*Disclaimer- I haven’t watch the show since the early seasons of it and around the time it came out. I’m mostly viewing it as just a casual moviegoer and deciding whether or not the movie was worth my time. Nevertheless, I do mention the qualities of the show based on what I’ve heard from fans of the series. If I get any details wrong, then I do apologize!*
It’s interesting how when people talk about incredibly long-running animated shows on Fox that are still going today, people will always refers to The Simpsons, Family Guy and American Dad (Although, it’s now airing on TBS exclusively now). However, that other Fox show that people tend to leave out of that discussion which has now been running for over a decade now is Bob’s Burgers. And unlike the latter two shows I mentioned, this show actually felt compelled enough to get it’s own feature film. Regardless of what you may think of the movie and show, that’s quite an accomplishment. Despite arguably not being the most well known animated series, it still is one of the ones that was able to get it’s own movie on the big screen. *in Darth Vader’s voice* Impressive, most impressive!
When I hear most people talk about Bob’s Burgers, the most defining word of that show that I always hear brought up is “comforting”. It’s not a show that aims profoundly big or rock bottom low, but it hits that sweet, comforting middle that is able to make the show so enjoyable and last as long as it has. I might not have watched the show in it’s integrity but I do know that judging from the quality of it’s feature film, I can definitely see why the show might have completely something worthwhile from fans of the series.
Premise: Summer is just around the corner and the Belchers find themselves in a heep of financial trouble. The restaurant has now as making as much business as of late and must find a way to pay their rent for it in a week or else it will be shut down. Their situation however gets more complicated when a mysterious sinkhole forms right in front of the restaurant which basically blocks the entrance to it. It’s now a race against time as Bob (H. Jon Benjamin) and Linda (John Roberts) with the help of Teddy (Larry Murphy) must find a way to sell enough burgers to pay their rent while the kids of the Belcher family, Tina (Dan Mintz), Gene (Eugene Mirman), and Louise (Kristen Schaal) attempt to solve a mystery that might be able to save their restaurant.
Admittedly, when you judged the movie from it’s premise alone, you can make the case that The Bob’s Burgers Movie feels more like an extended episode of the show rather than a feature length film but with better animation. Unlike with other movie adaptions from animated shows such as Spongebob and The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers doesn’t really try to have a plot as big or “epic” in scale and stakes that most would expect for a theatrical-released feature and instead prefer to keep things small and low-scale. This can be seen as both a blessing and a curse.
On one hand, while it might be a shame to not have a cute underdog, “aiming to be the hero of the day” tale that some show-to-movie adaptions like to do, it is at least nice for the movie to keep things basic and stick with what fans most like about the show. From what I see, the biggest hooks of the show involve it’s own beating heart and it’s family dynamics. The humor itself feels dry and natural, the characters are fully human and likable, the struggles and dilemmas they go through are some I imagine most families tend to go through at least a couple of times in their life, and it just has a very sweet, warm tone to the whole thing without coming across as edgy or tryhard. If that is indeed the case then the movie does a overall good job of showcasing that.
The voice cast are just as fitting with their roles as they do on the show, the animation does a good job of blending itself to the theaters, the songs are mostly nice and touching even if it can’t top the very first song, there’s some surprisingly hard-hitting emotion near the tail-end of the film, and it generally feels like the perfect kind of movie to kick off the summer with. Not just because of the time which the movie is set in but it just gets the sense that this is the start of a larger season that is ahead of us. I might be speaking from experience as someone that works at a theme park that is about to be open daily for the next three months but it is still nice to feel that special connection.
If I did have one real gripe of the movie, it’s that the pacing does come to a halt right near the tail end of the second and third act. Once we get to the big reveal of who it was behind this all along, it does spend a good portion of time on one section that I did felt like it dragged on for about five to ten minutes too long.. I also would have liked a bit of a better wrap up as the story is resolved in a way that feels like the resolution to it just kinda happened off screen. Plus, again, as nice as most of the songs were, the very best one should not be the first one of the movie. You are just asking yourself for a world of trouble there.
Sorry if this sounds like a brief review but there are really no big secrets of the quality of The Bob’s Burgers Movie. What you see is what you get! A very funny, heartfelt, and (I assume) faithful big screen adaption of the show that will leave fans delight and might even gain new fans as well (I know I want to start binging the show in my spare time!) It’s not something that particularly aims for the highest level or lowest level but just right at the comfort level. And sometimes, especially with what has transpire over the last week with recent shootings, that is MORE than okay!
This might change to a 3.5 or even 4 once I binged the show in it’s entirety. But for now, a rock-solid 3 stars!
Other comments:
Isn’t it weird but awesome that this was able to get it’s own movie before Family Guy did? Take that, Seth McFarlane!
Btw, yes I will make a Top Gun: Maverick review or post soon! I’m waiting to see that with my folks since they are big fans of the original and wanted to see it with me! Except to see that in the next few days.
With today being the 45th anniversary of the original Star Wars along with preparation for that brand new Obi-Wan Kenobi series set to air on Disney Plus this Friday, there has been lots of discussions and speculations on what exactly the future of Star Wars is going to look like. With the tv side of things, it mostly seems pretty locked in. With the success of The Mandalorian, this will lead to plenty of culmination storytelling with these Disney Plus exclusive series which started this year with The Book of Boba Fett and will continue next year with the likes of Acolyte, Ahsoka, and Andor. Movie wise, on the other hand, it’s a big question mark. There have been confirmations about certain projects with certain directors in development but nothing official about what the next phase of Star Wars on the big screen is going to look at.
A spin-off trilogy with Rian Johnson had been announced before The Last Jedi came out but that has reportedly been put on hold as he is now more focused on his successful Knives Out franchise with his exclusive deal with Netflix. A Rogue Squadron movie with Patty Jenkins had been announced previously during a Disney Plus presentation in December 2020 but that has also been put on hold as Jenkins is putting more focus on Wonder Woman 3. There has also been reports of a Star Wars movie being produced by Kevin Feige and even one being directed by Taika Waititi and written by Krysty Wilson-Cairns, which the latter is believed to be the next big theatrical installment, but we know little to nothing about any of those projects so it’s not likely we’ll be seeing those anytime soon. The future remains uncertain for Star Wars on the big screen. While we might get a bit more information with the annual Star Wars celebration coming soon, it’s unclear what exactly the direction is on the big screen.
In my eyes, if Star Wars will continue to expand as a franchise, then it must find ways to make the franchise interesting outside of the Skywalker bloodline. Sure, there can always be a reference or two to that lineage but there’s only so much of the property you can milk about focusing on the same family tree of characters for such a long time before you run out of it dry. However, with the spin-off movie and D+ series that we’ve gotten so far, this showcases the potential that this series can have once they decide to do exactly that.
When people talk about the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one thing that doesn’t get discussed as much is how much the majority of their content plays with certain film/tv genres and sub-genres to benefit the characters it focuses on and the stories they are telling. The Iron Man movies puts focus on science fiction and AI, Captain America movies are thrillers involving spies, politics and psychology, Thor movies revolve around Greek mythology, Ant-Man movies are heist thrillers, Guardians of the Galaxy movies are space operas, etc.. This is also the kind of mindset I see being added to these side stories and spinoffs we’ve gotten thus far and that could be a key focus for the foreseeable future.
For this piece, I’ve decided to take a look at least five of these Star Wars stories and streaming series that have played with other genres within the Star Wars universe. You can debate their quality all day but no doubt, they inspire to show different aspects to Star Wars and that is exactly the property way to keep this franchise fresh and unique for a long time.
Rogue One- War
It’s fascinating how before 2016, there had been numerous amount of Star Wars movies being made since the late 1970s and it can be strongly argued that Rogue One represents the first time that a Star Wars movie can described as being an actual war movie. As a result, Rogue One has a much darker, bleaker tone compare to the other movies in the franchise due to it’s larger focus on the war aspect of this universe than ever before. It’s put more focus on the soldiers on the front line than any other Star Wars movie we’ve seen where we learned just what exactly does it mean to play a small part of an overall larger galactic war. Not mainly through the perspective of the noble heroes who will have legacies which would be inherited, but those who gave up their lives for the greater goods and ones that don’t get much recognition for their bravery.
We never learn that much about the main characters that we follow which include Jyn Erso, Galen Erso, Cassian Andor, Saw Gerrera, Bodhi Rook, Chirrut Imwe, Orson Krennic, and K-2S0 (Be honest, you have to look up all their names to remember which actor played who!) but we know exactly what their goal is throughout the entire movie, to play their part in a galaxy divided by war and little else. In this case, their part is to get the plans to a dreaded battle system that has the capacity to destroy an entire planet. The kind of plans that can showcase a weakness and give the Rebel Alliance a chance to strike a crippling blow to an all powerful empire. They may not make it out alive, but as they all know in a time of war, desperate times call for desperate measures.
Gareth Edwards perfectly captures that bleak aspect to war with his brilliant camera work and scope along with showing the heartbreak that their are plenty of heroes out there that will never get the recognition that they deserve to get. It’s no Saving Private Ryan for sure, but that definitely does make for a very mature and grounded Star Wars tale.
Solo- Heist
The second and (at least at the moment) final Star Wars anthology movie shows a younger Han Solo in his early adventures. The key pitch here is that he must form a band of smugglers to recover a valuable coaximum to the mining planet of Keseel. Not only do we see how Han Solo would eventually become the smuggler we all know and love but the sub-genre this movie goes for is with an old traditional heist flick.
Throughout the movie, we Han with his lover/partner Qi’Ra, his new pals Chewbacca and Lando, and also his mentor figure in Tobias dispatch plans of their own to find these mines that they need to collect without it falling to the enemies. We also get some traditional editing your normally find in heist flicks, strategies or (lack there of) paying off, and sees chases and pursuits like no other as they work their hardest to recover the McGuffin that they need to get paid. There’s not much else to Solo aside from some truly on-the-nose answers to the origin story-checklist of questions that the Ron Howard and the Kasdans felt that the viewers needed, but it is different enough from other Star Wars movies with it’s intention on playing around with the genre of heist movies.
Even though Solo was a big flop at the box office, it did set the stage for what will most likely be the prime focus of Star Wars with the brand new streaming series.
The Mandalorian/The Book of Boba Fett- Western
The first two shows to kick off the streaming service era of Star Wars are ones that have mostly been based off of spaghetti westerns. From the outfits to the bars to the lightning to the gun slinging showdowns, there has nothing that come close to give the feeling of the old westerns quite like these two series.
Before George Lucas sold Star Wars to Disney, there have been talks of a live-action Star Wars taking place in the “underground” world of Star Wars, mostly around the hidden undergrounds in say, Coruscant. There were even reports that Lucas had scripts for at least 100 episodes already written. However, the series never saw the light due to budget restraints from Lucasfilm. While I can’t quite say if The Mandalorian or The Book of Boba Fett was exactly what Lucas had in mind, I can’t help but get the feeling that this was the kind of vibe that he was going for. A series that takes a closer look at the scum and villiany corner of the galaxy that pays homages to old westerns and crime tales. Whether it’s about Mando or Boba Fett himself, no doubt that these two series were successful in giving us a glimpse of what exactly Star Wars can be like outside of the Skywalker saga, albeit there may or may not have main characters from any of those big films or series.
These shows also have a very refreshing “back to basics” feel to it as it shows the audience a different side to the franchise without feeling the need for the stakes to be grand and epic even when it flirts with it at times. There’s no meta commentary or deconstruction elements at played here, it’s just nice shows you can sit back on your comfy couch after a long day’s hard work and enjoy without feeling the need to hint too much about it. It’s also quite refreshing for a tv show to actually feel like a tv show once again with it’s episodic adventures and having to wait a week until the net episode. While Solo did hint at it at times, it’s really The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett that fully embraces the Western traditions that it’s clearly aiming for. And that’s what makes it all the better for it or in the case of Mando, this is the way!
However, I don’t think there has been quite a spin-off or side story that seems to understand gleefully the type of future that Star Wars must have if it wants to continue to grow than the next one that I’m about to talk about.
Visions- Anime
Of all the main Star Wars properties under the Disney umbrella thus far, this one seems to be the one that has gather the least amount of attention on. Which is a shame, because Visions is a series that gladly revisits the ideas, concepts, and inspirations that inspired George Lucas with the first Star Wars trilogy.
More or less than anything else in the franchise since the original movies, Visions reminds the audience that Star Wars was originally inspired by the power of Japanese cinema, particular samurai. Lucas has always gone on record saying that one of his biggest influences with Star Wars goes back to not just Joseph Campbell but also to famous Japanese cinematographer Akira Kurosawa and his 1958 film, The Hidden Fortress. I won’t go to any big specifics on that game changing film but if you look up any sort of information about that film, you will see that there are plenty of homages and comparisons that can be made between the two properties. From the lore of the Jedi to the droid figures to the Flash Gordon-like setting and atmosphere, Star Wars would definitely not be the way it is today without The Hidden Fortress. And that’s exactly why Visions works as it does!
The remarkable thing about Visions and what makes it arguably the most faithful Star Wars work since 2012 thus far is that it understands gratefully why Japanese culture has played such a big role in the evolution of Star Wars and uses that to craft some interesting, beautiful looking tales with likable characters, superb animation, and intense, gripping action sequences. While definitely not the first Star Wars animations to come out after the likes of The Clone Wars (both 2D and 3D), Rebels, Resistance, Bad Batch, that one cartoon droid series and even that animated bit in The Holiday Special that introduced Boba Fett to the world (Yes, really!), there definitely hasn’t been a series that have used the animation to it’s full advantage the way Visions does.
It’s a shame this series hasn’t been recognized the way it has because this more than anything else shows how Star Wars can still be fresh, inventive, and interesting even without the Skywalkers. Except for one episode which has Boba Fett, these mini movies/short films should be a template of the future of this franchise. If Japanese cinema was able to inspire the original Star Wars to have the impact it has had, then it certainly can do that again with these new Star Wars.
In Conclusion:
We might know in a matter of days or weeks of what the future of Star Wars can be. However, I would not be shocked in the slightest that the influence that these two movies and three shows I’ve just talked about play a big role to influence the direction that Lucasfilm will chose to go in. They have recently come out saying that they are wanting to move on from the Skywalker Saga and see how Star Wars can progress outside of that infamous family tree but I would strongly advise them to approach the future in the ways I’ve just mentioned. By taking a page from the Marvel Cinematic Universe along with the annual traditions of Star Wars that have influence both historic franchises while playing in the sandbox of different genres/sub-genres, that will definitely help Star Wars to continue on even 45 years later after A New Hope came out.
Regardless of how the new Obi-Wan show or anything else turns out, there’s no doubt that the way they go about the things outside of the Skywalker clan will determine the future of Star Wars.
When I decide to re-start my blog, I promised myself I wouldn’t make any pieces involving current events or politics. My intention was to write about whatever goes on in my mind about subjects mostly involving entertainment and sports since there was plenty of controversial discourse surrounding with what’s going on in the world now. However, there are limits. There comes a breaking point when something terribly tragic happens that you just can’t ignore it any longer. It’s not just that one event but others events that have come before it and will certainly come after it. Something that saddens you, frightens you, angers you, and sends you into a parallel dimension of rage that you never imagine was possible!. It’s disastrous and heartbreaking that it will make you afraid to leave your own house. In this case, I have to talk about the Texas school shooting that went on today, May 24, 2022.
For context, there was a mass shooting that went on today at an elementary school in Uvaled, Texas. As the time of this post, a total of 21 people have died from this horrific event. 19 children and two adults! It’s the deadliest school shooting that has took place in America since the awful massacre at Sandy Hook nearly a decade ago. The gunman had been described as an 18-year old who attended a high school nearby and also died from the instant. At least one teacher was killed as a result and plenty other students were wounded and eventually died. Many people are scared, heartbroken, and are rightfully pissed off at the world! As am I!
Eva Mireles. The 4th grade teacher who was murdered in Uvalde, Texas today. From her aunt, Lydia Martinez Delgado: "I'm furious that these shooting continue, these children are innocent, rifles should not be easily available to all." pic.twitter.com/o2g7yROx1T
According to NPR, there has been a total of 27 (!) school shootings that have took place in 2022! That is beyond terrifying and has to be address IMMEDIATELY by the US! Regardless of what they believe the real problem is and why they think it keeps happening, an action of some sort has to be made RIGHT NOW! Continuing to let a terrible matter like this go unaddressed will lead to even more school shootings happening now until God knows when! Take away weapons, limit gun control, address the mentally ill individuals that are somehow able to have access to such heavy weaponry, have school contain more police security! Just do something! Do anything that can make the kids and teachers feel comfortable in their own school and NOT makes parents afraid of sending their own children away from home!
That’s what makes me these horrific events even more terrifying is that it’s happening at schools. The one place that students, parents, and faculties should feel 100% safe in. It should be a nice, harmless place for young people to learn about life and education and teachers should feel safe teaching kids these exact things. I have no clue how a sick and twisted maniac has the heart and will to slaughter young, innocent children in the blink of an eye but that’s unfortunately the real, atrocious world that we are living in today! A world where a state government is more concerned about banning books that feature LGBTQ+ representation than saving the lives of actual children!
The face we now have talks about teachers having guns of their own shows once again how those in the government would rather point their finger at anything that is not the actual problem. How is a teacher having a gun store somewhere in the same room that actual children are in is suppose to make everyone feel safer at school? Children should be NO WHERE NEAR a real gun of some sort and the face there are folks out there that are pushing for teachers to be armed makes me worry about the bleak future that America is heading in! It just makes me even more terrified!
This all makes matters worse to me since recently, I’ve had an interest of becoming a teacher of English. Events like these now makes me dread of becoming one because of terrible circumstances such as that. The fact that there are this many school shootings and can take place at anytime and anywhere makes me afraid of wanting to follow in those footsteps since myself and many children can be slaughtered and there isn’t much the government is willing to do about it. Well, I can’t take it anymore!
There is clear a big flaw here and it’s time America does it’s f*cking job and do something about it that doesn’t result in giving teachers guns! If it’s a gun problem, then take away guns or limit weapon usage! If it’s a mentally ill problem, then lock up these people in a hospital or behind bars! If there needs to be more protection from the police, then provide more protection! However, it’s time to stop doing nothing and just pretend everything is all right when it’s not or trying to fight fire with fire!
We are currently in an age of internet discourse. And if you are someone that has spend at least two minutes of your time encountering or engaging in any kind of internet discourse, you know that it can be quite a toxic environment out there. Because the internet is as open and big as it is know, that means that EVERYONE now has a voice, literally everyone! And usually when an entry comes out in a long-running franchise, no doubt that there are certain folks out there that will take the time to lash out at the creators and cast of that entry on social media to let them know of their hateful and negative thoughts on something that the crew worked hard on for the better part of two to three years. That’s not to say anyone isn’t allowed to have an opinion of their own or to dislike something but there are definitely certain groups of fandom that takes thing way too far. They take their dislike of a certain installment from a series they claim to love as some sort of personal attack and because of that, they believe they have permission to say whatever is on their mind on their social media page and directly at the creative folks involved. It’s discourse like that that honestly has changed the way that movies, tv shows, and games are being made now. Once the people involved know of the amount of backlash they’ve received on their latest project, no doubt that will stay in their heads like a dark cloud on a rain day when working on the next one.
After plenty of folks lashed out on the likes of Prometheus, Batman v Superman, and The Last Jedi, the criticisms of those movies let to the likes of Alien Covenant, Justice League (Theater Cut), and The Rise of Skywalker to be made the way they were. One thing that all three of those latter movies I just mentioned have in common was how painfully obvious it was to many folks who watched those movies that the negative reception to the prior movies clearly affected the thought process behind the camera. Not only that but they were also poorly received by fans and critics which even led some to show some appreciation to the prior movies they previously hated. Not only did those movies not win over the haters of the previous ones but it also alienated the actual supporters of those films making it all around not well-liked pictures.
That’s not to say that absolutely EVERYONE hated those movies, every movie out there has their fans but most would agree that those movies could have been much better if the filmmakers had simply just stick to their guts and make the movie that they originally set out to make (which we did eventually get with Justice League). However, there is one movie out there that I think stands out well because of the obvious course correction of the franchise that surprisingly not a lot people talk about nowadays. That movie being X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Granted, there are plenty of understandable reasons as to why Days of Future Past isn’t remember as much since it came out eight years ago today. Part of it may have to do with the million other Marvel superhero movies that have been released since then. Another part of it may have to do with Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix being absolute stinkers while Logan is thought of to be the definite proper finale to the franchise. There’s also the fact that director Bryan Singer is an absolute terrible human being who deserves all the punishment in the world. However, none of those reasoning shouldn’t stop you from getting this marvel-ous (Pun entirely indeed! :P) film a re-watch. Not just because of how inventive, action-packed, and entertaining it is but this is the perfect example on how to do a proper course correction kind of movie.
Make no mistake, the sole reason for Days of Future Past’s existence is to erase the two previously panned X-Men movies, The Last Stand and Origins: Wolverine from reality. It does so by taking a page from Terminator 2: Judgement Day where Kitty Pryde (who is now somehow able to teleport people back in time) has to send Wolverine back in time to stop Mystique from trying to assassinate Trask to prevent the tragic future where those last two X-Men movies happened along with the remaining mutants being hunted down and killed by sentinels. However, the main difference between DoFP and the other three course-correction movies I previously mention is that it uses the course correction as an advantage instead of a disadvantage. It uses as a mean of trying to tell a story that can stand on it’s own without needing to let his course correction hold it back. Best of all, it uses the course correction as the main theme of the movie and the goal that every character throughout is trying to accomplish.
The entire point of the whole movie is about the characters doing everything in their power (literally) to fix the mistakes of their past in the hopes for a brighter future. One which sees mutants living alive and well. One which doesn’t see them wiped out to near extinction. One which sees Charles and Eric be friends from the end of time or at least not wasting the better part of their lives fighting each other. Most importantly, one which X-Men 3 and Origins never happened. It does so by having Logan take a trip down memory lane (literally) and using the knowledge that Professor X taught him to save their past, present, and future all at the same time.
While the film does indeed go into length to critique the films it’s trying to move away from, it never acts as if they didn’t extinct. Aside from some continuity issues (Like how actually did Professor X find another body again?), Days of Future Past does what most course-correcting movies fail to do, acknowledge the previous controversial films existence and justifies it. Was there anything more insulting in Justice League and Rise of Skywalker when they tried to actively pretend the previous movies never happened and the ones the characters saw was COMPLETELY different to what the audience saw on the big screen? Days of Future Past thankfully is able to avoid that mistake throughout the course of the movie, especially with the one scene where Charles looks into Logan’s mind to see his older, future self.
This scene right here is magnificent and truly ensembles everything that works about this film. We see Charles seeing what he and Logan will suffer through in the late future. Many of their own kind dead, plenty of good people and friends that lose their lives, and those that survive will only live to suffer by the humans or sentinels. However, it does show a future where Professor X is able to raise an entire school worth of children with mutant-like powers and become an inspiring leader/teacher to a whole generation of his own kind. A future that can still be possible if they are able to succeed at their missions in stopping the sentinels from ever getting made.
It doesn’t just make for a great meta moment where Charles is basically claiming he doesn’t want a future that include The Last Stand but it works because the film acknowledge those films happened the way they did. It doesn’t try to deceive it’s audience into thinking it was a totally different film than the one they saw many years ago or tries to be denial of it’s mere existence. It admits The Last Stand was indeed a thing in the past but it doesn’t mean it has to be a thing for the future. As the film states several times, the future is never truly set.
That is a key theme that Days of Future Past gets right more than anything. Just because you are a franchise that has your hands tie behind your back by poorly received entries does not mean your current entry has to suffer because of it. It is indeed possible to make a film that addresses criticism of said films but also able to stand on it’s own with a story that benefits the characters and their arcs. All you have to do is show respect for your audience and treat them like proper individuals instead of oversensitive babies that need some warm milk and a diaper change. When making a course-correction kind of a movie, this is the way to do it. Bring up those previous not-so-liked installments, acknowledge their existence, examine/critique them, and then just move on. That is what the characters are able to accomplish by the end of the film and it’s something that the audiences would likely do as well. You can make not so popular movies forgivable if you allow it do instead of trying to make them 100% unredeemable as Mystique did with Trask. By the end of the movie, Logan, Charles, the mutants, and especially the audience are awarded for them sticking around for this long with a ending that works wonders.
While I’m not 100% sure this ending makes any kind of logical sense, there could have not been a more perfect ending for this movie and possibly even for the main series (and it honestly would have made for the better). Not only is it a nice, heart warming scene where we see the characters that died tragically being reborn once again but it also shows that the franchise was now able to control it’s own future. This sets it’s own course where the series is given itself a second leash on life and setting the stage for the kind of bright future that both the characters and audiences had envisioned ever sense the end of X2: X-Men United. Yes, X-Men: Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix happened and (at least in some alternate timeline) Professor X and Wolverine would share an extremely tragic fate by the middle and end of Logan, but for a brief moment, there was hope once again for X-Men. A feeling that the characters of the movie and the audiences hadn’t felt for quite a long time. It was surely a special feeling to be able to hope again.
(Even so, I kinda like to look back on Days of Future Past and Logan being two distinct endings to the franchises. Days of Future Past is the ending for the newly set timeline that the film itself established while Logan is the ending set in the timeline post-Last Stand. It makes both movies all the better for it in my eyes.)
While there’s definitely a strong argument to be made that Logan is objectively the best X-Men film ever made and First Class might be superior in terms of being a more proper team-up movie, Days of Future Past still stands as my absolute favorite in the series and one of my all-time favorite Marvel films period. From the superb character development to the amazing action set pieces (The Quicksilver scene is still an all-timer!) to the warm, dark tone to the resonate themes to the inventiveness of the time travel storytelling to the inspired score, this is basically everything you can ask for in an X-Men film or in basically any superhero movie in general. I’d even argue this is above Avengers: Endgame in terms of culminating storytelling and handling of the time travel (As great as Endgame is, let’s face it, the time travel makes no sense whatsoever!). But the one thing I believe is most important to take away from Days of Future Past is how just because you are course-correcting your franchise does not mean the overall product has to suffer because of it.
This is the kind of a movie that should be taught in film classes on how to change courses for a series when the people involved with the production feel it’s a necessity. I can’t really recall any movie in recent memory that was able to be a kind of course-correcting movie without feeling the need to sacrifice it’s own quality for a brighter future. There are definitely nicks that can be picked (Again, how does Kitty have time travel powers now?!), but these are forgiving for how rewarding the whole experience is. As curious as I am with how the Marvel Cinematic Universe handles the X-Men property from now on, I can’t imagine them topping this film or craft something as creative and inventive as this. As nuts and “out there” Phase 4 has been so far, Days of Future Past just has it’s own personality and feel that I don’t think the MCU can replicated. Perhaps I’ll be wrong but as I say once again, the future is never truly set!
We live in quite a dire time for mainstream blockbusters films. The main reason for that is how rather simplistic and limited most of the choices are for these kinds of big movies that get released nowadays. If it’s not your standard Marvel or DC superhero action flick, then it’s usually another installment in a fairly long-running franchise that usually acts as a reboot, remake, and remix all at the exact same time. There are certain words that people use to describe that exact kind of media. Some call it a “soft reboot”, others now call it a “re-quel” (No thanks to the new Scream movie!), but I think a more proper and not as well-known term for this is literary remix.
When it comes to a remix in the form of literature, it’s stated that it’s best described as an alternative version of a text. A version that for a brief moment that the people are writing it pretend that this version of the text is the real deal. It’s also when William Burroughs used a technique known as cut-up, which was developed by Brion Gysin to remix language in the 1950s. Various textual sources (including his own) would be cut literally into pieces with a pair of scissors, reorganized on a page, and pasted to form new sentences, ideas, stories, and ways of thinking about words. In other words, it’s takes a familiar story but puts a new spin on it’s characters, plots, and themes to make it feel as it’s the first time anyone had ever seen this story told before.
While Star Wars wasn’t or won’t be the first franchise to have used literary remix as well as media literacy for it’s latest trilogy, it’s undoubtedly the one that most other franchises out there will look to for inspiration. We saw it in 2015 before The Force Awakens even came out with Mad Max: Fury Road, Jurassic World, Terminator Genisys (however that’s suppose to be spelt), and Creed and we have continued to see it in the wake of the aftermath of Episode 7 with the likes of Halloween (2018), Terminator: Dark Fate, The Matrix: Resurrections and Scream (2022). Even if Star Wars is no longer the prime standard for big blockbuster filmmaking nowadays in the wake of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and possibly with the Avatar sequels on the rise, it’s reliance of remix in literature and literacy in the form of media has still made it one to copy it’s tentpole from.
As a result, we have the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Three installments that act more as a big tug and pull, more so than the other previous two trilogies. I’m not gonna pretend I have the slightest clue of what went on from behind the scenes and if there was any real “plan” for these series of films but I will judge all three of them on their own terms and how they connect with the other in ways that I think enforce the argument of it’s reliance on literary remix and media literacy.
The Force Awakens- I Have A Very Familiar Feeling About This
When making A New Hope, George Lucas was clearly inspired by his nostalgia for prime Joseph Campbell. When making The Force Awakens, J.J. Abrams was clearly inspired by his nostalgia for prime George Lucas. It’s like poetry, it rhymes, am I right?!
In all seriousness, I don’t think there is a film in this trilogy that helps redefine the idea of literary remix than with Episode 7. When you looking at from a surface level, The Force Awakens mostly comes across as a more modern and updated retelling of A New Hope in terms of plot, characters, themes, and the overall beats it hits. When looking deep inside the surface, this is where the literary remix comes to play. While it does indeed borrows many of those kinds of plot, characters, and themes that the original Star Wars provided, The Force Awakens uses those major beats and put them in reverse.
The biggest examples of this is some of the arcs and journeys that the main characters go through majorly reflects the one from A New Hope but has a different spin on it. It’s not a princess this time that is trying to keep the main McGuffin away from the bad guys, it’s a hot-shot pilot. The main protagonist doesn’t want to move on from the desert planet they are currently stranded on, instead the main protagonist wants to stay there in the hopes that her unknown family might return one day. It’s not the older, wisest character of the bunch that is the mentor figure in this story, it’s older, wisest character that acts as a tour figure and guide to have these newer characters feel welcome in the Star Wars universe. It’s not the big battle to destroy the plant-killing system that is the actual point of the climax, it’s the big lightsaber fight between the three main leads that matters the most. It’s examples like these that reflect the overall character themes that the Episode 7 undeniably borrows from Episode 4 but feels pursued to flip the script on them by telling a very similar story in a way that the original Star Wars did not. Rey is not Luke Skywalker, Finn and Poe Dameron are not Han Solo, Kylo Ren is not Darth Vader, and Snoke is DEFINITELY not The Emperor. The arcs of those characters might be similar to the original trio of characters on paper but the internal conflicts that they go through cannot be more different.
Rey is a nobody who discovers she has access to a big power and wants to use in the hopes of finding a family that she never had. Finn is someone that deep down wants to make a difference but is searching for the reason and purpose to do so. Poe Dameron is basically a cocky dudebro who likes to show to everyone why he’s the best star pilot in the galaxy. Kylo Ren wants to be able to unlock that unlimited power that would make his long lost grandfather, Darth Vader proud. This is all vastly different than to the internal conflicts that Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewie go through in the original, especially within the context of this movie. Leia is struggling to keep the Rebel Alliance a float post Return of the Jedi, Luke had fallen into the same trappings that his Jedi mentors before him suffered from, and Han basically acts as the driving force between the old and new elements of the picture while acknowledging how his journey during the original trilogy and after has affected him mentally and emotionally. It’s the character dynamics and the way each character old or new is portrayed that makes The Force Awakens a standard definition of literary remix.
There is no denying that The Force Awakens borrows many of it’s elements from A New Hope but it also can’t be deny the way that this help send an example of the remix culture that we are in now. The key trick is that is uses the idea of modern myths and inspirations that help make the original Star Wars happen by using the franchise’s own myths and inspirations that J.J. Abrams was clearly inspired by to make this form of literary remix even remotely possible. This movie may follow the rules of Star Wars to a T but it certainly does have it’s own ways to do so.
The Last Jedi- Breaking The Unwritten Rules
While this next one dives into literary remix as well, it’s more reliant on media literacy than any others. Similar to how George Lucas, Lawrence Kasdan, and Irvin Kershnner use the structure for The Empire Strikes Back as a means of breaking the rules of how movies are suppose to be made, Rian Johnson uses the structure for The Last Jedi as a means of breaking the unwritten rules of a way a Star Wars movie is suppose to be made. Despite how undeniably similar The Last Jedi is to Empire Strikes Back and (to some extent) Return Of The Jedi in terms of plot beats and structure, it still does attempt something that no other filmmaker has tried before with Star Wars, questioning it’s own existence. To plenty of folks out there, that is not suppose to be the case as what the film’s story turns would demonstrate.
Luke Skywalker isn’t suppose to be bitter, broken, and going as far as to say the Jedi must end, he’s suppose to be optimistic, whole, and inspire the next generation of Jedi regardless of what has happened in between trilogies, just like how he was at the end of Return of the Jedi. Snoke isn’t suppose to die before revealing any of his so-call backstory, he’s suppose to be the evil mastermind that explains his whole backstory and plan to everybody and be the main villain throughout the whole trilogy, just like the Emperor. Admiral Ackbar isn’t suppose to die unexpectedly and be replaced in command by a purple haired woman who makes the logic breaking but badass sacrifice herself, he’s suppose to say his iconic catchphrase and go out like a true hero, just like in Return of the Jedi (at least the first part anyway). Finn and Rose aren’t suppose to fail their side mission, they’re supposed to succeed it or that sequence might come across as a big waste of time despite it being necessary for the final shot of the film. Leia isn’t suppose to use the force to save herself in space, she’s suppose to use the force in a way that her brother only can, like in Empire Strikes Back. Yoda isn’t suppose to back up Luke in claiming that the Jedi must be extinct, he’s suppose to be an ally to the Jedi as long as he is one with the force, just like how he was in both the prequel and original trilogy. Rey isn’t suppose to be revealed as a nobody, she’s suppose to be related to a Skywalker or Kenobi because of how powerful with the force that she is, just like with Luke Skywalker in the originals. Lastly, Luke isn’t suppose to die at all, he’s suppose to live on for all eternity just because…..he can?! All of things aren’t suppose to happen yet they did.
That makes the media literacy stand out the most in The Last Jedi as oppose to the other two movies in this trilogy. It’s unafraid to access, analyze, and evaluate itself in the hopes that this could lead to a great, many things. If it has to harshly condemn it’s characters for constantly making mistakes from the past in the hopes that they may evolve passed it in the future, then so be it. It doesn’t become any more obvious then the way they follow through on the character and plot lines in the way that you are not suppose to in a Star Wars movie. Whether you’re suppose to or not, it is the way it is.
Luke Skywalker is broken shadow of his former self that was consumed by his own sins and failures of the past who forgot why he came a Jedi in the first place. Snoke is nothing more than a stepping stool to Kylo Ren’s progression towards the dark side and make him the most powerful version of his grandfather than ever. Ackbar is just some random character who is iconic for his design and line that has been memed to death and nothing more. Holdo is just a more important character and helps Poe’s arc about not being a hot head all the time and learn to obey your superiors knowing that moment will always come to you at the right moment. Leia can use the force to save herself from space because she just now can. Finn and Rose go on that Canto Bight quest as a means of seeing Rose’s point of view with being on the Resistance along with setting up the final sequence of the film with the kid looking off to the bright moon. Yoda agrees with Luke that the Jedi must end and something else within the force must begin. Rey is a nobody who must now forge her own path to find her place within the Star Wars canon. Lastly, Luke is now at long last with the force and is in complete inner peace while discovering the true purpose to being a Jedi, that the Jedi use the force for knowledge and defense, NEVER for attack! All of those things are true and the film can’t help but think it’s much better because of it.
Whether you like it or not, The Last Jedi is the first Star Wars to openly question the franchise’s existent and asks questions on it’s mind that it believes need to be asked if Star Wars is to have any sort of future beyond the Skywalker Saga. Heck, it even lies well with what I mention about how the Jedi were portrayed in the prequel trilogy and Clone Wars era, they just can’t help but suck.
And Luke has the point here. Regardless of how much success the Jedi might have had in their history, there will always be something that holds them back and make them destined for failure. From the downfall of Yoda’s student in Count Dooku to Obi-Wan Kenobi’s student in Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker’s student in Ben Solo, it’s an endless cycle that will always make the Jedi set up for failure. The only way to escape this countless cycle is to break it and rebuild it to a cycle that works. It might not be the Jedi way but it is definitely the way.
The Last Jedi in a lot of ways can be seen as the anti-Star Wars movie but it does feel like one that stands out as being the one movie in this trilogy that George Lucas in his prime would have made. One that feels the need to break traditions to make room for newer and better ones. One that isn’t afraid to test it’s audiences with what they want and expect out of Star Wars. And one that isn’t afraid to break rules if it makes the overall film worthwhile. However, how worthwhile the middle chapter in this supposed trilogy will be will depend on how the third and final installment follows it up.
Duel Of The Fates/The Rise Of Skywalker- Jekyll and Hyde
Okay, so this one might be weird since I’m not just covering The Rise of Skywalker but also Duel of the Fates, a suppose first draft leaked that was previously written by initial Episode 9 director Colin Treverrow and his co-writer Derek Connolly. The reason for it is because both of these movies provided completely different follow-ups to The Last Jedi. One acts as a counter point, the other acts as a counter argument. That’s why I feel it’s best to examine both of these to this Jekyll and Hyde-style final entry in the sequel trilogy.
Duel of The Fates- Counter Point
In case you didn’t know, Duel of the Fates was the original title for Episode 9 that the previously hired director Colin Treverrow had in mind before he was let go of the project due to creative differences with Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm. However, shortly after The Rise of Skywalker came out, there was a link that confirmed the original first script for Episode 9 that was submitted in 2016, about a week before Carrie Fisher unexpectedly passed away. I won’t pretend to know why exactly Treverrow was fired and what exactly in his script that turned the folks at Lucasfilm the wrong way but for what this leaked script shows, it does acts as a logical expansion to the lessons and themes of The Last Jedi regarding the need for the force to have a new light and using that spark of hope that Luke gave the rebellion at the battle of Crait and passed that on to the whole galaxy.
In this Duel of the Fates script, we see the character’s taking the most logical step forward possible with their arcs along with giving them a definite conclusion to their stories that feel fresh and unique in it’s own right. By the end, Rey is able to proper find the right balance between the light side and the dark along with discovering her true purpose in her life, Finn is able to become that inspiring leader to other turned stormtroopers and folks who desperately need a reason to hope again, Poe is able to honor the legacy of his previous General Leia and Admiral Holdo by become the responsible leader they would have wanted him to, and Kylo Ren ends up dying along with Ben Solo being the last Skywalker to suffer a tragic, inevitable fate. It’s able to hit the beats that I imagine someone who agreed with what The Last Jedi was saying would follow it up by.
This is a script that is able to expand the forces in ways that no other film in the series had before, explore that “gray” area of the force that makes the entire Skywalker saga feel like it’s come full circle, show how inspiration and having each other’s back can help anyone conquer evil, show off action sequences that would make for a rather mindblowing experiences in the theaters, and is able to bring a ending that feels definite, proper, and is able to justify the existence of it’s own established trilogy. Oh, and it also ends in the way that George Lucas initially had in mind for the ending of the original trilogy, having C-3P0 and R2-D2 recapping the events of all Star Wars films to a bunch of total strangers.
There might be some questionable plot elements in there (like a Rey and Poe romance, the Emperor’s master still around, and Kylo being the killer of Rey’s parents) but no doubt, it is able to follow through on the plot points established from the previous two films and make a ending that feels like it’s own thing in spite of similarities. Which makes it seems odd that this ended up being the Episode 9 we never actually got.
The Rise of Skywalker- Counter Argument
While no doubt many can describe The Rise of Skywalker as being a retcon to The Last Jedi, I view as more of a counter argument of it. There are definitely many plot points from the previous film that certainly doesn’t come across as a progression of that story but more of The Force Awakens. While The Last Jedi seems to argue that Star Wars needs to move beyond it’s own standards and traditions, The Rise of Skywalker seems to argue that Star Wars should not move past it and remain what it is since that has what made the franchise last for as long as it has. Where The Last Jedi used media literacy and (to some extent) literary remix about the Star Wars franchise up to this point, The Rise of Skywalker can’t help but use both of these elements about the movie that came before this one. This is shown through how the movie follows up the plot threads of the previous movie and how it can’t help but feel familiar to previous Star Wars movies because the movie thinks it just isn’t Star Wars if it didn’t do exactly that.
Rey shouldn’t be a nobody who must forge her own path with the force but be related to one of the force-using characters from the previous films because Star Wars always has ties to lore and family heritage. Finn shouldn’t be a standard stormtrooper who should set an inspiration to others but be a suppose force-user because the force has to be expanded upon in some way shape or form. Poe shouldn’t be his own cocky character with a mysterious backstory but should be that along with a backstory that represents the kind of smuggler that Han Solo was. Kylo Ren shouldn’t be the main villain in the final installment but be a stepping stool to The Emperor’s return to take his revenge on the galaxy and that the final movie needs a big bad guy to increase the stakes. The Rise of Skywalker seems very hellbent on sticking to the own traditions and tropes that Star Wars is most well known for because it thinks it wouldn’t be Star Wars without it.
Does that make Star Wars perfect? Nope, but it definitely makes Star Wars the way that Star Wars always has been. It’s familiar and imperfect because it’s Star Wars. That’s not to say that Rise of Skywalker changes everything from Last Jedi, it does play a bit with that force bonding trick that movie introduced to create a pretty creative lightsaber fight between Rey and Kylo and even paying off Luke sacrifice’s in the battle of Crait by Lando bringing everyone and their mother from the galaxy into the final battle. However, when viewing it in hindsight, you can’t help but feel that The Rise of Skywalker is definitely at movie that is at war with itself. This can mostly be because that J.J. was involved with the first film in the trilogy and someone entirely different was involved in the second one, but the movie still can’t help but feel like a two-and-a-half long response to the Last Jedi and less of a continuation of it that Duel of the Fates was looking to be.
It’s hard to say exactly how Episode 9 would have fared if Treverrow was never fired and Carrie Fisher was still around but it is quite fascinating that we have at least two different versions of what can be described as the final film of the sequel trilogy along with the Skywalker sage and how each one seems to react differently to the previous two films. Whether it’s for the better or not, no doubt if it makes this comes across a Jekyll and Hide-style psychological war in itself that it can’t help but feel like two different endings of a trilogy does in fact exist.
In Conclusion:
Regardless of what your opinions are on the prequel trilogy and how well it was executed, you can’t deny that George Lucas was trying to provide a COMPLETELY different experience than with the original trilogy. The sequel trilogy, with it’s reliance on literacy remix and media literacy, doesn’t try to be all that different but rather be as familiar with the original trilogy as possible.
Some might view that as a big con but it can actually be described as a big pro. Sometimes re-introducing a generation to a new era of Star Wars by following the similar beats that introduce previous generations to Star Wars can be seen as a necessary evil. Sometimes a series doesn’t need a visionary or something with a so-called “plan” to make it worthwhile, sometimes it’s exciting to just start from scratch and find out for yourself along with the audience the path you will find yourself taking to reach your endgame. Sometimes it’s interesting to see familiar beats be done in new and twisty ways. Sometimes it’s okay to admit that something that many would describe as perfect is actually imperfect. Sometimes it’s okay to admit that Star Wars, warts and all, is just simply Star Wars.
It’s hard to say how others will view the sequel trilogy in hindsight and if future film classes will look into the film’s subtext and meta commentary in the way that I just did. However, there are definitely lessons, both good and bad, to be learned with these three movies and these are lessons that hopefully future Star Wars installments or even other franchise installments will take to heart. The future of the aftermath of this trilogy is unknown but as a wise old Jedi master once said in a different era of this franchise, “Always in motion is the future and many possible futures there are!”
Next up: Star Wars Spin-Offs/TV Series
I don’t have the proper trailer to include with this so, yeah.
If there is one piece of dialogue that stands out more than the rest as what the entire prequel trilogy/era is about, it’s “Heroes on Both Sides!” This is a term that is used in the opening crawl for Revenge of the Sith and even as a title of an episode from Season 3 of The Clone Wars series (the 3D version). This is a line that has stuck out to many fans and has led to many discussions of what the true meaning behind that line is.
What exactly does it mean that there are heroes on both sides? Is it really possible that the good guys can help the bad guys and vice versa? Is there even a difference between what can be viewed as good and evil? Can there actually be a middle ground or gray area between this conflict that is basically two sides of the same coin? None of that is officially stated in any form of prequel media but it’s definitely questions that one would most likely think when either watching a film or series, reading a novel, or playing a game from this era of Star Wars.
The Star Wars prequels have been called many things over the past two plus decades but one word I think stands out more than anything else is simply, fascinating. Whether it’s fascinatingly good or fascinatingly bad, it’s no doubt fascinating. As I have gotten older and look into the deeper meaning as to what this timeline of Star Wars is suppose to stand for is how the Jedi’s portrayal throughout this era does strike a fine line between being the heroes of these stories as well as the protagonists. With the original and sequel trilogy, it’s made perfectly clear who’s suppose to be seen as the heroes and villains. With the prequels on the other hand, not so much.
I’ve stated in the past that there is a clear difference between a hero and a protagonist. A hero is someone that can be described as the character that you are following is clearly the good guy or girl of the picture. A protagonist, on the other hand, is simply the main character of the story that you are following regardless if they are good or bad. There’s been multiple different examples as to the clear difference between these two forms of literature but there hasn’t been quite one with the amount of intrigue than the way the Jedi are portrayed throughout the entire prequel era. As of result, I’m going to look at three main Jedi characters that are the main driving forces of this era, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano.
Anakin Skywalker
It’s clear as day that Anakin Skywalker is suppose to be the main character of this entire era. He’s the one that we spend the most time with in both the films and Clone Wars series, he’s the one that grows and changes the most as a character, and is undeniably the one that Lucas and company wants the audience to believe is the most important character of this era. Just as the original trilogy was about Luke Skywalker learning to bring the light into full balance to corrupt the dark, this trilogy/era is about Anakin Skywalker having the dark trump the light in a way that it brings both of these respective eras into a full circle. It’s the bloodlines of both Skywalkers that had decided the fate of the galaxy at least two times (and later three). Whereas Luke’s journey towards the rise of the Jedi was rather simple and straightforward, Anakin’s journey towards bringing the end to the Jedi is more complicated.
Once we see him as a young boy in The Phantom Menace, we see what we would expect from any kid his age, a little fella that is burst with energy, excitement, and optimism for what lies ahead in his life once he is able to break free of being a slave. It’s once he meets Qui-Gon Jinn that gives Anakin a chance to live the life of a Jedi Knight, something he claims that he has always dreamed of. Anakin is in the mindset that this will not only bring great power to himself but being able to bring that power along with others which he believes can free his mother from slavery and even save people from dying. However, as he grows older he sees that the life of a Jedi isn’t what he envisioned. As a matter of fact, being a Jedi can totally suck.
There are many things that is considered to be forbidden for a Jedi. Things such as love, attachment, and even just plain emotion is considered a cardinal sin for a Jedi. It’s considered a sin because it is believed that feeling anything resembling love, attachment, or emotion can make start down the dark path towards the dark side. However, with what we see with Anakin throughout the amount of time we spend with him throughout the movies and tv shows, it does raises a few question marks as to whether or not that is actually legit?
Throughout Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith (at least the first half anyway) and both Clone Wars series, we constantly see Anakin breaking the rules as to what you can be as a Jedi. He’s secretly married to Padme, he has grown attachment to his master and his apprentice, he constantly feels fear, anger, guilt, and aggression, and we even see him flat out murder tusken raiders (all the men, women, and children of their kin that he describes), but he still remains himself. For at least a good portion of the Clone Wars timeline, he still remains loyal to being a Jedi and nothing with being a Sith. Why is that?
Despite breaking the codes and traditions, he is still able to manufacture well as being a Jedi. It’s not until near the very end of the war that he slowly starts to descend down the dark path. After his apprentice leaves the order, his master siding more with the Jedi council than his own student when he doesn’t get ranked as a master, and having bad dreams that his wife will suffer the same fate as his mother that gets Anakin to snap and turn his back against the Jedi. It’s the more time the spends with the Jedi and the people around him that he becomes closer and closer towards the dark side of the force. It wasn’t because of him breaking the rules that made him become a Sith by the end of it, it was him realizing that those rules were holding him back to unlock his true power that he could provide for himself and the ones he cares about.
It’s 100% intentional that the point of the prequels was to show someone like Anakin Skywalker can turn evil but it’s hard to describe whether it’s through the perspective of Anakin as a hero or as a protagonist. If the Jedi codes is anything to go back, perhaps that was the one thing that was keeping Anakin from being who he really is. There will be a bit more details on this matter later on (particularly about Anakin’s role as the “chosen one”) but for now, it’s worth noting that Anakin can be described as the kind of Jedi that just shows how flawed their traditions are.
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Of the three main Jedi characters that the prequel era focuses on, Obi-Wan Kenobi is undoubtedly the one that is the best example of a Jedi that has been able to adapted to their own rules, traditions, and beliefs. He was the apprentice of a wise Jedi Master known as Qui-Gon Jinn. He is described as being as wise as Yoda and as powerful as Mace Windu. Most importantly, he uses his powers of the force the way the Jedi have intended, the way that Yoda even officially states to Luke in Empire Strikes Back, for knowledge and defense, NEVER attack.
Obi-Wan is considered the one Jedi that is constantly referred to as the negotiator. He’s always tries to use the force to find ways to get through conflict with not physical attack but with words. He uses the force to defend the ones he needs to protect, not to attack those who oppose him. Obi-Wan Kenobi is the main Jedi that we know is 100% fully committed to be a Jedi. He follows everything to a t, explores the good that can come with being a part of the organization as well as the bad, shows wisdom and compassion for others, and knows the true meaning of being a Jedi Master. However, he’s definitely not one-noted and has even had cracks in the armor.
Firstly, there was a relationship he once had with Satine Kryze, the queen of Mandalore, when he was younger. Despite her being Obi-Wan’s one-way ticket out of the life of being a Jedi, he remained committed to being a Jedi but admitted that had Satine said the word, he would have left the Jedi Order. That helps ties back into Anakin’s suppose relationship with Padme. A relationship that is never 100% stated that Obi-Wan knows (at least until after Anakin turns) but deep down, he does know about it. Obi-Wan knows the feeling of love and attachment despite it being forbidden for a Jedi. He knows the feeling of wanting to leave the organization so he could be allowed to feel that without much remorse or regret to it. He understands wanting to walk away from the order, just like Anakin once stated to someone else he carried about. Just like how that certain someone knew, Obi-Wan surely knows as well.
There also comes Obi-Wan’s worst nightmare coming back to life in the form of Darth Maul. The one man that represents Obi-Wan’s potential pull towards the dark side. That pure evil that was somehow able to survive being cut in half in The Phantom Menace but is now back and possibly even more dangerous than ever. I won’t get into all the actions that Darth Maul commences to make Obi-Wan snap but the one moment that sticks out is the two’s first confrontation since their one in Naboo. Obi-Wan is clearly overwhelmed by Maul and his apprentice and it’s the one moment that Maul brings up the death of Qui-Gon along with Obi-Wan’s clearly emotional reaction to it. Obi-Wan breaks and tries to end the fight with Maul but gets kicked to the side as he is clearly unfocused. It’s then that Maul speaks of these important lines, “Your rage has unbalanced you! That is not the Jedi way, is it?!”
Start at 2:00 to watch the part I’m talking about.
It’s that moment along with the events that transpires between him and Maul throughout the rest of Clone Wars into Rebels than even a Jedi has clearly noble as Obi-Wan Kenobi can be tested with what it means to be a Jedi. Obi-Wan is definitely the most noble Jedi of the three that I’m discussing for this piece. However, just because he’s noble doesn’t mean he has to blindly agree with everything he stands for. He’s just good at hiding it.
Ahsoka Tano
Now, here we go with the character that despite making no appearance in the three movies and not even referenced, is arguably the most important character in the prequel era. While George Lucas clearly intended for the prequels to be strictly about Anakin Skywalker and his turns towards the dark side, Ahsoka’s story is also one that greatly resembles that one. However, the only difference is that Ahsoka’s growth is not strictly to turn to the dark side after first joining the light but to reject both sides.
When we first see Ahsoka at the beginning of the Clone Wars feature film, she basically resembles Anakin as a young kid. She’s energetic, hopeful, and optimistic with what she can be as a Jedi and is hoping to seek thrills and exciting adventures for what is to come. As the series go on, Ahsoka learns to be more mature and responsible as a Jedi Knight. While she still has that snippy attitude and will crack a one-liner or two, she soon starts to realize that war is not all fun in games and lead to dire consequences if she is not careful. She slowly starts to take her first steps as not just a more mature adult but also seeing through the faults of the Jedi order.
A big question that many folks has always asked was how is it that Anakin’s personality and character seem to radically change in the Clone War series but not in Episode II or III? An obvious answer can be that Lucas and his crew clearly didn’t plan ahead to make the continuity more consistent in between the films and the series but a more honest answer would be Ahsoka herself. Regardless of whether or not it was planned from the beginning, it’s Ahsoka that represents the light in Anakin during his time in the Clone Wars. The kind of light that Anakin was missing during his earlier time with his master Obi-Wan at the beginning of the Clone Wars and the king of light that Anakin was most desperate for after his apprentice left.
That is a big reason as to why, despite not making an appearance in any of the films, there may not be a more important character in the story of Skywalker than Ahsoka Tano herself. Not just because her story can mirror the likes of both Luke and Anakin Skywalker respectively but she also represents the gray area of the force and the independent nature of it. When she walks away from the Jedi order at the end of Season 5, that wasn’t because she has now pledge alliance to the dark side, it’s because of how she has pledge her alliance to no one, not even herself. She no longer represents the Jedi and never represents the Sith, so who side can she be on? That is the question that Ahsoka most likely had ask herself after her departure from the Jedi, even when she kinda gave them an extra hand in the final few episodes of the series. Even though the films themselves have never fully committed to exploring the “middle-ness” of the force except for a handful of hints here and there, Ahsoka is a prime example of how sometimes there is not an easy answer as to what side of the force once wants to be fully committed. Both the light and dark sides have their strengths and weaknesses but also have their own rules and traditions that one must obey if they wish to become one or the other. At the end, Ahsoka simply refused to play either game. She may understand why others will but she can never do it herself.
True Intentions of the Jedi
When looking through the prequel era of Star Wars and how the Jedi are portrayed, one can’t mistake them for being very dumb and arrogant. They were all one-note, emotionless, unaware of the real world which they live in, and even couldn’t figure out the fact that the Palpatine, the main bad guy they had been looking for all along was hiding in plain sight the whole time. Because of that, it lead to their destruction and own extinction. They were able to let all of it slip through their fingers because of their refusal to evolve. At the same time, one can’t also mistake the fact that perhaps this was the intention all along.
Perhaps the Jedi being portrayed the way they were was what the Lucas was trying to do the whole time. He never saw the Jedi as being the perfect organization or one that audiences show grow up wanting to be, he saw it as an organization that is best to avoid or taking any inspirations from. He never saw the Jedi as being as much more out of the dark that the Sith were. Perhaps he was never trying to make the Jedi come across as the heroes of their own story. Perhaps he was actually trying to get across the fact that the Jedi….kinda suck.
When looking at it through those lenses, the prequel era can be best described as being about flaw traditions and religions and what happens when you stand by those beliefs without bother to question it or move on from them. Sometimes that can lead to evolution, other times it can lead to destruction. And there was now three characters throughout this era of Star Wars that seem to have an understanding of that than with the trio of Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano.
The Real Meaning of The Chosen One
One last thing to talk about when describing the inner conflict between the heroes vs protagonists narrative with the Jedi is what the true meaning of The Chosen One is suppose to be. The films themselves claim that this terms comes from a prophecy (which really doesn’t get explained or focused on) that refers to the one that will bring balance to the force by putting an end to the dark side and restore peace and justice to the galaxy. The Jedi order believes is to be Anakin Skywalker, strictly because of how high his mini-chlorians counts are and not much else.
Personally, I found the whole chosen one thing to be more of a metaphorical term than one that has any story meanings. Heck, even Anakin during The Clone Wars at one point claimed it was just a myth. However, when looking at it from a story perspective, this also ties back into the flaws of the Jedi. They were in that same stubborn mindset that some random boy was the supposed chosen one just because of a high blood count. They believe that Anakin was the one that have been looking for all along. They were willing to bet the farm on this young man because they believed he would be the chosen one just because. They were trying to hype him up into something he was just not or even was. Yet, what they believed turned out to be true….from a certain point of view.
Sure, in the end, Anakin Skywalker might have fulfilled his destiny by saving his son and destroying the Emperor (at least for the next 30+ years) but he didn’t quite do it from a heroic standpoint but from his own standpoint. He didn’t destroy the Emperor as a means of redemption or sacrifice, he did it because he liked his son a bit more than him. He wasn’t trying to be a hero, he was just trying to peserve his family name. This was both an act that could be described as both selfless AND selfish.
That might have exactly been the part of the prophecy that could have been misread as Yoda stated. Anakin might have been The Chosen One in the end but just because he was The Chosen One does not mean he had to be a hero.
In conclusion:
When viewing the prequels yet again, it’s hard to know get caught up in the complex nature of it. Whether you like it or not, it’s so vastly different and multilayered in every sense of the word, more so than any other forms of Star Wars media. However, one that does stand out the most for me is to whether or not the Jedi themselves can be described as heroes or even simply good guys. They’re not necessarily bad guys by any means but good guys might be a far stretch.
Throughout the prequel era, we slowly see the Jedi make mistake after mistake, compromise after comprise, that ultimately leads to their own downfall. It was being so strict and accustomed to their own standards and beliefs that blinded them as much that they thought it would make themselves immortal, when in actually just made them inhuman. It’s not exactly love or fear that leads to the dark side, it’s how the Jedi always seems to act and speak that it does. When the likes of Anakin, Obi-Wan or Ahsoka felt that, it wasn’t because they were turning evil, they were just being human. In the end, that is what the Jedi seemed to lack most in the end, humanity. Regardless if they stood out as the heroes or main characters of their own stories, the lack of humanity is what led to the end of the order until it didn’t. Guess that was the exact price that Rey, Ben, and company would have to pay over half a century later. The Jedi just can’t help but suck!
Ain’t it kind of nuts how we are now FINALLY getting around to making a proper sequel to Doctor Strange, a MCU installment that came out literally five and a half years ago?! After all the time we have spent with this character in other, bigger, more busier Marvel movies such as Infinity War, Endgame, and No Way Home along with his welcome cameo in Thor: Ragnarok and that other welcome cameo with his good buddy Wong in Shang-Chi, we are at long last back to making a feature length entry based on this magical wizard character. Regardless how one felt about the original Doctor Strange (which I found just merely okay), it had set up the potential to be the set of MCU movies to give itself permission to be the most crazy, bizarre, and just plain “out there” kind of Marvel movies. Not just with the concept of the multiverse inevitably becoming much more expanded upon but also one that can make for some truly creative craftsmanship based off a character with whimsical, magical powers that could even out-Harry Potter Harry Potter (Take that J.K. Rowling!) In hindsight, the idea of a Doctor Strange sequel being exactly about that multiverse concept seemed like the most proper and best way to follow up the first one which not just puts the title character to the test than ever before but also the filmmakers as well.
How are the end results! It’s mostly fine. I don’t know if I can say it was as good as I wanted it to be or that it’s true top-tier MCU but it does do the job as creating some truly unique action set pieces, mind blowing visuals and effective imagery, even if it doesn’t quite match the heights of more recent multiverse movies, like say Everything Everywhere All at Once or even Into the Spider-Verse.
Sam Raimi’s style and filmmaking that he most well known for is definitely on display here, it’s definitely the scariest and most gruesome of the MCU movies thus far, and it’s runtime of just little over two hours feels awfully refreshing for this kind of tentpole movies. What holds Multiverse of Madness back quite a bit is how one-note and paper thin the story can be despite a handful of interesting twists and ideas on paper along with the majority of characters being there for expositions and to sell action figures. It’s definitely a movie I would recommend seeing on the biggest and most beautiful screen possible for it’s set pieces and visuals but I can’t say it’s quite as emotionally engaging as some of the other, better Marvel movies are.
Premise: Taking place after the events of Wandavision and No Way Home, we see Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) suffering from bad dreams involving an alternate version of himself and a young girl named America Chavez (Xochiti Gomez) as he perhaps for a wedding involving his former colleague, Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), a woman who Stephen loves but his duty as Doctor Strange kept him in the way of being with her. During the wedding, Stephen encounters a big octopus-like creature that is trying to kill America and is able to stop it with the help of his sidekick, Wong (Benedict Wong). Stephen meets America and realizes that those dreams he had were not actually dreams but was him in another universe where he inevitably died. America explains to strange that demons like that octopus-like creature are hunting after her because of her ability to be able to travel through the multiverse. Needing more help and guidance to the multiverse, Stephen goes to Wanda Maximoff, A.K.A. the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) to consult her about this alternate universe matters but realizes that she may know a thing or two about those demons and may be even responsible for sending those demons after America. The chase is then on with Stephen and Wong needing to protect America before the monsters can get to her and Wanda hopes to unlock the power of the multiverse to insert herself into a suppose timeline where she is living happily with her possibly imaginary kids.
Most of this synopsis doesn’t go past the first third of the movie which is impressive despite the film’s shorter length than one might expect with a big movie like this. The big question that everyone is wondering is if you need to have watch Wandavision to understand what’s going on here? The answer is both yes and no! Yes, you are likely to be more engaged and traumatized with Wanda’s journey throughout the picture along with being able to keep track of the amount of progression to her tragic character. However, as long as you know that she once lived in her own fantasy where she is living the life of a simple mother and made some dire actions to make that fantasy her own reality, you should be good to go as long as you have seen Infinity War and Endgame. Just read a quick plot summary or a recap video just to be safe.
The weird thing is though is despite all of the talk and speculations about the story turns, bold choices, and the amount of easter eggs/cameos/fan services/etc., going into Multiverse of Madness, there really isn’t much to the overall plot of the movie. There’s a girl with a special power that others wants and Doctor Strange and crew need to protect her from the enemies. It really doesn’t amount to much more than that. Which is a shame because there’s a chance to expand the multiverse in many ways in not just through a filmmaking sense but also as a character study. Unfortunately, with the exception of Wanda, the movie doesn’t seem really interested in exploring that. Sure, there have been plenty of MCU movies that have had simplistic plots but they are at least usually carried by the amount of character work and progression in their development. That something that Multiverse of Madness tends to lack more so than most of the MCU installments.
Stephen Strange does face plenty of challenges throughout the picture and even sees deadlier version of himself which is supposed to resembled his darker side but there’s hardly much time focused on how exactly that affects him from a psychological point of view and himself as a hero. Instead, most of it is spend on trying to protect America from the bad people and being grumpy over his former lover/partner Christine moving on to someone else. Which is quite a problem considering we have never actually seen the two as a proper couple in either one of these movies but are just simply told they were once in love with one another. With the exception of one flashback scene in the middle of the movie, I would never have guessed that Stephen had such strong feelings from Christine and that he actually viewed her more than just a colleague from work. He still gets plenty of awesome scenes to himself and his powers but not much more than just some awesome spectacle.
Another issue with characterization lies with America Chavez herself. She has a likable presence but there isn’t much depth to her character and comes across more as a plot device than an actual character. We’re not giving much reason as to why we should care for her aside from the fact that she has a special power that the villains want and want to kill her because of it. Whenever she is giving a chance to show off her special abilities, it’s cool to see but lacks much emotional payoff to it because we aren’t giving a compelling reason to root for her. At times, she does represent the closest that Stephen has had to his own student and even daughter but there’s not much focus on those particular aspects to make that the case.
The best character in the movie and the one that gets the most development is Wanda Maximoff herself, played wonderfully by Elizabeth Olsen, as she fully commits to be the version of herself that is the Scarlet Witch. In some respects, this movie kinda feels like the full culmination and payoff to her character that begun in 2015 with Age of Ultron. We have seen Wanda define herself as a hero, villain, along with being a pure anti-hero. Whether it’s her time with her brother and Hydra, the Avengers, Vision, and in Westview, we gett to see Wanda’s full story come full circler her. With Wandavision and now this movie, we now see her in her final form as Scarlet Witch. While the idea of a woman trying to delude herself into thinking she’s an actual mother and turning herself into a Terminator can comes across as unintentional funny and even misogynist, it’s executed in a way that makes it blend well with the horror-like tone the movie is going for and a study on a character who has lost everything but is still trying to do everything in her power to get it all back. Wanda is arguably the best, interesting, and most compelling female character in the entire MCU and her arc is one of the most fascinating and heartbreaking that any characters has had to face. Despite a pretty rushed resolution to the way her story concludes at the end of the movie along with feeling more as a sequel to Infinity War and Endgame as oppose to Wandavision, her character was definitely the best one to follow in the whole movie and is the one that is actually given a proper arc. I don’t know what exactly the future holds for this character but she will undeniably go down as an absolute fan favorite when all is said and done.
However, for those that are not looking strictly for an emotional experience or a new take on the concept of the multiverse should be satisfied with the amount of exhilarating sequences and eye candy the film constantly throws at you. This is Sam Raimi’s first time in the director’s chair in nearly a decade and man is it good to have him back. While it sets itself up as being a typical Marvel movie made by community in the first half hour, once things start to get going, we truly see Raimi’s filmmaking right on the big screen. A nice mix between the horror elements from the likes of The Evil Dead, Army of Darkeness, and even Drag Me to Hell along with the camp value of his original Spider-Man movies make Raimi feel completely at home.
Despite the amount of CGI being quite obvious, most of it is at least used to creative some of the most insane imagery in the history of the MCU and makes this feel perfectly like a multiverse kind of movie. The action, while not the best I’ve seen with Marvel or for a multiverse movie, still gets the job done with the standout scenes being the ones take takes place in Kamar-Taj, with the Illumanti, and one which Doctor Strange is fighting an alternate version of himself.
As for the rest of the production design, it’s definitely put to good use. The cinematography by John Mathieson is a standout, the editing by Bob Murawski and Tia Nolan does fit properly with Raimi’s skillset, and Danny Elfman’s score is one that feels both odd yet fitting at the same time. It’s also quite nuts to see a Marvel movie with amount of blood, carnage, and massacre for what is suppose to be a movie done by the Walt Disney company. It’s hardly R-rated stuff don’t get me wrong but the people behind the makeup and costume design deserve major props.
As for the cast, Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Rachael McAdams all contribute to her roles as admirably as before despite some of the lacking the material that they are given to work with. Xochiti Gomez is fun and filled with energy as America Chavez which definitely makes for someone that film buffs will likely want to follow throughout the coming years. Unsurprisingly, it’s Elizabeth Olsen is one that is the big stand out. She is clearly 100% committed to the role and absolutely chews all the scenery each chance that she gets. When watching her performance in the movie, I kinda got the sense that this is a version of the character that Olsen has been waiting to play for years and she is able to deliver her finest importance yet as this character.
Also, for all the talks about the cameos in this movie, there are definitely some notable ones but they are not as reliant on them as one might expect. Some of the rumors surrounding the cameos and the casting are true, others are not. I don’t exactly know what your expectations might be for those suppose cameos but just know that it’s not necessarily the point of the actual movie. If anything, my favorite cameo in the movie was the one with Bruce Campbell (And no! That’s not a spoiler! It’s not a Sam Raimi movie without a cameo of Bruce Campbell in some way, shape, or form. That would be like saying that Stan Lee made a cameo in one of the movies of the Infinity Saga.)
In the end, I’m not sure how exactly the fans and audiences are going to react to this one compare to other Marvel movies. It’s lacks in the characterization department and as more of an expansion of the multiverse compare to other movies out there. Plus, I don’t think certain people are gonna react so kindly to certain decisions made by certain characters. However, the set pieces, visuals, and Elizabeth Olsen’s show stealing performance is just enough to make this one worthwhile. It may have not been the Doctor Strange sequel I wanted but it’s perhaps the one that I needed. Or at least, the one that I needed to see Sam Raimi back to working his magic.
In that case, it’s good to see you again, old friend!
Other comments:
There are two post credit scenes, one in the middle and one at the very end. Personally, I like the one at the end more than the one in the middle but it’s great to see for the middle one, that Marvel was finally able to get that actor/actress into the MCU. Part of me, still does kind of wish they could have took the role of another certain big character.
This is probably the first MCU movie where I’m not sure I can say it’s suited for kids. There wasn’t any really young children in my screening but this is a bit more scary, bloody, and gruesome than most of the other Marvel movies. It’s still strictly PG-13 but just a little warning to the parents that are wanting to take their kids this weekend to see this movie.
I can’t be the only one that caught that 2003 Detroit Tigers reference, right? Ironic since there hasn’t been discussions recently about that team among baseball fans after the Cincinnati Reds horrendous 3-22 start to the season. I’m pretty sure I was the only one in the theater that understood that reference.
When one talks about the original Star Wars trilogy and what is it that makes those movies as magical and impactful on cinema as they are, you mostly tend to get the same kind of answers from everyone. The intriguing story, the memorable characters, the exciting action, the unique world building, and just the pure idea of Star Wars that is absolutely fascinating in it’s own right. It’s a universe that has always had endless amount of potential for creators and filmmakers to do whatever the hell they want with it with plenty of creativity and excitement added that you won’t get from any other big franchise out there. Because of how popular Star Wars has been since the original aired back in 1977, plenty of studios have tried to implement the kind of style and formula that the first three films (at least in terms of the Skywalker Saga) introduced to everyone on the big screen. Some have succeeded where others have failed but no doubt, Star Wars has become the gold standard for these kind of big tentpole blockbusters for nearly half a century now.
In the case of the Star Wars trilogy that started the whole 40+ year long ride for the franchise, what many folks have tend to studied religiously with these three unforgettable films is how to not just properly structure a film but how to properly structure a trilogy in of itself. The answer to that can be quite tricky as it’s not always clear which decisions with each film was decided years in advantage and which decisions were made as the process went along. As much as George Lucas and many folks out there like to deny it, the original trilogy was NOT something that was planned all the way from the very beginning. Sure, there was always an endgame in mind as to where this would all lead to but there’s no way anyone can make the case that Lucas had planned every major important story beat in advantage years before he rolled the camera for A New Hope. No, Lucas didn’t originally plan to have Luke and Leia being siblings and had the two making out a couple of times before they both found out that dark secret. Heck, Lucas didn’t even have the idea of Darth Vader being Luke’s father in mind until midway through production of The Empire Strikes Back (Seriously, go look that up!). The trick is not to have a plan years in advantage before picking up the cameras but have an idea of where your story will go and the importance that each individual installment will have to it leading up to the conclusion. The trick is to act as if you had everything planned from the get go when you really did not.
There has always been rumors that George Lucas originally planned to have the original Star Wars trilogy as being just one big movie. A New Hope would serve as the first act, Empire Strikes Back would be the second act, and Return of the Jedi would be the third act. That never came to pass because of how massive that movie would be and it would all be just too much for one feature film. I can’t say for certain if that supposed rumor is true but I could definitely see how that could be a possibility when re-watching all three of these films yet again. I could actually see this has being one gigantic blockbuster as these moves aren’t paced and structure like your typical big movie. They all have their own rules in mind as to how each one of these will be paced, edited, and structure down to it’s very core. These are the kind of movies that have helped redefine film structure.
As a result of the accomplishments of this trilogy, let’s take a look at all three of these movies and see how exactly each one succeeds in that.
A New Hope- The First Act Of A New Beginning
Now, A New Hope is probably the one movie within the trilogy that is the most self-contained and stands the best on it’s own merits. Unlike with the two sequels that came after this one which are heavily reliant on each other’s own existence for it to be a satisfying whole, this one works at it’s own thing and doesn’t really need any other movie to make it feel 100% complete. Sure, there are some loose ends when it’s over along with some unanswered questions but it isn’t as reliant for answers of those questions as most first entries usually are and doesn’t leave those non-answers hanging on the ceiling for it’s existence to be justified. However, it can still be easy to mistake A New Hope (Yes, I’m gonna keep calling it that! Deal with it!) as being a giant first act of a larger story.
Make no mistake, A New Hope does in fact have a clear beginning, middle, and end. We have a local farm boy named Luke Skywalker, who is tired of laying around his own home with his aunt and uncle and wants to join in on the action with his best friends who had already gone. It’s then he runs into an old mentor-like figure named Ben Kenobi, two robots named C-3P0 and R2-D2, and a hotheaded smuggler named Han Solo along with his partner Chewbacca who finds themselves getting involved in the galactic war with the Rebel Alliance against the Empire. They find themselves in the middle of a mess where they have to rescue a Princess named Leia, escape a giant space system called the Death Star which has the ability to destroy an entire planet led by the evil Darth Vader, and find a way to destroy that Death Star before the Rebellion is eliminated from the galaxy once and for all. It’s a complete story that even if no other movies came after this, it would still work strongly as it’s own thing. Even so, it’s still able to pull off being the first chapter of a tale better than most first entries out there.
Despite ending on a high note, there are still some questions that don’t quite get answered by the end of the movie. Who exactly is Darth Vader and how did he come become the way he is now? What exactly does it mean to be a Jedi? What’s the difference between the good side of the force and the bad side of it? How big is the Empire exactly and how does the destruction of the Death Star affect them? Who is the Emperor that the film refers to? What are the politics behind this whole thing? Does Han Solo and Chewbacca join the Alliance at the very end? Does Luke actually turn into a Jedi at the very end despite not engaging in any lightsaber combat? Does the victory for the Rebels turn any tide or is this just one battle win in a war that is far from over? These are questions that I have no doubt that many folks who watched this movie for the first time probably had in their head.
With most movie discourse nowadays taking place in the form of Cinema Sins style critique, you can sometimes get the sense that filmmakers try to do everything in their power to have these kind of questions answered in some sort to prevent any criticism of the movie having “loose ends” or “plotholes” and such. It’s that kind of mindset that I think is what leads to many big movies nowadays being nearly two and a half hours long as opposite to just right around two hours like this movie is. A New Hope is able to avoid that because the movie itself doesn’t lend hard on any of these sort of questions. Instead, it let these sort of questions move to the side in the rear view mirror and focuses on it’s own story that it’s trying to tell. It helps open the doors for all the glorious possibilities that this franchise can be from the first movie on but it doesn’t demand itself to have all of them close by the end of the picture.
A New Hope works at being the first third of a story because it functions as it’s own picture while leaving clues and hints of a large universe within the one that this movie is set in. It’s the kind of questions that it leaves hanging are ones that don’t necessarily leave audiences baffled but intrigued. Not just because audience’s mindset was quite different back then than it is now but these are the kind of questions that will make audience want to see another movie like this. It’s the kind of questions that gives both the filmmakers and audiences ideas of what a franchise like Star Wars can be for it’s future. There’s any old saying called “less is more”. You won’t find yourself seeing many movies out there that understands that exact definition more so than A New Hope.
The Empire Strikes Back- The Dark MiddleChapter
Whenever one tries to explain the plot of The Empire Strikes Back, it doesn’t usually end with satisfying results. It’s always quite difficult to explain the plot of this particular movie in a way that makes the movie look good. That’s because Empire doesn’t follow that same traditional structure the way most movies did back then and even now. I know I said I wouldn’t bring up the fan/audience reception to movies when I announced this marathon but I think it’s important in this case to bring it up.
A big reason why most people were caught off guard about this film back in 1980 was because of a complete different beast this was to most sequels or movies out there. Not just because that it didn’t follow the same beats as the original Star Wars but because it didn’t follow the same plot structure of it either. There was no other film quite like it at the time which is why it led to more mixed reviews than it’s predecessor. And that would also explain why the film that came after this one was more positively received and even considered a return to form. The whole movie basically feels like one giant middle, with not much of a beginning or end to it. But, that’s why it works!
To be sure, The Empire Strikes Back is a movie that basically breaks the traditional rules of screenwriting and story structure. There’s no simple three act structure, no true starting point or ending point, no real arcs that the characters go through, none of the main heroes basically accomplish anything, and no one really dies by the end of it. Those are all facts that can’t be denied! However, just because there are certain rules with the way stories are made doesn’t mean you always have to follow them. Rules are like contracts, they are made broken, just as long as you know WHY you are breaking them and WHAT rules that you are breaking. Sometimes breaking rules can be justified if it makes your overall work better in hindsight.
Another element that people always point out with this movie is how “dark” it is. However, I think that dark always tends to be a misused term. A movie being dark always tends to be mistaken for a movie trying to be “serious” and “edgy”. A movie describes as being dark nowadays tries to refer to movies as being for “adults” and definitely “not for kids” but that’s not how it’s suppose to be. The key trick is not trying to be “dark”, the key trick is trying to be “mature”.
Empire is a movie that is undoubtedly the most mature of the trilogy because it’s smart to know why it makes the decisions that it does. It’s know why it’s breaking the rules that it does and even contradicts certain things from the original (like Obi-Wan blatantly lying to Luke about Darth Vader being his father) to make this movie stand out more. It’s understands it’s own intentions to split the main cast throughout the majority of the movie if that can helps the audience learn more about them and who they are. It’s unafraid to put Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewbacca in constant peril and even actively punish him if that can help raise the personal stakes and help further the development of them. It has the balls to purposely not kill anyone (despite Han’s faith being in the air) because by the end of it, the fact they survived doesn’t matter, what matters is how permanently scarred they have become for what has transpired.
Middle chapters of trilogies are always tricky to pull off. The main reason being is that it’s hard to establish the correct stakes and create an interesting enough journey for the characters that we mostly, deep down know can’t truly die in this installment. After all, how can there be a third movie in a trilogy if most of the cast in the movie don’t live on to fight enough day. However, The Empire Strikes Back is able to pull it off arguably better than any other Part Two out there. It gets the conflicts it puts the character go through, the stakes it establishes, and even doesn’t bother to properly wrap up the story in a satisfying little bow. The Empire Strikes Back works because it’s know it’s not the beginning or ending of a story, but only the middle of it. And it’s also an acknowledgement that sometimes the middle chapter of someone’s story can not only be the most important part of it but also the most interesting or even tragic.
Return of the Jedi- The Bittersweet Third Act
If Empire Strikes Back was the one that most justified itself as being firmly the middle of the story, then Return of the Jedi is no doubt the one that justifies itself as being the end of the story.
When you get right down to it, Jedi feels nothing more like an extensive third act. It’s only real true purpose of existence is to tie up the loose ends that the previous film left off and provide a conclusion to the characters that have carried all three of these films. There’s not much of an actual plot to it. The crew has to rescue Han Solo and joined the Rebels to destroy the second Death Star and finish off the Empire once and for all. That’s pretty much it. Sure, there are some teddy bears thrown into the mix and of course the superb confrontation between Luke, his father, and the Emperor but there really isn’t much more to the plot besides that. However, in this case, that’s all it needs to be.
The first third of Jedi is the one act that feels more like the end of a second act of a movie. Or in the case of Empire, an actual payoff to that supposed cliffhanger that movie left unresolved. It answered that one question that most folks had on their mind for three years after they saw Empire for the first time, can they save Han Solo and will he ever be the same again? The answer is of course, a very satisfying yes. The sequence does go on a bit longer than most prologues out there, mostly because it needs to be at least long enough to count as being the first act to the movie. Nevertheless, that first third only purpose is to wrap up a certain loose end so we can get the rest of the movie underway.
It’s then we get to the other two thirds of Jedi that basically plays as one giant climax with a few characters and plot elements thrown in to make it feel a bit longer. There’s a subplot where the crew has to shut down a shield generator in order to be able to properly destroy the Death Star this time, the Ewoks are introduced to make for a certain social commentary on nature vs technology, and there are multiple scenes of Luke confronting his father and his master as they duel for the future of the galaxy and most importantly, the force. Oh and also, Leia happens to be Luke’s sister. While there can definitely be a sense of certain elements being thrown in to pad the runtime, revisiting old ideas, and add some emotional weight, it mostly done in a pretty satisfying way that it ultimately doesn’t matter much.
The one thing that does matter in Return of the Jedi is that everything is resolved by the end of it. Sure, there might be a few questions when it’s over but it’s done in a completely open-minded way that it doesn’t matter if there ever was a continuation to this story. While Empire‘s clear cut goal was to provide a darker and intriguing middle chapter to the story, then Jedi‘s clear cut goal is to provide a more uplifting and satisfying end to the story. It may not deliver more than that but it does deliver exactly that. And sometimes that’s just enough.
In Conclusion:
There’s not many trilogies out there that can capture the lightning in a bottle that the original Star Wars movies provided. Whether that’s because how good they are, their intentions with each individual film, or even just the fact that they came out first before many others, it just is the way it is. With movies nowadays trying to be as big, massive, and throw in as much elements it can as possible, we often tend to forget that sometimes making a successful trilogy is just a simple as making it a solid beginning, middle, and end. Sure, you always want to design your film trilogy in a way that will stand the test of time, but you don’t have to try so hard to meet your certain goals. All you have to do is believe in yourself, what you are making, and how each film serves it’s own purpose and ties into the others. That’s what the original Star Wars trilogy was able to do by establishing it’s own set rules of screenwriting and film structure. It’s able to do that successful not in spite of going against traditions but works because of it. And that my friends, is the key to making a successful trilogy of films.
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