"Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker" Review: A Celebration of the Power of Cinema
I never have to park a quarter mile from the entrance of my local AMC, but this time was different. As I arrived at 7:03pm for my 7:00pm showing of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker I was not alone in my tardiness. As others ran through the lot to get to the screening, I took my time. The concession stand had double the normal number of regular staff. They worked quickly to fulfill orders, dancing around one another with an understanding of what time it was. After 42 years, the Skywalker saga has come to a close, and that’s a magical thing. The electricity in the air, the feeling of wanting to see how it all ends, the collective vibe that these movies mean something to all of these strangers in a dark theater is the essence of why cinema is so powerful. So while this latest installation may not be the greatest (it’s certainly not the worst), it’s a fitting ending to a franchise we all love.
The film opens with Rey (Daisy Ridley) training with General Organa (Carrie Fisher), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) on a rampage to secure his spot of power in the galaxy, and The Resistance trying to take down the First Order for good. As not to give any more spoilers than trailers have already given, an old enemy has resurfaced, which gives both Rey and Kylo Ren a new challenge, missions are handed out, all hope seems lost- you know, the usual Hero’s Journey stuff. All that to say, questions are answered and old and new friends get a proper goodbye.
The first act of the film is a bit muddled in its direction. The real life death of Carrie Fisher can be felt in the film in the palpable way that writers Chris Terrio and J.J. Abrams tried to work around it without being too overt. It’s a difficult job, but they were able to give her character respect. Feeling more like a sequel to Abrams’ The Force Awakens, the movie really takes off in the second act and beyond as Rey’s past becomes less of a mystery and her future is in question.
This outing is infused with the original wonder of Star Wars in giving us vast landscapes, creatures we’ve never seen, worlds that are beautiful and threatening at the same time, and bonds amongst friends that we all hope to have in this life. With a nod to its beginning, the end leaves you with a sense of hope and wonder as to where the character may go. Ultimately, The Rise of Skywalker is not a pulse-pounding, deeply moving film with emotional resonance that you’ll remember where you were when you saw it for years to come. It’s a difficult job to bring something that means so much to so many people to a close. For that, the film has my respect.
Rating: C+
"Solo: A Star Wars Story" Review
Solo: A Star Wars Story is the surprise of the summer. It’s a miracle that the final product turned out the way that it did. I wasn’t expecting much because of the behind the scenes chaos the film production had (in short, original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired by LucasFilm with a few weeks left in production due to disagreements between them, Lawrence Kasdan, the screenwriter, and LucasFilm over the direction that the film should take and Ron Howard stepped in as their replacement). Since this happened, I thought this was going to be another Justice League situation where you could tell which director shot each scene, and the trailers didn’t do much to gain my confidence. Truth be told, since this had the most publicized troubles of all the Disney Star Wars films, I thought this was going to be a disaster, but much to my surprise, I was wrong on that. And this is the most fun film that Howard has directed in a very long time, and it’s up there with 2013’s Rush as one of the best films he has made during this decade.
The film covers the early days of Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich), how he came to be the character we all came to love, and how he crosses path with his future co-pilot and loyal companion Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo). In short, after a job goes south, Han, Chewie, and Han’s mentor Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrleson) need to repay the debt that Beckett has with gangster Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany). In order to complete their mission, with Vos’ top lieutenant Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke), someone from Han’s past in tow, they will need Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) and what he considers to be the best ship in the galaxy, the Millennium Falcon.
The first thing on everyone’s mind will be, how is Ehrenreich as Han? Well, he’s a little clunky at first and somewhat stiff, but then he finds his rhythm about 30 minutes in, and makes the character his own. I enjoyed that he doesn’t try to amp up or imitate Harrison Ford’s Han, yet you can still see hints of who Han will become in the future. Glover puts in an amazing performance as Lando. Glover absolutely kills it! Whenever he’s on screen, he basically steals the film. Lando is charming as ever, showing how much he’s full of himself, while still possessing the charisma to win you over. Harrleson seems like he’s having fun playing Beckett, and it’s a nice change of pace from some of the serious roles he has taken on for the last few years. In the tradition of scene-stealing droids throughout the series, L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), Lando’s droid companion, gets the job done and provides some laughs. Clarke as Qi’ra was fine in this, certainly better than some of her film roles she has taken on outside of Game of Thrones. Chewie finally gets to do something in this one unlike in the past few episodic films, and I enjoyed the chemistry that Suotamo and Ehrenreich exhibited between one another.
For the story itself, credited to Kasdan (who previously co-wrote The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and The Force Awakens) and his son Jonathan, it is serviceable enough. They pay some nice homage to the original films, and there are some fun Easter Eggs along the way. Since this is basically an origin story, the Kasdans for the most part, provide some fun answers about Han’s background. If anyone knows Han inside and out, Lawrence would be your guy. Story and directing wise, you can see the western influence that the Kasdans and Howard were going for with this film. Howard does a good job in visually depicting each of the planets that we go to throughout the film, with some help from his DP, Bradford Young (this is his first big budget film he shot after films like Selma and getting an Oscar nomination for his work on Arrival). Howard keeps the fun up, and for the cynic like me going into the screening; I will admit that I had a smile on my face from time to time. If you didn’t know about the BTS problems, you wouldn’t be able to tell which directors shot what scenes, and it felt seamless enough that nothing felt out of place. As expected, the creature and set designs were on point. For a 135-minute runtime that Solo displays, the pacing was good and it kept right along (it did seem to go by faster than Star Wars: The Last Jedi), and some of scenes were nicely edited that they had a fun rhythm to it. Finally, the music from John Powell, with some help from John Williams, might be the best-composed music yet for a Disney Wars film. Powell does a nice job in paying tribute to what we heard before, or in this case what we will hear later on, and putting a new spin to some of the classic tracks.
If there were any problems that Solo exhibited, it’s that some of the plotting felt a little too convenient at times, in that you can probably figure out what’s going to happen. The first 15-20 minutes or so are a little clunky and rough around the edges, with the first few scenes so darkly lit that it’s a little hard to see what’s going on. The villain of the film, Vos, isn’t particularly interesting and didn’t grab me, but I wonder if this was one of the casualties of the reshoots and the switching of directors (Michael K. Williams had originally played Vos as a motion capture alien, but when he couldn’t come back, they brought in Bettany and reconfigured the character as a human). For being featured in the marketing, Thandie Newton’s Val was wasted and basically had nothing to do whenever she was on screen. Lastly, the love story that they hint at in the film between Han and Qi’ra is nothing special. Unlike Han and Leia, you never really feel it with Han and Qi’ra, even though we hear throughout the film that there’s something between them.
Overall, and I know that I said this word a few times over the course of this review, but Solo: A Star Wars Story is a fun film. It starts off rocky, but once it finds its rhythm, it gets good. If you were one of those people who were disappointed with The Last Jedi, I think you will have some fun with this. This won’t change the game, but if you’re looking for something to sit back and relax for a few hours, this is a good choice. I would be open to see more Star Wars Stories in the future, since I thought this was going to be the last film in this series, after the problems that this and Rogue One had. I wouldn’t even mind seeing more films with Ehrenreich as Han, but get me that Lando spinoff film ASAP! On that note, I would recommend checking this out in the theater. If you were a skeptic like me, you might be surprised with the outcome of this.
Rating: B
"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" Review: Keep Em' Coming!
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is not a film about if, but how. How did the Rebel Alliance get the plans to the Death Star? Well, it wasn’t easy, and that’s where this off shoot from Star Wars episodes fits in.
Imagine what it was like in 1945 as the Atom Bomb was about to be tested. That’s where things stand in Rogue One. The Death Star is up and running, but the planet killer has yet to be used. With time running short, Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) is recruited by the Rebellion early in the film as an access key. Her bloodline and past makes her important to the group’s plan to see the Death Star destroyed.
The movie is more a war film than anything like its predecessors. Most of the film is tactical in nature. Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), a recruiter and soldier in the Rebel Army, extracts Jyn out of Imperial transport vehicle with the help of his reprogrammed K-2SO (Alan Tudyk). Jyn is offered the opportunity to help the Rebellion, or continue as she was in the hands of The Empire.
Time is of the essence on both sides as Orson Krennic (the always stellar Ben Mendelsohn) is going to show The Empire that the Death Star, the project he’s headed up, is in full working order. As plans on both sides move forward we’re introduced to Chirrut (Donnie Yen) and Baz Malbus (Wen Jiang), two guardians of the temple on planet Jedha, which is being mined by The Empire as fuel. The Empire is on high alert as an extremist in the Rebellion named Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) keeps them on their toes, along with the rest of the Rebel Army.
Suspense and tension is high in this film, while keeping some humor sprinkled in to break things up. With everyone on edge as the clock is running out, it makes for good pacing. Director Gareth Edwards captures the ground and air fights in such a way that we feel entrenched with soldiers, while seeing the scale of the enemy.
A lot should be said about the diversity of the cast. Felicity Jones brings a nice balance of strength to her character, while carrying the emotional weight of her past in her eyes. The combination of Jones, Luna, Yen and Jiang throughout the film make for a great rag tag family and diversity that isn’t too often seen in a big budget film like this because screen time is spread well amongst the group.
In case you were wondering, Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones) is in the film just the right way and for the right amount of time! His presence is known and when it’s felt it’s felt, but it is sure to please any Vader fan. Rest assured, they got that part right!
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a nice entry in setting up the epic saga to follow. It instills confidence for more stand-alone movies in the coming years as well. Since my kids won’t know the difference, when they reach an age that Darth Vader doesn’t scare them, we’ll start with Rogue One and work our way up to episode 8 (by then)! One through three will always be extra credit.
Rating: B+
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Review
I wasn’t alive when the original Star Wars hit the big screen. I saw them all on VHS though! I was alive and in the theater when all of the episodes that will not be mentioned hit the big screen. *crickets* With the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens I finally know what it’s like to sit through a good, entertaining, albeit safe, Star Wars film installment in the theater!
Picking up 30 years after the last film, there is only one jedi left in the universe and he hasn’t been seen for decades. The First Order (basically the super power remanence of Darth Vader’s evil empire) is seeking to hunt down Luke Skywalker to kill him and secure an uneven balance to the force. The Order is led by Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) and his all powerful apprentice Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). After receiving a portion of a map to where Skywalker is located, Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), the most skilled fighter pilot in The Resistance, manages to hide it in his BB-8 (the upgraded, rolling R2-D2) just as the First Order invades planet Jakku.
With that, BB-8 becomes the most sought after droid in the galaxy! We’re introduced to ex-storm trooper Finn (John Boyega) and scavenger Rey (Daisy Ridley), who both want to protect the hot potato that is BB-8. As they take action to do so, they run into Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewy (Peter Mayhew). It’s a smart move. By having the new characters link up with the old, a mentorship occurs on screen and at a franchise level, guiding it back to the original, fun and playful spirit of the films of old.
The script is very tight, moves quickly, and wastes no space. In fact, all of the above probably gets things under way within the first fifteen minutes. The rest of the space adventure follows that of "The Hero’s Journey" to the letter, introducing us to old friends and new ones.
It’s obvious that co-writer/director JJ Abrams absolutely loves and respects the franchise. His direction honors the past, and charts a way for the future. Yet in his adoration, he doesn’t step too far out of the box to create something fresh. The film, while updated from a technology point of view, is predictable at times, borrowing old themes and plot points. That being said, it is a gorgeous film and well directed.
For instance, in a scene near the climax, a hangar door opens high above a walkway, illuminating the walkway below and the characters facing each other on it. In a wide shot, most of the space in the frame is dark except for the light streaming through the door, down onto the walkway. It’s an epic frame that gives a moment for the audience to take in the emotional gravity of the scene. Abrams allows plenty of moments like this throughout the film, guiding us through the roller coaster of feelings of wonder and adventure that Star Wars of old used to give.
While most of the ensemble is well casted, Adam Driver is a sore spot. As long as Kylo Ren keeps his mask on, he’s a ferocious beast. Any time Driver’s face is on screen, you can expect the scene to slow down. Outside of that, even the bit characters do their thing!
Star Wars: The Force Awakens will renew your faith in the franchise! Not only that, it gives a little fuel to your faith in movies, because it is an experience. From the buzz leading up to this film, the chatter you hear while purchasing your popcorn, to the John Williams score blasting in the opening frame, the film entertains! It’s probably worth standing in line this weekend if you don’t want to hear spoilers, but a must see in theaters!
Rating: B+