Star Wars

6 posts
Visual Media

The Rise of Skywalker, Second Viewing

Disney chose to release the digital version a few days early, and I took my time rewatching it last night.  This is a fast, dense film, and it can’t all be taken in at once.  It really does benefit from subsequent viewings, and it’s a great ending for the saga.

We live in an unfortunate time.  Everyone confuses being edgy with being sophisticated.  Given the cultural enormity of the franchise, everyone feels compelled to weigh in and glue their biases to it.  The discourse around the new trilogy has run the gamut from selfish to surreal to downright ugly.  Alt-right trolls complain about the inclusion of strong female characters, self-declared fanboys gripe that these aren’t the movies they would have made, and people with no real interest in the movies themselves have to graft political allegories to them.

It’s all really tiresome, and it all misses the mark.  Star Wars isn’t meant to be high art. 

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Visual Media

The Last Jedi isn’t the Star Wars film we wanted, but it’s the one we need.

2 comments

The Last Jedi has more than its share of plot twists. There’s almost no way to discuss the movie without spoiling them. If you haven’t seen it yet, please do so before reading on.

Remember the last scene of The Force Awakens? Rey has tracked Luke Skywalker across the galaxy. She seeks training, and the Resistance needs his help. She shows up on his doorstep and presents him with a lightsaber. The movie ends with that shot. Rey’s face is filled with expectation. Luke’s expression is hard to gauge.

It’s not just any lightsaber. It was Luke’s first, the one that belonged to his father, Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One who was prophesied to bring balance to the Force, trained by Jedi Master Kenobi…oh, for $%^&# sake.

It was with no small amount of relief that I laughed aloud when Luke’s first act in the new film is to take the saber, examine it, and throw it over his shoulder.

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Visual Media

Star Wars: JJ Abrams Gets It

I just watched The Force Awakens, and I’m going to get my thoughts out while it’s fresh on my mind.

First off, it’s good.  Not “good,” as in, “well, maybe it wasn’t a total trainwreck.”  No, it’s “good” as in, “tons of kids are going to emulate the new characters like my generation did with Luke and Han” good.

The visuals are impeccable.  Abrams doesn’t feel the need to clutter every inch of screen real estate, so the creature and building designs really stand out.  The dogfight sequences are kinetic and exhilarating.  Poe Dameron is absolutely the man.

Which brings us to the dialogue.  The earliest comedic beat in the movie comes from his back-and-forth with Finn (actually, “FN-2187”).  It the kind of dialogue at which Joss Whedon excels, and a minute worth of witty banter sets up their characters perfectly.

The humor?  There are no fart jokes or awkward mascot characters.  

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Visual Media

New Star Wars Trailer

2 comments

So, we have an actual trailer for the Force Awakens.  It looks like JJ Abrams has the feel of the original trilogy figured out.

I’m not even going to warn you that there are spoilers ahead.  Well, I guess I just did.  With my obligation thus fulfilled, let’s get to it.

destroyer_desert

That’s a Star Destroyer crashed in the desert, with a dead X-Wing in the foreground.  Notice the rounded turbines:  that’s an old-school model, not one of the new ones.  The battle must have taken place during the original trilogy.

kylo_ren

Kylo Ren, the new bad guy.  The mask reminds me of Darth Revan, from the one good Star Wars video game.  His lightsaber looks downright dangerous.

lightsaber_handoff

I think that’s Leia receiving the lightsaber.  Notice the resemblance to Luke Skywalker’s first lightsaber, which he lost in the Empire Strikes Back.  The person handing it over appears to be an alien.

Who ends up with it?  

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Info Dump

I’m Five Years Old Again

The first trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens is live. Here’s what we’ve got:

  • John Boyega as a stormtrooper. The armor’s new, and it’s a first to see one of them as person. Rumor has it he’s a protagonist.
  • A beachball-shaped R2 unit. It’s less annoying tha Jar-Jar. Then again, so are head lice.
  • Menacing stormtroopers being airdropped somewhere. Does this mean some remnant of the Empire is still around?
  • Daisy Ridley riding a giant speeder bike. Is that a lightsaber lashed to the side?
  • A desert planet, but possibly not Tatooine. Notice the single sun in the final shot.
  • X-wings skimming over a lake. The pilots’ uniforms look familiar, but the s-foils are different. Freakin’ x-wings, dude.
  • A creepy guy with a red lightsaber. It looks more like a heavy claymore than the agile swords we’re used to seeing. It also looks angry.
  • Cue up the John Williams and ermagherd the Falcon.

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