Posts Tagged ‘darth vader’

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

December 20, 2017

Starring: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hammill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern
Director: Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper)

Bottom Line: I feel like it’s important to note that I’m not a Star Wars fanatic. The series has always been overrated to me and while the original trilogy is definitely classic in the sense that they were groundbreaking films at the time and have had a tremendous affect on pop culture over the last 40 years, the movies themselves are merely enjoyable to me. I’m not wrapped up in all the mythology and I don’t watch all the movies again when a new one comes out. I haven’t seen a film in the prequel trilogy since Revenge of the Sith was in theaters. I did really enjoy The Force Awakens though and for the first time in my life I felt some of that Star Wars magic that everyone else is so enamored by.

The Last Jedi felt nothing like that. Right from the jump, we are hit with cringe-worthy dialogue and humor that doesn’t land. I chuckled one time during this movie and I was supposed to laugh a lot more than that. And then we are introduced to a Luke Skywalker that is nothing like your childhood hero. Even Mark Hammill hates this version.

I can’t get into all the minutiae of why this film is a poor follow up to The Force Awakens – I’ve seen fans nitpick all the relevant little details – but what I can say with confidence is that I was pretty bored while watching it and it was incredibly long for a movie that wasn’t highly entertaining. John Boyega’s Finn – one of the highlights of the previous film – has a much less interesting role this time around and goes on a side adventure that borders on prequel levels of terrible. I wasn’t a fan of Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren in the last film and this movie doesn’t help with that. Can you imagine Star Wars without Darth Vader? He’s a huge reason why those movies are memorable. Just a great villain. Kylo Ren is more similar to Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker than to Lord Vader – and that’s not a good thing. Plus, he spends this entire movie with his mask off. Ugh.

The Last Jedi does have some cool moments, but I think they occur far less often than dull or laughable ones. The critics enjoyed this movie, but I personally can’t recommend it. I can’t even say Star Wars diehards will love it because it seems as though the fan base is pretty split, but there are enough people that hate it, that I feel it’s fair to warn people to temper their expectations.

Replay Value: I don’t have much interest in seeing this again. My friend that went with me was happy to see it a second time though.
Sequel Potential: Episode IX is due out in 2019.
Oscar Potential: Star Wars movies are always strong candidates of Visual and Sound nominations. This movie will not be a contender for Best Picture.

Grade: 5/10 (Watchable)

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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

December 22, 2016

Starring: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn
Director: Gareth Edwards (Godzilla (2014), Monsters)

Bottom Line: Rogue One is definitely going to be one of the more overrated films of 2016 – partly because the critic reviews are mostly positive, resulting in an 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, but mostly because it is a generally pleasing film with a strong final act. Fans of the Star Wars brand are going to find very little to complain about.

But it’s not spectacular or without weaknesses. The story is inspired by the crawl for Star Wars: A New Hope, in which The Rebel Alliance obtain plans for the Death Star that reveal how it can be destroyed. This film tells the story of why those plans exist and how they were stolen from the Empire and delivered to the Alliance. It’s actually a pretty neat set up for the original story and sits better with me in the prequel canon than Episodes I through III – but the characters here are kind of weak. It’s the who of the story where things fall apart.

Aside from the heroine Jyn (Jones) and Alan Tudyk’s droid K-2SO with his often hilarious deadpan dialog, I’d wager that most filmgoers won’t remember the names of the rest of the heroes. I couldn’t. There’s a male protagonist played by Diego Luna and a pilot played, questionably, by Riz Ahmed. There’s a blind guy and his friend – and they have some cool moments, but… who are they again? One of Star Wars greatest appeals is creating memorable and lasting characters, which I felt The Force Awakens did a good job of, but Rogue One fails in this regard. Even the character of Jyn is forgettable and I thought Felicity Jones had moments where she just seemed to be going through the motions, delivering her dialog like she was reading it straight off the script. This is an actress that was Oscar nominated as recently as 2014 for The Theory Of Everything. You can’t really blame Disney for trying to capitalize on the Star Wars brand by churning out these side films, but the characters in Rogue One feel hollow and it really takes away from one’s emotional involvement in the story, especially in the last act.

But that last act is actually quite strong. It’s a high octane finale full of “surprises” that seems to be the biggest reason people are walking out of this movie with a smile on their face and forgetting how mediocre the rest of the movie was. It’s no secret that Darth Vader is in this film, unless you haven’t seen any trailers, and he will not disappoint. Though his screen time is rather limited, he’s easily the highlight of the movie when he’s featured. There’s a lot of nostalgia hearing the classic breathing apparatus and James Earl Jones voicing the character again. Plus, we get to see Darth Vader be a ruthless bad ass, which somewhat helps ease the memory of watching Hayden Christensen do his best to ruin the character as Anakin Skywalker in the prequels. It would have been nice to see more Vader in this movie, but I can understand the filmmakers wanting to make a film that can stand apart from the main series – they just forgot to flesh out the new characters.

I actually like the concept of Rogue One and the idea of stand alone side films in the Star Wars canon, I just think the execution here was lacking a bit. There’s a chance it could grow on me more with multiple viewings and maybe the characters will stick with me more, but Rogue One is enjoyable at best, and seems like it is getting a lot of favorable reviews because the ending is good and the visual effects are pleasing. It’s not a great film, but as I said before, Star Wars fans are unlikely to be disappointed.

Edit: I forgot to comment on how pointless it was to pay double to see this movie in 3D. It basically never comes into play or add to the experience. It might be a fun movie to see in IMAX, but do not pay to see this in normal 3D! Save the money.

Replay Value: Worth watching again.
Sequel Potential: This film is an immediate prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy. There are more stand alone Star Wars stories on the way though.
Oscar Potential: Star Wars movies are always a contender for any of the sound or visual effects categories.

Grade: 6/10 (recommended)

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Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

December 21, 2015

Starring: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Andy Serkis
Director: J.J. Abrams (Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Super 8)

Bottom Line: There were a lot of things going right with the development of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. We can all appreciate George Lucas for bringing the Star Wars franchise to the world, but after the bitter taste he left in our mouths with Episodes I-III, I can’t imagine that anyone was sad to hear he wasn’t going to be involved much with the making of Episode VII. Replace Lucas with proven sci-fi master J.J. Abrams, who recently reinvigorated the Star Trek franchise with great success, and the creative minds at Disney, and well, there was plenty to be excited about.

And The Force Awakens immediately feels familiar… and special. Before I even heard the names Finn or Rey, I already knew Episode VII was going to be eons better than the last three movies. It feels like a Star Wars movie – a good one; and yet, it is carried by an entirely new cast of characters.

It opens with Kylo Ren (Adam Driver as the new Darth Vader), field commander of the First Order (the new Empire) and a crew of storm troopers trying to find a map that leads to the location of a missing Luke Skywalker. Of course, the map is hidden in a droid (no, not R2D2) that is accompanied by a top pilot in the Resistance named Poe (Isaac), both of whom are captured by the First Order. However, during battle, one of the storm troopers, who we will come to know as Finn (Boyega), seems to become aware of his wrongdoing and decides to deflect, saving Poe and his droid and escaping before crashing on the planet Jakku, where Poe disappears and Finn meets Rey (Ridley), a scrappy scavenger with all the signs of a future Jedi. In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, it’s up to Rey and Finn to use the map to find Luke Skywalker, the last known Jedi, and avoid the clutches of Kylo Ren and the evil First Order.

At first glance, that plot might look eerily similar – and it should. The Force Awakens is certainly not breaking new ground in storytelling and considering this is the seventh installment in the series, it honestly makes me laugh any time I see someone legitimately criticize this movie for being unoriginal. What did you expect? It’s pretty clear that the writers decided to take the elements of the original series that worked, flip them around a bit, add a twist or two, add some new characters, sprinkle in some old ones, shake it up a bit, and hope they had the ingredients for another commercially (and this time critically) successful trilogy.

And I’ll be damned if the formula doesn’t work to perfection. Abrams and company manage to infuse The Force Awakens with plenty of call backs and cameos from the original trilogy without overdoing it, all while developing brand new players that will carry the story for the next decade. Both Ridley’s Rey and Driver’s Kylo Ren are worthy additions to the Star Wars legacy, but it’s Boyega’s Finn that is the true standout. As a former storm trooper, Finn’s arc is the only one that is truly unique in the movie and Boyega plays the part with wide-eyed giddiness. Already a potential breakout candidate with his awesome performance in 2011’s wonderful and criminally overlooked Attack The Block, Boyega is now officially a megastar. Having watched the original trilogy recently, I was also impressed with how seamless Harrison Ford’s performance as Han Solo feels considering it has been over thirty years since he played the part. That kind of nostalgia didn’t carry over into the latest Indiana Jones movie, so it’s a welcome feat here.

Not everyone in the cast is brilliant, however. Carrie Fisher’s General Leia Organa feels out of place and her portrayal is a bit jarring. I don’t know if time just hasn’t been kind to the actress or what, but she doesn’t feel or sound like how I would imagine Princess Leia 30 years later. Also, after seeing such brilliant performances from Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron) and Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux) in Ex Machina earlier this year, it’s a bit disappointing to see how little screen time Isaac gets for what I thought would be a major character and how rigid and forced Gleeson’s First Order general feels.

Still, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was everything I could have hoped for. It feels like a movie George Lucas would have made in his prime with 2015’s film-making technology. The story lacks originality, sure, and while you might not be able to guess the plot twists exactly, they won’t really surprise you when they happen – and I can only assume more “big” revelations are coming (if Finn is an ordinary storm trooper that simply decided to switch sides, well, then I know nothing about anything). Regardless, the movie is entertaining and funny enough that we can be happy that we are getting more of what we already know we love: an awesome space adventure with great and memorable characters. We have a new core of potential Star Wars icons to root for and against and it will be interesting to see the rest of the trilogy play out. This is a superb blockbuster film and I can’t imagine how any Star Wars fan would feel anything less than glee while watching it. J.J. Abrams done did it again!

Replay Value: I actually want to see it in theaters again… preferably in IMAX 3D.
Sequel Potential: Episode VIII is due out in May 2017 and Episode IX comes out in 2019, plus we are getting Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in 2016, a Han Solo prequel in 2018, and possibly a Boba Fett movie in 2020.
Oscar Potential: This movie should get some technical attention: special effects, make-up, visual effects, costumes, sound editing, sound, etc. the real question is whether it can sneak into the Best Picture or Best Director categories…

Grade: 8/10 (Excellent)

MINOR SPOILER: My one real complaint with this movie was that about midway through, Han Solo and Chewbacca are encountered by some sort of bounty hunters played by Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian, amazing martial artists that are responsible for some of the best fight choreography I’ve ever seen (see: The Raid and The Raid 2) and yet, their roles could have been played by any other extra, as they have minimal dialogue before being whisked off screen while we get a monster chase sequence. Talk about a waste.

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