A Star Wars story: Rogue One. - No spoilers impressions

So this will be as per usual the more spoiler free version, no major plot point or stuff revealed… (beyond what is revealed in the ep 4 crawl). More my own opinions and feelings about the movie in general and it´s place in the greater universe.

It was fucking awesome… .. .

In my opinion at least.

It was for all intents and purposes getting the whole “wink n nod” thing right. Unlike The Force Awakens that more or less pelted you over the head with “oh look at this callback to the old movies.” Rogue one does it a lot smoother and gentler. The plot, as far as you need it can be read in the opening crawl of ep 4. But it was a very good story and it wraps up nicely. This is important seeing as this movie is a sort of stand-alone movie. You do not like to have sequel or cross-over bait in a stand-alone movie. Sure it has a fairly large cast and more than a few of them end up nothing more than a face on the screen. But the core cast is solid and it is a diverse set of characters. Very nice to see and a welcome nuance from the Force Awakens.

The movie also gets both the visual and the audio bits really right. Beyond some really impressive special effects it also have a good overall visual style. The different planets are distinct and we get some “new” ones. Like the beach settings as well as some old classics. The audio is as solid as always, things sounds and feels the way it should.

It is also nice to see Disney are using the lessons learned from the Marvel movies and incorporate parts from the broader universe. This also explains why they first wiped the slate clean with the old expanded universe. Being able to pick out the best crumbs of 30+ years of brainstorming must be awesome.

Anyway. I will do a more spoiler type review next week. But my general thoughts are tat you should go see this if you like Star Wars or space fantasy in general.

Just don´t let your expectations choke you.

Cheers.

Tracer stirred up some emotions // rip Carrie Fisher

While i was writing this post i read that Carrie Fisher died from what it looks like right now complications as result of a earlier hearth attack, So let me pay my respects to the first lady of Star Wars. While i have no personal connection to Carrie Fisher, her work both as an actor and outside have been a inspiration to me and many others. She will be missed but it is in a way fitting that she ended her career working on the same franchise that catapulted her in to the spotlight and in the long run gave her a platform (and that maybe in it´s own way claimed her life in the end) Rest In Peace. 

Now back to your regular scheduled programming

I held off on making this post because i wanted to get a better image of any impact it might have. You see in it´s latest free comic for Overwatch Blizzard presented us with Tracers girlfriend. This in it self should not raise many eyebrows, after all characters are presented as having partner all the time in the entertainment medium. But you see, Tracer is ofc a girl. So this is political in many ways. Not only is it a pretty much unseen example of representation, a character that is not only well established and given a rich backstory but that is also the face of the brand. Tracer is the de facto poster girl for Overwatch, having been not only in the initial marketing material but also on the standard box art. Now i am a very cynical human being that honestly do not trust humanity at large to handle anything more dangerous then a sponge without trying to hurt them self or someone else. So i walked in to the Blizzards and other forums expecting to see a full and utter shitstorm... And to my delight and surprise i found very little of that (if one does a signal/noise analysis) sure you had some trolls trying to fan the flames and some people who seemed outright sad. But for the most of it people where either indifferent or positive. Most felt that the introduction by the way of a comic with family as the theme was fitting and not forced. Many like me also felt that the act it self carry a lot of weight but that it does not really change the character. Tracer is still Tracer. 

So Blizzard have issued a challenge of sort, proving that you can make someones sexuality a non-issue even if it breaks the typical mold. Tracer is not defined by her sexuality, she is defined by her personality (and that she is sort of unglued from time... As one tends to be. ). Who she dates is at the same time not important but also very important from the perspective of representation. Because the more exposure something gets, the more "normal" it becomes. This is an aspect i feel some people miss when they say thing like "we do not need the Pride movement" or "why can´t we just keep things like that in our homes." 

Rocking the boat is always going to create people who want to get back to status quo. Even if they are part of the community doing the rocking. But if nobody ever rock the boat, people in general will never know they are actually on the boat. 

So thank you Blizzard for doing this and... well... Cheers luv, the cavalry is here. 

#WheresRey they say.

Toys are serious business and i agree that toys marketed to a specific gender is a horrid idea to begin with. But the issue that has have been sweeping the western world is why Rey have been underrepresented or even nonexsistant in the market. Disney and Hasbro say it was to avoid spoilers and thus pushed the Finn character as the main one for the movie. Now understanding that a toy can take about a year if not more from design to production the fear of spoilers is real for Disney. So it makes sense to tuck away the big plot points. If anything the fact that Disney felt that Rey was such a big impact point tells us a lot about how they view the Star Wars franchise. No longer has a boys club it is now opened to all.

But ofc it got spun all out of proportion, the “press” made it out like there are no toys at all, and I agree she is missing form some collections and was missing from the Monopoly. Now I have some limited insight in to these sort of things, being a big toy geek myself and I have no problem accepting the idea that spoilers forced Disney/Hasbro to act like they did… After all Rey has at least 9 different toys including two Lego sets and her own Infinity figure. There is also another one coming based on her outfit by the end of the movie (this also lends substance to the “no spoiler” theory)

Now with all that said we do have a big litmus-test for this theory coming up on the 13-16 February when the New York Toy Fair happens. If Hasbro and company shows off new Rey toys we know they did in fact tell the truth. Simply because there is no way they could have whipped them up in the time from the outbreak to now

Now I agree that we still have some way to go when it comes to toys, but I feel this thing got blown out of proportion by people who as usual had no insight in to the process and just reacted with their gut cheered on by “journalists” and bloggers trying to score some quick hits.  Combine this with the usual short packing and retailers stuck in their old ways and you have something of a clusterfuck.

Now my bet is that we will see a lot more Rey toys (and perhaps even some Black Widow ones) going forward, and should I be wrong. Feel free to tell me so. 

LootCrate September unboxing

LootCrate September unboxing

Here we are again, it is that time of the month when I get to dig in to a new batch of nerdy goodness. This month theme of the Crate is galactic. LootCrate had spoiled that the items would be from Star Trek, Star Wars, Aliens and Firefly. They also said that most of them would be special editions in one way or another. So with all that in mind my first reaction was a bit meh actually.

Mostly because I was hoping for a different Star Trek item and I was never a big fan of the Reaction line. But as I dug down things got a lot better. But let us start if with the most obvious item in the box.

That fuzzy orange ball of love is a Tribble, It is from an episode of the original series that I honestly have never seen in its entirety. But to make a long story short these small things mind control people to pick them up and bring them with them, caring for them and if needed protect them. They also breed on a level that would make fungus envious. Now beyond its novelty value it is in essence just a furry ball. But not a bad item per se and in a way a welcomed step away from the usual starship or insignia that make up the most of the Star Trek merchandise these days.

Next up we have a big damm hero, in tiny plastic shape. Ladies and gentlemen Mal from Firefly. The style of this mini is simply adorable and for me this is one of the items that made the box. It might be that everyone get this figure but any way I feel glad that I got it. Being a casual fan of the Firefly series and one of the people who are actually ok with it only being one season, because my god is it good.

Now many many years ago a company by the name of Kenner made a lot of license toys, mostly action figures and playsets. The ReAction line aims to bring these toys back to the front for collectors that want a slice of their childhood back but do not care to mortgage their house to get an original. So it is the original Kenner moulds but recast. Also that is a horrid image but it simply did not photograph very well. Will try to create a light-box for the unboxing. I personally like my action figures big and bold with tons of articulation. But I can see how this line of toys have fans.

Poprocks are simply Poprocks. It is a candy that crackles in your mouth as it melts. This one is apple flavored and very tasty.

Here we have a star Wars fridge magnet… It sticks to metal. It is also made in the style of Asteriods. You can never have to many fridge magnets.

Now for the in my mind star of the show.  See if you can guess what it is…

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Yes they are a prop replica of the money used in the firefly series. It is a set of 100 and 500 bills and they are awesome. This is one of these items that symbolize why I get these boxes. Random stuff that I would never buy myself. I am not sure what I will use them for but they will look really nice in my bookcase.

Halo digital comics. Not a big Halo fan myself but they make for a good gift or give away. Would have preferred to have them in physical form but this is a lot easier on the shipping =)

Han Solo in carbonite poster. This is a classic motif that never gets old. It is a bit sad that they folded it as it will take some time to undo the folds but it would have taken up way to much space otherwise. A decent size door-hanger that I think would fit in any geek-cave.

Then there was the monthly magazine and pin, no shirt this month either unfortunately but I have a nagging suspicion that this was due to the cost of shipping the shirt and the bulk it takes up. But I hope we see a shirt next month’s crate.

So to sum this month up it was a bit his and miss. Loved the firefly items and the candy, Poprocks always wins in my book. But the rest was meh… The Tribble will most likely make a home on H´s desk and I will put the Alien figure in the gift pile. Poster was nice and a much better size then the BatMan once from the Villains crate. No shirt was a bit of a bummer too as they are always cool,

´till next time.