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“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." Watching the Star Wars films
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<blockquote data-quote="Spells &amp; Karma" data-source="post: 325774" data-attributes="member: 23"><p style="text-align: center"><strong><span style="font-size: 22px">The Force Awakens</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><em>continued</em></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I wasn’t sure at first about Adam Driver as Kylo Ren. It was a bit of a shock when he took off his helmet and there was this boy who looked as though he should be making YouTube reaction videos to <em>Star Wars</em> films rather than appearing in one. However he too turned in a decent performance. Not quite as intense as I’d have hoped, but he did have the unpredictable intensity of a young person who’s gone a bit off the rails which is its own kind of frightening. The space opera twist with the familiar relationship felt like an inverse Darth/Luke/Leia (in fact Kylo just felt like an ersatz Vader in so many ways, right down to the way he dressed), but it worked. Kind of like watching a soap that's been running for a decade or so and is revisiting its most popular story with a newer version. What makes it work is that the characters we saw live out the original are here and reliving it even more than we are. </p><p></p><p>Domhnall Gleeson as Hux made me laugh when he went full on with his angry, Hitler-esque speeches. The flaring nostrils and haughty mouth just reminded me of Kenneth Williams in full flight. </p><p></p><p>Lor San Tekka grabbed me with his avuncular gravitas. I was sorry Max von Sydow wasn’t in it more. </p><p></p><p>As for the new non-human characters, some felt quite familiar - BB-8 had something of the Wall-E about him (no bad thing), while Snoke felt like something from <em>Lord Of The Rings</em>. A favourite new character - evidently this trilogy’s Yoda - is Maz Kanata, who looked like a cross between Yoda, Gollum and Edna Mode. She was great fun. </p><p></p><p>Naturally, it’s great to see Threepio whose appearances always cheer me. Artoo and Chewie were fine here as well. </p><p></p><p>Han arriving on the scene felt very welcome. It’s like being at a family party full of young second cousins and suddenly your favourite uncle or granddad arrives and you realise why you’re there. Leia had a similar effect. Once they arrived, you felt all was going to be well - and this was used to good effect to misdirect the audience. As for Luke, well, Mark Hamill must have a great agent to earn second billing on a film in which he appears for about ten seconds without uttering a word. </p><p></p><p>The story turns were enjoyable. While I knew that John Bodega had a big role in the new films, I was convinced Poe was going to be the Han to Finn’s Luke, so it was surprising when Poe went AWOL early on. Even though I was only half convinced of his death, I still liked how his absence changed the path of the story and the roles of the characters. Similarly, Lor San Tekka looked to be the new Obi-Wan Kenobi, so his early exit - while not exactly shocking - kept me on my toes. I’d have expected him to be killed in the final act’s big lightsaber battle, à la <em>Star Wars. </em>And it wasn’t until the final act that I realised why. There was an even bigger old character to kill off. </p><p></p><p>I was aware that Han was killed off in the sequel trilogy - I’d read that Harrison Ford had cheered the idea, glad to say goodbye to the character. What I wasn’t expecting was for it to be in the <em>first</em> of the three films. Part of me still wonders if it will be undone - after all, he did survive being frozen in carbonite for some time. But either way, it was a nice moment for the film, even though when I saw that walkway over the pit it seemed obvious one or the other would perish after a big confrontation. And even though the writing tried to make it a complete surprise, I’m afraid Adam Driver’s dramatic pauses were a complete “tell” about the twist the story was the story was about to take. I hope he doesn’t play poker for money. </p><p></p><p>In terms of health and safety, these people never seem to learn. As soon as that dangerous walkway appeared I could hear Brenda From Bristol:</p><p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fstudentnews.manchester.ac.uk%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F11%2Fgiphy.gif%3Fresize%3D288%252C288%26ssl%3D1&f=1&nofb=1" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Spells & Karma, post: 325774, member: 23"] [CENTER][B][SIZE=6]The Force Awakens[/SIZE][/B] [I]continued[/I][/CENTER] I wasn’t sure at first about Adam Driver as Kylo Ren. It was a bit of a shock when he took off his helmet and there was this boy who looked as though he should be making YouTube reaction videos to [I]Star Wars[/I] films rather than appearing in one. However he too turned in a decent performance. Not quite as intense as I’d have hoped, but he did have the unpredictable intensity of a young person who’s gone a bit off the rails which is its own kind of frightening. The space opera twist with the familiar relationship felt like an inverse Darth/Luke/Leia (in fact Kylo just felt like an ersatz Vader in so many ways, right down to the way he dressed), but it worked. Kind of like watching a soap that's been running for a decade or so and is revisiting its most popular story with a newer version. What makes it work is that the characters we saw live out the original are here and reliving it even more than we are. Domhnall Gleeson as Hux made me laugh when he went full on with his angry, Hitler-esque speeches. The flaring nostrils and haughty mouth just reminded me of Kenneth Williams in full flight. Lor San Tekka grabbed me with his avuncular gravitas. I was sorry Max von Sydow wasn’t in it more. As for the new non-human characters, some felt quite familiar - BB-8 had something of the Wall-E about him (no bad thing), while Snoke felt like something from [I]Lord Of The Rings[/I]. A favourite new character - evidently this trilogy’s Yoda - is Maz Kanata, who looked like a cross between Yoda, Gollum and Edna Mode. She was great fun. Naturally, it’s great to see Threepio whose appearances always cheer me. Artoo and Chewie were fine here as well. Han arriving on the scene felt very welcome. It’s like being at a family party full of young second cousins and suddenly your favourite uncle or granddad arrives and you realise why you’re there. Leia had a similar effect. Once they arrived, you felt all was going to be well - and this was used to good effect to misdirect the audience. As for Luke, well, Mark Hamill must have a great agent to earn second billing on a film in which he appears for about ten seconds without uttering a word. The story turns were enjoyable. While I knew that John Bodega had a big role in the new films, I was convinced Poe was going to be the Han to Finn’s Luke, so it was surprising when Poe went AWOL early on. Even though I was only half convinced of his death, I still liked how his absence changed the path of the story and the roles of the characters. Similarly, Lor San Tekka looked to be the new Obi-Wan Kenobi, so his early exit - while not exactly shocking - kept me on my toes. I’d have expected him to be killed in the final act’s big lightsaber battle, à la [I]Star Wars. [/I]And it wasn’t until the final act that I realised why. There was an even bigger old character to kill off. I was aware that Han was killed off in the sequel trilogy - I’d read that Harrison Ford had cheered the idea, glad to say goodbye to the character. What I wasn’t expecting was for it to be in the [I]first[/I] of the three films. Part of me still wonders if it will be undone - after all, he did survive being frozen in carbonite for some time. But either way, it was a nice moment for the film, even though when I saw that walkway over the pit it seemed obvious one or the other would perish after a big confrontation. And even though the writing tried to make it a complete surprise, I’m afraid Adam Driver’s dramatic pauses were a complete “tell” about the twist the story was the story was about to take. I hope he doesn’t play poker for money. In terms of health and safety, these people never seem to learn. As soon as that dangerous walkway appeared I could hear Brenda From Bristol: [CENTER] [img]https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi0.wp.com%2Fstudentnews.manchester.ac.uk%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F11%2Fgiphy.gif%3Fresize%3D288%252C288%26ssl%3D1&f=1&nofb=1[/img][/CENTER] [/QUOTE]
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“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." Watching the Star Wars films
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