Saturday, January 4, 2020

Fan Wars: The Last Fan


Star Wars
Episode VIII
The Last Fan

I’m going to do this one a little different. It’s mostly just going to be notes and thoughts during the movie mixed in with dives into certain aspects that people seem to have a problem with.

Where we left off: Luke, after an incident with a student, forsakes the force and goes into exile for years (something Jedi are known to do) where he wants nothing to do with the Jedi, Rey has gone off to find him, Finn is injured, Poe is a pilot in the weirdly named Resistance, Han is dead so there’s no possibilities of reunions, Leia is a general in the Resistance, Kylo Ren/Ben Solo has revealed his face and killed Han Solo and is working under Supreme Leader Snoke with the mad General Hux. I think that’s all the important stuff, basically everyone is scattered.

Opening Crawl: It’s great. It informs me those planets destroyed in TFA were the Republic, something not very clear in that movie. So now the First Order reigns because the politics in these movies has always been washy.  It’s informative and succinct.

Billie Lourd! It is exciting to watch and hear the Star Destroyers show up. The dreadnaught is awesome and intimidating.

Ok, I can’t deny this bit “on the phone” with Hux and Poe falls flat, but no more so than a lot of jokes throughout the series.

Poe is a great pilot and this action is great.

Van Veronica Ngo honestly gives one of the best performances in this movie, she has almost no lines but she is impactful and emotional sacrificing herself to take down this dreadnaught. Also, the rules of space and gravity have always been wonky in these movies but if you need an explanation for how the bombers work, there is clearly some sort of artificial gravity on all of these ships, so when they release the bombs, the artificial gravity forces them out and the continue on that path towards their goal.

Replay of this scene but 20 comedy points for chucking the lightsaber. This should not come as a surprise. In TFA it was set up that he exiled himself and wanted nothing to do with this stuff so that lightsaber means nothing to him anymore.

A sunken and destroyed X-Wing, it is even shown at one point that part of the x-wing is used for the door of these huts.

This is a nice reunion.

We see and meet Snoke in person finally. Instantly he is much more interesting than he was in TFA. Who cares where he came from/who he is. He is Snoke. One of the many complaints about the prequels was people said they didn’t need to know where the things they liked came from, for example Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine, came from. Why is everyone so obsessed with who Snoke is? He’s an evil douche who wants to rule the galaxy, that is all I need to know. Evil can come from nowhere. Hitler’s parents weren’t famous anti-Semites and murderers. Were Palpatine’s parents famous evil people? Snoke is Snoke, the end.

Kylo Ren destroys his helmet. Good. I loved the helmet and it was intimidating but once he took it off in TFA and showed his face, there was no reason to ever put it back on again. It’s dumb, I’m glad it’s gone. Now we really get to watch Driver act.

5 comedy points for the green milk.

Love this whole sequence of Rey following Luke go about his day in exile.

10 comedy points for Jakku.

I’m just going to state this here and now. Mark Hamill gives his absolute best performance in this movie. It’s so damn good, I feel everything he feels. It’s powerful.
Daisy Ridley is also at her best in this movie.

The theme of the movie is stated: The Jedi need to die.

Poe is demoted for disobeying orders and causing the loss of many lives and their entire bombing fleet.

This attack on the fleet sequence is very exciting and unlike anything we’ve seen in a Star Wars movie.

Ok, now for the infamous “Mary Poppins” scene. First, I like the performances of both Driver and Fischer in this sequence showing the connection and emotion. Ben can’t do it, two other tie-fighters come in and blow this room. Again, Star Wars has always played fast and loose with the rules of space, there are giant fiery explosions and I feel we see people get exposed to space a few times, I have no problem with her surviving. We know from Empire Strikes Back that Leia is force sensitive. So she uses the force. This is how I view this scene. She uses the force to grab onto the ship and pull herself into the ship. I can’t deny the way it’s shot and her physical position makes this look weird. I don’t know how to fix that but it was on my 3rd viewing that I completely came around on this scene.

Luke’s reunion with R2D2 is fantastic! When R2 plays the old message from Leia, it’s perfect, it means something to Luke as this is the message that sent a nobody farm boy on a nothing planet down the path to be the hero who destroyed the Death Star, then so much more. The emotion here for Luke and the fans is overwhelming. It brings a tear to my eye every time. Bravo.

Why does Poe look like he feels he should be put in charge? He was just a commander then he was demoted for screwing up big time. 

Laura fucking Dern!!!! She is crazy good in this scene and in this movie in general. I will fight a motherfucker who says her character shouldn’t be in this. I can’t understand that other than boys don’t want girls to play. “We are the spark that will light the fire that will restore the Republic.” This speech is amazing, I love it. Lays down another theme of this movie: Hope. People will find hope. Also, help can come from anywhere.

Poe tries to mansplain shit to Holdo? Then Holdo, rightfully, shoots him down and puts him in his place. She is acting command and he was just demoted due to disobeying orders. Not to mention it was Leia’s last act, so she’s not going to reverse this. Poe telling Holdo what to do and then trying to get information from her about the big plan is like a private in the army trying to do the same. It feels weird making this analogy because it’s nothing new that the Rebellion/Resistance is a military institute. Anyway, if a private in the Army tried to ask an acting general this, they would get smacked down, told to shut up, get in line and follow orders. Holdo, rightfully, does this to Poe. The fact that people have a problem with this is asinine.

We are introduced to Rose Tico, sister of Paige Tico who died in the bombing run. Rose is great. She’s a fan girl who feels she isn’t really a part of this resistance. She is disappointed to see Finn basically trying to run away. So she stuns him, good for her. Finn needs to learn he’s a part of this resistance, he’s clearly an inspiration already. He gets on board and they come up with an idea to disable the tracker. Great, exciting stuff. Looks like a fun side mission is about to begin.

5 comedy points for union dispute.

Force time. Weird but interesting new power is introduced. I like it.

The fish nuns are hilarious. Don’t care what anybody says.

Make things.. float. 10 comedy points.

20 comedy points for the “reach out” moment.

This scene is one of the best in the movie. It explains the force is such a beautiful way. A way that has only been hinted at and alluded to. Luke explains and shows the force as a beautiful connection between all things. This scene also brings up some of my favorite things not only in this movie but in this series. It discusses the balance, but not in the usual way. The implication here is there is the light and the dark, life and death and between it all is the balance, where we exist, where the force exists. This movie is all about that grey area, that space between and what it means. It’s an amazing philosophy this movie discusses and I love it. Luke also then talks about feeling that force, that power, that balance and how it is greedy and selfish for the Jedi to want that for themselves and that the force shouldn’t belong to any one group of people. Also, that it is pure vanity to believe that if the Jedi die, the light dies. It sets up a beautiful ending to this whole saga.

Luke has closed himself off from the force, again further explaining why he is no longer the Luke we knew nearly 40 years ago. People change? Say what?

Force time pt2. Both actors are killing it. Plus this is all great character building. Starts to show physical things can be transferred over force time.

Canto Bight. I love this, sorry not sorry. Rose mentions it is full of the worst kind of people, setting up another Mos Eisley situation. Instead, it’s the ultra wealthy. Genius subversion and the beginning of an interesting conversation. The people in this scene are unlike any we’ve really seen or spent time with before. Finn is excited for his first time in Vegas.

5 comedy points for inserting coins into BB-8.

The “look closer” moment is great. Diving into the idea of this kind of wealth and beauty tends to come at the expense of “lesser” classes and this universe has slaves. Then the idea of war profiteering comes up and selling weapons to the first order.

Justin Theroux in a great, but again non distracting, cameo. I would watch a whole movie about his Star Wars James Bond.

They get arrested… for parking illegally. Genius also, 5 comedy points.

Rey wielding the lightsaber is great. 10 comedy points for cutting the rock sending it tumbling through the fish nun wheelbarrow.

Luke makes more great points set up in the prequels: the Jedi are extremely flawed and caught up in their own politics and beliefs so much that they allowed a Sith lord to take over the galaxy and get rid of the republic. I believe the prequels existed to show that the Jedi are not heroes.

The first telling of what happened between Luke and Ben. From Luke’s perspective, Ben was evil heading towards the dark side. Ben tries to kill him. Everything is destroyed. Luke feels as though these trainings are dangerous and need to end.

Ladies and gentlemen, Benicio del Toro.

5 comedy points for pointing out these two speaking loudly about their secret plan.

Benicio del Toro gives a great and very him quirky performance. When he tosses his boots around his shoulder, so great. 5 comedy points.

These animals are cute and cool. When she reveals her secret decoder ring to the kids, fantastic. The look on their faces is great and they’re happy to help. This is what this whole sequence is about.

This chase scene is fun and exciting. Busting through the casino causing chaos, great.

Too much cover, 5 comedy points.

Ship blown up, 5 comedy points.

The animal cruelty stuff is slightly heavy handed but I don’t mind.

Spacenicio shows up to save them. Need a lift, 5 comedy points.

Mark Hamill aged so perfectly into this role.

Luke reaching out to Leia, waking her up makes my heart happy.

The most infamous Force Time scene. A thousand memes are born. Love this conversation but it leads to the second time we see this scene. From Kylo’s perspective, Luke had gone mad and tried to kill him, he’s forced to defend himself. “Let the past die. Kill it if you have to.” There it is, great line, great idea, everything this movie is leading towards.

Rian does his version of the Empire “cave” scene. In it, Rey is faced with an endless line of herself, all waiting, searching for something. This scene is loaded with metaphor and can be confusing for sure but the more I watch it, the more I understand it and the more I like it. It drops the first hint that her parents are nobody/it doesn’t matter who they are, she can make her own destiny.

These force time scenes caused people to start shipping these characters, but I view their relationship as more brother/sister if anything in these moments. Two people trying to find their destiny. Luke catches them and understandably becomes upset.

Great fight scene. Luke catches himself with the force.

Third viewing of this scene, and probably the most accurate. He is afraid of the possibility of Ben’s destiny. He contemplates killing him before instantly regretting it, realizing he can still help him, but Ben wakes up and the damage is done. Beautiful story telling and character development for both Luke and Ben/Kylo. Luke disconnects himself from the force and goes into exile. Ben seeks inspiration from his grandfather’s legacy and turns to the dark side. This is all some of the best writing these series have had.

What’s this ominous glow? That’s Yoda, and puppet Yoda at that, so he looks great. I am 100% here for this scene. Luke wants to burn down the remains of the Jedi Order. He can’t bring himself to do it, so Yoda, cheeky bastard, does it for him. It needed to be done, again, I honestly believe this is what all the movies have been leading towards.

Page turners, they were not. 20 comedy points.

Again, some of the best parts of this whole saga. Yoda tells Luke to train Rey to be a Jedi master but that part of that is failure and weakness! Come on!

Rose gives up her last connection to her sister in order to complete this mission. Beautiful.

We stole it. 5 comedy points.

Love this conversation. Plays into what this movie is all about, the people that exist in the middle. These people sold parts, ships and whatnot to whoever was buying, “good” or “evil”. Great writing, thought provoking exploration.

Fly boy, 5 comedy points.

Hope is like the sun, if you only believe in it when you can see it, you’ll never make it through the night. Beautiful writing.

Holdo still doesn’t tell Poe the plan because to her, he does not need to know the plan. He is of lower rank and just needs to follow orders.

Spacenicio is the shit.

Poe continues to fuck up. Now he’s committing mutiny. I like Poe but he’s an arrogant asshole in this.

The iron joke… 30 comedy points.

BB-8 in the bin, 5 comedy points.

The throne room scene. First of all, the visuals, striking red backgrounds. Snoke in a gold bathrobe thing. So good.

Speacenicio gives her back her necklace, fantastic and charming. Love it.

Holdo is a fucking badass. By the way, I love that Laura Dern mouths “pew” as she shoots. Swoon.

Great subversion. This whole story has been leading towards Finn and Rose turning off the tracker and everyone will escape at the last second. Nope, they are caught, mission failed. So nice to see it change directions like this, slowly taking away more and more hope as it goes along. It is great storytelling, great writing and yes, in it’s own way paying homage to Empire while setting up a triumphant 3rd act in the trilogy.

Leia busts down the door. Like. A. Boss. She shoots Poe, great.

That one’s a trouble maker, I like him. I LOVE HOLDO.

Holdo offers to sacrifice herself for the sake of the resistance. Beautiful. My love grows stronger.

Back in the throne room. Andy Series is great in this movie as Snoke. Darkness rises and light to meet it: great line. 

On the evacuation ship Poe finally learns the plan. It all makes sense now. It’s a good plan. Leia puts him in his place explaining it’s about protecting the light, not being a hero. A major theme of this movie and part of why it’s one of my favorites.

Spacenicio has sold out the resistance because he is neither good nor bad, he is just looking out for himself. Great character, would be nice to see him come back. Watching the ships start to get blown up is devastating.

Snoke hits Rey in the head with the lightsaber, 5 comedy points.

Rey has so much fight in her. This is where things get great. Kylo slowly turning the lightsaber with his mind, then sparking it with the force, something that has been a discussion of fans for decades. He kills Snoke, cutting him in half, I cheer. Rey catches the lightsaber in an awesome shot. One of the best lightsaber battles in the entire series starts.

Benicio del Toro’s delivery of “maybe” is everything.

These guards anti-lightsaber weapons are awesome and unlike anything we’ve really seen. This scene is very exciting. Plus those red curtains being on fire really adds to just how stunning the visuals are. One complaint I’ve hear is if you slow the movie down and go frame by frame, you know, how movies are supposed to be watched, you can see that this fight was choreographed… No shit, Sherlock. That is why it looks so good on film. You… you do know lightsabers aren’t real, they really aren’t in space and this is all fiction, right? Of course it is choreographed, and thankfully fight choreography has come a long way because as much as I love the original Star Wars, that battle between Obi-wan and Vader is so uninteresting. Anyway, Kylo catches the lightsaber sparking it through the last guards head. Awesome. I pump my fists. Rey learns that all Kylo wants is power and to be the new supreme leader. Great. “It’s time to tlet old things die” Great. The performances of Driver and Ridley in this scene is great.

Ok, now we get to the moment that made me about stand up and cheer in the theater and made me fall in love with this movie: Rey comes to the realization that her parents were nobodies who abandoned her on Jakku. Why do I love this moment so much? So many things. To start, I’m tired of the commentary on legacy and people only being important in this series if they are tied to someone else who is famous or powerful or whatever. After TFA the rumors of her parentage were abound, and I hated every single one of them. The main thing for me is that Rey’s parents being nobody and her not having lineage is a powerful message. It is what this movie has been discussing: good/help can come from anywhere. Just because you feel like you are nobody and have no significance in the world/galaxy doesn’t mean you can’t take hold of your destiny and make a difference. Not to mention that this moment takes us back to the original Star Wars and cracks this universe wide open for so many possibilities. In the OG Star Wars, before Empire came out, Luke was just a boy on a farm with his aunt and uncle. He was nobody. Then a chance encounter with a droid sends him down a path to become the hero of the galaxy! He wasn’t important at all. Yes, we learn his father was some random Jedi, in this movie that doesn’t mean much and it’s just a piece of information tossed aside in order to give Luke this lightsaber to truly kick off his adventure. When he uses the force to destroy the Death Star, he isn’t the son of Vader, he’s just a farm boy thrust into greatness. I love this moment. It makes me so excited for the possibility of introducing other force users who are just new characters with no lineage. It gives hope that we may find more in all corners of the galaxy from all walks of life. Thank you, Rian Johnson, for giving Star Wars this moment and bringing it all back to its origins.

The resistance is dwindling. All hope appears to be lost. The badass Holdo hops in the pilots chair.

Rey and Kylo fight for Luke’s/Vaders saber.

No, Holdo is not running away.

The lightsaber is torn in half and explodes.

Holdo lightspeeds through Snokes ship and the First Order fleet. First, the visuals. This may be the most beautiful shot in all of these movies. It is awe inspiring. And the choice to go silent with it, no sound, no music. It truly takes my breath away every time. Next, it is the biggest act of bravery I’ve seen in these movies. Holdo sacrifices herself and takes a chance at this working. Onto the criticism… Why has nodody done the Holdo maneuver before? This is possibly the dumbest of all criticism of this movie, aside from “I don’t like girls playing”… It is a suicide move. I don’t know about you but… suicide isn’t fun. Most people want to live. They want to see the world after the battle is done. The Death Star Run, there was still hope, all other moments in these movies, there was still hope. Those transport ships were not going to make it, all hope was lost so she chose to sacrifice herself in hope of saving them. Also, maybe nobody thought of trying this until now, necessity being the mother of invention. Lastly, and I can’t believe I actually have to point this out, but there has to be a first time for everything. The reason it had never been done before is because it had never been done before…. If we are seriously going to start asking why something has never been done before that will send us down a deep dark path of stupidity that we’ll never climb out of. Also, to get right down to it... It had never happened before because the writers of previous movies had never thought to put it in the script. Get. Over. It. Shaking my head so damn hard.

Ok… Deus ex literal machina.

Finn defeats the thing he’s been running from and comes to terms with who he’s meant to be: Rebel scum.

Hux starts to pull his blaster to kill Kylo when Kylo wakes up. Great moment. I like this turn for Kylo, becoming the new Supreme Leader.

Finn! Rose! You’re not dead! Where’s my droid? Great moment, 5 comedy points.

One of my few problems with this movie, miniaturized death star tech. Can we please move on from the Death Star and Death Star like weapons… That being said, it is used quite well in this.

These skimmer ships are pretty cool and their use on this unique planet makes for more stunning visuals. On a visual level alone, people should be a fan of this movie.

Gorilla walkers, exciting concept that I don’t feel we really see used in a super interesting way.

The Falcon is back! More references to it being a piece of junk.

Oh they hate that ship, 5 comedy points.

Cavern chase is exciting. Great visuals.

5 comedy points to the look on Driver’s face after Hux repeats his orders.

Finn is now overly obsessed with defeating the new order.

Rose essentially tackles Finn’s ship with hers. Rose tells him “That’s how we win. Not by killing what we hate but saving what we love.” Beautiful line, great thesis statement. I love this moment. I enjoy this relationship and can’t wait to see where it goes.

“The spark… is out.” Bleak. But wait, Luke shows up. To all the people who wish they killed Leia off earlier in the movie because Carrie Fischer unfortunately passed away, I want to say I’m so glad they kept her performance intact. First, this is her best performance. Second, It honors her more by keeping it unchanged. Third, I would have been so upset if I didn’t get this scene with Luke, makes me tear up. So good.

“I changed my hair.” 20 comedy points for a line written by Carrie Fischer.

Here is Luke doing exactly what he alluded to earlier: one man with a laser sword in front of the First Order.

Kylo’s anger is so great.

Do you think you got him, 5 comedy points.

Luke is still there, lightly brushes his shoulder. Luke is back and badass.

Right away, sir. 5 comedy points.

“Did you come back to save my soul?” “No.” Perfect!

Skywalker is doing this so that we can survive. Exactly! That is what this movie is about!

“What are you looking at me for?” 5 comedy points and the joy on Leia’s face as she sees that Poe finally gets it, this isn’t always about big fights and winning the battles, sometimes it’s about making sure there is hope to win the war.

“Lifting rocks.” Excellent.

Love this fight/conversation between Luke and Kylo. Everything about it is so perfect.

Rey shows true power with the force lifting all the boulders out of the way. Finn and Rey, great friends.

Wait, what? More genius subversion. Luke isn’t actually there. Force Projection, amazing. Many clues leading to this reveal, of course.

Luke collapses and fades away. I guess it took every last bit of life force he had to do that. But him seeing the double suns of Tatooine as he dies is absolutely beautiful and striking for this character and for us as an audience. He becomes one with the force.

Excellent closing force time moment between Rey and Kylo.

The spark survives.

Sort of wish the “Sacred texts” didn’t survive and were in that tree. Would have been a little more meaningful but Rey is supposed to be the savior. Rey is holding Luke’s destroyed lightsaber.

The spark starts to ignite the fire. Word of Luke’s act is already spreading across the galaxy as these young slaves find inspiration in telling the story. Then wait, that little boy grabs the broom using the force! Showing, once again, it isn’t about legacy but that anyone can be connected to the force and that help will come in all forms from across the galaxy. He looks to the stars and dreams of more while wearing the ring! BEST. CLOSING SHOT. EVER!

I love this movie. I love the themes and ideas it explores. I love that Rian Johnson was opening up the world of Star Wars to a galaxy of possibilities. There is so much great stuff here to lead into a mind blowing, awe inspiring closing chapter of the saga. Thank you, Rian Johnson, for all that you did for Star Wars.


I will say, I already knew the fandom was toxic after the prequel movies. If you don't believe me, the "fan" reaction to those movies was a large part of why George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney. After the reaction to this movie, I realize more than ever that the fandom needs to die. I know they won't but maybe no more Star Wars anything for at least a decade. Let it die, then maybe come back with new, original Star Wars stories that are in no way tied to the Skywalker Saga.

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Fan Wars


Fan Wars
Episode VII
A New New Hope

The opening crawl is exciting and sets up an adventure. It also sets up that Luke has disappeared and gone into hiding, more on this later. The opening scene is great and is different from what we’d seen before and gives fans hope because, unlike the prequels, it exists in a tactile world. An old man hands a secret message to a pilot… much like Leia giving R2 a secret message at the beginning of Star Wars. We see we’re on a desert planet like Tatooine but this isn’t Tatooine we promise.

Kylo Ren shows up and is a total badass. Dressed in all black with a cool and intimidating helmet, not unlike Darth Vader. He stops a blaster laser in mid-air, nice. A stormtrooper seems hesitant and does not shoot the innocent people like ordered. This is interesting.

From here I think I’m just going to discuss this movie in general terms because we all know what it is and even though I feel most people didn’t like this movie when it came out because it was wholly unoriginal and just a remake of A New Hope. Fans hated Rey and used the misogynist term “Mary Sue” in order to describe her. Pretty much the only thing people seemed to like was Han, Chewy, Leia and Poe. More on all that later as suddenly people defended this movie and JJ Abrams after The Last Jedi came out.

The Force Awakens is visually stunning. JJ Abrams does know how to shoot a movie and is very good with action scenes. He knows how to make a thing exciting. He has his talents. He even managed to back off on his usual lens flare, knowing that doesn’t really belong in a Star Wars movie. The chase scene with the Millennium Falcon and the Tie Fighters on Jakku is thrilling and fun and exciting to see a favorite and iconic ship back in action after so many years. The battle at Maz Kanata’s is fun as hell, gives us a solid laugh line and a heaping dose of fan service when Han uses Chewy’s crossbow blaster for the first time. The whole final act on the Death Starkiller Base is a ride and a half.

I personally loved Rey from the moment she showed up on screen. She had a great look when we first see her rummaging through a downed Star Destroyer. She seems self sufficient and able to handle herself. It’s quickly indicated that she has grown up in this rough environment and knows her way around. Then there’s the scene of her sitting outside her “home” of a fallen AT-AT wearing a rebel helmet looking at the stars wanting more, reminiscent of Luke watching the double sunset on Tatooine and the beginning of IV. Daisy Ridley plays this character brilliantly. When stormtroopers show up trying to take BB-8, she shows that she has fighting skills. I personally do not need an explanation. I do not consider her a “mary sue” at all, not to mention I hate that term. I feel the movie does a good enough job implying that while growing up she had to learn to defend herself on this planet. Easy enough for me, apparently. Anyway, I loved the character arc for Rey in this movie. Learning she was force sensitive was great. The fight with Kylo was fantastic.

Finn is a great idea brought to life by John Boyega. It is an amazing concept to include a stormtrooper who doesn’t want to be a stormtrooper. Someone who doesn’t want to mindlessly kill others. However, to hint at discussions to come, this movie does not make him out to be a hero necessarily. He is constantly just trying to get as far away from the first order as possible and if that means helping out the resistance at one point, then fine.

Poe is an awesome but slightly underdeveloped character in this movie. We know he’s an amazing pilot (I wonder if HE is related to the Skywalkers), motivated, head strong and makes cringy jokes, not in that they are inappropriate or anything, just bad and flat. But that’s it. I know after this movie I hoped for a relationship between Finn and Poe.

Kylo Ren is an intimidating and terrifying villain. First, I would like to say that I loved the helmet right up until he took it off. Once the helmet is off and it reveals Adam Driver’s perfect face and long flowing locks, there is no reason to ever put that helmet on again. Driver gives the kind of performance we all needed out of Hayden Christiansen for Anakin, he’s brooding, he’s emotional and it doesn’t come off as whiny, it comes off as slightly frightening. I, personally, like his freakouts, it shows that he is unstable and if you or something upsets him, it could end very badly for you if you’re just near him. He lets his anger get the best of him and he just reacts. I also thought it was a great touch to reverse the usual and show someone on the dark side trying to resist the light.

General Hux is also a great villain. He is angry. He hates the enemies. He wants power and he wants everyone to kneel to the first order. Played brilliantly by Domnhal Gleeson who really gives it his all when delivering his speech. I also like the sibling like rivalry between him and Ren fighting for the affection of Snoke.

Supreme Leader Snoke… What is there to say about this character? Played through CGI by the best CGI performer out there, Andy Serkis. He looks, honestly, like a placeholder, like they couldn’t decide what he should look like so they quickly threw out this design then made him a hologram to hide this fact and made that hologram huge to try to imply that he is to be feared. I found him uninteresting and I never cared who he was or where he came from. Those questions didn’t even occur to me until the fans started to bring them up.

Then there are the legacy characters. Han is his usual Han self. This is the first time in probably 20 years that I feel Harrison Ford actually showed up to set. He seems excited, focused and into it. That moment that Han and Chewy walk onto the Millennium Falcon brings you right back to your childhood. It sucks that Abrams killed him for seemingly 2 reasons: 1) Han was essentially the Obi Wan character in this New Hope reboot and 2) Fan service specifically so Abrams could show Harrison Ford that he knew Ford wanted Lucas to kill him at the end of Empire.

What really needs to be said about Leia. She was my favorite character growing up. She was the princess who kicked ass. I like that even though we learn that she is force sensitive in Empire then more so in Jedi, Abrams shows that she chose to instead follow the military career she had started and is now a general. Carrie Fischer is everything I needed her to be in this movie. The moment for me in this movie that truly took me back to my 7 year old self was when she showed up. I also love having her daughter, Billie Lourd, in these movies.

On to the character that will be discussed at length in the next installment, Luke. He is absent the entire movie. He is discussed because he is the last jedi and they believe that bringing him out of his self-sentenced exile will bring hope back to the resistance. When we do see him in the final shot of this movie, he is older, he still looks badass but he also looks upset and like someone who wants nothing to do with any of this because he put himself in exile for a reason. The last shot goes on way too long and the helicopter shot is honestly just annoying.

Those are all the things I really enjoyed, onto some of this movie’s faults.

This movie takes place years after the Empire fell and the New Republic is in charge. So then, why is Leia leading “the resistance?” Wouldn’t that just be the army of the republic? It’s clearly only called the resistance because it’s as close to Rebels/rebellion that he can get in order to reboot A New Hope.
It is not very well explained that the planets Starkiller Base destroys are the New Republic. Also, so the entirety of the republic is in one system? And that system doesn’t include Coruscant?
Again I have to emphasize that it is very dumb that Kylo ever takes off his helmet.
R2D2 shows up at the end of the movie as a literal Deus ex Machina.
Why does Leia hug Rey and not Chewy at the end after Han’s death?
Missed opportunity when Han tells Leia he loves her, she should have said “I know” that is fan service I would have appreciated.
Abrams should have brought all 3 legacy characters together for at least one scene, instead he kills Han thus making it impossible for that to ever happen in these movies. This is something the fans blame Rian Johnson for and that baffles me.
Abrams unnecessarily creates a series of mystery boxes. The Star Wars series has never been about mysteries. We know Luke’s father was a Jedi but it is never presented as a question that needs to be answered. When Vader reveals himself to be Luke’s father, it is not an answer to a question, simply a twist reveal. Same with Leia. Instead Abrams writes and directs this movie in a way so as to have the audience clamoring for answers. Things like “Who are Rey’s parents?” “Who is Snoke?” “Where did Maz get Luke’s lightsaber?” “Who are the Knights of Ren?” and many others. In my opinion this doomed the other filmmakers (Rian Johnson and Colin Trevorrow at the time) because fans would spend years debating these questions, building fan theories and taking sides and if/when other filmmakers confronted these mysteries they would either end up being one of the theories, thus dividing the fans and being called unoriginal and just pleasing the fans, coming up with something original, which risks being crazy or uninteresting and thus dividing the fans, or ignoring them which could also upset the fans.

However, to me, the biggest offense of this movie is simply that it is unoriginal. It is the safest possible route when making a new Star Wars movie because it is just, beat for beat, the story of the original Star Wars movie with everything turned to 11. It is a good movie and is fun to watch but that’s because it is familiar, it doesn’t really introduce anything new, it doesn’t challenge its audience in anyway and is basically just comfort food. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with that and when restarting a franchise might be a smart way to go about it in order to bring in the old fans and try to bring in new fans as well.

Overall, The Force Awakens is a fun and enjoyable entry in the Star Wars saga. Just don’t look to deep into it and take it for what it is. It is very competently made. Brian Posehn put it best once when he described this movie as mashed potatoes: it doesn’t break the mold but who doesn’t love mashed potatoes?

Monday, November 24, 2014

Short review: Mockingjay Part 1

Grade: B

Katniss wakes in District 13 and is chosen to be the face of the revolution.

Some good action scenes. The stuff they added is fun but unnecessary as is the whole splitting into two movies. Really nervous about the fact they split this into two movies and are ignoring a MAJOR plot point.

Jennifer Lawrence, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore and many more.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Short Review: Interstellar

Grade: A

A team travel through a mysterious wormhole to try to save humanity.

Still processing. Great story. Great visuals. Great representation of science. Could lose about 20 minutes.

Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine and many many more.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Short review: Big Hero 6

Grade: A+

A young robotics prodigy uses science and technology to find the person responsible for his brother's death.

Amazing movie. Great story. Heart in all the right places. Very funny and tons of fun.

Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, TJ Miller, Genesis Rodriguez, Jamie Chung, James Cromwell, Alan Tudyk, Damon Waynes Jr. And more.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Short review: John Wick

Grade: A

This is why you don't mess with a man's car or his dog.

The action scenes are amazing. Better than The Raid. Story is actually really fun and there is just the right amount of humor splashed throughout.

Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Willem Dafoe and more.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Short review: Gone Girl

Grade: A+

A man's wife goes missing and evidence is piling against him.

David Fincher does a great job directing. Affleck gives his best performance yet. Crazy story with amazing twists. Disturbing in an oddly satisfying way. I honestly don't know what to say about this movie.

Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens, Tyler Perry, Neil Patrick Harris

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Short review: The Boxtrolls

Grade: A

A young boy must defend the boxtrolls who raised him.

Gorgeous stop-motion animation and design. Great and touching story. Very funny and entertaining.

Voices of Ben Kingsley, Jared Harris, Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade and many more.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Short review: Tusk

Grade: A+

A man goes to Canada to interview a strange man when things go awry.

Very funny. Amazingly bizarre and out there. Unnerving at times. Great writing. If nothing else, truly original.

Justin Long, Michael Parks, Haley Joel Osment, Genesis Rodriguez, Guy LaPointe

Monday, August 25, 2014

Short review: Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

Grade: B

More stories from Basin City.

Its great and a lot of fun... So long as you haven't seen the first Sin City, then its confusing as you watch several characters who died already die again.

Mickey Rourke, Josh Brolin, Eva Green, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Powers Booth, Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis and many more.