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!
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
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