So I went to see Star Wars VII yesterday afternoon. Yeah! And left thinking, "I've seen all this before." Great cinematography. Beautiful production. Soulless remake.
Great performances from some stellar actors - Harrison Ford most notably - could not lift this much-anticipated movie from the doldrums in which the writers dumped it. Goes to show a $200 million budget is no substitute for strong screenwriting, and beneath that, strong characters and story. I know, human nature being what it is nothing will ever live up to the first trilogy. George Lucas, I doff my hat to you. Awesome. There's no denying the plot of the second, much-maligned 'prequel' trilogy had force, even if the execution left many fans cold.
But that's no excuse for essentially lifting the plot of IV and making it bigger. That's it. Where's the creativity, the spark, for which this series is renowned? It's as if all the writers wanted to do was touch every beloved point of the previous series and forgot that frivolous fun - and it was fun - at the end of the day remains frivolous and is soon forgotten.
The result was entertainment without emotional force. A few laughs, yet they rang hollow. That's what happens when you gut a story. Long live the soulless franchise.
