Sith Happens! My May the 4th Hangover
So I’m 5 years old and my Dad and my Uncle Rob take me to the cinema. We are going to watch some war film and I’m probably not going to be interested but, I’m 5! What choice did I have? Suddenly the theme tune strikes up with a blast and it grabs my attention. The music is stirring me. The opening crawl looks amazing even though I’m not reading it. 5! Then the opening scene kicks in. We’re in space and a spaceship has just flown overhead and then the sound of the rumble happens. The biggest spaceship I have ever seen is flying overhead and the noise is deafening. Now I don’t remember a lot from when I was 5 but that moment will stay with me for the rest of life.
I’m talking about Star Wars of course and yesterday happened to be Star Wars day. May the 4th (may the force be with you). The celebration of George Lucas’s wonderful creation has gained speed over the years and crossed many generations. My daughter organised a fancy dress at her school in Bucharest complete with bake sales with mini Chewbacca and R2D2 cakes and biscuits. I even went to a sold out pub quiz based on Star Wars last night with 5 others and we won it. I also won a prize in the raffle and then subsequently had too much to drink, which my wife will attest to!
So that brings me to the point of why I’m writing today. I’m conflicted. I had such a lovely day yesterday reminiscing in the nostalgia of all things SW but now I have to look forward and not backwards. You see I dislike the latest movie so much I cannot bring myself to watch it a second time. It’s such a painful confliction for me because of my love of the past.
Let me explain. The abomination that is The Last Jedi has taken a direction through Ryan Johnson that I think is going to be hard to come back from. So many moments in this movie are just plain wrong. Here are a few: Luke throwing the Lightsabre over his head, WRONG, General Hux being ‘pranked’ by Poe on the phone, WRONG, Luke milking a human like creature sat upright, WRONG, Princess Leia becoming Supergirl, WRONG, Poe, the top pilot and respected member of the resistance being treated like a naive, naughty little boy, WRONG, a massive female presence pushed in nearly every single scene, just ridiculous!!
But don't just ask me. What would R2D2 say?
See!
I dislike this movie for so many reasons that anything good that could possibly come out of it has just been buried under a pile of garbage. As far as I understand, the overall takings are down, sales of merchandise are way down and there is a growing unrest amongst the fans who agree with these views. Not all do, and I accept that, but for me they are destroying a legacy that George Lucas built.
Now don’t get me wrong, Lucas has made mistakes. He seemed to become obsessed with CGI and altered the original movies with silly little details as well as basing episodes 1, 2 and 3 purely on green screen. Those movies lost the texture and feel of the originals and to add to that the plots became messy and, well, a bit boring. Having said that, they were still Star Wars movies and their only agenda was continuing the legacy. These new movies seem hell bent on destroying that legacy and doing it all with their agenda’s firmly in place.
What’s next? JJ Abrahams has signed up for number 9, so that’s a start. Even though he’s been critical of the disapproving fans, I believe he is in a position where he has to say these things. If we compare 7 versus 8, 7 wins hands down. Though not without its faults, 7 was building a continuation of the legacy whilst adding some new characters and scenarios. For instance Rey is a fantastic character played by Daisy Ridley. She is believable and likeable and the chemistry with Finn (John Boyega) is great. She is a perfect fit for the future of the legacy and will help to attract a new audience. For instance my 15 year old daughter and 7 year old niece both adore her and BB8.
I’m not confident that this will be corrected and it is kind of depressing that the whole thing is going to come to grinding halt. And like most things these days will just fade, die and then get regurgitated with some other packaging and re sold. Come back George all is forgiven (sort of).
May the force be with you.
Gaz
I think the newer ones brought more to the table than I, II and III in terms of story. Disney have a lot of resources and creative firepower so I think they're going to make an excellent job out of future films.
May the 7th be with you!
Hey @sisygoboom
Thanks for the reply. At last, someone wants to talk about it! 😁
I agree that episode 1, 2 and 3 were poor when it came to storyline. I think I mentioned messy and a little boring. I think the green screen was their worst failing though. Some of the acting was a bit shoddy too but I think the green screen can be blamed for some of that.
Number 7 gets away with it because it pulls on the heart strings a little. The scene with Han and Chewie in the Falcon had me choking back the tears. Storyline wise it has a lot of parallels with a new hope, just repackaged. It did set us up nicely for the next one with questions about Snoke, Rey's linage and the beautiful finish with Luke.
Number 8! Storyline? I'm not convinced that there is any quality creative writing going on but I'm open to suggestions.
Luke doesn't give a shit, Rey's parents are nobodies, Hux is a joke and Snoke bailed out like a lemming. Any of the subtle work that 7 did was savagely undone by RJ. Again, just my opinion but the story was basically one long chase across the universe with an interlude for Finn and Rose. The pratogonists that we wanted to see more of and develop played a weird bit part. Rey's training, Kylo's recovery, who is Snoke?
Like I said in the post I think they are going to struggle to reverse this but time will tell.
Thanks for commenting. I would definitely like to hear more of your opinions on 7 and 8.
Cheers, Gaz.
Oh my, it has been a while since I've watched them. I think the loss of Jarjar Binks and better green-screening just made a world of difference, and the fact that they didn't have to tie up the loose ends for IV, V and VI means they could just append to the Star Wars universe however they want, with the latest technology and brand new characters for a new generation of star wars fans. And this is coming from someone who grew up with I, II and III.
I really do need to re-watch them as large parts of the storyline in 7 and 8 have blurred together. But rogue one felt so fresh for sure, and really sparked my interests in Star Wars again, unlike the clone wars cartoons, and many of the videogames for example.
You make a great point about the limitations of the plot in the prequels. I guess they always had to mold everything within the framework already set. On the flip side the new films have a starting point but can go wherever they want.
Rogue One is an interesting one for me. It didn't feel like Star Wars at all and I came to the conclusion that it was ok to be that way. I think some weird stuff went on behind the scenes with director changes and scene cuts. Hell, I think the ending was completely different to the originally shot one. I remember looking at the trailer and realising that most of it wasn't in the movie. The Tie Fighter rising with Jyn in the foreground and running across the beach with the AT-AT's heading towards them. I think the scene's are a little erratic because of this. On subsequent viewings I've grown to like it more.
Episode 7 I have watched quite a few times now and enjoy it. With Episode 8 i'm going to have to build up the intestinal fortitude to watch it a second time and try not to get cross!
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