Haters Gotta Hate

When the new Star Wars movie came out, most critics liked it (unlike the original movie or the prequels) but of course there are always some who have to complain.  Notably Max Landis, the writer of Chronicle and some comic books, aired some grievances about the movie.  Most of the time when people do this, it sounds like sour grapes.  Especially someone whose recent American Ultra and Victor Frankenstein made less in their entire runs combined than Star Wars did in a day.

But really this happens with every big movie:  Avatar, Titanic, The Dark Knight, Jurassic World, the Avengers, etc.  The thing is, a lot of the complaints made usually sound petty.  People get into camera angles or plot elements that can be explained or that there are too many coincidences, as if great writers like Dickens didn't rely on coincidences for their plots. 

With The Force Awakens a lot of the criticism was it was too much like the original movie.  But really I think when you're trying to win back the jaded fans after the prequels, reminding them of the original is a good start.  At the same time I think it's a good enough movie on its own, which is probably why it quickly became the biggest movie ever--that and inflation, IMAX/3D sales, etc.  The other major criticism is that Finn and Rey are "Mary Sues" in that they almost instantly know how to do stuff.  I don't really agree with that.  Finn's struggles learning to use the laser guns on the TIE Fighter and Millennium Falcon were documented.  And he loses both lightsaber fights, so it's not like he was really "good" at using it.  As for Rey, she probably has Skywalker DNA, so it would only make sense for her to know how to fly, just like Luke and Anakin.  That she could mind control a guy is explainable in that she obviously heard stories about Jedis.  And that she beats Kylo Ren is because she embraces the Force and she already had plenty of practice in fighting with her staff, so it's not like she was a wimp.  See?  You can poke holes and I can poke back.  Suck it.

That said I can't deny The Force Awakens isn't a perfect movie.  Neither are any of the other ones that I mentioned.  I actually think Avatar was pretty lame--but it looked really cool doing it.  The thing is, if I enjoyed a movie I can forgive a lot of its imperfections.  I suppose if you want to get deep, it's like how your significant other might not look like a supermodel but you enjoy their company and thus can overlook that.  Plus it's not like you look like a supermodel either.  Before he throws stones at a movie like Star Wars, Max Landis might want to consider the imperfections in his movies.  It's not like Chronicle was Citizen Kane by any stretch.

Though it's ironic for a Grumpy Bulldog to say so, I think some people just can't stand something being popular if they aren't involved.  Maybe they're narcissists like Michael Offutt would say.  Or just contrarians.  Plus it's a good way to get yourself some publicity if you're a C-list celebrity.  And then some men just like to watch the world burn--or piss off people by hating on what they like.