Star Wars 7: The Soulless Franchise Awakens
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.
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.
Thank you for putting into words what I felt yet dared not speak. Are we so hungry for this franchise that we'll accept anything? When the long standing tradition of all that had been written principally cannot be altered was thrown out.... well, havoc reigned. At least we had a decent droid and not some strange amalgamation of a bipedal, long eared, crude Rastafarian talking, water loving species...
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I fell asleep. Afterwards, I rushed back to the hotel and curled up with one of your novels. I needed something... original and thought provoking. ;)
Here we should make sure that we always want to be fashionable things to do in a positive ways and things to do some thing fashionable Han Solo Vest
ReplyDeleteBecause apparently for some, there must always be swag :-)
Delete