Hello :-)
I’m back again for The Incredible Suit’s BlogAlongAStarWars part trois. My own account of the ongoing quest to
become a proper Star Wars fan and crush the oncoming tidal wave of adult life
by revisiting all the Star Wars movies in the run up to Episode 7, this most
recent of posts which is absolutely definitely not late and absolutely didn’t
need to have been posted by the end of August…
So here ends my look back at the
original trilogy. Again, I haven’t re-watched episodes IV – VI for years but
thus far I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these much loved films as an
adult and letting them batter down my snarky and jaded defences.
In episode VI we discover that the
Galactic Empire, under orders from Human Mole-Rat Emperor Palpatine, are
building a second Death Star so they can crush the Rebel Alliance once and for
all. Meanwhile Luke Skywalker, C3PO and R2D2 set in motion a plan to rescue Han
Solo who is still encased in carbonite and hanging on the wall at Jabba the
Hutt’s lair.
This film had me from the off. Bad-ass
music *tick* iconic scrolling opening *tick* and then a ruddy excellent rescue
*tick tick tick*. I love a good heist but (puts on M&S advert voice) this
isn’t just a heist, this a bonkers Space Opera heist. The whole sequence is
tremendous fun, the call back to “I Love you/I know” was super cute, I love
that this is the first time Luke seems like a proper Jedi, it’s just an all-round
good time.
Here’s a potentially controversial
statement: I don’t understand the appeal of Boba Fett. I know he’s supposed to
be this great man of mystery and intrigue but I’m just not seeing it. To me he
hasn’t done enough to justify the esteem in which his character is held and
when he’s accidentally knocked into the giant sand vagina I gave zero shits.
For a film series that has thus far
stayed away from massive exposition dumps it is a little disappointing that
when we get back to Dagobah, after Yoda sadly shuffles off this mortal coil,
the ghost of Obi Wan has to show up and explain everything. This isn’t the
worst offender I’ve ever seen but it did feel as though Lucas wrote himself
into a corner and then decided to Force feed the audience (Geddit?!?! FORCE
feed… because it’s Star Wars… and the Force… oh fine be like that…) some
piffle, albeit piffle delivered by the legendary Alec Guinness, in order to work
his way out of it. I’m not saying that this is an omen of things to come but it
absolutely is.
Then we move to Endor. I don’t hate the
Ewoks as much as most (they gave us Warwick Davis and he is a goddamn legend)
but I will concede that they are narratively unnecessary and conspicuously
commercially lucrative. We’ve already established that this is a David and
Goliath space parable; you don’t need a physical representation in the form of
tiny bears fighting massive Stormtroopers. Also, I know everyone says
Ewoks are just children’s toys but let’s not forget they did want to eat Han
Solo. Like actually EAT him…
Then everything comes to a head in the
final act and it’s glorious. The rebel strike team try and take the Endor base,
the X-Wings are sent to take down the Death Star, Luke goes mano a mano with
his Daddy and Admiral Ackbar utters the line that spawned a thousand memes.
Each of these showdowns matter and the cutting between the three of them is
done really nicely, enough to keep us engaged but not manic enough to confuse
us.
Each individual finale fight matters
but the battle between Vader and Luke is the one with the biggest emotional
heft and brilliantly done it is too. We all know that Luke isn’t really going
to turn but when he lets rip on Vader he proper goes for it and it has all the
drama you’d expect from such an anticipated fight.
Maybe it all wraps itself up rather
fluffily and a bit too nicely but by this point I don’t really mind. The
redemption of Vader, Luke’s transition to fully fledged Jedi, Leia and Han’s
happily ever after, it’s full on fairytale ending stuff which , as a life-long
Disney fan, I am not one to shy away from.
So everyone is happy, we’ve got fireworks
and dancing Ewoks; but then, looking like the creepiest creeper who ever
creeped, Hayden Christensen’s ghostly figure appears like the Ghost of Special Editions
Present. Aside from the fact that this makes no sense (I’m not accepting
Lucas’s retcon bullshit about how he’s “returned to his inner persona”, how
would Luke even know who he is? He’s only ever seen his Father as an old man?!
Poor Sebastian Shaw…), it is a painful reminder of what I have in store over the
next three months.
George Lucas’s ridiculous changes
aside, I get Star Wars now. I understand the affection; the characters are
joyous, I agree with the consensus that Episode V is the best one and if Lightsabers
were real I would absolutely want one. So let us soldier on dear reader and you
can watch as the prequels shit all over my new found love... *sigh*
Final Thoughts: (This is pretty much exactly what I did at the end of Return of
the Jedi)
‘I wonder if there’s any other original
trilogy stuff I can look at before I have to start on the prequels…’
*takes to the interwebs*
‘Ooooh ‘Star Wars Holiday Special’ that
might be worth a look...’
*10 minutes later*
‘What the actual FUCK…’
Surprise Discovery: I completely forgot about the suggestion that
Leia has powers too. Fingers crossed that’s something we get to see in Episode
VII!
Goodbye till
next time :-)
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