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https://medfordinformationcentral.blogspot.com/2019/12/star-wars-review-tonight-midnight-1201.html
Fun Fact: Editor's late girlfriend Jo Jo was the Godmother to one of Mark Hamill's kids, probably Nathan. Jo Jo put her hands on the pregnant mom and gave her blessing, as legend has it. File under: Luke Sky-ROCKER!
On December 17, 1978, Hamill married dental hygienist Marilou York in a private civil ceremony.[94] They have three children: Nathan (born 1979), Griffin (born 1983), and Chelsea Elizabeth (born 1988).[95] Nathan was born during the production of The Empire Strikes Back and had a cameo appearance as one of the Royal Guards of Naboo in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.[96] Chelsea made a photographic appearance as an infant Axel Walker in the 1990 television series The Flash; the same photograph was used in the 2014 series.[97]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hamill
STAR WARS IX
The Rise of Skywalker
By Joe Viglione
The Rise of Skywalker – to this viewer’s eyes and
ears – is the best of the new trilogy, superior to the middle three prequels
which – oh you know the story – were designed to be Episodes 1, 2, and 3, were
actually 4, 5 and 6, but will forever be -3, -2 and -1 they were just so
poorly scripted yet visually stunning.
Lucas, and Disney, didn’t learn from that exercise
in self-aggrandizing - the three prequels - thus 2018 brought us Solo: A Star Wars Story. Though
certainly entertaining enough, it failed at the box office, but may still
obtain permission for sequels after The Rise of Skywalker has its moment in the
sun.
So how to articulate this motion picture’s grand
moments without giving any plot away? Breathtakingly
huge places – be they the Wicked Witch’s castle or the Wizard of Oz’s smoky
cathedral draw audiences in. Star Wars has done this Fritz Lang Metropolis
thing better than most. Metropolis was
filmed in 1927, almost one hundred years ago.
J.J. Abrams gives us this depth and awe with the old Death Star, the
remnants of which apparently have fallen onto some planet. It’s a great moment
and is not here as a “spoiler” but as something to look forward to. As are the violent waves surrounding it. Pure
science fiction and worth the price of admission. It is also reminiscent of Rogue One which I
feel is one of the best of the Star Wars films, surpassing the three prequels
to 1977’s original Star Wars - just drop the “A New Hope” and start the entire
series there. That is the real intro to
Star Wars – and - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the best “prequel” one could
hope for. Why? Because it ties up the
loose ends from the 1977 masterpiece in a terrific way with great acting, great
suspense, and the ties that bind.
In my review of The Force Awakens I noted “Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, R2-D2,
cp30 Chewbacca and Mark Hamill all make the most of their appearances. That
they aren’t given a higher profile (except for Ford,) is to the film’s
detriment.” So go back to the first paragraph in this review and understand –
Kirk, Spock, Sulu, Uhura, Scotty, Chekov …you get the picture.
For,
you see, Ray Davies and the Kinks’ 1981 epic lp Give the People What They Want
rings true in all aspects of entertainment.
The
people want Chewbacca, the people want R2-D2, so the return of Billy Dee
Williams and Ian McDiarmid level out the Star Trek:
The Next Generation feel of the new characters. It brings the saga right to where those who
love these films want it to be.
Along with tugging at Star Wars fans’ heart strings
with Carrie Fisher’s outtake footage, which appears to be made precisely for
this film, Mark Hammill, and the Emperor bring us back to the future. Hammill and Palpatine now fight a mind game
from afar without interacting at all. Of
course ol’ Palpatine always looked like a 74 - 75 year old man, and the actor
actually is nowadays, McDiarmid having been born in August of 1944. So the
crunchy old electrically powered curmudgeon is now the real deal. Good!
_____________________________________________
How many times can you blow up planets and death
stars and battleships over 11 films? The
Ron Howard Solo: A Star Wars project was decent enough, one of its main
problems was that it didn’t fit into the original Star Wars story as Rogue One
did. Oh the filmmakers thought the back-story on
Han Solo integrated well, but as I’ve mentioned, people want what they want,
and they want Harrison Ford, not someone else playing the part.
The Rise of Skywalker starts off with a raging
battle, which is the new science fiction formula. From the Avengers to the
Matrix, start off with a bang is what this new generation wants. The Force Awakens began the same way, only in
an extremely violent way. But rather than color by the numbers, which director
Abrams did with Force Awakens, Rise of Skywalker is about closing the book in a
way that doesn’t insult the original three films. In that regard it succeeds.
From this fan’s perspective, play Rogue One, Star
Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Force Awakens and Rise of
Skywalker in order…you don’t need The Last Jedi, nor do you need the Solo: A
Star Wars Story. Force Awakens is almost an afterthought, but necessary to
introduce the new characters. J.J.
Abrams, however, does utilize the Matrix formula of pulling scenes from other
films – dusted off, of course, into the new cake mix, different enough to give
you your money’s worth. Moments from
Avatar become so obvious…hey, if James Cameron’s going to take his sweet time
with the barrel full of sequels, “give the people what they want.” Matrix moments also infiltrate as an
undercurrent. The “feel” of other
blockbusters (back to 1927’s Metropolis) is the order of the day. It will go right over viewer’s heads, and
that’s what Disney/Lucas is counting on.
The two elements so necessary for a perennial
favorite – what made The Wizard of Oz and Star Trek – and the Beatles and …(you
get the picture) – so endearing are what the Beach Boys sing about - “Heroes and Villains.” Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader are two of
the greatest villains in motion picture history, right up there with the Wicked
Witch of the West. And that other element is the Tin Woodsman, Aunty Em, the
Wizard, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion. Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo,
Lando Calrissian, Obe Won Kenobi – all part of the fabric of your memories of
this film series.
J.J. Abrams got it right bringing Max Von Sydow
onboard for The Force Awakens. Killing
him off so quickly was Disney’s fall into “the dark side.” Sydow was perfect as an Alec Guinness
character this series so desperately needed. The contrast that Guinness brought to Vader – well,
they had it and they punted.
Resurrect
Senator Lloyd Bentsen from the grave like Emperor Palpatine and he will say to Andy
Serkis and Adam Driver “I knew Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader. They were friends of mine. And You Ain’t No
Darth Vader!” Snopes and Kylo Ren merely
watered down emperor, watered down Vader.
Is this Rise of Skywalker or Rise of the Planet of the Apes? So much crossover from Serkis to Abrams one
gets dizzy connecting all the dots.
It’s the great villain that makes a great motion
picture, and a counterpoint – the beloved team: the Fantastic Four, the
Avengers, Luke, Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, Han Solo…that old axiom “the
original is still the greatest” rings true.
The Rise of Skywalker goes back to the future to end this part of the
saga. And all it really needed was Darth
Vader to bring it full circle. That was
so obvious.
In 2009 when Abrams rebooted Star Trek he put Mr. Spock
smack dab in the middle of it. He took a
talented actor like Eric Bana and gave him a substandard villain role to play. That is what damaged the Star Trek reboot so
severely. So Abrams put his mark on
both Star Trek and Star Wars and as my old aunty would say “Could’ve done
better….could have done worse.” Which is
why the similarities appear and are so blatant. And Abrams played it too cute
with both franchises. It is the
introducing of Star Trek: The Next Generation into the Star Wars legacy which
warps the concept – almost at warp speed.
All that being said am I satisfied with this
film? Well, I will watch it again…and again…and that’s something I’m not doing
with Solo: A Star Wars Film, or even the rebooted Star Trek. Bringing the original characters back and
having enough dynamic moments that are new, different and exciting is what makes
Rise of Skywalker work.
The question now is: can they make a new Star Wars
film that surpasses the original trilogy?
Given that the good-looking new cast relies more on their youthful
appearances than any qualities that endear them to us, some serious character
development is in order. Remember how
awful decent actors like Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen looked? The Scarlet Letter on them both for wooden,
terrible performances in one of the greatest film franchises of all time! Lucas overlooked personalities the audience
could relate to in order to play with all his dazzling special effects. Turn the audio off and just watch those three
“prequels” to see the visuals!
With the past still haunting these continuing
episodes of this serial saga, character
development for the newbies is going to be an uphill battle. Dailey Ridley and Oscar Isaac (who is now 40)
play their parts well. But you don’t get that Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, R2-D2,
Chewbacca magic, do you? The presence of
the original cast is what makes The Rise of Skywalker a winner. Emperor Palpatine’s return is the magic
missing from the previous two films.
Darth Vader would be the frosting on the cake. Guess J.J. left him out in the pasture with
Max Von Sydow. That’s too bad, but the
Rise of Skywalker is still good enough to be in the top tier of Star Wars films
as in, it makes a good bookend to the saga.
Three stars.
https://medfordinformationcentral.blogspot.com/2019/12/star-wars-review-tonight-midnight-1201.html
https://medfordinformationcentral.blogspot.com/2019/12/star-wars-review-tonight-midnight-1201.html
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