SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY - Sidetracked

Note: Here's where the spoilers begin.

"Let me give you some advice: assume everyone will betray you, and you will never be disappointed."

- Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson), Solo: A Star Wars Story

In the summer of 1977, moviegoers were introduced to two new dynamic movie characters: daredevil adventurer Bo “Bandit” Darville (Burt Reynolds) from Smokey and the Bandit and wisecracking mercenary Han Solo (Harrison Ford) from the original Star Wars. Both of them were devil-may-care showoffs who were seemingly only preoccupied with money but ultimately are revealed to have hearts of gold. In the case of Han Solo, audiences fell in love with Ford’s charismatic performance, which was augmented by his many improvisations as well as uncredited dialogue passes by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz. George Lucas’ original dialogue was said to be so esoteric that Ford famously complained, “George, you can type this $#*! but you can’t say it.”

Having been established as a movie star, Ford was reluctant to reprise his role of Han Solo for Return of the Jedi. He had already played characters with more depth like Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Rick Deckard in Blade Runner and even got an Academy Award nomination as the Amish-protecting city cop John Book from Peter Weir’s Witness. The cliffhanger ending to The Empire Strikes Back left Solo frozen in carbonite and as far as Ford was concerned, he could stay there. “He’s got no mama, he’s got no papa, he’s got no future.” However, Lucas’ thinking prevailed and Ford was defrosted. His clear and utter contempt for the material (“Well, why don’t you use your divine influence and get us out of this?”) is evident but remains entertaining. For decades after Jedi, Ford’s career would continue to rise but he made an effort to steer clear of science-fiction (with few exceptions like Ender’s Game and Cowboys and Aliens).

In 2012, Disney purchased Lucasfilm Ltd. and set into motion production on the long-awaited sequel trilogy. While it was assumed that Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher would be more than willing to join the cast, many felt that Harrison Ford would be the lone holdout. Then, head of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy hired J.J. Abrams to direct The Force Awakens; while it is true that she was looking for him to revitalize the franchise the same way he did Star Trek, one might see an ulterior motive. In the early years of Abrams’ career, he wrote a screenplay entitled Regarding Henry, which was made into a movie starring Ford and directed by Mike Nichols. In fact, Abrams was given a cameo role as a pizza boy delivering to Ford’s character in the film. Hiring a familiar face from the past who just so happened to have a major career boost may have turned the tides for Ford’s participation with one major stipulation: Han Solo had to die by the end of the film.

Naturally, with Han Solo being killed by his own son, Disney had to find a way to lighten up the franchise. They began looking into spin-off films that would be released in the intervening years between saga films. One of the first ideas to come up was the origin story of Han Solo, to be written by long-time Star Wars writer Lawrence Kasdan and his son, Jon. To bring their concept to life, Kathleen Kennedy hired Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Their body of work was nothing but comedies – Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, the Jump Street films and The LEGO Movie. Over and over again, they had managed to take ideas that were skeptical at best and ridiculous at worst and turn them into box office gold. It was hoped that by giving them a higher budget than they were used to would allow them to take their abilities to greater heights. Almost immediately, Kennedy and the directors were at odds with each other. Coming from an improvisational background, they would often film scenes with multiple takes, each with a different delivery from the actors so there would be a wealth of options for the editing room. Kennedy was expecting more from them and Kasdan was said to be immensely displeased. Lord and Miller were themselves not used to this amount of pressure from a studio. As talking points began to break down, the end was near. Lucasfilm publicly announced that Lord and Miller were no longer involved with the project and a search for a new director would soon begin.

Enter Ron Howard, the Academy Award-winning director of such beloved films as Splash, Cocoon and A Beautiful Mind as well as less-regarded films like The Grinch, The Dilemma and In the Heart of the Sea. His Lucasfilm bonafides included having starred in George Lucas’ Modesto cruising comedy-drama American Graffiti as well as directing the fantasy adventure Willow. It has also been confirmed that Howard was among the first names on Lucas’ mind to direct The Phantom Menace before infamously taking on the job himself. Kennedy needed a name that was reliable and could work fast to undo the “damage” done to the Kasdans’ script. Howard, having never done an outer-space adventure film before, was intrigued and took the job. Bringing the cast back together for reshoots was no doubt a nerve-racking achievement, but from all accounts Howard had the time of his life and took to the world of Star Wars like a duck to water.

All his life, young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) has dreamed of a life where he can fly amongst the stars and be the captain of his own ship. After being forcibly separated from the love of his life, Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke), Han joins the Imperial infantry looking to become a pilot but is instead placed on the front lines. There, he meets a group of undercover criminals led by Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson) and bumps into a Wookiee that becomes a life-long friend Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo). Together, they go on a heist set by a crime lord named Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany), who promises death if they fail to live up to his expectations. On the way, the crew finds a famous smuggler named Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) with just the ship they need, the Millennium Falcon. But as Han soon discovers, everyone has secrets they hide and few can be trusted.

While I think that Solo was much better than Rogue One, I still would have preferred to have seen Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's comedy version to the one audiences got. I would very much still like to hear their side of the story and I am sure due to non-disclosure agreements, they will not be saying much until years from now. Though I am sure they would have added a lot of lowbrow humor to the film, they also would have captured the heart and made the idea wholly worthwhile. In fact, their improvisations might have made the film that much more memorable, ala Harrison Ford's contributions to Star Wars. On the final film, they are credited as executive producers. Currently, they are said to be developing the sci-fi movie Artemis, from the author of The Martian and if that film is any indication, I am sure Lord and Miller will be bringing their creative sense of humor to this new production. All in all, there had to be have been some other way to have settled differences between the directors and Lucasfilm. Maybe assigning them to another project or allowing them the ability to create something all on their own. But now and forever, Solo will have the distinction of having started out with two directors and finishing out with one. Very few memorable movies can say that is a plus.

But to talk about the movie audiences *did* get, Solo is a fine adventure film. It has a lot more fun action set-pieces than the other Disney Star Wars films have, aside from Force Awakens. The big elephant in the room is Alden Ehrenreich and his performance of Han. When he was first announced all I knew him from was the Coen Brothers' Hail, Caesar (a movie that I believe suffered from misleading advertising). While he certainly *can* act, he can not act as Han Solo. I just do not see any of what would eventually become Harrison Ford in his scenes. On the other hand, Donald Glover captured exactly what one expects from Lando Calrissian; "an ol' smoothie". Woody Harrelson does good work as Han's mentor but the fact that he does eventually betray Han is unfortunately totally predictable; though he does bring to mind another character from another Lucasfilm production - the curiously named "Fedora" from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ("You lost today, kid. But it doesn't mean you have to like it.").  Emilia Clarke is, of course, stunning as ever but does not offer much outside of being Han's love interest. Paul Bettany's crime boss is supposed to be ruthless and menacing, but I do not find him to be so. This is a decent cast, but they are just not allowed to take risks or do anything out of the ordinary.

There is a surprise cameo in the film and while I was thinking it was going to be Jabba the Hutt (maybe even a pracical puppet like Yoda from Last Jedi), but it turned out to be Darth Maul from The Phantom Menace. That is pretty cool, but I imagine pretty confusing to people that have not followed Lucasfilm's animated series(es) "The Clone Wars" and "Rebels" who find out that Darth Maul did indeed survive his slice in half via Obi-Wan Kenobi and now has robot legs. I appreciate that Ray Park was brought back to reprise his role though he is once again dubbed over. So now the first question to ask is why is Lucasfilm bringing back Darth Maul to live-action? Are they setting up a new trilogy of films where Han will eventually take on Maul before he gets to the Mos Eisley Cantina? Will this lead into the long-rumored Obi-Wan Kenobi movie with Ewan McGregor? Maul is certainly a character that can be added to and I am curious to see what he does next.

Fact 1: No one involved with Rogue One ever said this. This is a parody post.

Fact 2: To quote Perry White from Batman v. Superman, "Other breaking news, water... wet."

The fans who got upset with The Last Jedi will most likely find things to get upset over with Solo, but really, if these movies bug you that much - get over yourselves. Seriously. Go find something else to bide your time with. If you are actually going to boycott something, boycott something that actually matters. This is escapism, pure and simple. I have movies that I hate for certain - Vacation (2015) and Ghostbusters: Answer the Call among them. I can, without resorting to violence or anger, reason out why these movies do not work as movies and why the damage the franchises involve with. These other boycotts are just evil, political manipulations of entertainment. It is disgusting and deplorable and it sickens me to have to write about it. I will not discuss this further, so do not bother commenting about it.

Solo: A Star Wars Story - Ron Howard's version, anyway - is a perfectly serviceable Star Wars movie. It has all the humor and thrills that one expects out of this series, but the parts do not add up to the sum of a full movie. The Lord and Miller version will most likely never see the light of day and if that is the case, so be it. I would certainly hope that Lucasfilm learned from their mistakes and will now consciously work with filmmakers every step of the way so that miscommunication will be a thing of the past. It is essentially a film used for a theme park ride (ala "Star Tours") that got a theatrical release; not bad, but leaves you wanting something with more depth.

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI - But Not Least

Note: Spoilers to maximum. Prepare to fire.

"Amazing. Everything you just said was... wrong. The Rebellion is reborn today. The war has just begun."

- Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Star Wars: The Last Jedi

In the aftermath of The Force Awakens, the world got Star Wars fever all over again. It was cool again to like Star Wars as opposed to having to hide it away in public for fear of Jar Jar jokes. This was naturally due to the fact that multinational conglomerate Disney now owned the franchise (and as of this writing pretty much everything else). They followed it up the coming year with Rogue One, a standalone film that proved the franchise was capable of going in different directions if just for one film. But the next film would be the real test. Would audiences come back for more? Had the new cast garnered enough goodwill for fans past and present? And most importantly: would Mark Hamill actually get to recite dialogue?

Enter Rian Johnson: a true maverick filmmaker. Starting from his first film, the Joseph Gordon-Levitt crime mystery Brick, Johnson established himself as a director that would go after storytelling with raw emotion. Following this up, Johnson would lighten his tone with the con-man comedy The Brothers Bloom, this time teaming with actors Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo. This jokey action movie would later lead to him directing one episode of "Terriers", a short-lived but cult favorite television series (maybe we should give a big-time franchise movie to the guy who directed the pilot episode?). Johnson went back to his darker roots with three episodes of the critically acclaimed series "Breaking Bad", with his final episode "Ozymandias" quickly scoring a perfect 10/10 on IMDb after its initial airing. In 2012, Johnson directed his biggest movie (until today), Looper - a massively mind-bending sci-fi/thriller starring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as one hitman at two different ages. With all of these achievements, and all of them being all original material, what could one of the world's most popular film franchises ever have to offer to Rian Johnson?

In the aftermath of destroying the massive Starkiller Base, the Resistance quickly begins an evacuation with General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) in charge. As they are escaping, they quickly discover that they have very low fuel reserves and are hours away from destruction by the pursuing First Order led by General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson). Together, ex-Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega), X-Wing pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and a young Rebel engineer named Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) launch a plan to find a code-breaker to help them break onto a First Order ship and disable it, so the Resistance can escape. Meanwhile, Rey (Daisy Ridley) has tracked down the missing Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) so that not only can he assist the efforts of the Resistance but so she can be taught in the ways of the Force. However, the years have worn down the formerly optimistic farm boy and Luke has become quite cynical and believes that the Jedi should die with him. However, after seeing Rey's determination, he reluctantly agrees to train her. Rey soon finds herself troubled by conversations she has through the Force with her nemesis, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), who wants nothing more than to turn her over to his Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) and kill Skywalker - his former teacher - himself.

This was an exhilarating movie. The cast, most of which has returned from The Force Awakens, has never been better. Every character gets their time to shine, which is good considering there are a LOT of them. Finn & Rose, a new character we are introduced to, work well off each other as Finn is having to live up to the Resistance hero image that Rose associates him with. Poe and Leia have great back and forth dialogue, yet I cannot say I am happy with Laura Dern as Holdo. She gets introduced near the middle of the movie and she immediately takes a dislike to Poe, without any real motive. It gets hinted that she is a traitor to the Resistance but that is thrown out the window. Maybe she had more to do and more to endear audiences with in a longer version of the movie, but as it stands she does not offer much except for giving her life to help save the Resistance. 

Mark Hamill delivers a dynamite performance that gives laughs, cheers and even frights at times as Luke Skywalker. Naturally, after his 30 second performance at the end of The Force Awakens, many were confused and/or disappointed that Mark Hamill had relatively nothing to do. That is changed with The Last Jedi. Hamill is allowed to let loose with his performance, in very much the same way Harrison Ford did in the previous film. You get the sense that Hamill was tired of playing (and being identified as) the goody-two-shoes character that Luke was in the Original Trilogy. Here, he is giving broad drama where he feels much guilt for having failed Yoda and Obi-Wan at restarting the Jedi Order and for ruining the life of Ben Solo who became Kylo Ren. There is a series of flashbacks in the film, and while flashbacks are not centrally used in Star Wars, it shows both Luke and Kylo Ren's point-of-view of the night Kylo turned. In Kylo's version, Luke is terrifying with murder in his eyes. In Luke's version, he is "filled with shame" for having considered killing Ben with his lightsaber. We all make mistakes, even Jedi.

The big unspoken element of the film is that this is Carrie Fisher's final film. But to give the filmmakers credit, if this was to be her swan song, what a swan song it is. Leia plays an enormous part of the plot to the film and you can tell Fisher was enjoying every minute of it. She gets to literally slap around Poe Dameron in their first scene together and it is really funny. Without giving too much away, there is a segment in the film where Leia seemingly dies and I have to admit I was in disbelief. There was no way she was going to die in this movie if she had already died in real life; Carrie Fisher, tragically, lost her life but the character of Leia Organa is immortal. Naturally, she finds a way to survive and continues to lead the fight well into the end of the movie. The end credits dedicates the film to her.

Disney continues their hit-streak of bringing life back to Star Wars. They got Abrams to resuscitate it, had Edwards check its memory and now Johnson has checked its pulse. Weeks before its release, Disney and Lucasfilm announced that Johnson would be heading up his own standalone Star Wars trilogy after Episode IX. If this film is any indication, Johnson is not only well-suited but perfect for the job. Last Jedi is a thrilling, funny and riveting experience. There are quite a few nice surprises, jawdropping reveals and extreme excitement to be had. I highly encourage everybody to see it as quickly as possible. In IMAX, if possible. 

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS - To Boldly Go To A Galaxy Far Far Away…

NOTE: May the spoilers be with you. Also, fair warning, this is more of an in-depth review so hang in there.

“Some things never change.”
- Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Star Wars: The Force Awakens

All his life, J.J. Abrams wanted to be a storyteller. Inspired by the films of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, he became a screenwriter. In college, he wrote the film Regarding Henry. During the making of the film, Abrams got to meet its star, Harrison Ford – who had years earlier played two of his film heroes, Han Solo and Indiana Jones.

Nearly 20 years later, Abrams transitioned into directing. He was offered Mission: Impossible III by Spielberg and Tom Cruise, which led to the reinvention of the franchise. Paramount would often ask Abrams to help revive a franchise with 2009’s Star Trek. The film was a massive success and led to Abrams’ first original directorial project, Super 8, about a group of kids shooting a zombie movie in a small town when an alien monster attacks. He was able to share a set with Spielberg, the film’s producer. It was also a major success.

Then, Abrams hit a major speed-bump in the form of 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness. While the film was a financial success, the critical and fan reaction was dismal; the leading argument being that the film was nothing more than a rip-off of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Speaking of Khan, the decision in the film marketing to hide the true identity of Benedict Cumberbatch’s character was loudly decried. Eventually, things got so hostile that the film’s co-writer Roberto Orci launched into an all-out rage against the fans on Twitter and declared he knew “what was best for Star Trek” more than they did. After the outburst, Orci left Twitter and has not resurfaced other than his television projects (“Limitless” and “Minority Report”) with his partner, Alex Kurtzman. Abrams has since taken the blame for most of the decisions made on the film. Little did he know that he was about to jump from one galaxy to another and become a part of something he once knew as a younger man.

Late October 2012. The world is stunned when George Lucas and Bob Iger jointly announce that Lucasfilm has been sold to the Walt Disney Company. They also announced that – for the first time – Star Wars Episode VII was officially in the works; the movie George Lucas said for DECADES would never happen. Almost immediately, the brains of fans everywhere were working overtime to think of who could possibly direct this new installment. Lucasfilm’s press release specifically stated that “Star Wars will be handed over to the new generation of filmmakers”. 

One by one, every fan’s choice turned down the film: Steven Spielberg (“It’s George’s world, not mine”), Jon Favreau (“I’m not sure what I want to do next” – it eventually became Disney's The Jungle Book), Guillermo del Toro (“I’d have better luck dating a supermodel”), Quentin Tarantino (“Disney Star Wars movies? No way, José” - Tarantino would eventually despise Disney for taking away screens reserved for The Hateful Eight and instead show Star Wars), Brad Bird (“I’m busy with Tomorrowland”) and Colin Trevorrow (“I’m reopening the park with Jurassic World”). Naturally, Abrams was asked by Empire Magazine in November if he had been contacted by Lucasfilm. This was Abrams’ response:

“There were very early conversations and I quickly said that because of my loyalty to Star Trek, and also just being a fan, I wouldn’t even want to be involved in the next version of those things. I declined any involvement very early on. I’d rather be in the audience not knowing what was coming, rather than being involved in the minutiae of making them.”

Fast forward to late January 2013. With fans chomping at the bit for Lucasfilm to announce who will be behind the first Star Wars movie in a decade, it is finally revealed that the director of Episode VII will be… J.J. Abrams. Jaws everywhere fell to the floor. Even worse, this was not immediately confirmed by Lucasfilm until a day later. Abrams then said in an official press release titled, “Star Wars Is Being Kick-Started With Dynamite”:

“To be a part of the next chapter of the Star Wars saga, to collaborate with Kathy Kennedy and this remarkable group of people, is an absolute honor. I may be even more grateful to George Lucas now than I was as a kid.”

While fans might be angry for Abrams’ outright lie (or at least poor attention of misdirection), The Hollywood Reporter reports that:

“Abrams said in November that he wasn’t interested in taking over the venerable franchise from creator George Lucas. But sources tell THR that Kennedy contacted Abrams in early January and went to visit the filmmaker at the Santa Monica offices of his Bad Robot production company. Kennedy is said to have won over the filmmaker with her pitch [“Please do Star Wars”].”

And so, with the financial backing of Disney, the encouragement of powerhouse producer Kathleen Kennedy and the universe that was the brainchild of George Lucas, Abrams embarked on unarguably the biggest movie of his career.

30 years after the destruction of the Death Star II, the heroes of the Rebellion have disappeared into legend. In the case of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), he and the Jedi have fallen into myth after Luke vanished after one of his Jedi students turned to the dark side. With Luke’s disappearance, the galaxy has fallen into chaos with a new evil rising, the First Order. One of its darker disciples, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) is obsessed with Skywalker’s father Darth Vader and continuing where he left off – destroying all that is good in the galaxy; apparently not realizing Vader had a change of heart before he died. He captures X-Wing pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), from a secret mission for General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), and threatens to destroy him if he does not reveal the information he seeks. On the distant planet Jakku, a desert scavenger Rey (newcomer Daisy Ridley) is dreaming of a life of adventure rather than being stuck in the middle of nowhere. She gets her wish granted in the form of a rogue stormtrooper nicknamed Finn (John Boyega), who crash-lands his TIE Fighter while escaping from the fanatical First Order. Reluctantly teaming up, they come across the paths of old veterans Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Meyhew), who knew Luke Skywalker firsthand.

J.J. Abrams has pulled off a moviegoing miracle. After the disastrous fan reactions to the Prequel Trilogy (I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at the Prequels without scoffing intensely now; welcome back, character dialogue that sounds like what people actually talk like), The Force Awakens is a callback to the good old Original Trilogy while establishing itself as an entirely new entity. I quite enjoyed the bromance between Poe and Finn, it was quite funny and awesome. Finn and Rey are the main focus of the film however, and they both play off each other well; I was particularly appreciative that they were not given a typical romance attached to them just because they are opposite genders. Daisy Ridley is a vision, perfectly smart, beautiful and talented. John Boyega has this natural charisma and charm that works well; all the controversial brouhaha over him being a Stormtrooper was absolutely worthless. Oscar Isaac is someone I had seen in movies before, but here he shines as someone personifying cool and confidence. But, to me, the shining light of the film is Harrison Ford as Han Solo. We are given a genuinely fun performance from a guy who otherwise looks so miserable he would not even go to his own funeral.

Speaking of funerals... Harrison Ford has finally delivered on his threats to kill off Han Solo. It is the scene everyone and their mother is talking about: Han Solo confronts the monstrous Kylo Ren and reveals to the audience that he knows Ren as Ben, his son. After he tries to convince his son to abandon the Dark Side of the Force, Ren kills his father with his lightsaber. As he falls, Han lovingly bids farewell to his son. It is a scene I knew was coming, but even as it was happening, my heart was pounding as I wished it was not true. However, if it had to happen, this was the best possible scenario: something noble, appropriate and well-made. Ford looks truly heartbroken, but I am sure he had to fight the urge to jump with joy.

I will make this analogy (if it makes any sense): George Lucas builds a shiny automobile. He lavishes over it and everybody loves to see it. Then, he starts adding all sorts of annoying gadgets and gizmos to the car, too proud to let anyone else handle it. Eventually, the car falls into disrepair and, having fallen out of love with it, Lucas decides to bequeath it to a friend, Kathleen Kennedy. Kennedy knows that this car used to be really something and just needs a little tender love and care. She immediately takes the car to a mechanic, J.J. Abrams, known for fixing up old hot rods. Abrams gives the car a once-over and brings in a specialist, Lawrence Kasdan, to help him match together parts. For this operation, Abrams uses top-of-the-line technology while also tracking down old parts from its distributor. The result is a purring sports car with a brand-new engine, leather seats, full tires and a new paint job.

All in all, Disney and Lucasfilm have given the world a wonderful gift: new Star Wars movies with endless possibilities. Unlike the prequels which had to go in a very specific direction and “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” which is set in a contained period of time, The Force Awakens and subsequent films can go anywhere. Anybody in Hollywood who consider themselves true blue fans of Star Wars can eventually take their shot with their favorite space saga. Abrams was the first because he has the ability to revitalize a brand. His films are action-packed thrill rides with depth-filled characters and appropriate levels of levity. Force Awakens is no different, a thrill ride with enough laughs, cheers and tears to keep audiences coming back for more of that galaxy far, far away…

STARWOIDS: Come On and Line Up

RETRO REVIEW

"Well, we basically lived out... the history of mankind within this line. We got together. We formed a government. We formed a hierarchy. We had our revolution. It all finally worked out and we're gonna see Star Wars. It's just a great time."

- Jason from the Mann's Chinese Theater line

A global social experiment is about to be set upon the world once again: can Star Wars, a worldwide phenomenon that has legions upon legions of fans, be resuscitated for a new generation after a lengthy absence? Certainly, Star Wars: The Force Awakens has a lot more going for it than The Phantom Menace, but let us take a journey back through time to just before May 1999. A time where when a new Star Wars movie was coming out, anything was possible. The creator himself, George Lucas, was back in the director's chair for the first time in over 20 years and had all of Industrial Light and Magic at his command. As the timely phrase goes, "What could possibly go wrong?" I was 8 years old at the time and was crazy into Disney's The Love Bug, so Star Wars had yet to take its hold on me. However, there is a great documentary produced at the time that chronicles the crazy phenomenon of waiting in line for weeks. 

Dennis Przywara's Starwoids is a time capsule of this scarcely remembered period where feelings regarding Episode I: The Phantom Menace was positively at an all-time high. The film opens with a Kevin Smith narration defining what a "Starwoid" is: anyone who takes their fandom of Star Wars to the next level; whether it be cosplaying as a X-Wing pilot, creating Star Wars-themed music or collecting action figures. This is where Daniel Alter enters the story. Alter, who later in life went on to produce the Hitman films, is a young man in high school who decides to bring a chair out to his favorite theater and wait there until opening night for The Phantom Menace. Soon, more people follow suit and a camp is set up outside. 

On the other side of town, in front of another theater, members from the now-defunct movie website CountingDown.com are constructing another compound of their own. They have their own TVs, Internet access and even a phone booth set to receive calls from international fans watching on a webcam. This is a more professional setup than Daniel's line. Despite that they are also raising money for charity, many in the group begin to decry the CountingDown line as nothing but a commercial gimmick to promote their website; less about Star Wars and more about cramming TV cameras everywhere.

While the battle of the lines is the center of the film, it also focuses on the general fandom phenomenon of Star Wars. One of which follows Guy Klender, avid collector, as he goes to various toy stores in search of all-new The Phantom Menace action figures. Another centers around the high school production of "Star Wars: The Musical" which takes popular songs from other musicals and gives them a twist from a Galaxy Far, Far Away. It also shows their failed attempt at infiltrating Skywalker Ranch; one ponders if this was where Fanboys was born. One of the more surprising elements is the inclusion of Phil Brown, Uncle Owen from A New Hope. Audiences learn quite a lot of interesting points including he directed a film on The Harlem Globetrotters and was a part of the Hollywood Blacklist (a topical point today because of the new film Trumbo).

The time finally comes to both lines when they can finally see The Phantom Menace. Whereas the official Episode I documentary "The Beginning" shows a few fans gleefully kiss the ground of the theater and run inside like crazed maniacs (a popular clip used in a negative fashion by Harry Plinkett of Red Letter Media), Starwoids shows that proper planning and level heads are not out of the question. Certainly excitement is in the air, but not sheer out-and-out nerdy madness. As they exit the movie after viewing it, everyone is praising it; quite long before popular opinion/sheer utter hatred envelops the planet. Daniel proclaims, "It's my favorite film!" The film then picks up a year later with Daniel looking quite different than he has at the beginning, having undergone a strict dietary regimen. He says that he was glad for the experience and that he may go again for Episode II.

Starwoids is a great look back to a simpler time and place; before the dark times, before the Prequels. Personally, I find things to like about the Prequels, but they are clearly inferior to the Originals. It would be easy to turn these people into stereotypes to laugh at, but the documentary wisely refrains from this; preferring the "laugh with us" approach. Both lines have their dramas, trials and tribulations, but nothing deadly serious (the most serious threats to the lines come from the police and apparently a group of interns from "The Man Show" who had terrorized some line people for laughs). George Lucas may never understand why people do not like the Prequels, but hopefully he takes some comfort in that Star Wars brings people together for positive reasons. We believe in these films and we all hope that Star Wars: The Force Awakens may bring back that effortless sense of wonder we have all been missing.

Starwoids is available on Amazon.com.

Starwoids

The Mouse Strikes Back

The unthinkable has happened.

"There's no going back. You've changed things. Forever."

- The Joker (Heath Ledger), The Dark Knight (2008)

"Whoa, this is heavy."

- Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), Back to the Future (1985)

"You've just taken your first step into a larger world."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guiness), Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Back in 1977, George Lucas could not have been more depressed. He had been in the middle of this science-fiction picture that seemed doomed to fail. The actors found it hard to take seriously, the special effects were late and unimpressive and the crew often mutinied against him. After it was all finished, 20th Century Fox began printing the film and sent it off to theaters. Then came May 25th, 1977. The day Lucas' life changed forever. Star Wars was the greatest film phenomenon anyone had ever seen. Soon, sequels followed - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Both films were massive box-office hits, which provided millions of dollars in merchandising. In the 90s, after assisting Steven Spielberg with the visual effects in Jurassic Park, Lucas saw that computer generated graphics had finally become acceptable to continue with his vision of future Star Wars films.

Then came the prequels. Fans around the world revolted against George Lucas, blaming him for devaluing their favorite film series. Midichlorians, Anakin Skywalker, Jar Jar Binks and Darth Vader screaming the word, "NOOOOO!" all irritated fans to no end. There seemed to be no pleasing them. Lucas then allowed "Robot Chicken" and "Family Guy" to spoof the Star Wars films; giving others a chance to take a shot at his failures but also allow them to pay tribute to his successes. 5 years after Revenge of the Sith, a new Star Wars film came to theaters; but with a twist. The CG-animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars was released in later summer 2008 to dismal reviews, but it helped launch a massively successful animated TV series under the same name. This helped to win back old fans and got new fans. This seemed to be the course Star Wars had been fated to for the near future. Of course, in the Star Wars universe, things have a way of changing...

On October 30th, the Walt Disney Company announced that they had made a deal to acquire Lucasfilm Ltd. and their family of companies including Industrial Light & Magic, LucasArts and Skywalker Sound. In addition, this deal included the highly lucrative Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchise and characters. This was the biggest acquisition by Disney since their purchase of Marvel Entertainment in 2009. In the below video, George Lucas discusses what led him to this decision, putting long-time film producer Kathleen Kennedy in charge of Lucasfilm and his impending retirement.


WAIT. WHAT DID THEY JUST SAY?! A new Star Wars film?! Episode VII?!

"The last Star Wars movie release was 2005's Revenge of the Sith - and we believe there's substantial pent-up demand. In 2015, we're planning to release Star Wars Episode 7 - the first feature film under the 'Disney-Lucasfilm' brand. That will be followed by Episodes 8 and 9 - and our long-term plan is to release a new Star Wars feature film every two to three years."

- Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company

So let me get this straight. George Lucas, the man who created Star Wars, who has been saying for years, "There will never ever be Episodes 7-9. When I said that in the '70s, I was kidding. I didn't realize I'd be the same age as Mark, Carrie and Harrison," has now given up all say to the franchise he created to one of the biggest corporations of all time? And they're planning to make more of the most beloved science-fantasy film series of all time?

My initial reaction was like this:


("What's going on? Is this a joke? Episode 7?! Come on, that's never happening. Somebody's hacked into Disney's mainframe or something.")
But then the validity was solidified.

And then my reaction was like this:

Let's face it. There's no better home for Star Wars than Disney. Lucasfilm wasn't going to do anything major with Star Wars other than "Star Wars: The Clone Wars". Disney will take the reins from Lucas (willingly) and implement it in all the ways they can. This means all new merchandise: toys, video games, comic books, etc. Did Disney have to start making more Star Wars movies now that they have Lucasfilm? Absolutely not. They simply could have held onto the endless moneymaking that could come from all the licensing from Star Wars. But they were interested in keeping the saga alive for the future generations (and continue making money from it).

It's like when Disney bought Marvel three years ago. Fans revolted, thinking Disney was going to water down their characters into family-friendly babies. Instead, they put an actual Marvel comics writer (Whedon) in charge of their biggest film, Marvel's The Avengers. The Hulk didn't become Mickey Mouse. Black Widow didn't become Hannah Montana. The film made $1.5 billion and was embraced by fans worldwide. Disney and Marvel are committed to taking their characters and making them international phenomenons. 

Disney and Lucasfilm can finally start making a brand new Star Wars theme park. The reason we haven't gotten anything outside of "Star Tours" and the "Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular" stateside is because Lucasfilm reportedly signed an agreement with Disney that said they could never open a Star Wars/Indiana Jones theme park in the United States. Now that they're together, all's fine and anything is on the table. I'm still waiting on that Tony Stark Expo, by the way.

What can Disney to satisfy these angry fans? Well, for one thing they can release the original, unaltered trilogy in high definition on Blu-Ray. And I'm not one of those fans who are enraged at ALL the changes Lucas made to the series. The only ones that bother me:

• R2 hiding behind more rocks. It makes no ounce of sense, how would he have gotten behind there? (Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope)

• Greedo shooting first. When even Lucas is wearing a "Han Shot First" shirt and doesn't change the scene back for the Blu-Ray, that's just wrong. (Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope)

• Darth Vader yelling "Noo!" picking up the Emperor and tossing him over the side. I get that the movies are meant to be poetic, but by this point it makes Vader look stupid. (Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi)

Only problem is, Fox still holds the "in perpetuity" rights to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. They hold all the rest of the movies until May 2020. Now, Disney can always throw down a lump sum of cash, but Fox has been burned by Disney before: Chronicles of Narnia, anyone? Still, there have been some hints that Fox is willing to let bygones be bygones and play nice. I'm sure they'd ask for a cut of the profits. Still, there is some doubt as to whether Lucas would surrender the original 1977 prints. If he's willing to sell off the entire Star Wars franchise, what more worth does the original film prints have for him?

Now that there will be a brand new Star Wars film for the first time in a decade (unless one counts The Clone Wars), of course everybody wants to know who will be in the movie, what the new story is, and who will direct the film. I was pleased to hear that Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher were the first ones told about Lucas agreeing to have the sequel trilogy made. Hamill seems to be interested in coming back as Luke Skywalker. This is great, considering that by Jedi, Luke is no longer whining about, "going to Toschi Station to pick up some power converters" (which makes for a funny joke in "Robot Chicken"). He's a mature warrior who is ready to face his destiny. Seeing Hamill over the years just goes to show you his quiet wisdom and wry sense of humor. And of course, being the best voice for the Joker ever. He could easily pick up the character today.

Something refreshing to know about the new Star Wars films is that Lucas will be contributing story ideas, but beyond that, he'll have no real power. What does this mean? It means we're going to see a whole new direction for Star Wars. Uncharted territory. It won't be based on books, video games or anything authors have come up with. Luke, Leia and Han will be facing new adventures at the hands of whoever gets chosen to write the film.
The last major thing to wonder about the next Star Wars movie is who will be in the director's chair. With Lucas out of the pictures, hopefully the movies will move in a much faster pace ala J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. Yet all the names that have been thrown around from Brad Bird to Matthew Vaughn will not be chosen. Why? Because they are already busy!! This was a SURPRISE announcement. Most of everybody's suggestions are already in the midst of making new films. The Disney/Lucasfilm announcement stressed that the new films would be made with the involvement of "the new generation of filmmakers". So literally any director born after 1970 is eligible. But, really, let's not kid ourselves. Who in their right mind would take this job? Seeing all the trouble George Lucas has had to put up with for the last 25 years, and the amount of fanboys' eyeballs that would be following your every movement. It's not easy to think about.

Still, if Disney takes the same approach with Lucasfilm that they did with Marvel and Pixar, we're all in for a big surprise come 2015. Unless Max Spielberg decides he suddenly wants to do Jaws 19.