So, let's see how Star Wars did!
My History / The Sequels To End All Sequels!
Part of me is convinced the The Empire Strikes Back was my first Star Wars film, that it was on TV (which we taped on VHS) and that Return of the Jedi aired and got taped shortly after (the next weekend or something?). A New Hope was then a holiday gift to round out the set (the fancy newly remastered edition even, with CGI Jabba in all his bulky glory).
I really looked forward to Attack of the Clones after the awesome spectacle of Phantom Menace. I remember not being sure how much time would have passed between the two films, since I knew there was quite a lot of ground to cover before New Hope hit. I wish I could remember more of the specifics of that time...
The Last Jedi is the most recent of the three and I remember it well. I was excited to find out where the story set up in The Force Awakens was going to go and went out of my way to see Looper just to get a feel of what Rian Johnson might be bringing to the Star Wars table in terms of writer-director flavour. I'd like to now tell you exactly what those insights were, but honestly they're two very different films. I enjoyed them, but I guess I don't have the eye to see the same influence in the two.
Honestly, most of my Star Wars worries during this time were aimed squarely at Episode IX, which was then still rumoured to be helmed by Colin Trevorrow (whose Jurassic World I... did not agree with). The Last Jedi's teaser and trailer looked solid, with a focus on Luke training Rey and space battles. I do always love a good space battle.
I really looked forward to Attack of the Clones after the awesome spectacle of Phantom Menace. I remember not being sure how much time would have passed between the two films, since I knew there was quite a lot of ground to cover before New Hope hit. I wish I could remember more of the specifics of that time...
The Last Jedi is the most recent of the three and I remember it well. I was excited to find out where the story set up in The Force Awakens was going to go and went out of my way to see Looper just to get a feel of what Rian Johnson might be bringing to the Star Wars table in terms of writer-director flavour. I'd like to now tell you exactly what those insights were, but honestly they're two very different films. I enjoyed them, but I guess I don't have the eye to see the same influence in the two.
Honestly, most of my Star Wars worries during this time were aimed squarely at Episode IX, which was then still rumoured to be helmed by Colin Trevorrow (whose Jurassic World I... did not agree with). The Last Jedi's teaser and trailer looked solid, with a focus on Luke training Rey and space battles. I do always love a good space battle.
Plot summary / Oh no, a complication after our triumph!
So you've started your trilogy off with a bang and had the heroes destroy the main thing the villains had. Well done! ...but now what? You don't want to negate the impact of the victory by immediately introducing a new threat, even if it was at least hinted at in the finale of the last film that not everything had been resolved.
Instead of a big, space-station-sized problem you instead opt for a more reactive problem.
Maybe have something precious be attacked and then try to react to that. And then split up the known cast so they can each have their own little adventures before bringing it back together for the finale.
That'll do the trick!
Instead of a big, space-station-sized problem you instead opt for a more reactive problem.
Maybe have something precious be attacked and then try to react to that. And then split up the known cast so they can each have their own little adventures before bringing it back together for the finale.
That'll do the trick!
Corner 1: Adventure / "The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi."
This should be the easiest thing to get right for Star Wars. We've established that we can't have a big "underdogs against space station" finale, but that doesn't mean we can't have adventures, ...right?
Attack of the Clones: 9/10
- π The initial rescue and subsequent chase in an attempt to catch the assassin give us an excellent chance to catch up with Obi Wan and Anakin.
- π And we get to see a lot more of Coruscant while we're at it!
- π Having Anakin being stuck with guard duty feels unglamorous...
- π ...but falling in love is definitely an adventure!
- π ...well, maybe not compared to the daring rescue mission they later go on together.
- π Or Obi-Wan's awesome space-detective-ing and asteroid field dog-fighting.
- π Backtracking slightly in Obi-Wan's story for a second, I love how he bluffs his way through Kaminoa.
- π That finale, which is basically 3 rescue attempts nested inside of each other (Obi-Wan is rescued by Anakin and Padme, all three are rescued by the jedi order, all of them are rescued by the clone army), and they are all awesome.
- π And it's nice to see Anakin and (finally) Padme having a proper adventure as they infiltrate Geonosis to try to rescue Obi-Wan.
- π Their sad detour to Tatooine right before it is a stark contrast and not really an adventure, so very critical to Anakin's character arc though.
- π It's fan service that Yoda faces Dooku, but it's effective (at least on me) and the fight is awesome.
- π The initial rescue and subsequent chase in an attempt to catch the assassin give us an excellent chance to catch up with Obi Wan and Anakin.
- π And we get to see a lot more of Coruscant while we're at it!
- π Having Anakin being stuck with guard duty feels unglamorous...
- π ...but falling in love is definitely an adventure!
- π ...well, maybe not compared to the daring rescue mission they later go on together.
- π Or Obi-Wan's awesome space-detective-ing and asteroid field dog-fighting.
- π Backtracking slightly in Obi-Wan's story for a second, I love how he bluffs his way through Kaminoa.
- π That finale, which is basically 3 rescue attempts nested inside of each other (Obi-Wan is rescued by Anakin and Padme, all three are rescued by the jedi order, all of them are rescued by the clone army), and they are all awesome.
- π And it's nice to see Anakin and (finally) Padme having a proper adventure as they infiltrate Geonosis to try to rescue Obi-Wan.
- π Their sad detour to Tatooine right before it is a stark contrast and not really an adventure, so very critical to Anakin's character arc though.
- π It's fan service that Yoda faces Dooku, but it's effective (at least on me) and the fight is awesome.
The Empire Strikes Back: 9/10
- π New Hope was all about the space battles, the space station infiltrations and the desert planet escapes. What it didn't give us was a land battle of any significant scale. This is an oversight that is almost immediately rectified with the Battle of Hoth.
- π Actually, not quite immediately. There's plenty of snow-survival adventure first.
- π The Snow Speeders vs. AT-ATs is an iconic scene, and absolutely excellently executed.
- π Hiding can be adventurous, but the asteroid field sequence drags on a bit long for it to really keep the right pace (at least for this corner)
- π Until it is revealed that the cave is a giant space worm!
- π Facing the big villain that you could only flee from in the previous movie is an awesome, adventurous moment.
- π But wait, there's no real ending? Luke flees Vader, people go after Han, roll credits?
- π New Hope was all about the space battles, the space station infiltrations and the desert planet escapes. What it didn't give us was a land battle of any significant scale. This is an oversight that is almost immediately rectified with the Battle of Hoth.
- π Actually, not quite immediately. There's plenty of snow-survival adventure first.
- π The Snow Speeders vs. AT-ATs is an iconic scene, and absolutely excellently executed.
- π Hiding can be adventurous, but the asteroid field sequence drags on a bit long for it to really keep the right pace (at least for this corner)
- π Until it is revealed that the cave is a giant space worm!
- π Facing the big villain that you could only flee from in the previous movie is an awesome, adventurous moment.
- π But wait, there's no real ending? Luke flees Vader, people go after Han, roll credits?
The Last Jedi: 9/10
- π Much like Empire we start the film with an evacuation in the face of enemy destruction. Unlike Empire the heroes are meeting the enemy in orbit (presumably because they couldn't get the base shielded in time / didn't have the equipment to do so).
- π Also unlike Empire we don't know how they were found out. It doesn't really matter, but it's a small niggle.
- π As the evacuation turns into a prolonged chase we turn to Rey, who is trying to convince Luke to train her. It's a heavy-handed parallel to Luke's own attempts to convince Yoda, but it works (and works) as a training narrative. (partially because of the parallel)
- π Finn and Rose setting off to find the Master Codebreaker, while still barely knowing each other, is an excellent adventure premise.
- π That stumbles somewhat when they don't do that much explicit "learning about each other"
- π Kylo tricks Snoke and manages to strike him down, surprising everybody, perhaps even himself. The subsequent fight against Snoke's bodyguards (which we know nothing about, mirroring Sidious' Royal Guards, except they're apparently not the Knights of Ren) is perhaps the best and most inventive lightsaber fight we've seen in all of Star Wars up until this point.
- π The resistances make it down to Crait's surface (with heavy losses) due to the heroic sacrifice of Vice Admiral Holdo. Who lightspeed-rams Snoke's Dreadnought, in a silently presented shot of absolute destruction.
- π The film then starts to gear up for a land siege, seemingly similar to that on Hoth. I get that each spinning plate needs its ending, but I do get where some people were coming from that the film kept having more endings.
- π Much like Empire we start the film with an evacuation in the face of enemy destruction. Unlike Empire the heroes are meeting the enemy in orbit (presumably because they couldn't get the base shielded in time / didn't have the equipment to do so).
- π Also unlike Empire we don't know how they were found out. It doesn't really matter, but it's a small niggle.
- π As the evacuation turns into a prolonged chase we turn to Rey, who is trying to convince Luke to train her. It's a heavy-handed parallel to Luke's own attempts to convince Yoda, but it works (and works) as a training narrative. (partially because of the parallel)
- π Finn and Rose setting off to find the Master Codebreaker, while still barely knowing each other, is an excellent adventure premise.
- π That stumbles somewhat when they don't do that much explicit "learning about each other"
- π Kylo tricks Snoke and manages to strike him down, surprising everybody, perhaps even himself. The subsequent fight against Snoke's bodyguards (which we know nothing about, mirroring Sidious' Royal Guards, except they're apparently not the Knights of Ren) is perhaps the best and most inventive lightsaber fight we've seen in all of Star Wars up until this point.
- π The resistances make it down to Crait's surface (with heavy losses) due to the heroic sacrifice of Vice Admiral Holdo. Who lightspeed-rams Snoke's Dreadnought, in a silently presented shot of absolute destruction.
- π The film then starts to gear up for a land siege, seemingly similar to that on Hoth. I get that each spinning plate needs its ending, but I do get where some people were coming from that the film kept having more endings.
Corner 2: Smart / "Blind we are, if the creation of this clone army we could not see."
If you're toning back the grand space climax you'll want something clever to take its place though...
Attack of the Clones: 6/10
- π€ Natalie Portman sure doesn't look any older despite the 10 year time jump between this and Phantom Menace. She's supposed to be 14 years old during Phantom Menace and 24 in Attack of the Clones...
- π€ ...they could have hand-waved this gorgeously by adding one throwaway line that the humans on Naboo were surprisingly slow-aging. This would also neatly address how The Emperor doesn't age much.
- π‘ Obi-Wan calling upon established contacts (in the form of Dexter) to help identify the saberdart that killed the assassin is excellent implied worldbuilding that he has turned into a resourceful jedi that has done a lot this past decade...
- π€ ...but the Diner Dexter runs feels very anachronistic (or whatever the universe-instead-of-time equivalent of that is), it's just too much like an Earth-diner. It doesn't quite take away from the enjoyment, but it bugs me a little every time I see it.
- π‘ We see the introduction of (the forerunners of) stormtroopers, but they're the good guys! Whaaaat! That's such a good subversion of expectations.
- π€ Force visions / prophetic dreams are an established plot point in Star Wars at this point, and it cleverly mirrors The Empire Strikes Back, but it's still lazy storytelling.
- π‘ Speaking of mirroring The Empire Strikes Back, Obi-Wan's encounter with Jango and Boba in the asteroid field over Geonosis is a gorgeous re-imagining of the sequence where the Falcon tries to outsmart its pursuers.
- π‘ "I'm so glad we don't have Jar Jar around anymore so we can have a serious story without any of that slapsticky nonsense. Hah! C3PO accidentally got his head exchanged with a battle droid, he's such a card."
- π€ The big battle at the end is awesome, where the perspective pans out of the arena and we realise that this is a full-scale clone army offensive. It would have been nice to get any sort of indication whether or not this lines up with Palpatine's plans though. I'm assuming it did, but a cue (even in a later film) would have been welcome.
- π€ Natalie Portman sure doesn't look any older despite the 10 year time jump between this and Phantom Menace. She's supposed to be 14 years old during Phantom Menace and 24 in Attack of the Clones...
- π€ ...they could have hand-waved this gorgeously by adding one throwaway line that the humans on Naboo were surprisingly slow-aging. This would also neatly address how The Emperor doesn't age much.
- π‘ Obi-Wan calling upon established contacts (in the form of Dexter) to help identify the saberdart that killed the assassin is excellent implied worldbuilding that he has turned into a resourceful jedi that has done a lot this past decade...
- π€ ...but the Diner Dexter runs feels very anachronistic (or whatever the universe-instead-of-time equivalent of that is), it's just too much like an Earth-diner. It doesn't quite take away from the enjoyment, but it bugs me a little every time I see it.
- π‘ We see the introduction of (the forerunners of) stormtroopers, but they're the good guys! Whaaaat! That's such a good subversion of expectations.
- π€ Force visions / prophetic dreams are an established plot point in Star Wars at this point, and it cleverly mirrors The Empire Strikes Back, but it's still lazy storytelling.
- π‘ Speaking of mirroring The Empire Strikes Back, Obi-Wan's encounter with Jango and Boba in the asteroid field over Geonosis is a gorgeous re-imagining of the sequence where the Falcon tries to outsmart its pursuers.
- π‘ "I'm so glad we don't have Jar Jar around anymore so we can have a serious story without any of that slapsticky nonsense. Hah! C3PO accidentally got his head exchanged with a battle droid, he's such a card."
- π€ The big battle at the end is awesome, where the perspective pans out of the arena and we realise that this is a full-scale clone army offensive. It would have been nice to get any sort of indication whether or not this lines up with Palpatine's plans though. I'm assuming it did, but a cue (even in a later film) would have been welcome.
The Empire Strikes Back: 7.5/10
- π‘ We actually see how the Empire searches for the Rebels using the probe droids. This helps give scale to the galaxy we're in (New Hope didn't show us all that much if you think about it) and context for the type of conflict the two are entangled in.
- π‘ The scene on Hoth in the wampa's cave (Luke hanging upside down, pulling the lightsaber towards him, etc.) is an excellent way to introduce a new aspect of what the force can do. Telekinesis was hinted at with Vader's force choke and Obi Wan's off-screen noise distraction, but not truly visible yet. It also informs us that Luke has started to see the lightsaber as a part of his tools (also later during the battle where he uses it to slice a hole in the AT-AT's ventral armour)
- π‘ There is an in-film explanation of why Han and Luke use the Tauntauns to check out the probe's signal (it's taking more time than expected to modify the speeders for cold weather usage), which also foreshadows that there will be speeders, which is paid off only a few scenes later.
- π‘ I like that the Rebellion loses the battle of Hoth (and not just so they can show off that surface-to-orbit ion cannon), it puts the heroes on the back foot after New Hope's triumph. The Empire literally strikes back.
- π€ Obi-Wan just straight up tells Luke where to go next. Go to Dagobah, find Master Yoda. This level of storytelling is fine in classic videogames, but you'd expect more from a film.
- π‘ The Falcon is even more on the back foot with a faulty hyperdrive, forcing the heroes (minus Luke) to hide in an asteroid field.
- π€ I'm not entirely sure why Vader / the Empire is this obsessed with specifically capturing the Falcon. Is Vader sensing Leia and mistaking her for Luke? Has the rest of the Rebel fleet just too successfully gotten away that this is his only lead? Character motivations, please!
- π€ The Force Cave scene on Dagobah has always annoyed me. It's creepy but I don't understand the point beyond that. Is it a warning that Vader was once like Luke? The Force trying to spoil the father twist? It doesn't come up again either.
- π‘ The continued hyperdrive problems are presented well, when it finally does work it's a good moment, but until then each failure is another moment where Han has to improvise and show his worth.
- π€ Force visions! Luke sees Han and Leia being hurt, causing him to break off his jedi training (despite Yoda's attempts to convince him). I get that this was Vader's plan, but it hinges on Luke getting enough mastery of the Force to even have these visions and being able to figure out where Cloud City is (we never quite figure out how he does that...)
- π‘ On the other hand, the visions are of the future, meaning that we as the audience know something is going to go wrong in Cloud City. Suspense!
- π€ Imagine Vader's position for a second. Boba Fett has contacted you that the Falcon went to Cloud City, you rush to beat them there. You strong-arm the station manager (Lando) to lie to them about your presence, and rather than separating them off and arresting them separately you instead come up with this awesome plan where you have Lando invite them all to dinner and then you're already sitting at the dinner table... That is such a dorky plan! Benefiting absolutely nobody (in-universe, it's a nice twist for the audience), since the only reason you need them is to lure Luke to you.
- π‘ On the other hand, carbon-freezing Luke for transport is a super clever idea. As is trying it out on somebody else because concerns were raised about the procedure's safety. Prudent planning for once.
- π‘ Lando turning on the Empire is a well telegraphed decision that he slowly builds up to. It's solidly executed and a nice, quick redemption of the character.
- π‘ Up until now Obi Wan has told Luke about two people. His former apprentice, Darth Vader. And his friend and fellow jedi, Anakin Skywalker. The way he told it Darth Vader killed Anakin Skywalker. The reveal that they are the same person totally works and is cleverly executed.
- π‘ I was about to write a large negative point about what Vader was expecting exactly with this dramatic reveal, but it's clear from context that he's just trying what he can to subdue Luke without killing him. The carbon-freezing has failed, chopping off his hand wasn't enough to break his spirit, Vader is literally trying everything that he can think of to capture Luke.
The Last Jedi: 9/10
- π‘ New ships! The First Order fields a preposterously large Dreadnought class cruiser, which the Resistance counters with absolutely amazing looking bombers. Best new ship in ages.
- π€ Poe's quipping during the opening is kind of annoying... it's clear that he's taking the Han Solo cocky archetype and running with it, even sneaking in a dig at Hux' mother
- π‘ ... but that's the point, we're supposed to be annoyed by him. Because he's not doing the right things. Hubris and consequences are about to wipe that smirk off his face.
- π‘ When we see Kylo Ren he is being berated by Snoke. For his weakness over killing his father. We've seen clashing master-apprentice relations before between Vader and the Emperor as well as Anakin and Obi-Wan (and Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan for that matter), but never quite this pettily.
- π‘ As we cut back to Poe he is being berated (and demoted) by Leia. This is a parallel character arc pair, the boys have to grow up... and one of them will.
- π‘ Reusing Leia's original plea for help to Obi-Wan could have been done poorly, in a pandering way. Having it be the thing that convinces Luke to train Rey really works.
- π‘ The first time Rey and Kylo connect through the Force, he is the calm and analytical one. Trying to deduce what is going on, what is causing this connection, whereas she tries to shoot him.
- π‘ Canto Bight, a complex environment for two people that grew up with nothing, each reacting very differently. But they have a job to do, and finally see the Master Codebreaker! ...only to be arrested for parking their shuttle wrong, literally their first step doomed them.
- π€ I'm not sure how to feel about the way the "What happened on the day the new Jedi Temple was destroyed" plot is handled. It's a nice way to present that there are multiple viewpoints, that the truth can be distorted both through intention and perspective... but it doesn't quite come around to a point. At no point does Rey (attempt to) explain to Kylo that Luke's actions were that of a scared old man, haunted by his father's legacy.
- π€ Speaking of poor executions, I'm definitely docking some points for this film's version of the evil force cave trope (the place with the row of mirrored Reys). It was interesting to look at, sure, but... I have no idea what it's supposed to tell us or means. The only good thing it contributes is that there's a small twist in the reveal that she is recounting this experience to Kylo Ren, rather than Luke or even R2D2 or Chewbacca.
- π‘ As everybody rushes back to the fleet we see the first of the two boys betray his master. Poe mutinies against Vice Admiral Holdo, the replacement for Leia while she recovers. It's tempting to just go along with Poe's reasoning here, which is exactly the point. The hero is portrayed to step up and save the day, only to be sat back down and explained that he's an idiot. That's not an easy thing to hear, or a normal thing to see in a film like this, which is what makes it all the more valuable.
- π‘ Kylo Ren brings Rey straight to Snoke, but is up to something. He tries to get Rey on his side, even dangling the mystery of her parentage over her head. Boy number two is about to betray his master. Snoke's control is absolute, but his own arrogance still exceeds it, and he is unceremoniously disposed of by Kylo managing to trick him. This is something that would/should not have worked if we had known more about this character, if Snoke had been established as a genius strategist, an evil mastermind, then this would have been a letdown. But all we've seen of him so far is a phenomenal mastery over the Force, an obsessive need for control and megalomania so profound that the glorified meeting room he skype-calls into in The Force Awakens is enlarged so that it can project an upscaled version of him on his throne.
- π‘ As Kylo's attempts to turn Rey to his side fail (who'd have thought she'd react poorly to seeing the Resistance shot out of the sky in front of her and Kylo not lifting a finger to stop it?) he, much like Vader in Empire, plays the heritage card. He reveals to Rey that she doesn't have famous parents, that they were nobodies...
- π‘ ...this of course doesn't work, they struggle over (and destroy) Luke's/Vader's saber and tear it apart, giving Rey a chance to flee. Kylo Ren wakes to a find Hux in the burning throne-room (contemplating whether to shoot him, which he doesn't appear to notice). His new throne at the top of the First Order is going to be a fragile one.
- π€ There's a plot point where they are in the rebel base / mine on Crait where they transmit a distress signal to all allies they can think of. I'm not sure what changed between then and the several days worth of chase leading up to this final showdown.
- π‘ The movie makes it a point to have Hux call out how many skim speeders are fielded against them (13), which means the observant viewer can count along how many are shot down. It's basically all of them.
- π‘ "Wait," you might say, "isn't this just like the opening gambit where they lose most of them?" and you'd have missed the whole point. What mattered then is taking out the dreadnought, what matters now is making sure the base stays safe until they can escape. Which, for the visual learners, is exemplified by Rose stopping Finn from sacrificing himself to the cannon's maw.
- π‘ We get to see a new walker! The AT-M6 is like an AT-AT but bulkier, a lot larger and with distinctive elongated legs so it can stabilise to fire its primary cannon.
- π€ ...a shame we don't really see them in action much.
- π‘ As Luke's force projection deception is revealed, the observant watcher can't help but recall that Kylo Ren discards the option that Rey is causing their mutual force projection because the effort would kill her. What's different for Luke? Nothing, meaning this last pacifistic act of rebellion costs him his life.
Corner 3: Heart / "Not fighting what we hate, saving what we love."
And finally more careful sidestepping of nostalgia, or attempts thereof.
Attack of the Clones: 7/10
- π This whole thing kicks off with the assassination attempt, which is just because the Neimoidians still aren't over Padme besting them at the end of Phantom Menace. It's petty and delightfully in character for them.
- π Anakin meets Jar Jar again, after many years. This could have been a mirror for him, or at least for the audience, of how much he has changed. A fleeting realisation that he is becoming not just a jedi and a teenager but also something darker.
- π It is good to see Jar Jar again though, even if it's in a small role of stand-in senator while Padme is out frolicking back on Naboo. And, again, implied storytelling that the Gungans are now more integrated with the Naboo. ...and perhaps hinting at his own people still shunning Jar Jar.
- π Phantom Menace gave us a bunch of cool looking jedi masters, but then just went back to Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. We finally get to see a lot of them in action in the arena on Geonosis.
- π Speaking of that arena on Geonosis, I get that it's probably about as anachronistic as the diner that I complained about earlier, since it's such a parallel of gladiatorial combat / execution by lions, but it totally works for me. Fancy alien beasties to stand in for the lions, clear communication that the separatists aren't just a different ideology to the Republic but totally the baddies, et cetera. It just works!
- π Yay, it ends with a wedding!
- π But yes, it would be remiss to not at least mention that the dialogue in the romantic scenes isn't great. It's not something the series had done before, and they were treated too harshly for it, but the point still stands that they're not great.
- π This whole thing kicks off with the assassination attempt, which is just because the Neimoidians still aren't over Padme besting them at the end of Phantom Menace. It's petty and delightfully in character for them.
- π Anakin meets Jar Jar again, after many years. This could have been a mirror for him, or at least for the audience, of how much he has changed. A fleeting realisation that he is becoming not just a jedi and a teenager but also something darker.
- π It is good to see Jar Jar again though, even if it's in a small role of stand-in senator while Padme is out frolicking back on Naboo. And, again, implied storytelling that the Gungans are now more integrated with the Naboo. ...and perhaps hinting at his own people still shunning Jar Jar.
- π Phantom Menace gave us a bunch of cool looking jedi masters, but then just went back to Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. We finally get to see a lot of them in action in the arena on Geonosis.
- π Speaking of that arena on Geonosis, I get that it's probably about as anachronistic as the diner that I complained about earlier, since it's such a parallel of gladiatorial combat / execution by lions, but it totally works for me. Fancy alien beasties to stand in for the lions, clear communication that the separatists aren't just a different ideology to the Republic but totally the baddies, et cetera. It just works!
- π Yay, it ends with a wedding!
- π But yes, it would be remiss to not at least mention that the dialogue in the romantic scenes isn't great. It's not something the series had done before, and they were treated too harshly for it, but the point still stands that they're not great.
The Empire Strikes Back: 6.5/10
- π Leia is given a lot more to do during the opening sequence, it's clear that she's in a leadership position and not just in a token "face of the Rebellion" princess role. Good!
- π That's not really something that comes up post-battle though, which is a shame. She's mostly just along for the ride. There's not even really an acknowledgement between her and Vader when they meet again in Cloud City.
- π I get that hiding in the asteroid field is the prudent thing to do for the Falcon until they have their hyperdrive repaired. But it sure makes for a dip in excitement.
- π Though this downtime is an excellent time for character development, and quite a lot of that happens.
- π As the Falcon is attached to the Star Destroyer the crew deliberates what their next step should be and wonders where they are. (The Anoat system) I get that scale is relative in this universe, and I shouldn't expect too much, but Han doesn't know where he is post-Hoth evacuation without a ligthspeed jump? That feels weird.
- π Lando's character introduction is excellent. The dialogue doesn't feel forced, but holds a lot of history / world building. It would be tiring to have something like this for every relevant new character, but it works when done in moderation (and it's done in a similar way to Han's introduction to Luke and Ben in New Hope).
- π The first major role of colour in Star Wars and he betrays the heroes to the Empire? Yeah, that's not a good look.
- π Again something that would be tiring if done every time, but when Luke heads off to Bespin he promises Yoda that he will return. Directly foreshadowing the title of Episode VI. I've always liked that subtle nod (even if it might have been retroactive).
- π Han going into the carbon freezer is an excellent scene, and really helps shine even more of a heroic light on him. In general that is something this film does super well, showing us why Leia is falling for him. (Especially when put next to Attack of Clones...)
- π R2 reuniting with 3PO while they rush through Cloud City is a touching scene, and helps establish that the core heroes aren't the only characters with agency or emotions.
- π We have the awesome showdown between Vader and Luke, the culmination of their conflict, ...and it's barely lit and basically comprises of waving glowing lightsabers around in the dark. It works, but it never quite sparked the imagination (for me).
- π Luke calling out to Leia through the Force is a nice moment (also giving her something to do again), and it ties in super well with the reveal from the next film...
- π I already docked some points for this in the Adventure corner as well, but you really should have an ending for your film. An open ending is one thing, but not really having finished character arcs or a grand point to make will make an ending feel lacklustre. There's only so far the father reveal can carry you.
The Last Jedi: 9.5/10
- π Rose sure goes through a rollercoaster of emotions when she's first introduced. From crying over her sister, to hero-worshipping Finn, to disillusionment that he was trying to escape (even if it was so Rey wouldn't return to the doomed fleet), to brainstorming a plan to stop the tracker with him. It's a delight and a fun way to introduce a new character.
- π Not to mention, she's a skilled mechanic. Finn can keep up with her, but Poe is totally lost when they pitch the plan to him. On the other hand, they'd have no clue how to pilot a ship (which is why they take BB-8 to Canto Bight). Not every character can do every thing. A nice change of pace compared to what Star Wars has historically been about (and only slightly undermined by Rose still getting in a landspeeder at the end).
- π Speaking of the ship Rose and Finn take to Canto Bight... it's a decent enough looking little ship (that we barely see, though it is in fact 'just' the outer module of the troop transport that we see the Resistance use in The Force Awakens). What bugs me, though, turning this into a (really insignificant) negative point, is that the reason the ship might look vaguely familiar is that they're made by repurposing B-Wing cockpits. And B-Wings are the coolest of all the _-Wings!
- π There is an exchange between Finn and Rose, right as they are fleeing Canto Bight, Finn says it was worth coming because they were able to disrupt the elites by leading a stampede of Fathiers through the casino. Rose agrees with him only after the Fathiers are freed, cementing the message of the film (quoted as the subtitle of this Heart section), that it's more important to save what you love than to destroy what you hate.
- π Luke calling out to Leia through the Force being both the first thing that he does after reconnecting to the Force and the thing that wakes up Leia is exactly the right thing to do, and a further underlining of the point right above this one. He could have done any number of things, call his lightsaber to his side, raise his X-Wing, but what he does is reach out to his sister, whose son he has failed.
- π "We are what they grow beyond" is such a profound thing for Yoda to say, in a scene that is already excellent. The two masters watching their apprentice and (if you will) grand-apprentice flying off against their suggestion. It mirrors Empire but somehow holds more weight here exactly because Luke has done the same. I also like that Yoda reveals himself to Luke, not to Rey or another new character. Just Luke.
- π I didn't really like DJ's character, it's a solid adventure trope to make a new friend while in jail and a decent enough subversion to have him betray the party to the First Order, but right from the start he's played so ambiguously that it's not really a surprise that he betrays them. At no point is there an explicit "letting their guard down" from Rose, Finn and BB8, yet they still act shocked when it is revealed that he has sold them out.
- π There are small throwaway lines interwoven through Rey's and Finn's stories to indicate that they're thinking of each other, even while they have other things going on. The nicest touch is when Rey goes to face Kylo Ren (in one of the Falcon's escape pods) and asks Chewie to pass along a message if he sees Finn before she does. And it's a funny moment because we never quite get to know what it is, because Chewie suggests something (in Wookie) and Rey just agrees that it's the perfect sentiment.
- π Rey and Kylo Ren face down Snoke's guards together, we see them in unison for the first time, and it's clearly being set up that they will join forces once the fight is over... except they don't. Kylo is willing to sacrifice everything in order to have a clean slate, which involves letting all of Rey's friends, including (she presumes) Finn, die.
- π Luke appears out of nowhere on Crait! Has he come to save the day after all?! I was entirely fooled by this deception, even though the film went out of its way to present a much younger looking Luke and setting up that he had no plans of ever leaving his island on Ahch-To. Again, it drives home the point that he isn't there to defeat or kill Kylo Ren, just to buy the Resistance the time it needs to escape.
- π The epilogue, of sorts (still thoroughly pre-credits), jumps back to the indentured children looking after the Fathiers on Canto Bight. They tell the tale of how Luke Skywalker faced down Kylo Ren, replayed with crudely constructed props, before they are interrupted and forced to get back to work. The camera follows the boy that already got the most screentime in the scenes with Finn and Rose outside, where it is revealed that he has a basic grasp of the Force as a he calls his broom to him to sweep the floor, before being distracted by a ship leaving the atmosphere, sparking his imagination. He lifts his broom, and it's not hard to see he is imagining it to be a lightsaber.
- π "That last point was a description, not an argument," my imagined audience clamours. And no, it wasn't. But if that scene (or even my shoddy description of it) doesn't stand on its own then I don't know what to tell you. And no, this doesn't mean we'll ever see this particular boy ever again, because that's not the point. It is exactly the message of hope The Last Jedi has been hammering down on for well over two hours by this point. That anybody can be the hero, that legacy is important but not everything, that the world can be better.
Whew, okay. This one was kind of starting to spiral out of control. There are only so many bullet points you can cram into a list before it starts to look too messy. I just have so many things to say about Star Wars...
It's Star Wars, so it's no surprise that those are some solid triangles. I surprised myself with how high The Empire Strikes Back landed, I think I was telling myself I liked that film less than I did just to be contrarian. I definitely don't agree with the people that say it's their favourite Star Wars film, but I also think I was too critical of it in the past.
Now, let's see how these sequels scored...
- π Rose sure goes through a rollercoaster of emotions when she's first introduced. From crying over her sister, to hero-worshipping Finn, to disillusionment that he was trying to escape (even if it was so Rey wouldn't return to the doomed fleet), to brainstorming a plan to stop the tracker with him. It's a delight and a fun way to introduce a new character.
- π Not to mention, she's a skilled mechanic. Finn can keep up with her, but Poe is totally lost when they pitch the plan to him. On the other hand, they'd have no clue how to pilot a ship (which is why they take BB-8 to Canto Bight). Not every character can do every thing. A nice change of pace compared to what Star Wars has historically been about (and only slightly undermined by Rose still getting in a landspeeder at the end).
- π Speaking of the ship Rose and Finn take to Canto Bight... it's a decent enough looking little ship (that we barely see, though it is in fact 'just' the outer module of the troop transport that we see the Resistance use in The Force Awakens). What bugs me, though, turning this into a (really insignificant) negative point, is that the reason the ship might look vaguely familiar is that they're made by repurposing B-Wing cockpits. And B-Wings are the coolest of all the _-Wings!
- π There is an exchange between Finn and Rose, right as they are fleeing Canto Bight, Finn says it was worth coming because they were able to disrupt the elites by leading a stampede of Fathiers through the casino. Rose agrees with him only after the Fathiers are freed, cementing the message of the film (quoted as the subtitle of this Heart section), that it's more important to save what you love than to destroy what you hate.
- π Luke calling out to Leia through the Force being both the first thing that he does after reconnecting to the Force and the thing that wakes up Leia is exactly the right thing to do, and a further underlining of the point right above this one. He could have done any number of things, call his lightsaber to his side, raise his X-Wing, but what he does is reach out to his sister, whose son he has failed.
- π "We are what they grow beyond" is such a profound thing for Yoda to say, in a scene that is already excellent. The two masters watching their apprentice and (if you will) grand-apprentice flying off against their suggestion. It mirrors Empire but somehow holds more weight here exactly because Luke has done the same. I also like that Yoda reveals himself to Luke, not to Rey or another new character. Just Luke.
- π I didn't really like DJ's character, it's a solid adventure trope to make a new friend while in jail and a decent enough subversion to have him betray the party to the First Order, but right from the start he's played so ambiguously that it's not really a surprise that he betrays them. At no point is there an explicit "letting their guard down" from Rose, Finn and BB8, yet they still act shocked when it is revealed that he has sold them out.
- π There are small throwaway lines interwoven through Rey's and Finn's stories to indicate that they're thinking of each other, even while they have other things going on. The nicest touch is when Rey goes to face Kylo Ren (in one of the Falcon's escape pods) and asks Chewie to pass along a message if he sees Finn before she does. And it's a funny moment because we never quite get to know what it is, because Chewie suggests something (in Wookie) and Rey just agrees that it's the perfect sentiment.
- π Rey and Kylo Ren face down Snoke's guards together, we see them in unison for the first time, and it's clearly being set up that they will join forces once the fight is over... except they don't. Kylo is willing to sacrifice everything in order to have a clean slate, which involves letting all of Rey's friends, including (she presumes) Finn, die.
- π Luke appears out of nowhere on Crait! Has he come to save the day after all?! I was entirely fooled by this deception, even though the film went out of its way to present a much younger looking Luke and setting up that he had no plans of ever leaving his island on Ahch-To. Again, it drives home the point that he isn't there to defeat or kill Kylo Ren, just to buy the Resistance the time it needs to escape.
- π The epilogue, of sorts (still thoroughly pre-credits), jumps back to the indentured children looking after the Fathiers on Canto Bight. They tell the tale of how Luke Skywalker faced down Kylo Ren, replayed with crudely constructed props, before they are interrupted and forced to get back to work. The camera follows the boy that already got the most screentime in the scenes with Finn and Rose outside, where it is revealed that he has a basic grasp of the Force as a he calls his broom to him to sweep the floor, before being distracted by a ship leaving the atmosphere, sparking his imagination. He lifts his broom, and it's not hard to see he is imagining it to be a lightsaber.
- π "That last point was a description, not an argument," my imagined audience clamours. And no, it wasn't. But if that scene (or even my shoddy description of it) doesn't stand on its own then I don't know what to tell you. And no, this doesn't mean we'll ever see this particular boy ever again, because that's not the point. It is exactly the message of hope The Last Jedi has been hammering down on for well over two hours by this point. That anybody can be the hero, that legacy is important but not everything, that the world can be better.
Whew, okay. This one was kind of starting to spiral out of control. There are only so many bullet points you can cram into a list before it starts to look too messy. I just have so many things to say about Star Wars...
Now, let's see how these sequels scored...
Attack of the Clones: 68.85
The Empire Strikes Back: 75.67
The Last Jedi: 109.12
Oh wow, The Last Jedi did what Doctor Who could not and broke the (arbitrary) 100 point threshold. With good reason too, I was absolutely blown away by it when I first saw it, and I still think it's a phenomenal and brave film that came out of nowhere. (Uh, it being so good came out of nowhere, it was pretty hard not to notice a Star Wars was coming out)
...considering I'm seeing The Rise of Skywalker in less than 48 hours, it probably goes without saying that I won't be able to cover the two other trilogy-ending films before then. Putting so many disparate bullet points together for the "first" 6 films took a lot longer than expected.
On the bright(?) side that does mean that I'll probably do the last three in exactly the same format.
I guess we'll find out!
An aside about properly ending a middle film
It's tricky to end a film that isn't the end of a story. You want to keep the door wide open for the next film to slot onto this one, especially if it is already a certainty that there will be a next film. But that shouldn't sacrifice the stand alone functionality of the film.
Attack of the Clones and The Last Jedi handle this decently, with a final message that boils down to "everything is going to be different now", but I still feel Empire Strikes Back drops the ball here.
The only clearly finished character arcs are Leia's and Han's, where Leia now realises she loves Han and Han realises he is a hero. If they had been the main characters, great! Even if it had left the carbon-frozen kidnapping element as a plot hook for the sequel.
But the entire conflict between Luke and Vader is entirely unresolved. There is the mental-link conversation between them at the end, which sort of helps to at least summarise where they stand now, but it doesn't quite do enough. That doesn't make Empire bad (in fact, it got substantially higher scores than I expected), but it's important to recognise that even a classic can struggle with something.
...considering I'm seeing The Rise of Skywalker in less than 48 hours, it probably goes without saying that I won't be able to cover the two other trilogy-ending films before then. Putting so many disparate bullet points together for the "first" 6 films took a lot longer than expected.
On the bright(?) side that does mean that I'll probably do the last three in exactly the same format.
I guess we'll find out!
An aside about properly ending a middle film
It's tricky to end a film that isn't the end of a story. You want to keep the door wide open for the next film to slot onto this one, especially if it is already a certainty that there will be a next film. But that shouldn't sacrifice the stand alone functionality of the film.Attack of the Clones and The Last Jedi handle this decently, with a final message that boils down to "everything is going to be different now", but I still feel Empire Strikes Back drops the ball here.
The only clearly finished character arcs are Leia's and Han's, where Leia now realises she loves Han and Han realises he is a hero. If they had been the main characters, great! Even if it had left the carbon-frozen kidnapping element as a plot hook for the sequel.
But the entire conflict between Luke and Vader is entirely unresolved. There is the mental-link conversation between them at the end, which sort of helps to at least summarise where they stand now, but it doesn't quite do enough. That doesn't make Empire bad (in fact, it got substantially higher scores than I expected), but it's important to recognise that even a classic can struggle with something.
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