AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Star wars episode 79/15/2023 ![]() ![]() Did we really need a film to meticulously over-explain every detail about him, illustrating how he got his blaster, the Falcon, joining up with Chewie, and. (Didn't we leave that dynamic behind with the prequels?) Either way, no director could've changed the fact that a Han Solo origin story was, at its most basic level, unnecessary: Harrison Ford's suave smuggler was fully formed from the moment he first swaggered into the Mos Eisley cantina, a self-absorbed rake who would eventually learn that maybe he did care about something other than himself. The result is a perplexing and wholly unnecessary slog, unable to decide whether it wants to be a quippy space adventure or a self-serious rumination on galactic politics. Han Solo's ( Alden Ehrenreich) much-hyped origin story was muddled by behind-the-scenes drama, with Ron Howard stepping in after original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller departed the project. It's impossible to watch the forgettable Solo without wondering what might have been. And she buries Anakin's lightsaber in sand of all things. ![]() The last aggravating kick is not Rey learning to be proud of herself on her own mettle but declaring herself a Skywalker and being stuck alone on another arid planet that all the biological Skywalkers hated. The newly reformed Ben Solo gets one quick kiss before he dies and is quickly forgotten for the rest of the film, not even getting a Force ghost for his trouble. Meanwhile, Adam Driver does all he can to make Kylo's redemption work but he's throttled by the reappearance of his character's ridiculous face-blocking helmet. The film treats Rey, Finn ( John Boyega), and Poe Dameron ( Oscar Isaac) like they had the same camaraderie as Han, Luke, and Leia without putting in the work, while pointedly keeping Kelly Marie Tran's Rose Tico out of the fun (a truly unforgivable decision). If having to contemplate the image of Palpatine getting down wasn't bad enough, the film's migraine-inducing plot foils the work of the entire cast, including the previously undefeated McDiarmid. Nothing was more gutless than turning Rey ( Daisy Ridley), a galactic nobody with great Force power, into Emperor Palpatine's ( Ian McDiarmid) granddaughter. What Rise of Skywalker made clear is the creative team never really knew what the sequel trilogy was about, and while Last Jedi made some bold feints in a new direction, Lucasfilm lost its nerve in the end. ![]() It was an impossible task to end the Skywalker saga without Carrie Fisher's Leia, but the void her death created can't be blamed for this misbegotten mess. (Nothing but respect to Warwick Davis, though, who gives his all as Wicket in both Ewok films.) We honor them for existing, but we do not rank them. No need to see Chewie's child, Lumpy, be scared of Stormtroopers, or worry if little blond moppet Cindel Towani (Aubree Miller) will make it off Endor. If you're a Boba Fett completist, you can now catch just the animated segment from Holiday Special as a standalone on Disney+ under the title Star Wars Vintage: The Story of the Faithful Wookiee. The craftwork just does not compare due to their pared-down budgets, effects cheats, and cut-to-commercial television pacing. They also cannot fairly be compared to the big-budget, big-screen endeavors of their contemporaries A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. In this case, it's okay to not bother with made-for-TV movies Star Wars Holiday Special, Ewok Adventure, and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. Sometimes, fandom can morph into a certain type of gatekeeping that insists one must be a completist in order to be a true fan, a real OG of the genre. ![]()
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |