Revisiting A Classic: The Star Wars Saga (Part Three, Episodes VII – IX)

Star Wars is the one go-to franchise for myself when I want to shut off the outside world and feel good. I’ve written about the original holy trinity (Episodes 4, 5 and 6) and the prequel trilogy (Episodes 1, 2 and 3)

But I haven’t as yet chatted about the third trilogy of films (Episodes 7, 8 and 9). So, here’s some quick, concise thoughts on this final act trilogy from a life-long fan!

Episode 7 - The Force Awakens

 OK… wait! Let’s set the scene a little first!

In 2012, the news broke around the world - George Lucas had sold his LucasFilm Ltd. for an undisclosed figure (estimated at $4 billion!)- so he retired! What this meant was Disney bought Star Wars and all other intellectual properties of LucasFilm (including Indiana Jones). 

Kathleen Kennedy - an established producer and well-known to fans of Lucas and Spielberg; the woman has literally produced dozens of modern day classics (such as ET, the Back To The Future trilogy, The Goonies, and the Jurassic Park films)- was appointed the Managing Director of the new Lucasfilm arm of Disney. That same time as the announcement of this sale, Disney announced that a new trilogy of Star Wars was going to be made! That was the news I had been wanting to hear for decades! Episodes 7,8 and 9! The fabled chapters of Star Wars- the continuing adventures of Luke, Leia and Han! Brilliant!

News came thick and fast that the original cast were returning. A photo was released of the cast at the first full read through. We waited….

2015. Episode 7 is released.

OK - first off the bat. Is The Force Awakens a bench mark, an all original adventure and continuation? Well, yes and no. But mostly no.

Now, I like JJ Abrams as a filmmaker- he’s made some cracking TV and films. I love Super 8 which is a love letter to Amblin and the 80s; also, the man and his team did the impossible in 2009 when they reinvented and recast the original bridge of the Enterprise. Star Trek was a respectful update of a franchise that pays respect to what came before. My point is, this filmmaker knows the genre and is a massive Star Wars fan. But, most importantly, he’s a damn good filmmaker.

So the plus points of Episode 7: the new characters are great – well, mostly two of them are great; Finn and Rey are both rounded, interesting characters. The set pieces and action are outstanding and, particularly important, there is the return of a large percentage of practical effects. The set design and cinematography all feel like the original holy trinity!  This episode also is very much great because of the return of writer Lawrence Kasdan (who wrote The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark)!

Minus points? Well, Poe Dameron is a cardboard cutout of a ‘hero’ in this episode and pretty much pointless! Then there is the fact that the entire film mirrors Episode 4: A New Hope - lazy! I say lazy but mirroring story/plot points is a theme in Star Wars

In all, Episode 7 sets up some refreshing ideas, characters and a return to a galaxy far, far away. But I have to say the treatment of the original characters was not handled that well at all and I would have preferred to see the original characters be much more involved (Han Solo aside that is; he was back and played a massive part in the plot. Was I upset at his death? Yes, but at the same time, I understood it made sense for the story!)

Episode 8 - The Last Jedi

2017. So JJ Abrams did not return to the director’s chair, nor did Lawrence Kasdan to write this episode. I was a little worried- but surely there is an outline for Episodes 8 and 9 by Abrams and Kasdan? Must be… it’ll be fine… They announced the writer/director: Rian Johnson (whose main credit up to that point was the sci-fi film Looper, which, I’m sorry to say, my opinion of that film is- politely put- pants!) So again, I was worried!

The film releases to critics hailing it the second coming, saying it’s the best Star Wars since The Empire Strikes Back! Well, all I can say is- what are they watching? It cannot be this awful, embarrassing pile of crap!

Johnson threw out any outline from the people who started this trilogy. He then goes ahead and makes a film that is a mess. It has all the action you expect, but it has way too much humour (and I mean slapstick levels of embarrassing moments and stupid jokes at inappropriate moments of drama)! The way the character of Luke is handled is just… well yeah, unforgivable! The subplot that finds Finn hurtling around the galaxy with a new character- Rose- is just pointless and utterly tragic on how tedious it is. 

The main plot is also tedious- Leia (played by the late Carrie Fisher) is wasted and again ‘legacy’ characters are either underserved or written terribly. The reveals of Rey’s parents in under whelming, Snoke being killed off makes no sense! The whole film is style over substance, and I could slag it off for hours.

Positives - The end scenes with Force projection Luke is great. Yep, that’s it!

Negatives – The other 90% of the film! It takes a massive dump on the fandom, what’s canon and basically isn’t a Star Wars film- it’s a cheap knock off (and again, Poe Dameron is basically useless and spends the entire film whingeing)!

So… all hope was lost - this was the start of a turbulent time as a Star Wars fan! 

Rogue One had been released December 2016, it was a massive success and now that’s the best Star Wars film since Empire! But there were rumours of reshoots and a change of director during reshoots and post-production on that film - hindsight, and the fact that the original director (Gareth Edwards) hasn’t worked since 2016 can tell you a lot. But that was a success.

The Last Jedi is loved by critics- but importantly fans are divided, with a lot of diehard fans hating it!

They announce that Colin Trevorrow (who made the fourth Jurassic Park film) was working on the script and would be directing Episode 9. OK, I thought, at least the hack from Episode 8 won’t be involved! But again, I was a little worried as Jurassic World stank and was very much a carbon copy of Jurassic Park!

They also had troubles on the next Star Wars story - the original directors were Chris Miller and Phil Lord, who had made The Lego Movie! I mean… what? Who are you hiring to make these films?! Well, they were fired at about 50% the way through filming. Kathleen Kennedy hires Ron Howard (finally a director with a clue and talent) to complete and reshoot the film! Then they released Solo in May 2018 and that doesn’t do well in the box office. 

I liked Solo. It was a by-the-book prequel and the actors who played the younger version of loved characters were great. And the cameo villain at the end? Bravo! Kudos! It all felt like Star Wars - but I think too much of a good thing was what this franchise was and is suffering from! I mean from 1977 to 2015, we had 6 films (six films in 28 years). From 2015-2020, five films in five years. That’s oversaturating your fanbase! Plus, releasing Solo in May 2018 was a stupid idea - there had been less than five months since The Last Jedi stank the cinemas out!

But… there was a new hope! Colin Trevorrow is out (which makes three directors replaced in the last 3 films) and JJ returns! Oh, hope of hope… oh wait, Kasdan isn’t coming back. They’ve got the guy who wrote Batman V Superman… Oh... Wait, he did write Argo as well! OK, all’s not lost then!

Episode 9 - The Rise Of Skywalker 

2019. This is the final film in what Disney has dubbed The Skywalker Saga. I rewatched it today on its BluRay release and it is the third time I’ve seen it.

It’s absolutely fantastic. It is fan service- but it’s the final episode. The film manages to bring to an end not only the complete nine films and also deliver a cracking third act of a trilogy. The film comes in at a staggering two-and-a-half hours, but the speed of the plot is fantastic; action, adventure - everything you want from Star Wars.

Better still is the return of Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine - this is genius writing, that retcons all of the damage of The Last Jedi and links back to the prequel trilogy (with the story of Darth Plagueis who found a way to cheat death)! Also returning- finally- is the great Billy Dee Williams as Lando - again though, he’s underused!

The films characters are well paid off. Rey’s journey and twists are perfect, Finn shines as a hero and Poe Dameron finally becomes a useful interesting character. I especially loved the bigger inclusion of C3PO in the main core team of heroes. Kylo Ren is a very modern complex villain and is a tour de force of how to make a multilayered character. What was so well done is how the filmmakers managed to have Princess Leia in the film using audio and unused footage from other films! Carrie Fisher is missed but the film is as if she were there to film the scenes! Truly well crafted!

This is how you make a Star Wars film - tragedy, adventure and a very strong villain. Plus, the humour is balanced correctly! I could gush on how great a film this is - but I’ll stop.

Rhys

Review: Knives Out (UK Cert 12A)

Renowned mystery writer Harlan Thrombey is found dead in his attic study. It looks like he's died by his own hand? But is that really what happened? Gentleman sleuth Benoit Blanc is hired by an unknown benefactor to investigate Harlan's death and finds that foul play has indeed been done. But who in the household would have murdered the old man? In traditional Agatha Christie style, more than one person had reason to want him dead. Blanc must utilise his skills to work out what really happened... 

Rian Johnson (Looper, Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi) directs an all-star cast star- including Chris Evans, Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, and Jamie Lee Curtis-  in a fitfully funny, cleverly plotted mystery that will have audiences talking long after the credits finish. 

When Johnson was editing the film, he tweeted out a series of movie posters which he was using as inspiration for Knives Out. These included the all-star Christie adaptations of the 1970s and 1980s (including Murder On The Orient Express, The Mirror Crack'd, and Death On The Nile) as well as comedy murder mysteries (Clue and Murder By Death) and period thrillers (Gosford Park). You can feel those influences throughout - the all-star cast, the trail of clues, cross-examinations in large rooms, the old overstuffed house- but Johnson puts his own spin on these, and on the tried-and-tested tropes of the genre. 

Performances are solid throughout. Daniel Craig affects a mellifluous Southern accent as gentleman detective Blanc, initially a taciturn presence with a mind as sharp as one of Harlan's many knives. He lays on the charm as he works through the case, ably assisted by two policemen: Lieutenant Elliott (LaKeith Stanfield) and Trooper Wagner (Noah Segan). Elliott is a traditional by-the-numbers cop, trying to get answers against Blanc's occasional flights of fancy. Wagner provides comedy relief as a star-struck nerd who fanboys over Harlan's works. The three performances work together very well.

Jamie Lee Curtis is tough and forthright as eldest child Linda, married to a shifty sod named Richard (a delightfully unctuous performance by Don Johnson), whilst there are laughs to be had by Toni Collette as a slightly airheaded lifestyle-guru-cum-influencer (imagine Gwyneth Paltrow and her Goop enterprise and you're not far off). Michael Shannon gives a wounded air of melancholy as Harlan's son Walt, publisher of his father's works. Katherine Langford and Jaeden Martell play members of the younger generation of Thrombeys but their characters aren't particularly fleshed out, being more "types" than people (more on that in a moment). Seen almost exclusively in flashback, Plummer makes for a warm yet strict character (in the sense that, once his mind is made up, it isn't being changed) and it's interesting to see his interactions with various family members. 

Rounding off the cast nicely are Chris Evans as Harlan's playboy grandson Ransom (the polar opposite of Captain America), and Ana de Armas who plays Harlan's nurse Marta. Marta is recruited by Blanc to help with the investigation, as Marta has a rather unusual trait which Blanc describes as "a regurgitative reaction to mistruths". She is physically incapable of lying, because she vomits if she does. This comes into play a few times during the film, only once graphically, but it provides a darkly amusing counter to the cerebral workout that Blanc goes through to work out who the killer is. 

As a murder mystery, it's well plotted - the dripfeed of information, misinformation, red herrings, half-truths and downright lies comes at a good pace, and there's a couple of times where the rug is pulled out from under you as what you've seen (or, more accurately, what you THINK you've seen) proves to not be the case. It's not convoluted, it doesn't disappear up its own fundament, doesn't rely on cheap tricks or obfuscation, and doesn't rely on a massive leap of logic to solve it. I was impressed by that. I also didn't work out the solution, but the solution presented didn't feel wrong. There are some clever moments that, on a repeated viewing (thus knowing the solution), will have greater significance. 

One thing, however, that lets the film down for me slightly is the politics. Some sly bits of subtle commentary are interesting and work well (for instance, the Thrombeys claim Marta is "part of the family" but they don't seem to know which country her family's originally from: Cuba, Ecuador, and Paraguay are all mentioned) but some bits get a bit too on-the-nose. Langford's character Meg is described as attending a liberal arts college, so automatically gets called a "snowflake" at one point, whilst Martell's character Jacob is permanently attached for his phone and is described as an alt-right sympathiser and troll. All very pertinent in these polarised and divisive times. But on both of these cases, we're just told this rather than shown it. There's also a conversation between Richard and some of the others, re: Trump, which again feels a little unnecessary- Richard has already been shown to be an absolute raging douchebag so to drive that point home by having him espouse the usual Republican line about immigrants (and humiliating Marta into the bargain) felt a bit pointless to me. 

That's a minor niggle, and not enough to ruin the film for me. It's a well-cast, beautiful-looking film (kudos to the production designer, the art designer, the set decoration and the costume designer) and the central mystery is engaging and expertly-constructed. A fine whodunit, and a late addition to my Nice List for 2019. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

Tez

Review: Looper (UK Cert 15)

Looper’s premise is this: in the not-too-distant future (how many times have we heard that?) time travel is invented, but it’s outlawed almost immediately. Getting rid of a body in the future is near to impossible – so organised crime sets up the Loopers. Loopers are hit-men  but they are 30 years in the past, before time travel is invented- the future mafia send the victims back in time and the Looper takes care of them and their body in the past. But what happens when your next victim is your future self?

Now this premise intrigued me when I saw the trailer- I asked myself, how are they going to pull that off well, especially when you’re jumping around timelines and raising questions like, the future me will know everything I’m doing… or have done? It’s a great idea, great concept and a new twist on a sci-fi great – time travel. I thought. Unfortunately what you get is a mess of a film. It flitters along at a dull pace, taking far too long to set up a world to only then fail to deliver an exciting story and resolution.

The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis and Emily Blunt. Levitt does his best with what he’s got, basically having to imitate a young Willis – under some freaky make up that augments his face to make him look like a young Bruce Willis. Unfortunately, Mr Levitt, relying on the make-up for the role doesn't work. Bruce Willis has never been so clearly taking the paycheck than here – he emotes his feelings of anguish by touching his forehead and looking longingly at his past self – but it just is such a lazy performance. Emily Blunt gives a great performance in a terrible film, her dialogue as a mother who was estranged from her son is just unbelievable – who talks like this? I know – no one does.

I could happily dissect just why this film is so bad – but to do so without spoilers is a nightmare! So to just simply say that this film’s style pallet is eclectic, its grasp of human behaviour is a joke, its plot has more holes than a sieve and the ending of this film is so ridiculous that it actually creates more issues than I can count!

Avoid.

Rating: 1 out of 5

Rhys