Did you know the Vatican has a daily, in-house newspaper? I think I did know that at one time, but it’s still funny to me. It would be like the White House publishing their own in-house newspaper, complete with film reviews and staff gossip. Well, the Vatican-owned daily newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, does film reviews. And the Vatican’s film critic HATES Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Why is this so funny to me?
Amid a chorus of overwhelmingly stellar reviews around the planet for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” Vatican daily L’Osservatore Romano begs to differ, calling the film “confused and hazy” and, even worse, opining that it “fails most spectacularly” in its representation of evil. The newspaper owned by the Holy See also wrote that the latest installment in the franchise is not a proper sequel but more of a reboot.
“Not a classy reboot however, like Nolan’s Batman, but a twisted update which fits today’s tastes and a public more accustomed to sitting in front of a computer than in a cinema,” the anonymous reviewer said, adding the film seems to draw from the “sloppiest current action films derived from the world of videogames.”
The L’Osservatore Romano review also laments too many close-ups, and even faults the “much-publicized” return to in-camera effects, saying they are “often anonymous and lacking in dramatic value.”
As to why the pic supposedly fails spectacularly in its representation of evil, the caustic critic claims that “Darth Vader and above all the Emperor Palpatine were two of the most effective villains in [the sci-fi] genre of American cinema.” But the film’s new villain, the Darth Vader-inspired Kylo Ren, is slammed as “insipid;” while Supreme Leader Snoke – the Emperor Palpatine-like character, is called “the most serious defect of the film,” with his representation described as “awkward and tacky.”
These isolated observations certainly have not impacted box office for ”The Force” in Italy, where the film has grossed over $10 million to date, in line with expectations, after scoring the country’s top December opening frame ever. L’Osservatore Romano is not new to going against the grain in its reviews of record-breaking Hollywood blockbusters. It slammed “Avatar” as “sentimental hokum.”
We should give L’Osservatore Romano credit for not throwing in a bunch of spoilers for the film, I guess, although I’m still holding out hope that Pope Francis himself tweets “OMG, I can’t believe ~~~~ died! #popespoiler #YOLO.” How much of a dead-inside hipster film critic do you have to be to HATE The Force Awakens anyway? While I agree that the concept was more like a reboot than a sequel, if you loved Episodes IV-VI, you’ll love The Force Awakens. And of course the Vatican loved Emperor Palpatine. Pope Benedict WAS Emperor Palpatine.
So… what will Pope Francis watch on Christmas Day? The Hateful Eight?! POINT BREAK?!
Photos courtesy of WENN.
This was fun to read. And I kind of agree about Snokes being cartoonish and tacky.
I agreed with a lot of the review tbh. But it was a good Star Wars film despite its issues. Snoke was the worst addition though. He looked like Gollum and didn’t have clear goals as a villain other than being evil for evil’s sake.
Also, why are the good guys still being called the resistance? They already beat the Emperor and would be the government at this point. If anyone’s acting as the resistance it’s the new villains
SPOILERS: I was meh about the film. It was actually traumatic because the crowd never seemed to give a crap-remember audience participation in movies?
I am glad that some unknown critic in the Vatican saw the film for what it was. I really appreciate the assessment of Darth Vader being one of the biggest villains in Sci Fi, while Kylo Ren-his grandson-is a pale imitation.
Well…my review of the Catholic Church is scathing, to say the least.
Exactly.
Caz and Fallon, I totally agree. A case of art imitating life? The Catholic Church is a seething microcosm of intrigue, ill-gotten wealth, and criminal subversions, not unlike a Star Wars movie! Perhaps the analogies strike a little to close to home?
I feel entitled to make these observations as a rabid ex-Catholic. Do not confuse that with being slightly disillusioned, or worse, lapsed, I am a card carrying loony when I contemplate my wasted years with this outfit. Mired in guilt, and riddled with misogyny it gives a whited sepulchre a bad name!
For all that, Pope Francis seems like a new broom with ideas of reform, part, if not most, of the reason he is despised by the Vatican hierarchy. He simply won’t play their centuries old games of conspiracy and empire building, at the expense of the great unwashed.
to be fair everyone is entitled to their own opinion…that you can or can’t agree with…
@CAZ Lol I lol’d
Replace the word “Catholic” with any other faith in your comment and it would be considered hate speech. Go ahead try it, and in the meantime perhaps keep to the movie review and not bashing other people’s religions.
When religion stops bashing other people, I’ll give it a pass. Besides, your religion is doing okay. You’re still a majority. Calm down. Have more “faith”.
I quite agree with that review.
It seemed more video game than movie and the sentimental parts were hokum. And they relied too much on the previous instalments ie every time it sagged they’d insert a beloved character or prop from the past films. Ditto costumes.
I actually thought the premise was good and they could have done without all the hokey sentimentality and inserting so many references to early films and allowed the film to stand on its own.
Just about the only characters that made sense in terms of their stories were the two leads played by Daisy and John, and the new updated robot BB8.
I wish they’d been allowed to have their own film without all the sentimentality.
Ditto the villains.
Ditto. I was underwhelmed by that movie. Pretty much everything that reviewer said was spot on.
Kylo ren came off as a spoiled 30 year old man child-and just didn’t measure up to previous villains. And snook actually made me laugh it was so poorly done.
Other than the leads, they relied to much on nostalgia as opposed to doing something new and moving the story forward. Everything felt like a lame throwback
Man. The Vatican reviewer went IN.
Even though I categorically disagree with said reviewer, the whole concept of the Vatican having an in house paper that employs a reviewer that felt THAT seriously about the movie is so hilariously bizarre, I can’t even hate.
I like to imagine this reviewer in his rooms after lights out, still dressed in his Vatican robes (or whatever) pretending he is a Jedi knight.
I have not seen the movie at all but I gotta applaud the reviewer for being honest when it seems like most critics really do not want to criticize TFA.
I will see the movie this weekend. I’ll find out if I agree with the Vatican.
I’ve gotta say: it was a decent movie, but really geared towards people who love the franchise. I went because it’s at a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, logically rejecting the idea that people who reviewed the movie also are huge SW fans and feel obligated to give it a high rating.
My take is that if you’re marginal on the movies, this one is not a must-see.
“the whole concept of the Vatican having an in house paper that employs a reviewer that felt THAT seriously about the movie is so hilariously bizarre,”
Why is it bizarre? The Vatican is a state, and the Osservatore Romano has been taken VERY seriously for decades by the “outside” world.
So, the Vatican enjoyed Christian Bale’s Batman.
My 87 year old great aunt would love to watch The Hateful Eight with Pope Francis. She’s a huge Tarantino fan and plans to see it tomorrow after Mass.
Ha! This cracks me up. I didn’t know people from other countries used the word “tacky.”
the Vatican had its personal Darth Vader a few years back in Pope Ratzinger.
http://www.irreligious.org/2014/05/funny-pope-ratzinger-dark-lord-emperor.html
Of course now everything is below standard.
The Vatican is considered a country, albeit a very teeny one. I would find it strange that they wouldn’t have a newspaper.
That’s exactly my thought, too!
LOL. Now this is how you review a film. What is wrong with me that I think the “anonymous” critic is the pope himself? How awesome to picture him in his “Theatre Caftan” and Prada mules holding a bucket of popcorn and throwing Gummy Bears at the screen and shrieking “No Bravo, No Bravo”! Classic.
I don’t agree with that, but at least it sounded like a reasonably thoughtful review. And the critic isn’t really wrong about the movie feeling more like a reboot. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, though.
And you know Francis is holding out for The Revenant.
I have nothing to contribute other than to point out that I love that bottom picture. For Christmas, I would like to be in a John Boyega/Oscar Isaac sandwich.
Yes!!!
Boyega is stylish, he always looks put together and puts that little extra effort in. Isaac, I wish he was taller, his head doesn’t suit his body. But still oozes charisma.
I saw Star Wars, and while I enjoyed it a lot, I saw some problems with it, most specifically with how Rey who’s basically a scavenger, can suddenly fly the Millenium Falcon like a pro.
But I guess after reading the review, the Vatican has a point; Darth Emo is a bit weak in the overall evil area even though they wiped out a slew of planets with the Death Planet. I recommend that in Episode VIII, Snoke starts molesting some of the younger stormtroopers, then hiding the fact he did that from the Republic, Surely the Vatican would agree that would make them more evil, right?
Props to the Catholic Church that reads like a proper movie review and no reference to bible, God or appropriateness.
As I was saying in another comment, L’Osservatore Romano is a very relevant and serious newspaper that is often quoted by news agencies and other newspapers.
“In-house” refers to the Vatican – which is a state, a country of its own (and that includes its own postal services etc.) What I am saying is, it isn’t really the same as the White House publishing an in-house newspaper. BTW, L’Osservatore Romano is quite a respected, relevant newspaper, has been for many decades, and is often quoted by press agencies.