Now that I've spent the last couple of weeks thinking about the teaser trailer for the upcoming Disney Star Wars
movie, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, I've got only one
thing to say (followed by a lengthy explication):
It's probably going to
be pretty good. Or decent. Maybe.
Notice I didn't say
“great”. I said “pretty good” (or decent--I'm open for just decent). There's a distinct
difference, one any lifelong fan of the movies knows instinctively.
Great movies live forever in the minds of those who see them, they
echo down across multiple generations, they influence the movies that
come after in the wake of their opening day for decades. The Wizard
of Oz is one of those, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, the original
Star Wars, Pulp Fiction, The Dark Knight, Jaws, etc. Any one of those films, and many
more, left a permanent stamp on movie history. People go back to
them again and again, incorporate them into their personal
philosophy, even come damn close to worshiping them in some cases.
I've heard stories of people who would carry a VHS copy of The
Godfather in their back pocket so they could pop it into friends'
VCRs whenever the opportunity presented itself (I assume now they
carry it on a tablet or nag those same friends to bring it up on Netflix, and I'm sure their lower backs thank them).
A greater percentage of
movies fall into the “pretty good” category. Captain America:
The Winter Soldier is pretty good. That's obviously a subjective
point of view, but I'm sticking to it for the purposes of this post.
I probably won't watch it that many times. Once or twice more and
then I'll be in my grave. But it's still a thoroughly enjoyable,
fast-moving, entertaining piece of big budget comic book movie.
It succeeds with everything it set out to do, and if it didn't
completely fulfill all the filmmakers' hopes, I sure didn't notice
while I was watching it. I had a good time and there ain't nothin'
wrong with that.
I am absolutely
positive I'm going to feel the same way about the next Star Wars when
it comes out. It will not, for me and many others, come anywhere
close to emulating the experience of watching the Original Trilogy
(you have to capitalize it) when it was new, or the feeling of going
back to watch it again—as I have many, many times—to relive that
experience. It can't do that, any better than the prequels could
(they get the lower-case treatment), and I want to make it clear that
I believe this upcoming film will be much better than any of George
“I Couldn't Be Bothered To Direct A Movie For 20 Years Until My
Monumental Hubris Made Me Do It And Now Look What I've Done” Lucas'
cynical cash grabs.
J.J. Abrams has
already demonstrated he can make perfectly fine, entertaining science
fiction movies with his two Star Trek reboots, even if some hardcore
Trekkers disagree. Let's also not forget Super 8, where he did a
remarkable job of imitating 80's-era Steven Spielberg. Lawrence
Kasdan, the man who penned The Empire Strikes Back, has returned to
punch up the script, and that's probably a very good thing, assuming
he hasn't lost any of his chops. Lucas' input is rumored to be
minimal, relegated to suggesting which direction the story should
take, which shouldn't present too much of a problem provided the
people actually helming the project know how to override him—after
all, he doesn't own the property anymore in the strictest sense.
I'm also heartened by
the fact that Abrams has said he wants to use practical effects, as
opposed to digital ones, whenever possible, hopefully giving the film
(and the two or more others planned to follow it) a more grounded,
real-world look—at least as real-world as you can get with a story
set in a galaxy far, far away. Of the many complaints lodged against
Lucas, his reliance on computer-generated settings for his prequels
was among the biggest. Those movies look sterile, artificial, and
drab. This one, hopefully, will have much more visual vitality.
Judging from the work he did on Super 8, there is also the
possibility he'll bring an Original Trilogy tone to the new entries.
What I'm hoping for is
that the new Star Wars movies will fall more on the side of Disney's
Marvel films in terms of quality, and less on the John Carter of Mars
and Lone Ranger side (Pirates of the Caribbean would also be
unacceptable). I'm close to 100% certain that will be the case. If
not, it's gonna kill any chance the franchise might have had for
getting back on its feet, and a lot of future movie plans are going
to be scrapped (think about what's going on with the Spiderman franchise after Amazing Spiderman 2). That would be unfortunate, because I like the idea
of different directors getting a crack at Star Wars, bringing a
little of their own style and and attitude to the projects to the
extent that Disney will let them (Marvel/Disney is known for bringing
the hammer down on directors whose vision doesn't synch up with its
own). They're talking about stand-alone movies to come out in
between the sequel entries, opening up the possibility of some pretty
cool new Star Wars films, as well as, not surprisingly, some godawful
dreck (one of the proposed films is a Jedi Seven Samurai directed by
Zack “I'm A Thirteen-Year-Old Boy Trapped In A Man's Body” Snyder, which is pretty much
guaranteed to suck on some level).
The people I feel sorry
for are the ones who will go to this new movie praying for a return
to Empire Strikes Back levels of awesomeness. It's just not going to
happen, and I think you should be a little ashamed of yourself if
that's what you're expecting. Those days are gone; you're an adult
now; lighting struck in a very particular place at a very particular
time, and that's all you get. Don't hold your breath for your youth
to return—you'll suffocate. If you're anything like me, you've
gotten sick of the cultural saturation Star Wars has achieved, in spite of the fact that you've loved the franchise you're entire life, and you've begun to focus on other
things, sort of. If you simply have a good time watching the new movies, and
the studio gets rich off our collective enthusiasm, well, everybody
wins then, don't they. That's pretty much what all commercial
entertainment boils down to.
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| George Lucas on his way to the Disney/Lucasfilm offices to make some story suggestions |
