Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017) | Film Review

 

RATING

If you spent the two years leading up to The Last Jedi’s release trying to speculate and predict what will happen, you may be in for a rude shock. As Luke Skywalker rightly puts it halfway through: “This is not going to go the way you think”.

It certainly doesn’t.

Instead, it takes everything about the Star Wars mythology and by the end of two hours and thirty minutes, blows it all up in a glorious beautiful blaze. Nothing leaves you prepared for the latest chapter delivers. It’s bold, unpredictable, wildly confident, taking this old bag of tricks and adding new twists that develop organically from the characters’ actions than from required plot machinations. Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi is emotionally devastating, a grand farewell to all that has come before while preparing to usher something entirely different and new. It’s the best film since The Empire Strikes Back and while it’s tempting to label it The Empire Strikes Back of this new trilogy, that’s a misnomer. It takes certain cues from it, such as splitting up the characters and pairing them up with different people, but then it veers off in unexpected directions.

I’m going to be deliberately vague on plot, sticking to mostly what marketing has already put out for no reason other than this film is truly best experienced knowing little as possible. Believe me when I say: there is a lot of shocking moments. It takes every fan theory you have ever had, stuffs a load of dynamite into it and destroys it into pieces.

Picking up soon after where The Force Awakens left off, the rag-tag Resistance fighters evacuate their base and flee across the galaxy, pursued by the First Order. General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) is determined to wipe them out; so much so that even Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis in motion capture) joins the hunt. As time runs out, an awakened Finn (John Boyega) teams up with maintenance worker Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) and, assisted by Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) from the Resistance ship, seek help from the mysterious “DJ” (Benecio del Toro) in a daring mission against the First Order.

Meanwhile, on the island of Ach-To, Rey (Daisy Ridley) must persuade the self-exiled Jedi Master Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) to return and help his sister, General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). But Luke is having none of it: gone is the eager farmboy staring at the horizon dreaming of adventure. Old age and failure to save his former apprentice Ben Solo a.k.a. Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) have damped any idea of heroics, and looking at Mark Hamill’s grizzled face, it’s not hard to buy it, though he’s also developed a sardonic wit in that time. Luke doesn’t see himself as the great hero that Rey and the Resistance do, but instead as a flawed human being. Prick him, and he will bleed.

The Last Jedi was written and directed by Rian Johnson, whose previous film credits include the enjoyable time-travel thriller Looper and Brick. He is also best known for directing three highly acclaimed episodes of Breaking Bad, the last of which- Ozymandias– is heralded as the best of the entire TV series. Indeed, The Last Jedi shares a lot in common with that episode in which everything that has been built up to this point gets completely inverted with devastating consequences, and it all results due to the actions of the characters.

Sure enough, it’s the characters who shine just as much as the action. Luke Skywalker gets a grand arc here but nobody takes the spotlight more than the tortured and conflicted Kylo Ren, who goes from being a Darth Vader-wannabe to a complex evil character defined entirely by himself. It doesn’t hurt that Adam Driver is a phenomenal dedicated actor and in this role, he creates an iconic villain for the series. New characters like the suspicious Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern) and Rose also get their dues, and Rian Johnson accomplishes all of this without stretching out the narrative or bloating it up. It’s also loaded with new creatures such as the large-eyed Porgs, the answer to the question: “What would happen if a penguin and a puffin got together?” It’s quite the tightrope act, but Johnson juggles and balances all these elements efficiently without missing a beat.

Then there’s Carrie Fisher. Scenes in which she is in that are already emotionally charged take on completely new dimensions and meaning in the wake of her death. Although her role is far larger here, The Last Jedi was always Luke’s film with the yet-untitled (as of this time) Episode IX intended to be Leia’s; that plan is now scuppered, and we’ll never know what that was supposed to be. If you pay attention closely, you may be able to figure out which lines of dialogue she contributed.

The Last Jedi contains some of the most striking visuals put to screen in the saga. Under Steve Yedlin’s remarkable cinematography, Snoke’s throne room is bathed in striking tones of red-and-black, complete with armed guards garbed in robes of matching red. One of the most memorable shots are that of a giant spaceship sliced in two. On the salt planet Crait, the white surface gets ripped up with movement to reveal an underlying crimson layer that suggests the planet bleeds.

I was also surprised by the amount of humour present in the film. It’s not that past entries are devoid of it but here, the jokes toe that fine line between meta and self-conscious without ever crossing it and breaking the illusion. Moments like Rose zapping Finn or Poe saying he’ll put on hold while making a call to General Hux come unexpectedly and yet in line with the nature of these characters. When General Leia tells Poe to ‘get his head out of his cockpit’, it’s very much the kind of admonishment that both Leia and Carrie Fisher would tell a brash youth.

The question is: what next? It’s difficult to imagine the follow-up film going back to the old status quo after this; indeed, it would render everything in The Last Jedi moot if it did. Rian Johnson has been handed the keys to developing a new and separate Star Wars trilogy once Episode IX is completed, and while I’m now very much looking forward to it, I wish Disney would give him that money to make his own intellectual property instead of continuing to play in the sandbox that George Lucas created forty years ago.

But that’s a story for another time. For now, savour the excitement and rollercoaster fun that is The Last Jedi in all its glory and bombast. It’s everything you could have asked for and more.

~

WRITEN AND DIRECTED BY: Rian Johnson
PRODUCED BY: Kathleen Kennedy, Ram Bergman
BASED ON: Characters created by George Lucas
EDITED BY: Bob Ducsay
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Steve Yedlin
MUSIC BY: John Williams

STARRING: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Benecio del Toro, Kelly Marie Tran, Andy Serkis, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Gwendoline Christie, Laura Dern, Peter Mayhew

~

 

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) | Film Review

RATING

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is the best of the prequels and the best Star Wars film since the original trilogy. It is a solid and rousing return to its operatic roots and a tragedy in the Shakespearean sense of the genre, bringing George Lucas’ epic and imaginative saga to a complete circle.

It begins with victory, and ends in sorrow and death. It is rare to see large-scale fare, and especially that of a franchise as popular as this, to be this sombre but it is inevitable since Revenge of the Sith sets the stage for how a farm boy, a princess and a smuggler would one day team up to fight evil.

The film opens with an impressive and exhilarating 20-minute space battle. Clone War heroes Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) stage a desperate mission to rescue the Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) who has been kidnapped by a wheezing droid named General Grievous and Sith Lord Count Dooku (Christopher Lee). The scenes of the two Jedi weaving in and around spaceship and incoming fire is one of the most exhilarating sequences put to screen in this saga.

On their return, Anakin is reunited with his secret wife, Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman). She tells him that she’s pregnant. He reacts… you know what, it’s hard to gauge his actual reaction because he says he’s happy but he looks as if he’s already wondering whether a child will cramp his lifestyle. But I doubt that should be a problem given that Anakin could always use the Force to make raising children easier.

But when he’s plagued with visions of Padmé dying in childbirth, Anakin starts to fall under the sway of Palpatine who seduces him with the promise that only the Dark Side of the Force would allow him to save his wife. Anakin’s downfall is fuelled further by Mace Windu’s (Samuel L. Jackson) and Yoda’s (Frank Oz) decision not to make Anakin a Jedi Master. Even his acceptance into the Jedi Council is reluctant as it was a move by Palpatine whom they (rightfully) don’t trust. On a recent viewing, it is heart-breaking to watch the scene where Obi-Wan bids Anakin goodbye before he sets off to hunt Grievous, not only because it’s the last time they will speak to each other again as friends but because there persists that question of whether Anakin would have been saved if he had gone instead of his mentor, or if Obi-Wan had even stayed.

The visual effects have always been dominant and a key driver in the Star Wars films all the way back to A New Hope and the digital effects here in Revenge of the Sith are some of the franchise’s best. Apart from the space battle, the lightsaber duels are a highlight and Lucas gives us three particularly excellent ones between Obi-Wan and General Grievous, Yoda versus Emperor Palpatine and its most tragic one in the duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin on a volcanic planet that is a cross between Hell and the Norse realm of Muspelheim. Appropriately, the planet’s name here is Mustafar.

But the beauty of the visual effects in Star Wars is that they aren’t solely confined to battles and action set pieces: it’s also used to bring these fantastical worlds to convincing life. Take, for instance, the operatic show featuring giant luminescent bubbles during which Palpatine tells Anakin the tale of a Sith Lord named Darth Plagueis. Or the multi-layered ringed outer rim where Grievous is hiding. Under George Lucas’ guidance, even a shot such as a spaceship taking off takes on an elegance and beauty missing in most movies.

On the other side lies the excellent sound design by Ben Burtt. Burtt, who was involved in Star Wars from the beginning, is instrumental for creating the auditory effects that is crucial to bring to life this galaxy far, far away. Not just the hum of the lightsabers or the beeps of plucky dome-shaped droid R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) but the screeches of alien creatures and even the sound of doors sliding shut. Without these, even the best visual effects would fail to convince a viewer to believe in the fantasy of Star Wars.

Once again, the dialogue is a sticking point but this time, it mostly flows less woodenly, though Lucas ought to have hired an outside writer to write the romance between Anakin and Padmé. It’s a little hard not to cringe at lines like this:

“Hold me, like you did by the lake on Naboo; so long ago when there was nothing but our love. No politics, no plotting, no war.”

Still, Ewan McGregor makes for an excellent young Obi-Wan Kenobi and his distraught by Anakin’s betrayal in the end is palpable. But if there is one performance worth singling out, it’s that of Ian McDiarmid. Throughout the course of the movie, he subtly sheds the politician’s mask, his evil intonations revealed bit by bit until he turns into the terrifying Emperor from Return of the Jedi. It’s masterful acting in a film not precisely renowned for its performances.

For a long time, Revenge of the Sith was considered to be the saga’s final entry. If it remained so, it was a high note to close out on. But the dark side of the Profit was too tempting to let this franchise lie dormant and as we now know, Star Wars has been started once again, this time without Lucas’ involvement, and I think the reason is mainly that there has never been quite a series like Star Wars before.

And I doubt for a long time, there ever will be.

~

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: George Lucas
PRODUCED BY: Rick McCallum
EDITED BY: Roger Barton and Ben Burtt
CINEMATOGRAPHY: David Tattersall
SOUND DESIGN BY: Ben Burtt
MUSIC BY: John Williams

STARRING: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Frank Oz, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee

~

 

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) | Film Review

RATING

 

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace of George Lucas’ saga is a towering feat of astonishing visual effects and dazzling imagination, and I mean that in complete sincerity. Purists might scoff and sneer, but when held up against most modern fare, The Phantom Menace is miles ahead in its scope.

It is, first and foremost, a tragedy in the making. Where most films- including the original Star Wars trilogy- revolved around the rise of a hero, The Phantom Menace and its two sequels focused on the downfall of its hero who would become the iconic and feared Darth Vader. This alone sets it apart from the crowd.

Secondly, as did A New Hope, it set a new standard for visual effects through its use- and sometimes overuse- of computer generated imagery. Although it was the not the first film to use CGI, it employed them cleverly to create alien worlds of staggering beauty, such as an underwater city or a gripping spacecraft race amidst rocky canyons.

Thirdly, it’s adventurous and fun, precisely what A New Hope was meant to be. Few fans realise this but Star Wars only earned its emotional and intellectual heft after The Empire Strikes Back. The Phantom Menace, then, is a good place for a viewer uninitiated with the Star Wars universe to begin. I would know: this was my first Star Wars film.

The Phantom Menace juggles a number of story threads. It paints a political backdrop in which a greedy Trade Federation has blocked the supply for a small planet called Naboo. Against this, two Jedi Knights, Qui-Gon (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) attempt to negotiate with the Federation but are attacked and stranded on Naboo instead. Along the way, they pick up an irritable and ceaselessly chattering alien known as a Gungan and named Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best), a completely CGI-character.

After rescuing the Queen of Naboo, the Jedi’s ship is damaged and forces them to land on a familiar sandy planet. There on Tatooine, a handmaiden Padme (Natalie Portman) and Qui-Gon run into a young slave named Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) and his mother, Shmi Skywalker (Pernilla August). Qui-Gon senses that the boy is so Force-sensitive that he might be the prophesised one to bring balance to the Force. We are also introduced to other familiar faces, including the droids C-3PO, R2-D2, Jedi Master Yoda and of course, that dastardly Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) who will corrupt young Skywalker and turn him to the Dark Side.

While the dialogue is, yes, stilted and decidedly not Shakespearean, I am very much in awe of what George Lucas was attempting. Rather than repeat himself, I suspect he wanted to explore what happens when a prophecy does not pan out. It’s a bold strategy and interesting premise. Possibly one of the reasons it failed to reach the critical heights of its predecessor is that this time, Lucas did not have the creative forces of Gary Kurtz, Irvin Keshner, Marcia Lucas or Lawrence Kasdan to push him further or reign him in when needed. Star Wars might have been born from the mind of George Lucas but it took an entire team to raise it.

Yet even today, and especially when every tentpole feature is chock-full of special effects, The Phantom Menace still offers much to be impressed and awed by. The developments in technology allow the Jedi to move and jump about in lightsaber duels against the devilish Darth Maul (Ray Park) with convincing agility that could never have been done in the 80s. The space battles, too, are worth beholding for their sheer exhilaration.

When the franchise has been exhaustively scrutinised for over forty years, it’s difficult to say anything new that hasn’t been said before. I’ll add this: to those who expected philosophical diatribes with complex human relationships, you’ve come to the wrong space franchise. Star Wars is about space opera, and space opera is precisely what you get. 

~

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: George Lucas
PRODUCED BY: Rick McCallum
EDITED BY: Paul Martin Smith, Ben Burtt
CINEMATOGRAPHY: David Tattersall
MUSIC BY:  John Williams

STARRING: Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Pernilla August, Frank Oz

~

To VFX or Not To VFX: Will Star Wars Episode IX consider digitally resurrecting Carrie Fisher? [UPDATED]

* WARNING: Mild spoilers for ROGUE ONE included. Do not read if you haven’t watched yet *

Carrie Fisher has passed away at age 60, leaving Star Wars fans across the world devastated and reeling. In a year that has already claimed the lives of so many beloved icons, the loss of Princess (and later, General) Leia has hit hard. Not only did Carrie Fisher light up the screen as the fierce spirited Skywalker sister, but she was vocally outspoken about herself and Hollywood, and dealt with issues of mental health and addiction which she has also candidly addressed. Needless to say, she will be dearly missed.

Her death has also suddenly posed a troubling question that, ironically, was started by this year’s Star Wars spin-off, Rogue One (read review here). The film caused a mire of controversy because they used a digital likeness of the late Peter Cushing to essentially resurrect the role of General Tarkin. The digitally de-aged reveal of Princess Leia at the end of the film was merely a cameo but Tarkin had a substantial role in Rogue One.

Now although Carrie Fisher has wrapped up filming for the yet-untitled Episode VIII, her death has certainly thrown off the original plan for the future of her character. Rian Johnson, Episode IX director Colin Treverrow and Lucasfilm president, Kathleen Kennedy, will have to go back to the drawing board and address the pressing problem: what will the fate of General (formerly Princess) Leia in Episode IX be (ASSUMING they haven’t killed the character in Episode VIII)?

The options are clear: either address the actress’ absence off-screen and write out the character… or pull a Rogue One and use digital wizardry to give General Leia a grand send-off.

The question of bringing dead actors to life via the digital magic of zeroes and ones is a grey, morally and ethically questionable area. This isn’t a Furious 7 scenario where actor Paul Walker had already filmed a couple of scenes- this is a Peter Cushing situation. And either way you look at it, there is no clear-cut solution: to kill Leia off-screen would be a grave disservice but the idea of a digital Carrie Fisher playing a large role for Episode IX in order to carry out whatever original ideas they had for the character might not sit well with fans, either.

And that’s without considering that the latter option will open a door to a whole new level of debate regarding bringing popular characters back for film franchises even the performers are in the grave.

Whatever the decision, it will shape both the fate of the Star Wars films as well as change the landscape in Hollywood.

[UPDATED: Lucasfilm has released a statement regarding the situation]

Meanwhile, this author’s condolences go out to Carrie Fisher’s family and her loved ones.

Rest in peace, Carrie Fisher. May the Force be with you.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Film Review (2016)

RATING:

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Life is a journey, not a destination”. If you’ve watched A New Hope, you can guess how Rogue One ends. But then, it’s the journey that counts, doesn’t it?

Rogue One is the tale of Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), daughter of Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen). Her family went into hiding from the Empire but were found by Imperial Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn). Jyn’s mother was killed, Galen was kidnapped to help engineer the dreaded Death Star and Jyn was left to be rescued by an old family friend, Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), whom fans will recognise from the animated Clone Wars series.

Nineteen years later, the Rebels spring Jyn from Imperial captivity in exchange for her help. Her father has sent a message through a defected Imperial pilot, Bodhi (Riz Ahmed). Reluctantly, Jyn accompanies Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and the reprogrammed Imperial robot K-2SO (voiced to deadpan wit by Alan Tudyk) to Jedha, a sandy city that is reminiscent of rural sections in the Middle East. Why does nearly every Star Wars film have a sandy planet?

A lot happens. The Rebel trio get caught in a skirmish between Gererra’s and Stormtroopers, much deadlier here than they would be in Luke Skywalker’s day. Jyn and Andor find Bodhi, and along the way, they pick up Chirrut (Donnie Yen), a blind monk warrior who believes in the Force, and his Force-skeptic friend, Baze (Jiang Wen). I think I’m predicting right that Chirrut’s line, “I am one with the Force, the Force is with me” will become an instantly quotable line in the already bountiful Star Wars plethora.

At the same time, Krennic is goaded into demonstrating the Death Star’s capabilities by Grand Moff Tarkin. Yes, that Moff Tarkin- Hollywood has brought the late Peter Cushing’s visage to life via the digital wizardry of zeroes and ones, opening a Frankenstein-ian can of worms regarding the implications of resurrecting dead actors but this is neither the time and place for it. What is relevant here is that Jedha becomes ground zero for the Death Star’s first testing. And the resulting destruction is devastatingly beautiful.

If there is a redeeming feature in this new galactic adventure, it’s that Rogue One is perhaps the year’s most entertaining and cinematic spectacle, even if it is occasionally let down by a lagging plot that I suspect has more to do with the troubled reshoots and rewrites that plagued the film. Ergo, there are skirmishes on the ground that are intimate and gritty, large-scale sequences that are cataclysmically gorgeous, and new characters that aren’t even half as well developed as those created in The Force Awakens. It’s a pity because the pedigree of acting talent is staggering. Felicity Jones delivered a stirring turn in The Theory of Everything that earned her an Oscar nomination and may score another for her role in the upcoming (at the time of writing) A Monster Calls. Diego Luna was one of the leads in Alfonso Cuarón’s Y Tu Mama Tambien. Riz Ahmed owned every scene in this year’s HBO miniseries, The Night Of. Mads Mikkelsen upstaged Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in the television series, Hannibal, while Forest Whitaker is an Oscar-winning actor, and Ben Mendelsohn won an Emmy award for the Netflix series, Bloodline. But none of them get to truly shine. If anybody gets a lion’s share of the good lines, it is Donnie Yen and Alan Tudyk, and they’re usually the quips and one-liners.

As with Godzilla, though, director Gareth Edwards shows a keen eye and knack for crafting taut visually thrilling set pieces (though it’s not clear if these are his work or those overseen by another during reshoots). One of these involve Darth Vader (voiced again by James Earl Jones), who effectively steals the entire film in under two minutes and will have everybody talking about it.

Rogue One bridges the prequels and originals by picking up nearly two decades after the Empire took control and before the Rebel Alliance openly retaliated. The mission is for a ragtag band of rebels to steal the plans to the Death Star from a high security Imperial vault. Perhaps you recall that design flaw in the weapon that would soon allow a simple farm boy from Tatooine to destroy it- turns out the flaw was purposely put in by none other than Galen Erso, who was coerced into helping build the Death Star. The story was conceived by Garry Whitta and John Knoll, the latter being one of the original creators of Adobe Photoshop, and scripted by Chris Weitz (Cinderella) and Tony Gilroy (the Bourne trilogy), though how much of their ideas made it in the end before getting lost amid a pile of studio notes and rewrites will remain anyone’s guess. Underneath the film’s surface are hints and glimmers of a far darker story restrained by its PG-13 rating. Imagine if the viscera of Saving Private Ryan had to be toned down, and you’d have Rogue One, a Guns-of-Navarone inspired if watered-down war film that stumbles in the urgency of plot despite excelling in spectacle.

Star Wars will forever be entrenched in pop culture vernacular and as a result, any new instalment will always and unfairly be compared with the cinematic masterpieces of the Original trilogy, a problem that plagued the reception of the Prequels, rather than enjoying the new films on their own merits. But since the question cannot be avoided: how does Rogue One fare in the Star Wars canon? I would venture to hazard that it is a hybrid of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope crossed with the darker tone of The Empire Strikes Back. Make of that what you will.

~

DIRECTED BY: Gareth Edwards
PRODUCED BY: Kathleen Kennedy, Allison Shearmur, Simon Emanuel
SCREENPLAY BY: Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy
STORY BY: John Knoll and Gary Whitta
BASED ON: Characters created by George Lucas

STARRING: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen, Forest Whitaker, James Earl Jones

Which character will die in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens?

It could be a random coincidence but in the first installment of both the original and prequel Star Wars trilogies, a major character died. In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, it was Obi-Wan Kenobi (Sir Alec Guinness). In Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, it was Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson).

This December, a new trilogy kicks off with Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens and the question is: will a major character get killed off?

Answer: YES.

Who? Let’s speculate!

Now, the aforementioned deaths were significantly important in propelling the overall stories in the respective trilogies. Obi-Wan’s death forced Luke to take up the Jedi Knight mantle; Qui-Gon’s death promotes Obi-Wan from apprentice to Jedi Knight, leading him to take Anakin Skywalker as apprentice. You know the rest.

So the obvious train of thought would be: “Two Jedi Knights? It’s pretty obvious who’ll die in Episode VII!” Luke Skywalker, right?

Or not?

Have you noticed that in both films, Liam Neeson and Alec Guinness were arguably the most recognised cast members with a significant role to play (Samuel L. Jackson in Phantom Menace doesn’t count because his role wasn’t as significant)? Game of Thrones might have popularised the trend of bumping off your main or important characters but Star Wars was really doing that long before. Likewise, who is the most recognised cast member in The Force Awakens? Nope, it isn’t Mark Hamill (sorry, Mark, you’ll always be the Joker to me, though!).

It’s Harrison Ford.

But Han Solo isn’t a Jedi Knight, so what gives? Why would he be the most likely candidate to die?

The answer might lie all the way back during production of Return of the Jedi 22 years ago. Harrison Ford, not contracted to the sequels, suggested that Han Solo be killed during the movie to create a bigger impact in the story. Lawrence Kasdan, one of the screenwriters, agreed. But George Lucas was completely against it.

Know who’s involved in script duties for Episode VII? Lawrence Kasdan.

Killing off Han Solo would undeniably send shockwaves throughout the Star Wars community. He is arguably one of the most beloved characters in the franchise and his death would make it quite clear that nobody is safe, even if you’re played by Harrison Ford. It makes sense from a narrative perspective compared to killing off Luke because there is reason to believe that he will possibly be needed around a little longer to train a new Jedi Knight. Also, if rumours are to be believed that Luke has gone into exile post-Return of the Jedi, the death of his friend might be what prompts him to- pardon the pun- return to the fray.

But all this train of thought came from the emergence of this one rumour linked here: Star Wars 7: Major Character & Twist Spoilers Revealed.

Just another day in Speculate Ville. What are your thoughts, reader? Will Han Solo be the next major character to die, possibly at the hands of this nefarious villain?

Why the Spider-Man films are similar to the Star Wars saga

If you look closely, there are several similarities between the Spider-Man film franchise and the Star Wars saga:

• The Sam Raimi trilogy can be likened to the original Star Wars trilogy: everyone (well, nearly everyone) likes it
• Spider-Man pretty much helped influence the superhero genre as we know it today; Star Wars pretty much created the whole bloody blockbuster trend
• Like The Empire Strikes Back, Spider-Man 2 is the favourite and best of the franchise
• Like The Return of the Jedi, Spider-Man 3 is not so beloved (maybe if they had Mary Jane in a gold bikini…)
• The Amazing Spider-Man reboot is as polarizing as the Star Wars prequels
• The Amazing Spider-Man [2012] is like The Phantom Menace: it’s got its good parts but people are mostly divided over it
• And the Amazing Spider-Man 2 is the Attack of the Clones of the franchise: pretty much terrible, with too much reliance on CGI and generally the worst film of the franchise with a few good sequences scattered here and there (seriously, though, the Amazing Spider-Man 2 should be sued for having “Amazing” in the title when it was anything BUT!)