Monday, December 28, 2015

Star Wars (INCLUDES SPOILERS)

So I finally got to see Star Wars VII. (Why is it that only Star Wars movies and Super Bowls rate Roman numerals?) Of course, Star Wars isn't really science fiction -- it's a fantasy set it space -- but I really enjoyed the first three Star Wars movies (or as my children would say, the second three movies).  I would rank the newest Star Wars offering well below the first three (i.e., the second three), but much better than the second three movies (i.e., the first three). At first I enjoyed the constant references to the first (fourth) movie, but after a while it became apparent that the entire film was just that -- a remix of the original Star Wars, which made it all too predictable. And why did the bad guy come across as an unpleasant Star Wars fan-boy who looked and sounded like he had just stepped out of a Jane Austen film?

MAJOR SPOILER AFTER THE BREAK

The big shocker, of course, was the death of Han Solo. Somewhere on the internet J.J. Abrams has a discussion of the reason that Han Solo had to die. But I have my own theory. Harrison Ford was the only decent actor in Star Wars. They had to kill him off because he made everyone else look bad in comparison (with the exception of Alec Guinness, who of course played Gandalf in the original movie).

4 comments:

Bobby B said...

Harrison Ford has been saying for years that Han Solo should have died at the end of Return of the Jedi, so I'm not sure how much of surprise it really was - it's probably the only way they got him to reprise the role. I do agree that there was too much remixing from Episode IV to make it a really great movie. But there are some interesting directions that they can go for the next movie. (1) It will be interesting to see who Rey's parents are. My own feeling is that making her Luke's daughter would be (a) pedestrian, and (b) not serving the storyline well by making Luke a jerk (although perhaps there are ways out of that). More interesting would be if she were a "clone" of Anakin, or of the Kenobi line. (2) It will be interesting to understand why Luke failed at restoring the Jedi. (3) At some point there will have to be a Leia/Kylo Ren confrontation, and that hopefully will be done well.

My complaint about the movie is how much the galaxy has shrunk in the new film. In episode IV, it took a while for the Millenium Falcon to go from Tattoine to Aldaron - thus the shipboard scenes. In this movie, we have visuals of other planets being destroyed in the sky, and it seems like it takes no time at all to get from system to system.

Kathy said...

Han was killed because they couldn't afford Ford for the sequels.

As to acting quality, John Boyega conveys a great deal in the opening battle scene, without saying a word and with his face covered by a mask. Daisy Ridley quite simply eats everyone else's lunch (or everyone else for lunch, take your pick).

Ep. 7 is a reboot of Ep. IV. No question. Think of it as Star Wars: The Next Generation. But there's also a passing of the baton from the older generation to the new one, on both sides.

When I was watching it, I kept thinking it was a rip-off of Ep. IV. But later, thinking about it, I realized it's also a means of introducing the new characters: Rey, Finn, Poe and Ren (a bit too monosyllabic BTW), and of raising questions about their back stories. the sequels, if well made, should be good.

Oh, and I coincidentally got seat BB8 at the theater :)

Unknown said...

Star Wars film series and comic books are awesome I am watching all movie in this series and am also reading all comic on star wars anyways you post its excellent. star wars leather jacket at Instylejackets

hanna said...

I agree that the movie was a little too much of a tribute for it to be a great piece of entertainment on its own. But it did what it had to do, earn a shitload of money and create more hype for the sequels.