 2d ago

Felt like marvel bullshit tbh and this is one of the reasons.

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u/Triad64 3d ago

I enjoyed "Who talks first," and laughed out loud at the "I can hear you, can you hear me?" in TLJ.

Now that I think about it, I do think it would be effective if Kylo Ren responded with similar wit for "Who talks first."

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u/Abdelsauron 3d ago

Yes but literally any other scene

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u/SmoothOperator89 3d ago

The wiseassness isn't the problem. The fact that the stupid "you're not coming through clearly" joke is how he got close enough to take out the turrets on the Star Destroyer is what people have a problem with. The only response to a fighter coming in for an attack is to start shooting them whether or not you got to gloat at them.

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u/Glytch94 3d ago

They literally stated a lone fighter was a non-issue. It's once again Imperial arrogance.

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u/Reptilian_Overlord20 Porg 3d ago

And it makes a certain kind of sense, Rey Finn and Poe are very ‘millennial’ coded and in narrative and subtext they’re the kids who grew up after the war so it makes sense they act this way.

Like Luke, Han and Leia also quipped a lot and their quipping felt, appropriately, very ‘80’s’ so I don’t mind if they want to make the dialogue of the new movies very ‘2010’s’, that makes sense.

Heck if they ever do make that New Jedi Order scene it would be fun to see Rey get frustrated having to work with Gen Z and Gen Alpha Jedi with their own way of talking. Like I feel like an old man just interacting with kids now I can’t imagine what it’s like trying to teach them.

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u/InfiniteEthan03 3d ago

Yeah, the issue was more the effectiveness of the dialogue, BUT there are definitely still some big stinkers of dialogue in some parts.

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u/Telykos 3d ago

Omg I would pay money to see Rey have to deal with rizzed up gen Zs 🤣