But Star Wars is not an action franchise? There is action IN Star Wars, but that's like saying Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is an action movie (Great movie, btw.) The action has ALWAYS served (in the OT, ep1 is in the middle, and eps2/3 are straighter action movies) to further the emotional development of the characters. And it's not usually a bombastic set-piece battle, there's basically one every film, and in the new trilogy we already have at least four in the first two movies.
The power of the juxtaposition in TLJ is not really in question I think, rather that the individual sequences specifically are either OCD or boring. If you want to talk about editing, and cinematographic decisions, it's just crazy how badly paced the movie is and all the plot holes and questions that arise from that.
Let's dissect the beginning. Warning: This may be a little rough because it's been a while now since I saw the movie.
|<-------------The Dreadnought arrives?------------>|
Title crawl -> Rebels Evacuating -> Imperials arrive -> Poe goes to stop them -> Prank phone call -> Poe starts blowing up turrets and then the bombers arrive intercut with Leia acquiescing to Poe's terrible plan -> The Dreadnought blows up the now-deserted Rebel base -> Bombers getting picked off -> The Dreadnought refocuses on the Rebel cruiser -> Slow-mo bomber suicide -> Poe is recalled and the Rebel fleet flees.
So, in the opening sequence, we're launched into a compelling situation. The rebels are evacuating, but once again, the Imperials arrive just in time to fuck with them. They plan to fire on the base and then the ship. TENSION... and then Poe decides to cut that build up in half by pranking General Honk. Really? I mean, what the fuck. Already, right off the bat Rian writes himself into a corner that he shouldn't be in.
*Not to mention, A.) They could have just fired on the Rebel cruiser FIRST and not had this situation occur and B.) Not only is the visual design of the Dreadnought disgustingly awful, I guess the First Order is even building its main-line battleships with glaring weak spots now?
Moving on. We insert some clever Deus Ex Machina, via the incredibly SLOW MOVING bombers which just seem to appear in front of the dreadnought at a moment's notice to get Poe out of the situation he's in. Fighter's scramble on both sides, the fight is on.
*Oh wait, not only are being constantly taken out of the sequence by Leia impotently shaking her fists and Poe and then switching sides, but why the fuck do we have these bombers? Just give us the fucking Y-wings. We all know they exist.
Despite their best efforts, the dreadnought demolishes the Rebels' planetary base and dramatically realigns its cannons with the Rebel cruiser. Oh no. BUT WAIT, after having meticulously picked apart both the X-Wing escort and all but one of the bombers, it appears the the TIE pilots go on their court-mandated lunch break while Asian McSlowlyDying manages to get a finger on the bomb release button after her bomber miraculously drifts over the Dreadnought's literally massive weak spot. Woohoo.
Leia finally works up the nerve to reign in Poe and get him back aboard for a timely escape.
Jesus Christ, that is bad. And that is first sequence of the movie. I mean, hell, there's such a massive skip in everything between films--why is Poe is retarded? How do the FO have a crazy fleet again? Why are there literally NO Rebel ships? I mean... It's wild, right off the bat, the movie engenders questions that the audience shouldn't have. You can take some liberties in divulging from a previous film directed by someone else, but Rian Johnson did not give a single FUCK about where TFA was going.
I'm waiting for the action movie that's about a former criminal fighting his old gang while trying to reconnect with his family, and at no point in the movie is his family actually threatened. With the conflict being that he's clearly still the person that his family turned away from and he needs to learn how to change over the course of the movie or its obvious to the audience that he will ultimately fail. Something like that. A more "pure" newschool action movie.
I mean that basically just sounds like Film Noir. And if the conflict is him reconnecting with his family, why is it an action film? That's Die Hard basically, but you want the physical and emotional plot lines separate and more emphasis on John McClane having deep conversations with his estranged wife than shooting bad guys? Why--it is an ACTION movie? Am I incorrect? You want action movie with less action?
John Wick is the gold standard for modern action films. Simple, but grabbing plot line. Visual action. Not cutting between every punch thrown and step taken, but actual continuous shots on long periods of movement.
That's an action film. The plot serves the action. If you want a drama film or an epic or something that is more about the emotional journey then the action has to serve the plot and characters. IMO, it doesn't really do that in TLJ or almost all Marvel movies for that matter.