To get a sense of why so many blockbuster movies are structured like that, look at how fans react to a blockbuster with actual characterisation.
Compare the reaction to the use of Luke Skywalker as a person in “The Last Jedi” to his use as a plot function in “The Mandalorian.”
Because having a character make choices - rather than just having a plot “happen” to them - risks alienating all those fans who have invested in their own head canon version of the character and treat any contradiction as heresy.
So avoiding characterisation avoids that.
Prioritising plot allows companies to weaponise and monetize spoilers - see the movie quick and reflexively, before the only part of it that matters is ruined!
Not the characters. Not the performances. Not the storytelling. Not the execution. The plot.
Here I joke, and suggest it’s a real shame they haven’t made any “Star Wars” since, as there’s a real gap in the market.
“You did it, Poe. Now get your squad back here so we can get out of this place.”
“No, General... We can do this.”
I can’t imagine how this story about a hotshot arrogant roguish pilot who needs to learn to listen to women - a recurring motif in the film - could ruffle feathers.
What’s interesting about the Poe storythread in “The Last Jedi” is that it becomes fundamentally self-proving.
In that it’s about the sort of arrogance of these sorts narratively-favoured roguish protagonists, and how fans and narratives fetishise that.
I’ve said it before, but I think that “The Martian” is probably the closest that we’ve had to a traditional “Star Trek: The Next Generation” feature film in a while.
I love “First Contact”, but “The Martian” is close to the spirit of the show than any of the films with the cast.
At its core, “The Martian” is fundamentally about problem-solving.
It’s also an undeniably optimistic film, particularly in the context of a science-fiction genre that has grown quite cynical and pessimistic (with good reason) over the last few decades.
Because I figure I should watch all the “Star Wars” films again before “The Rise of Skywalker.”
Hey kids, it’s Branagh Gallagher.
Interesting production design touch: the Trade Federation ship bridge looks a lot more like the bridge of a Star Destroyer than anything designed by the Republic.
Which is actually a nice red herring, in terms of audience expectations of how the Galactic Empire would emerge.