Don't go there, I whispered, as the action moved into Ewok territory and they averted calamity of the cute and furry kind –– barely. Nice to keep the token hippy alien Chewy up front and center, as well as the series' only enduring anthropomorphic star, Mr. Harrison Ford. I respect the grizzled thespian a lot––hell, he crash landed a loose-engined vintage plane on a golf course last year.
Star Wars, not sure what episode, was a masterful hearkening back to the very first in the franchise. But that was exactly what it was––not much more than a rehash. Very nicely done and yes, nostalgia inducing, but there was no single scene that got my pulse racing. There was a nice mention of "air strikes," as close as they probably dared get to the topic-du-jour of drones in rebel areas, and of course the concept of blasting whole planets to smithereens (both sides do it in this episode) reeks a bit of justice from above. The Nazi-lite Dark Side (First Order) is still the enemy, the wise old alien is now orange and runs an Ayuthaya canteen (no utterances in odd grammatical contortions, give does she).
I am somewhat sympathetic to what JJ Abrams* was up against corporate expectation-wise and applaud him for his low-fi, humorous way of defusing the inevitable CG bombs. But yeah, pulse remained about zero throughout, especially as we were taken from one cosmic coincidence to another.** I have been hashing out some sci-fi explorations (EVEN) in the literary realm and I tell you, the future looks nothing like this. I was gratified to see that the species-diverse Canteen band had a tribal flute player.*
SEO Alert - Damon Shulenberger (aka Endurancewriter) of planet Frimwok, where Bandito College doth lie.
* Lost and Super 8 were nicely envisioned.
** Light speed is the planetary system equivalent of James Bond shifts to exotic espionage sets across the globe, where expensive cars get crashed. Somehow, if you are alone in a dark forest, you will be located immediately (when the music reaches its pulsing crescendo).
Star Wars, not sure what episode, was a masterful hearkening back to the very first in the franchise. But that was exactly what it was––not much more than a rehash. Very nicely done and yes, nostalgia inducing, but there was no single scene that got my pulse racing. There was a nice mention of "air strikes," as close as they probably dared get to the topic-du-jour of drones in rebel areas, and of course the concept of blasting whole planets to smithereens (both sides do it in this episode) reeks a bit of justice from above. The Nazi-lite Dark Side (First Order) is still the enemy, the wise old alien is now orange and runs an Ayuthaya canteen (no utterances in odd grammatical contortions, give does she).
I am somewhat sympathetic to what JJ Abrams* was up against corporate expectation-wise and applaud him for his low-fi, humorous way of defusing the inevitable CG bombs. But yeah, pulse remained about zero throughout, especially as we were taken from one cosmic coincidence to another.** I have been hashing out some sci-fi explorations (EVEN) in the literary realm and I tell you, the future looks nothing like this. I was gratified to see that the species-diverse Canteen band had a tribal flute player.*
SEO Alert - Damon Shulenberger (aka Endurancewriter) of planet Frimwok, where Bandito College doth lie.
* Lost and Super 8 were nicely envisioned.
** Light speed is the planetary system equivalent of James Bond shifts to exotic espionage sets across the globe, where expensive cars get crashed. Somehow, if you are alone in a dark forest, you will be located immediately (when the music reaches its pulsing crescendo).
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