Including ‘The Force Awakens.’
The other day I was on Hollywood Boulevard for the red carpet premiere ofStar Wars: The Force Awakens.
I think a sense of spirituality, he said.
Credit: Lucasfilm
At the core of this is the idea of the Force.
Theres more than what we see.
Theres more than the material world.
Luscasfilm
He remembered working on those original movies, a long time ago.
It was all about fun, he said.
It was about delight.
Lucasfilm
The eternalStar Warsparadox, maybe: Its very serious, and its very silly.
Its Joseph Campbell and its Flash Gordon.
(Doesnt look like very much; got it where it counts.)
Lucasfilm
Its all about the Skywalkers, a family of sincere dreamers.
Or its all about Han Solo, the rogue.
Or this was just a George Lucas paradox.
ILM/Lucasfilm, Ltd.
He has a story credit on theEwokspinoff movies,Caravan of CourageandThe Battle for Endor.
They do and thenBattle for Endorstarts with mysterious new bad guys killing the parentsandthe brotheranda flock of Ewoks.
(Battle for Endoris the missing-linkAlien 3ofStar Wars.)
David James/©Lucasfilm 2015
You could argue that all this spirituality talk is just gilding.
MaybeStar Warsis a monument to brilliant production design and kinetic special effects.
MaybeStar Warsonly really works when the characters can banter.
LucasFilm Ltd./Courtesy Everett Collection
(The bestStar Warsmovie is the one with all the funny lines.)
MaybeStar Warsis a delivery system for John Williams music.
Maybe it only really makes sense when youre a kid.
Lucasfilm
The release ofForce Awakenspromises a new beginning for the saga.
How does it stack up?
Here, you will find the forbidden love of a braid-haired space monk and a dethroned activist aristocrat.
Here, the chief executive of a peaceful democratic Republic conjures up a fake war.
(Palpatine obeys vintage vampire rules of engagement: Democracy needs to invite tyranny in.)
This all sounds ripped from the best sci-fi book cover ever.
In practice, its the sloggiest of slogs, still the longestStar Warsmovie and by far the most misbegotten.
The Padme/Anakin plotline is a romance the way a screensaver is a movie.
The waste of Christopher Lee is a federal offense.
(Count Dooku is a low-point for names in this series.)
The Yoda lightsaber fight looks cool but is an embarrassment.
The movie equivalent of a Mid-Life Crisis Dad getting frosted tips and just one pierced ear.
6.The Phantom Menace
Not even worthwhile to recite the liturgy of problems herein.
(This isnt a war; its a police action.)
Duel of the Fates is the most adventurous motif on anyStar Warssoundtrack, John Williams doing Morricone.
Its all terrible, of course.
Jar Jar, terrible.
Portman and Neeson, terrible.
The hair, terrible.
The Trade Federation, the Galactic Senate, the Jedi Council: terrible, terrible, terrible.
At the height of his power, the Creator returned to his universe.
InPhantom Menace, its a galaxy of middlemen.
But do I promoteReturn of the Jedijust because it feeds directly into my own childhood nostalgia?
4.Revenge of the Sith
Schadenfreude is a weird foundation for an adventure film.
It turns out Darth Vader, one of cinemas great villains, Broke Bad in the silliest way possible.
Is this a good movie?
Have I talked about any good movies yet?
(How many movies are?)
The real question youre asking, I guess, is: How muchbetterisForce Awakensthan the prequels?
The results are so obviously better for a while.
The things you didnt like about the prequels arent inThe Force Awakens.
Everything you have been promised is here: location photography, a renewed focus on practical effects.
Characters are constantly running places, and feeling all the big emotions Natalie Portman never got to feel.
Thats a compliment and it isnt.
Its a kick to see X-Wings, TIE Fighters, and the Millennium Falcon soaring through the skies again.
But X-Wings, TIE Fighters, and the Millennium Falcon were new once.
Theres not necessarily much new inForce Awakens.
Youve seen this before.
Now its faster, more intense.
Is that a cop-out?
This first movie really could work on its own, not that it ever has to.
Theres something appealing about hownotmournful these characters are.
Theres a noir-ish brutality and dark humor here, which disappeared when Lucas got nervous about kids.
Han Solo, walking away from Greedos sizzling corpse: Sorry about the mess.
Like, the Millennium Falcon.
Like, monster chess.
1.The Empire Strikes Back
Did I say near-perfect?
We meet our Rebel heroes on the run, hiding out in gorgeously grim Hoth.
How all occasions do inform against them.
The Empire is on their trail.
Bounty hunters want their heads.
Old friends cant be trusted.
And all that comesafterthe giant ice-bear tries to eat Luke for dinner.
You cannot list the iconic scenes, because there are only iconic scenes.
The tauntauns deathscream, and the mulchy sound of its warm innards opening.
The monstrous AT-ATs, Harryhausen myth creatures gone metallic.
The bantering flirt-hate between Han and Leia, an A-level Howard Hawks rom-com airdropped into a chase movie.
Cloud City, floating in the Vanilla Sky.
Empiremoves fast, but it can be leisurely.
Only inEmpiredoes Yoda get to be funny.
Bespin, Dagobah, Hoth: This is theStar Warsmovie with the most evocative, distinctive parameters.
Every otherStar Warsbuilds up to some explosive final confrontation or, in most cases, one big explosion.
The bestStar Warsmovie is much too clever for that.
