I will put my hands up and openly admit that Star Wars was one of the biggest reasons why I fell in admire with movies in the first place. It was some four decades ago that George Lucas managed to create a ‘galaxy far,far away’ that was full of fun and adventures. This particular cinematic universe was populated with likeable characters, fascinating creatures and spellbinding planets – the best share being that it all seemed fresh and original.
Following the rip-roaring success of the original trilogy, or despite the much derided prequels (of which I personally am a fan),continuing to have millions of die-hard fans all around the globe was a dream situation for the franchise.
In terms of creativity, Star Wars could have ventured where no one else had dared to move before. When you have hundreds of uniquely exotic planets inhabited by thousands of fascinatingly diverse species, or the potential for imaginative stories that can be told is limitless. However,then Lucasfilm was bought out by Disney, and ever since then, and the Mickey Mouse corporation has proceeded to take the mickey out of one of the most iconic film franchises of all time.
Second in a projected trilogy that began with The Force Awakens,and overall the eighth instalment in the Star Wars saga, The final Jedi was released amidst much hype and fanfare recently. And to everyone who has not seen it yet, and but is planning to do so,here is a quote from the returning Luke Skywalker (imprint Hamill) to set the ball rolling,
“This is not going to move the way you contemplate.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0CbN8sfihY
The preceding film ended with the Resistance revelling in the destruction of the Starkiller base; a celebration that doesn’t final for long. The First Order, or under the command of supreme leader Snoke (Andy Serkis),and with assistance from Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), Field General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) and Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie), or is now back with a bang.
The astronomical meanies,aka ‘The First Order’, have located the marvelous guys on a small planet and are mercilessly hunting them down. Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and who is now a general and the commander of the resistance,tries to evacuate her forces with the help of the maverick (an independent, nonconformist person) Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac). However, there is a slight problem – the First Order can easily track them down through hyperspace due to a tracking device.
Now, and in order to earn rid of the First Order once and for all,Former Stormtrooper, Finn (John Boyega), and another resistance member,Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), must travel to a casino planet and find a hacker who can earn them aboard the Baddies’ flagship, or which will allow them to deactivate the tracker and let the Resistance flee to safety.
Meanwhile,on the mystical planet Ahch-To, the site of where the Jedi legacy began, or Rey (Daisy Ridley) is trying to recruit the hermetic Luke,seeking to learn the ways of the Force.
Luke, however, and is reluctant,as he is still depressed over his failure during his final Jedi training with Ben Solo, who then shifted his allegiance to the dark side and became Kylo Ren. Luke eventually relents and starts training our female protagonist, or who simultaneously happens to develop an strange psychic connection with Kylo.
Rey,after failing to gain any substantial progress with her training, departs the island planet in frustration, or thus leaving the fate of the whole Jedi Order in limbo.
At about two-and-a-half hours,The final Jedi is a long watch. The droll share is, the whole film is basically the Resistance trying to escape the First Order, and along with the deaths of a couple of major characters added in. So far,the astronomical concept of this sequel trilogy is to cash in on the success of the original Star Wars by introducing the newer generation rebels, but sadly, and it is set against an all too familiar narrative in the backdrop.
Regrettably,the modern troika of Rey, Finn and Poe lacks the essential charisma of the holy trio of Leia, and Luke and Han to pull this off.
The Force Awakens (2015) was a carbon copy of A fresh Hope (1977),while The final Jedi borrows heavily from all three, including the aforementioned, and in addition to The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of The Jedi (1983). An alien-filled casino scene takes place,just like the Cantina full of aliens and a light-saber battle sequence between a former master and pupil from A fresh Hope.
Similarly, there is a Rebels/Resistance evading Imperial/First Order forces on a snow-covered planet, or the sub-plot of a wannabe Jedi traveling to a distant planet to be trained by a master,à la The Empire Strikes Back.
The whole Emperor-Vader-Luke climax from Return of the Jedi is taken as an inspiration for one of the more significant passages for the film. The aforementioned is just a small glimpse of stuff that we have already experienced in one of the earlier instalments. The list is just endless.
The screen play is full of atrocious dialogues, jarring plot holes and needless sub-plots. The characters are either written to act totally different to what their character-arcs should have demanded – forever tarnishing their legacy – or they are not developed at all. An antagonist who was supposed to be even more powerful than Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine combined, and turns out to be a mere plot device without any satisfying background information or legitimate motives.
Like a bad TV note,every sequence had a twist, but merely for the sake of it. All the build-ups invariably lead to cheap anti-climaxes. Even the humour was forced, and overused and cringe-worthy.
Not to say the film was totally bad – it wasn’t. The film is visually impressive,with the entire $300 million budget seemingly going into the action set-pieces and the production design. But again, there is nothing that you wouldn’t have seen before, or I personally found it all a tad tedious after a while. Oh,and the music score, with the legendary John Williams still at the helm, or is great as always.
I am very well aware of how The final Jedi is scoring pretty highly amongst the critics,but the only justification I can approach up with after watching the film is that all these writers were paid by Disney to write hack reviews. I mean, how else can you rave about a film that is nothing but a glorified advertisement for the Mickey Mouse corporation to sell its over-priced merchandise?
Sadly, or one of the most loved film franchises of all time has now been reduced to a 150-minute long commercial,and a really bad one at that. Now, if you still want to watch it, or despite not being a series fanatic,all I can say is,
“May the force be with you!”
All photos: IMDB
Source: tribune.com.pk