(Vol. Note: This update does not reveal specific plot points from Star Wars: The Awakening of Skywalker. Polygon will have a more detailed story analysis in the upcoming updates and news following the release of the Dec. film. 20.)
Forty years have passed since George Lucas introduced the universe in 1977 & # 39; s star Wars, later named Star Wars: Episode IV – New Hope. The film was a quick hit, in part because they were literally made of ordinary stuff. Lucas drew heavily on Western Western films and Akira Kurosawa to shape his galaxy far, far away, but gave it a face and a fresh and precise tone. The previous connection while re-installing it in the future was built into Star Wars & # 39; DNA from the beginning. So J.J. Abrams' fate, Star Wars: The Awakening of Skywalker, with its lonely, and undeniable copying of the past, should be directly in line with Lucas' view.
But it does sound like a homage to the previous & # 39; s series. It's like Abrams hiding too much behind him.
Back when the last trilogy of Star Wars was about to be silent with 2015 The Army Awakens, fans were genuinely shocked at what Abrams would do for their favorite franchise. She previously starred in Star Trek for a smaller, smaller, clever and more intelligent film. His adaptations of the Trek list include some great rewrites of favorite characters and a renewed tone. While some in the audience accepted these changes, others barked at them, and wondered what Star Wars looked like when Abram tried to give it the same impression as the boys.
But Abrams has taken another approach. The Army Awakens hugged fan nostalgia by anew A New Hope of the new age. Half sequel, half remake & # 39; s stealth, The Army Awakens introduced the Used Kingdom and with the new Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker sex flick and modern R2-D2, and many more familiar things. Fans and critics alike usually good about the film, which would offer Star Wars to pass on to a new generation of young heroes. At the same time, these characters turned into actors who enjoyed the opportunity to meet their heroes Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Lia Organa (Carrie Fisher), and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) – just like those old heroes in the plans to move on.
Rian Johnson's sequence, The Last Jedi, we rely heavily on the concept of "handover to the generation", in the form of your kill-your-gods that has swayed the expectations of fans and asked viewers to acknowledge that the series came from a Skywalker line describing Lucas' new film genre. As a result, The Last Jedi it's proving to be a controversial issue, with advertisers varying widely in whether they suspect the message, the execution, or both. Apparently this is a divisive answer, Abrams enters The wake of the Skywalker straight back nostalgia-Courting has worked so well for her The Army Awakens.
Photo: Lucasfilm / Disney
The most notable outcome of the program is just that The Army Awakens port A New Hope with characters, conflicts, and a bunch of tricks, Episode IX near the 1983 & # 39; s ports Return of the Jedi, to the point where savvy fans can easily summon half the locations, enemies, and story turns in advance. It's a safe and timid way, with cinematic hats watching them, "You loved this last time, didn't you? Here's something else!" It's a romantic way of telling stories, in fact cinema as a comfort food: The story is catchy and laid back enough to soften, and the surprises are only in the details that mix matter.
In this case, the information you are being told comes in the form of emerging and revolutionary new skills that can solve many conflicts. The new Sith forces that drive the framework can be well organized, but they are part of the story purchase. New anti-war tactics are likely to confuse viewers who remember the previous canon. And fans who have hacked more The Last JediThe introduction of these supernatural forces of the Force will not be an easy time The wake of the Skywalker, which is pushing the Force further and further into the realm of “dynamic, ever-changing” characters. Those skills come to Rey (Daisy Ridley) and, most notably, her old foe Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), whose emotional connection with Rey is used to keep the plot going at full speed, to force a series of conflicts that form the backbone of the movie, as well as to power many bizarre playwrights. psychology.
The steady speed is beneficial in some ways for The wake of the Skywalker. It makes the film feel like a breakthrough trip around the Star Wars cycle, as the monks quickly jump from one planet and fight to the next, meeting new adversaries and worrying about past enemies. The speed of the spray does not leave much time for thinking about structural holes, or the realization that mathematics feels simpler than before, even though it is called concept, all planets are in line. It also leaves no time for continued character development, or any kind of idea, or has been shown for a while over the years. The wake of the Skywalker brightly opens with a series of action scenes with different characters in different places, all charging violently, so breathless that viewers are prevented from wondering why or if something is important. And that power doesn't come too far in the two and a half hours.
All of this charging about would feel very important if the characters' intentions didn't feel strange. Early on, Abram and writer Chris Terrio introduced one of the most terrifying boats in cinema: the most important MacGuffin the characters have to find moving forward. The protagonists spend a lot of time and energy chasing the thing, but they are often interrupted by new and changed momentary motives, often achieved and resolved with great speed. It often sounds like no one really cares about what the characters are after, as long as they do it fast, fast, and with a lot of hits to the original trilogy, from characters to situations to certain lines.
Photo: Lucasfilm / Disney
The feeling of so much extra work being done up to speed is overwhelming The wake of the Skywalker from developing any larger themes, without the need to remind fans that they love it while, Luke is facing his bad doppeglänger in Empire Rebels Back, or when Obi-Wan Kenobi suddenly sent advice to Luke's ear A New Hope. It is the first film of the last trilogy to rely on these discussions instead of any major ideas. The Army Awakens There was controversy over how history is circulating, and the wars of the past will need to be re-fought in the future by a new wave of progressives who may know little about the power created by their place. The Last Jedi It was about giving up the past altogether, and accepting that the future is so important.
However The wake of the Skywalker it's almost a meta-movie about how cool Star Wars is, and people's memories of it are cool, and their ability to follow endless string of references is cool. Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) get their screen time, along with classic characters Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), who are still despicable. the butt of funny jokes, as short as he is, quickly plays his main role in the series so far. Rose Tico, played by Kelly Marie Tran, has a very small role in this, but Carrie Fisher's past as Leia gets as much screen time as previous shot appearances allow, and it's a continuous transmission.
However they are all a fast-moving machine from one planet to another, and from one local war or lightaber battle to the next, in the slightest sense of influence. Some of those conflicts look great – the one battle that takes place in the middle of a sea of coincidence is startling and overwhelming – but surprisingly very few are of particular importance, especially in an environment where many seemingly debt-free items are quickly restored.
Photo: Lucasfilm / Disney
Abrams and Terrio are trying to come to terms with the outcome The wake of the Skywalker, but most of their great gaming is made up of fans more so than the characters. At one point, Rey announces that he is replacing all previous Jedi history, while his enemy says he is all the Sith who came before him. At one point, he returns to his favorite past spot from the film series – one he doesn't have a personal connection to, but he seems to completely enjoy the audience. There is a reasonable sense of sound throughout The wake of the Skywalker that the creators try to reconsider and pay for every satisfying battle and memorable moment in the history of the Skywalker Saga all at once, by calling them and turning them into one symbolic argument that can be repeated here for the last time.
That sense of repetition and purposeless recognition dominates the film, more than any single revelation or payoff. The message, until then The wake of the Skywalker What worries one, though, is that we all remember and love Star Wars, so we're super excited to see it all again, remodeled and reworked and shipped with a powerful gobble.
But it's amazing to see Abrams and Terrio suggest that even after 40 years of waiting for the end, they just don't have the time to slow down, breathe, and figure out who these characters are, or what they become after many trials and pains. It is absolutely true that George Lucas's play is started A New Hope, with its incredible ingenuity and great legacy, it holds the weight of culture more than anything the series does today. Reconsidering and redesigning the film and its exact sequences may sound more important, and fan-friendly, than getting the first impression.
But to have people in charge star Wars& # 39; Words acknowledging their inability to move forward are a sad way for this story to end. However The wake of the SkywalkerCharacters who claim to have won their own success, the film feels as boring, fast, above all, as an acknowledgment of the old triumphs.
Star Wars: The Awakening of Skywalker hits theaters on December 20.
