There’s a reason why most shows with people in armor generally tend to have their protagonists operating without 90% of the time - same reason new Spider-Mans mask has mechanical eyes - even though it makes little sense at all from a practical POV. Surprised that Disney hasn’t internalized that lesson yet.
Guardian’s reviewer isn’t impressed either.
Seems to me the characters without helmets had a lot more to do with Star Wars being cool. Fair point about Darth Vader, though, but there are different rules about empathy when it’s the villain. The helmet adds mystery and uncertainty.
Also, Boba Fett was a putz. In the context of the show, he was just a set-up for a joke with a sarlacc belch as the punchline.
I can’t tell if you’re just griefing me for the Dredd podcast or not, but, yes. I had a similar problem with Dredd. At least we had Olivia Thirlby tagging along to offset some of the helmet time.
-Tom
Nah, I liked the movie and I thought I remembered you guys did too, but it’s been a while since I listened. But in Judge Dredd’s case, that’s totally part of his character, that he never takes off the helmet. I don’t know if that’s the case here, but I have to admit I think it would be pretty funny if he never actually does take it off.
I can appreciate Tom didn’t care for it and I even agree with some of the criticisms, but the show checked the boxes I was looking for. Not great, but good for my tastes. Still, it’s the pilot episode, and those are sadly hit or miss with frequently low correlation to the overall quality of the series, so I’m going to ride the fence a couple weeks longer and see before I weigh in with my ever-so-authoritative opinion (and continue to watch it to the end, regardless - hey, I’m honest!).
Liked it a lot. To me it was a really good show.
As much as I liked the LoTR movies, I sigh and groan and curse every battle scene where only the stars, the most important characters in the battle, AREN’T WEARING ********* HELMETS! Sorry, suspension of disbelief totally lost, and it’s plain STOOPID!
Yep, like you, we all liked Dredd. But we also have long-standing disagreements about a few things, like whether Urban’s chin can carry a movie and how Mama’s fate is completely out of character for Judge Dredd. That’s the one that really bothers me.
In the first episode of the Mandalorian, someone says something like, “So you guys never take your helmets off?” Our Mandalorian says nothing. I don’t know whether its a bit of lampshading or a set-up for a reveal. I hope the latter. Pascal is a really expressive and charming dude. But then again, so are Alan Tudyk and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, but they were never anything but voices in Star Wars.
Oh, I’ll be right there with you. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from TV, it’s this: not liking a show is no reason to not watch it!
How about the alternative, fashionable these days in comic book movies, where the helmet is just a CG effect that shutters up and down as needed? I’d honestly rather have an actual physical hat, like the goofy things Tom Hiddleston and Ian McKellan have to wear, demonstrating their considerable acting talents by keeping a straight face all the while. But every time Star Lord or Iron Man presses a “button” to raise the CG visor, one CG slat at a time, I can’t help but roll my eyes. What a lazy way to try to have your actor likeness cake and eat your superhero branding, too. At least with Iron Man, Marvel movies figured out to give us a face-cam view of Robert Downey Jr. inside the Iron Man hat.
-Tom
The helmet thing is not bothering me a bit at all, probably because I get a lot from the voice, which I like.
I thought the umm ice monster was a bit, well the guy warning about it doesn’t seem to be much of an expert which was kind of lame. Riding the head monster felt like another one of those, you know when they took the old movies and threw in random things that walk and breathe just because, yeah like that.
But… i am going to keep watching because, why not? It’s not terrible.
The real Judge Dredd would sentence himself to 20 years hard labour on Titan for reckless endangerment of civilians by launching her out of the window onto public plaza without checking.
Ahh, I hadn’t even thought of that one! Good call. My issue had been making Mama take the time-slow drug before chucking her off the balcony. That was just needlessly vindictive. Exactly the kind of “smack my bitch up” comeuppance a movie audience wants, but pointless for a guy whose directive is to execute the law.
-Tom
Lotta great production design in those helmets
But yes, it helps when the good guys aren’t wearing them.
He played basically the same character in the first Jack Reacher movie, and was much better. More authentic and menacing, whereas here it felt like he was dialing up the hiss factor for no reason.
Anyway, it’d be hilarious if they started doing a thing where they regularly throw shout outs or recognize the Holiday Special. Make Lumpy a villain in a future ep or something.
Thank God for this thread, now I know that I can hold off on purchasing Disney+ until later in the season or next season. I need a new Star Wars show or movie to check more than a few basic boxes.
And great review, Tom, thank you. Maybe this show will improve this season, or next. I hope it does, but I’m not holding my breath.
Geek moment here, but in David Brin’s uplift universe, everyone is tooling around in ships that are thousands of years old, because at some point technology got to the point where stuff just doesn’t break anymore.
Now THAT universe could make an awesome TV show.
Now I’m curious. What is the cardinal rule of all TV shows?
Well, I liked it. But maybe my expectations for Star Wars has been for it to be “mildly entertaining” for decades now. I think it hit that bar nicely.
Based in the rate of advancement in phones these days I’d say that the idea that Carbonite would get smaller, more powerful and ubiquitous isn’t that far fetched.
When tv shows introduce a baby it usually means the kiss of death. Now you have to slow everything down because baby. We cant do things in the show because baby. They dont normally do that until the 4th or 5th season. I dont really think it is that big of a deal.
Rather than rant about how this episode screamed TV drama, from the groan worthy opening scene at the cantina, I’ll just agree w/ Tom 100%. …including how it pales in comparison to Rick & Morty.