The Acolyte: Lite

Last week's episode of the Acolyte is garnering a lot of hate online. I didn't hate it. I thought it was pretty funny. Recap follows.

Atop the Hoover Dam, OSHA and MAE are raised by a colony of lesbian mimes. Their mothers AUNTIE SEPTIC and DARTH MAULY demonstrate the Thread.

AUNTIE SEPIC: Children, we call it "the Thread." Other people, whom you have never heard of and will never meet, call it "the Force." It's important that you know they're wrong.
DARTH MAULY: Now watch as the power of one creates an invisible wind.
A lesbian mime flails in response.
MAE: Sign me up for that!
DARTH MAULY: And so you see the power of many. We are all individuals.
LESBIAN MIMES: We are all individuals!
OSHA: I'm not. I don't wanna be a lesbian mime.
DARTH MAULY: Too bad, there's no job economy atop the Hoover Dam. Get ready for the ceremony tonight.

The lesbian mimes perform a super-secret special ceremony to induct the children on top of the Hoover Dam. They fail to notice the JEDI sneaking up on them.

JEDI: 'Sup, witches?
DARTH MAULY: Get out of here, we certainly aren't hiding any children we couldn't possibly have.
JEDI: Like those two who are clearly hiding behind you? Hi, children.
OSHA: Wow, people other than the two dozen lesbian mimes I've lived with all my life!
JEDI: Hey kids, wanna join our cult?
OSHA: Are you lesbian mimes?
JEDI: No, joyless eunuchs.
MAE: Pass.
JEDI: But we carry laser swords and have qualified immunity!
OSHA: Sign me up for that!

The lesbian mimes order OSHA to flunk her Jedi tests.
JEDI: Don't think of the number three.
OSHA: Is the number three?
DARTH MAULY: Dammit! You fell for their Jedi mind tricks!
MAE: If you leave, it will destroy our family!
OSHA: So?
MAE: Well, I wanted to be the one to destroy our family.

A fire breaks out, all the lesbian mimes die from apparent asphyxiation.
OSHA: What have you done?
MAE: What have you done?
OSHA: What have you done?*

*actual dialogue

11 Thoughts about Ahsoka (2023)

1. I knew nothing about Ahsoka prior to seeing her on the Mandalorian. I found her pretty underwhelming in that program but I understood she was some kind of popular character in the expanded Star Wars universe. I didn't plan to watch her program but my wife and I needed a distraction and it was good enough. Certainly it wasn't as bad as the Book of Boba Fett.
2. But Ahsoka has a lot of other characters who are only barely introduced - they're all treated as though their adventures have been going on for some time. So they might also be from the expanded universe? Or maybe the series was going for an in media res style comparable to the original trilogy?
3. Sabine might possibly be the worst sidekick I've ever seen in fiction. Her arc is that she keeps failing at everything she attempts until the final episode. There is a good case to be made that Ahsoka would have had an easier time if she had simply lost Sabine's phone number, since Sabine gives up the advantage to the bad guys every time she interacts with them.
4. The Sith in this series were at least something different. The Inquisitors from Obi-Wan Kenobi were perhaps the most tiresome Sith I'd yet seen, but Ray Stevenson's character on Ahsoka demonstrated that it's possible to do something different; instead of the typical petty Sith in-fighting and self-destructive nihilism, Stevenson's repressed performance and quiet weariness were at least a change from the usual.
5. Hayden Christensen is allowed to act now.
6. At one point a useless senator character scoffs at the account of what Ahsoka's been up to as thinking it sounds like a fairy tale. My dude, are you paying attention to the universe you live in? Fantastic fairy tale stuff happens every day!
7. Which brings to mind the space whales. My immediate reaction to my wife when they appeared was: "If you lived in the Star Wars universe and you were high on drugs, how would you ever know? 'Whoa, I think I see space whales. But I guess those things just exist in this universe.'"
8. The way in which Thrawn is treated as a mythical evil seemed off to me. Yes, Thrawn is a legendary Imperial leader. But he's not Sith - he's only powerful because of what he's to command into battle. Hearing characters talk about him like some figure of destiny seemed off, given that actual Sith were standing in the room at the time.
9. Then we finally meet Thrawn and he pretty much proved my point. He spends all his time delegating orders to others because he has no real power, just a lot of subordinates. His catchphrase, heard about every 15 minutes is: "Great Mothers; I have need again of your assistance."
10. The Stormtrooper with the golden face is the dorkiest Stormtrooper I've ever seen, and that's a feat.
11. Zombie Stormtroopers are not the wildest thing about Ahsoka; for me, it was hearing notes from Danse Macabre play as the zombies rose up. I was not expecting to hear an actual music sample in Star Wars.

The State of Star Wars

The recent conclusion of the well-received Disney+ series Andor has many people sizing up the state of of the Star Wars franchise. I don't count myself immune to that impulse. Disney has been making live-action Star Wars films and television shows for 7 years as of this week and it's been an odd journey.

The initial film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens took a lot of criticism for hewing so closely to tropes from the original film trilogy. I felt then - and now - that considering it was the first film without George Lucas, Disney had to prove they could produce something which felt 'authentically' like a Star Wars movie, but not like the 2nd poorly-received trilogy Lucas had made. The film did a decent job of setting up a new cast of characters and introducing hooks for future stories.

Then came the baffling decision to make Star Wars: The Last Jedi which attempted to deconstruct the entire franchise and kill just about every hook the previous film had set up. It is fantastically odd that Disney allowed the film to be made as the 2nd episode in a new franchise. As a stand-alone film it might've worked (though I question the wisdom of Star Wars deconstructing itself - it's not deep enough to survive close scrutiny) but as the middle part of a trilogy it was a major speedbump.

And everyone knows the Last Jedi doomed the finale of the trilogy, the Rise of Skywalker which stumbled, stammered and fumbled its way into theaters to no particular acclaim. Lucas' 2nd trilogy and the Last Jedi at least had their fans; no one cared much for the Rise of Skywalker. In fact, it inspired a whole host of online thinkpieces asking, "the 2nd trilogy doesn't look so bad now, does it?"

It's surprising that television has become the medium where Star Wars thrives. It's supposed to be a franchise built on spectacle, and spectacle doesn't come cheap. And yet, the first season of the Mandalorian proved that by tackling a more modestly-budgeted sphere of the Star Wars universe they could produce an 'authentic' Star Wars product. Besides all that, it was quite good.

The 2nd season of the Mandalorian struggled (in ways that I'll contrast against Andor). Despite the lead character having a goal that should have been propelling the story forward, Mando seemed to be always backtracking so that he could interact with his supporting cast. It's also odd that the hero's quest - to bring Grogu to the Jedi - leads him straight to the living, breathing Jedi Ahsoka - and she refuses to take custody of Grogu. But heck, the season ends with Mando and Grogu parting ways as Luke takes custody of Grogu. But clearly the creators weren't married to that climax.

The Book of Boba Fett is basically the third season of the Mandalorian. In fact, there's an episode without any appearance by Boba which is instead carried by Mando and plays like one of his episodes. This is an odd show that serves mainly to prove Boba's status as a cool character has been permanently usurped by the much-cooler Mando. It also serves to undo the finale of the Mandalorian's 2nd season, suggesting that the series will be pretty static.

Obi-Wan Kenobi was an oddity, one that exists in the barest margins of continuity, trying carefully to tell a story without infringing on the original Star Wars film. It was at least interesting to see the in-fighting among the show's Inquisitors which illustrates how wasteful and incompetant the franchise's villains are (and always have been).

But then came Andor. I wasn't entirely sure what to make of Andor. Friends of mine rushed to call it great, but I held off rendering a verdict until the 12th episode aired (I was a little surprised it ran 12 episodes, I expected it to be as brief as the other shows). Still, the show did basically run 4 3-part stories - every 3 episodes was a good place to pause and take stock of where the show had been and where it was going.

Viewing it as a complete season, I'm very impressed. Unlike the Mandalorian - where the lead character has to constantly run back to find his supporting cast - the makers of Andor don't care whether their cast share any scenes in each episode - or even all season! There are several characters in the show who have never shared a set together. The way in which the cast is split up in various places, each with their own running subplots creates a sense of vastness that Star Wars has mostly lacked. The universe feels bigger simply because although lead character Cassian Andor's decisions affect the rest of the cast, he doesn't command the cast. He's swept up by events as much as anyone.

It's all the more impressive that this is a prequel to the Disney film Rogue One, itself a prequel to the original Star Wars. Yet unlike Obi-Wan Kenobi there's no sense that the characters are keeping to the margins to avoid intruding on subsequent works. Andor feels like its own story; it benefits from the audience's knowledge of what is coming in the future (in fact the series logo hints at it) but the series has its own rules, its own sense of place.

Andor is surely not what everyone wants from Star Wars - the spaceship battles and comical droids are there, but at a minimum; there are no Jedi. Even though it's playing into stories which have terrific stakes, the stakes in Andor are smaller and as much concerned with people's emotional and psychological journeys as it is the rise of the Rebel Alliance.

It's telling, I think to look back at Star Wars: The Force Awakens' role for Andy Serkis and compare it to his recent role on Andor. In the former role, Serkis' fine skills were mostly squandered and his character an afterthought. In Andor, he's there for just a quarter of the series yet delivered one of the season's most memorable characters.

Disney probably won't capitalize on Andor in any real way (given that the aforementioned extraneous Jedi Ahsoka is their next intended series) but Andor stands apart and demonstrates there's still life in the franchise.

Radio Recap: Star Wars

For a change of pace, today I'm going to talk about a so-called 'new-time radio' program (albeit a 40+ year old 'new' one). The Star Wars radio dramas.

As a fan of old-time radio and Star Wars I had been a little fascinated by this series' existence. It took me quite some time to actually seek it out and I'm glad that I did.

In case you're unaware, the radio dramas were produced by the University of Southern California with the first film adapted in 1981, Empire Strikes Back in 1983 and Return of the Jedi not covered until 1996 (during the 90s Star Wars revival mania).

The talent in the programs is pretty decent - the big notable draws are that Mark Hamill reprised Luke Skywalker for the first 2, Billy Dee Williams reprised Land Calrissian for the 2nd and Anthony Daniels reprised C-3PO in all three. Further, there was some interesting casting like Brock Peters as Darth Vader and John Lithgow as Yoda - not the same, but they work. The only performance I found lacking was Perry King as Han Solo. In the first play he delivered almost every line with a sarcastic tone which was often at odds with the tone of the scenes. Thankfully, he improved as the dramas continued.

But what really helped put the dramas over the top is that the adaptors were given access to all of John Williams' music and all of the distinctive sound effects. Since in an audio medium characters like Chewbacca and R2-D2 are nothing more than sound effects, it essentially added the 'originals' to the cast.

So are they any good? Yes and no.

The production quality is certainly well-above par for a new-time radio program - the music and sound effects cover up a lot of the plays' defects. There are some interesting new scenes added, particularly in the first play during which the first two episodes invent mostly-new scenes set before the start of the film (the 1st episode is a Luke episode which mostly uses the deleted scenes of him with his friends on Tatooine; the 2nd episode tells how Princess Leia stole the Death Star plans). But mostly, the plays' runtimes were puffed-up thanks to padding. The Star Wars films have a certain pace - they tend to move very rapidly from one scene to the next. But the radio dramas s-l-o-w it all down. Again, outside of the first adaptation, the dramas mostly didn't add new scenes. Instead, the existing scenes were increased in length as characters banter back and forth and repeat information which was already understood. It's clunky.

The other problem I would say is that the dramas didn't have a narrator. Whenever an action scene arrives, the drama becomes unbearably silly because everyone shouts out what they're going to do before they do it (or immediately after). A narrator could have helped make these moments clear without making the characters sound silly(er).

I suppose I could say that I recommend the Star Wars radio dramas to Star Wars fans, but that's obvious; still, if you're one of them and you really like audio drama then this is for you.

I was amazed to learn that these dramas were created by the same people who made Star Wars: Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell, an audio tape I owned as a child (and probably still have in a box somewhere). I always thought that tape was a bit juvenile (slightly below the Marvel star Wars comics I grew up with), but I loved it just as an oddity. I would've really enjoyed hearing the radio programs had I access to them back then!

Finding One's Meaning in the Video/Movie Guide

Before resources like the Internet Movie Database existed, your best hope for understanding the length, width, breadth and height of filmdom was through one of many video/movie guides. They were ubiquitous, not only on bookstore shelves but even convenience store racks. They tended to range about 1000 pages and were printed on cheap newsprint with easily-smudged black ink. Depending on the design, you could fit 8-10 films on a single page as they didn't offer complete cast lists and only the briefest of plot summaries. Critical commentary was frequently limited to the star rating chosen by the editors, but sometimes they would pause to note something particularly wonderful about a film. Better still, there were those terse put-downs of movies, a devastating slight against the film which could settle the picture's reputation in your mind with only a single line of text.

I loved those books.

We had a few video/movie guides as I was growing up. I'm not sure when I began taking an interest in them, but around the age of ten I was leafing through them. By the age of twelve I would read them practically cover-to-cover. I particularly enjoyed guides which were sorted by genre; you could tell where the 'science fiction/fantasy' section was from the dark smears on the outside leaves, worn down from the hours I had spent pouring over them. Likewise, you could easily find the 'western' section by its pristine white pages.

Even if the book were simply an A to Z of film, there were particular places in the alphabet where I would pause. Having an interest in science fiction, 'space,' 'star' and 'invasion' were good places to search. I read with fascination about movies from the horror genre, always certain I would never have the stomach to sit through one. I began to have a sense of what exactly was out there in the world of film and what was considered good or bad within it. I didn't truly become a film aficionado until I watched my first Alfred Hitchcock picture, but even at the time, movies fascinated me. Renting a movie was still a novelty in those days, a rare treat. Boning up on what existed in the world of film gave me ideas of titles to locate at our local video stores.

Of course, there was one movie I held in esteem throughout my childhood, a picture which figured in many of my earliest memories. I can remember the sense of crushing disappointment I had when I made a point of looking it up in the video/movie guide one day. To my horror I read this:

Star Wars (1977)

I was speechless. 1977??? How could it be? I was certain I had seen the movie copyrighted to 1978. Perhaps I had simply owned a Kenner Star Wars toy with a 1978 production date, but somehow, at some point, I had believed Star Wars first came out in 1978. I compared one video/movie guide to another and each confirmed the fact: Star Wars had been originally released in 1977. A year before my birth. A year and a few months, in fact.

I was young enough at the time that I still played with my Star Wars toys and scoured used toy sales for other kids' cast-offs. Marvel Comics' Star Wars was the first comic book I began avidly collecting, attempting to build a complete set of issues. I didn't watch the movies too frequently (the only copies my family owned were those we taped off television in the late 80s) but we watched them at least once per year. At the time I made my discovery about the year of Star Wars' release, Star Wars was still an active presence in my life and would continue to be so until I went to college.

I realize now that I had been so willing to believe Star Wars had come out in 1978 because I was attempting to attach some higher meaning to my affection for the movies. It wasn't enough, apparently, that they were just good films - I wanted to believe Star Wars and I had come into the world together, that there was something verging on the spiritual about my connection to those motion pictures. And there wasn't, not really.

I'm hardly alone in this; certainly not alone in an irrational fervor about Star Wars, but I, like most of us, was trying to figure out my place in the world, a sense of meaning and purpose. I had no concept of what I would do for a living until after my high school years, so I frequently looked to my hobbies to define myself.

Even after I found my career, I flirted with the idea that my hobbies somehow revealed cosmic truths about my identity. There's a website called Mike's Amazing World of Comics which enables people to sort comic book releases by month & year. Visitors are encouraged to use this feature in order to find out what comic books were on sale the month they were born. How could I resist finding out? As a comic book fan, as someone who wound up being employed by Marvel Comics for eight years, surely there would be something there that would... explain who I am. Some piece of the puzzle. That I would click on the 'filter' button, see my favourite comic book story was printed the same month I was born and exclaim, 'Aha! It all makes sense!'

Okay, I was born the month Michael Korvac died. That's... something...?

There were some decent comic books published the month I was born. None that I would consider to be 'great.' And anyway, my favourite comic book story was first published when I was four years old.

It's a human thing to want to find patterns. Everything from astrology to numerology to fortune cookies are designed to appeal to our disbelief in randomness, our mistrust of coincidence, our willingness to find or invent purpose and meaning in items which are inconsequential.

I am grateful, then, to my family's video/movie guide for teaching me a lesson about my identity. If I had been born the same year as Star Wars, I fear I would have internalized that information and forced it to remain part of my identity as I grew up. It's good that I realized I was in error and rejected the idea. It's better to have your eyes open, searching for meaning than to center your life around a fanciful lie you want to believe. It was certainly easier for me to let go of Star Wars in college because I had disconnected myself from the idea that it held a place in my origin.

When my older sister turned 30 my parents were struggling to find something to tack-on to her birthday present that year, when they decided to simply buy her the movie which won the Academy Award for Best Picture the year she was born. Amused by this, I checked up to see what had won the Award in 1978: The Deer Hunter. I had never seen it but knew it wasn't exactly a happy film. I let my parents know that I expected them to buy me a copy of The Deer Hunter when I was thirty and they did - but I don't think I discovered anything more about who I am from that motion picture. Nor did I expect to. "This is this," philosophizes De Niro's character in The Deer Hunter, and that pragmatism has some weight. Movies are movies. Art is art. Art might help you find the tools to express your identity, but you and the art are not the same thing.

"See this? This is this. This ain't something else. This is this."

I've looked beyond popular culture to world events to see what was happening in 1978, what kind of environment I was born into, something which might give me a greater sense of identity. I suppose I feel like a blank slate; I no longer identify myself by the media I consume. How then do I define myself? Through my Christian faith? But how has my faith journey been unique? Having been born into a Christian home and never rejected faith, hasn't it always been there?

And then this year I finally found something which happened in 1978 that might help me make sense of my identity going forward. It wasn't rooted in popular culture or notable enough to earn a footnote in a newspaper. But it was rooted in my family and in faith.

Forty years ago, my aunt & uncle went to Angola to serve as missionaries.

This year, I decided I would do the same.

Moving images (2017 review, part 2)

The film genre is something I approach with just a little ennui. Having made deep dives into film history and seen all the acclaimed masterpieces of the past, I seldom seem to find something new to speak about. There wasn't a single film I saw in 2017 which I would call 'perfect,' but there were many great films. That will suffice.

I didn't discover many older films of note, but I finally went through The Fly (director: David Cronenberg), a horror film I had avoided because I sensed it was too gruesome for me. As it turns out, it is as gruesome as claimed, but the performances and storytelling kept me compelled. On the small screen I also saw: Get Out (director: Jordan Peele), which I liked although it was neither as scary nor as funny as online chatter made it appear - just a very tense thriller; Race (director: Stephen Hopkins), which was a fine bio-pic about Jesse Owens which felt a bit confined at having to adapt his life into a traditional three-act structure; and there was Arrival (director: Denis Villeneuve), which I enjoyed as a compassionate science fiction film (although the only aspect I shared on this blog was a musing on artificial gravity).

Theatrical Films

I went to the cinema eight times in 2017; each time I had at least one person who went with me. Without company, I wouldn't have gone to see any of these films. Which is not to say they're bad, just that I don't enjoy being alone in the theater unless the film is as unusual as Shin Godzilla was the year before. In particular, I would definitely not have bothered with Kong: Skull Island (director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts) or Dunkirk (director: Christopher Nolan) but for friends who wanted to see them (the former because my friend lost a bet on the Oscars with another friend and had to see a non-Oscar-worthy film with him as punishment). Kong wasn't bad, certainly better than I expected given my feelings about Gareth Edwards' Godzilla. Dunkirk became more engaging to me as it went on and presented some well-crafted tension through its gimmicky non-linear storytelling.

My friends wanted to see most of the big super hero films so who was I to refuse them? I dug Logan (director: James Mangold) with its somber tone, although the climax didn't quite sit right with me given all which had come before; I laughed a lot at Thor: Ragnarok (director: Waika Waititi), although as a huge fan of Planet Hulk and the last stand of Skurge the Executioner I wasn't particularly enthused at the truncated versions the film employed; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 (director: James Gunn) felt very thin to me - way too pleased with itself and far too glib, but had a few great emotional beats when not trying to undercut its own drama; Wonder Woman (director: Patty Jenkins) was the super hero triumph of the year, despite having a pretty same-ol-same-ol climax - I wrote my initial thoughts here.

I also went to see Hacksaw Ridge (director: Mel Gibson) at the cheap theater and I was impressed to see a Hollywood film endorse pacifism, given that usually Hollywood war films which touch on the subject are crafted to speak against it (ie, Sergeant York). And there was Star Wars: The Last Jedi (director: Rian Johnson) recently, which I'm not certain how I feel about. It had various decisions I enjoyed, namely establishing Rey as a person who came from nothing instead of yet another member of the space-elite, but the questions the film raises about whether people should sacrifice themselves to achieve a greater good seem way too introspective for the Star Wars franchise and totally against what every film - particularly the last one, Rogue One - believe in. In Star Wars, you always play the odds even if you lose.

Television

Being that I don't have a television subscriber, my only source of television programming is on Netflix. This past year they brought in my old favourite Mystery Science Theater 3000 with brand-new episodes, a series I had backed on Kickstarter. Although I enjoyed the new programs I found the production a little too mechanical, not quite organic enough - the riffing was near-constant and I actually didn't find that a plus - I wanted more time to appreciate the jokes, to let them land before the next one started. It's good enough.

Fortunately, Netflix also brought me the event of the year: Five Came Back, the documentary series based on the book I finished earlier in the year. I adored this series. Although it had less information than the book, the manner of presentation with the film clips makes it indispensable and the ways in which the five famous director-commentators reflected on each of the book's five directors brought up interesting parallels and insights into those men. I showed this series to one of my friends; my friend had an interest in World War 2, but not classic film. After the series was done he wanted to see films by each of the directors, so I showed him at least one my each director from my library.

About two months later my friend and I were meeting another guy for dinner before watching Dunkirk. The second friend asked, "What's the best movie you've seen this year?" I considered and chose Logan. My first friend? The Grapes of Wrath by John Ford, from our Five Came Back-related sessions. Now he's into the classics!

Tomorrow: Comics!

Thoughts on artificial gravity

Last week I was watching the prestige science fiction film Arrival and it made me think about Star Trek and Star Wars.

Wait - stop! No, come back! Hear me out!

In Arrival the mysterious alien ships visiting Earth can be accessed by their human visitors through a sort of airlock. Because the ship has artificial gravity on board this causes people entering the ship to suddenly float at a right-angle as they shift from Earth's gravity to that of the ship's.

It's a moment meant to emphasize the strangeness of encountering another species but it caused me to reflect on how this science is normally used in science fiction. Some science fiction avoids the question of gravity aboard ships at all, preferring zero-gravity environments. But in Star Trek and Star Wars, the world's two most popular science fiction franchises, artificial gravity is a given.

The issues surrounding artificial gravity rarely come up on Star Trek. From time to time there would be a gravity failure on one of the ships. Enterprise, being the series set at the chronologically earliest point of the franchise, played with gravity a little more than the others - there were certain gravity glitches the characters would experience.

Yet Enterprise ignored an idea which Arrival explored - what about the airlock? That series frequently had alien visitors board the ship through its airlock (as transporter technology wasn't fully reliable). What would have happened if a visiting ship had to dock at a 90 degree angle because of its physical shape? What would a boarding sequence look like in that instance?

But then I began to think about artificial gravity in Star Wars and realized, "oh yeah - they have that too." Many have argued Star Wars is more fantasy than science fiction and I'm afraid I'm about to repeat that argument. Space and technology in the Star Wars films is extremely familiar and lived-in. Everyone is accustomed to being around some 200 different species at any given time, traveling through space at faster-than-light speeds is a given and the franchise's most popular vehicle is deemed "a piece of junk" by its universe's standards.

Where I would say Arrival and Star Trek hold concepts in common is that the characters experience a sense of awe and wonder as they're exposed to the wider universe. In Star Wars, all of the awe and wonder is calculated as an effect upon the audience, not so much as to be experienced by the characters. That is, we in the audience are supposed to think the Millennium Falcon is cool; those in the film do not.

What would exploration even look like in the Star Wars universe? It seems as though everything in that franchise has to be somehow connected to the Force. If you're mastering the Force, what else could the universe offer you? Among their thousands of culturally-acclimated aliens, why would people in the Star Wars universe want to go seeking another race? What purpose do planets serve in the Star Wars universe beyond military and commercial ventures?

The aliens in Arrival possess certain abilities (no spoilers offered) and the knowledge they carry changes the course of humanity. In Star Trek, various aliens have been shown to possess different abilities or cultural values which provide interesting contrasts against humanity's (one notable Trek race has the same abilities as the Arrival aliens). But in Star Wars, the only people credited with particular powers or beliefs worth coveting are those who use the Force. It is, as David Brin has argued, a pro-elitist perspective. For all that multiculturalism seems to be a universal norm in Star Wars (outside of the very British Imperials) the Force divides the universe into haves and have-nots. To paraphrase George Orwell, in Star Wars all people are equal but some are more equal than others.

And that's what the artificial gravity made me think of. Even Gravity didn't inspire me to think this much about gravity.

Fiction that won me back

People who know me know that I'm extremely picky and stubborn like a mule. When I get a notion into my head I'm loathe to reverse my position. Growing up, I was a terrible problem for my family whenever they wanted to see a movie in the theater because I would veto most of what the cinemas were offering. And once I decided I didn't like something, I would remain steadfast in my resolve.

This being so, let's look at three times where I had set myself against a project - only to be won back.

I watched a fair bit of Mission: Impossible growing up, starting with the 1980s revival series, then seeing the original program when it ran in reruns on FX. It was often an uneven series (particularly in the later years) but there are many episodes which I can point to as great television. The series also had a great number of repeated tropes, moments which would appear in virtually every episode and so would be anticipated each time - and then surprised in those episodes which didn't follow the typical Mission: Impossible formula.

I did not like Brian De Palma's Mission: Impossible. Oh, how much did I not like this film. As a Mission: Impossible fan, I simply couldn't stand seeing the program's hero - Jim Phelps - turned into a villain then thrown under the bus in order to promote Tom Cruise as the new hero. This film angered me, so much so that I couldn't appreciate any of the craft which went into its much-admired stunts.

Many years later I found myself on a flight from Canada to Sierra Leone and noticed Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol among the in-flight entertainment. After getting through the films I really wanted to see, I lowered my expectations in order to give Ghost Protocol a shot. I reasoned that while it wouldn't be the Mission: Impossible I enjoyed, as it was directed by a director I enjoyed (Brad Bird) maybe I'd get something out of it. I was won over by the time the opening credits rolled.

The bongo music - the fuse moving across the screen - the clips of upcoming moments - wow. Instantly, I gleaned that Brad Bird might have been a fan of the original series. I became immersed in that film and enjoyed that it was - like the original series - an ensemble piece (that is, less of a Tom Cruise vehicle). So many of the trademarks of the television program were present, from stealth gadgets to changing room numbers to trick people. I enjoyed this film so much I went to see Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation on its opening weekend! Ghost Protocol remains a film I would happily watch again.

I came somewhat late into Star Trek fandom, arriving just as Star Trek: Voyager launched. I went back to catch all that I had missed and soon found there were episodes I liked, other episodes not-so-much, characters I liked, characters I loathed. While Star Trek: Deep Space Nine became my favourite of the franchise I still watched Voyager to the end - gradually realizing it wasn't that great, often viewing it from a sense of inertia and seldom engaged with the stories, but it wasn't bad enough to switch channels.

Then came Enterprise. Although I had misgivings about the series' approach to continuity, I respected that the program wanted to break out of the usual tropes and find a new angle on the Trek formula in order to attract a wider audience. I gave the first season some rope and found it likeable enough. That changed with season 2, particularly with the notorious "A Night in Sickbay" episode, but also a series of other similarly lousy programs. I gave up partway into the season and decided I was done with Trek. I ignored what I heard about the show's changes in seasons 3 & 4.

One day, a friend eagerly insisted I watch the season 4 two-parter "A Mirror Darkly." I spent a great deal of time laughing at the over-the-top performances and the audacious number of references to classic Trek. This convinced me to go back and see the rest of season 4 to discover what the series' new showrunner (Manny Coto) had done to improve the series. I ultimately judged he had made the show a solid good program and felt better about how Trek's TV franchise wound up. Still, some fans insisted the show had actually become good in season 3. Eventually I would watch everything I had missed (including more of the lousy season 2 episodes) and concluded that it had actually become decent near the end of season 2 and even hit an all-time high during its 3rd season. Enterprise didn't deserve a better chance - simply being Star Trek gave it a better chance than most programs - but, like every Trek program, if you ignore the really bad episodes it's not such an awful series.

Finally, Star Wars. I've blogged before about how Star Wars was a very important franchise to me in my childhood but how I began to feel disinterested even before Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace was released. That feeling continued throughout the era of prequel films. I recognized the product as a legitimate Star Wars offering, yet had a sense of disassociation, not feeling any emotion about seeing the product. This finally changed when I saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which offered some compelling new characters alongside a hefty dose of nostalgia.

Nostalgia is the common bond between these franchises. To win me back to Mission: Impossible, it took an homage to the original series opening; for Enterprise, it was bringing in the Mirror Universe; for Star Wars, it was familiar characters and situations. But I would say in each instance nostalgia was a means to an end, not a means unto itself. Beyond the nostalgia I sensed in the opening of Ghost Protocol, I enjoyed the risky stunts and character interplay. Enterprise dug deep into franchise lore for its 4th season, but it also worked hard to rehabilitate its own characters, particularly by calling out its lead character (Jonathan Archer) for his sins. Finally, The Force Awakens trod upon familiar soil, but it was the new character Finn who gave me hope for the franchise's future.

How about you? Is there a series or franchise which you came to dislike, then found yourself being won back?

Ten Great Princess Leia Moments from the Comics

With the passing of Carrie Fisher, I wanted to memorialize not only her but the character she portrayed - Princess Leia. To me, the Leia who appeared in the Marvel Comics at the time of the original films' release was nearly as legitimate as Fisher's. I previously listed ten great moments from Star Wars #51-52, my favourite story from the Marvel run and it included a pretty great Leia scene; here are ten other memorable moments from the comics:

#1: Leia takes Luke swimming (Star Wars #15, 1978, by Archie Goodwin & Carmine Infantino)

At about the same time as this early comic the novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye asserted Leia couldn't swim - yet Luke, improbably, could! Here, Archie Goodwin demonstrated a better sense of who the characters were as Leia was quite adept at swimming (plenty of water visible on Alderaan) while Luke was not (not many oceans on Tatooine). This moment brought back the sense of Leia's superior skill during the cell block rescue in Star Wars and was an early indicator that the comic series would be all right under Goodwin's guidance.

#2: Leia the commando (Star Wars #30, 1979, by Archie Goodwin & Carmine Infantino)

In a later issue, Goodwin sent Leia on a commando mission to an Imperial world. Considering Han and Luke were not (at this point in the series) going on such missions, it said a lot about Leia's uber-competency. She was the Snake-Eyes of Star Wars! It's a pretty great story as Leia fails to achieve her mission's stated goals but considers it a success because her actions have inspired other citizens to resist the Empire.

#3: Leia outwits Darth Vader (Star Wars #48, 1981, by Larry Hama & Carmine Infantino)

Speaking of Snake-Eyes, Larry Hama wrote some Star Wars! In this tale, Leia is playing a very clever con game against Darth Vader himself. She does succeed at everything she sets after this time - although at the last moment Vader is able to claim a minor victory. Take note also that this issue demonstrates that, prequels notwithstanding, it is possible to derive drama from economics in the Star Wars universe.

#4: Leia compromises (Star Wars #55, 1982, by David Michelinie & Walter Simonson)

Leia was helping to establish a Rebel presence on the planet Arbra, an ideal new base of operations. However, the native inhabitants, the Hoojibs, objected to the Rebels walking in and displacing them from their home. While some of the Rebels are willing to go against the Hoojibs' wishes, Leia notes they lost their own homes to the Empire and shouldn't repeat the Imperials' mistakes. That willingness to withdraw is what finally changes the Hoojibs' minds as they invite the Rebels to remain as their guests (Hoojibs remained a constant presence in the series from then on).

#5: Leia takes out an Imperial base (Star Wars #65, 1982, by David Michelinie & Walter Simonson)

On another commando mission, Leia intended to sabotage an Imperial base's reactor. An Imperial officer who had recently suffered a demotion due to a previous failure against the Rebels succeeded in trapping Leia inside the base. The exits were seealed and the officer set the base's reactor into an overload, believing it best to ensure Leia's death as a crippling blow against the Rebellion. Unfortunately for that officer, even with all the doors sealed and the base about to explode, he underestimated Leia's skill as she effortlessly knocked him aside and escaped (this issue also has a great scene where Leia takes out a hapless Stormtrooper).

#6: Leia hunts the bounty hunters (Star Wars #68, 1983, by David Michelinie & Gene Day)

Simply seeing Leia in a pilot's uniform is a treat, but this tale, told in the year leading up to Return of the Jedi had Leia and C-3PO tracking the bounty hunter Dengar, which brought them up against Fenn Shysa, a Mandalorian warrior garbed exactly like Boba Fett, yet quite well-disposed towards the Rebellion. In issues after Jedi, Fenn would become a regular member of the series supporting cast and a new rival for Han to contend with over Leia's affections.

#7: Leia's best frenemy (Star Wars #73, 1983, by Jo Duffy & Ron Frenz)

There certainly aren't many women in the Star Wars universe, but Jo Duffy put a lot of effort into building up her character Dani the Zeltron, a man-chasing smuggler. By 80s comics standards, Dani was the Yukio to Leia's Storm. It made a difference to have Leia interact with another woman and this was the first of many instances where Leia would chaffe at Dani's over-enthusiastic friendship and questionable moral code. In this story, Leia and Dani wound up joining forces in an effort to retrieve the tapes of a missing Rebel pilot (a running sub-plot which ultimately led directly into Return of the Jedi).

#8: Alderaan, remembered (Star Wars #86, 1984, by Randy Stradley & Bob McLeod)

In this tale, Leia met a Stormtrooper who originally came from Alderaan and wore a piece of his homeworld's remains around his neck. Leia is disgusted with him for betraying their people's memory and much of the issue was comprised of Leia delivering pointed takedowns of the Stormtrooper's justifications.

#9: Leia brings down a Sith lord (Star Wars #88, 1984, by Jo Duffy & Bob McLeod)

The post-Return of the Jedi comics had to find a number of new enemies for the protagonists to face. Looming largest among them was Lumiya, a female apprentice of Vader's who assumed her former master's role and began exerting control over the Empire's remnants. But to Leia, Lumiya was just another punk and she won this first confrontation with a blaster shot to Lumiya's chest!

#10: Leia's dress (Star Wars #95, 1985, by Jo Duffy & Cynthia Martin)

Leia's distate for Zeltrons came up constantly and she wound up having four male Zeltrons assigned to her staff. The quartet were very well-meaning but rather vapid; here, they decided to help Leia's appearance at a formal function by altering her dress - under the apparent mistaken belief Leia was a cabaret singer. In spite of it all, Leia did her best to maintain her dignity.

I hope you enjoyed this list!

RIP: Carrie Fisher

I did not know Carrie Fisher, but for most of my life I have known Leia Organa; she was one of my heroes.

Over the past few days as word of Carrie Fisher's heart attack circulated on social media, culminating in her death yesterday, I saw many people articulating what she meant to them. Mention was made of her personal struggles, her family, her wider career and accomplishments. But, to quote Max von Sydow in The Force Awakens: "She'll always be royalty to me."

Once again, I find myself feeling well-disposed towards Star Wars; I liked The Force Awakens and Rogue One. That being the case, I'm better able to connect emotionally with my long-held affection towards the cast of characters. The protagonists of the original three Star Wars films loomed large in my childhood and Princess Leia Organa was both pivotal and unique - not only the most significant female character in the films but the only one with an arc or more than one scene of dialogue.

I was surprised to find out in the 1990s that many Star Wars fans of my age considered Leia a sex symbol and salivated over the slave outfit she wore in Return of the Jedi. To me, she was one of the guys. Similarly, my favourite character wasn't Han Solo (unlike many), who was, to me, the hero's best friend. I liked Luke Skywalker more than any of the characters and Leia being Luke's sister was a development I wholeheartedly approved of - everyone got to be happy! Rather than a body to be glared at, I took Leia as one of the heroes - feisty, sharp-tongued, heroic. She could fight, plot, snark and in every other means match wits with any of the other characters. She even seemed to spark the 1980s fascination with male-centered action heroes taking on one member who would be "the female one." With few exceptions (G.I. Joe's Scarlett) such heroines were not the equals of their male comrades, unlike Leia.

Part of my affection for Leia stems from the relationship I have with my own sister; to some extent I thought of the Princess Leia action figures as "girl's toys" and was happy to let my sister collect them. Still, eventually I obtained a figure of Leia in her Hoth outfit and it received a lot of play from me. Frankly, the adventures I had with my Star Wars toys were incomplete 'til I began adding Leia to them.

I felt a little uncertain of Carrie Fisher's return to the role in The Force Awakens - not because of her appearance (she sure looked like Leia to me) but because her voice seemed to have aged so much, sounding older than her actual age. Regardless, it was emotional to see her again; it will no doubt be all the more emotional when I see her again next winter - for the final time.

"I am one with the force." Rogue One remarks

Here we are, doomed to spend the rest of our lives seeing the Star Wars brand diminished year after year as film after film is rushed to the multiplex in order to shore up this bloated, putrescent franchise.

Yet I liked Rogue One. Spoilers to follow.

I didn't read any articles about Rogue One going into the film, relying mostly on the trailer to give me a sense of what the picture would be like. It appeared to be a bit grimmer than what Star Wars normally is and was dealing with a bit of continuity minutiae which really didn't need to be followed up on at all. I've already seen people online claiming this film solved "plot holes" from the original Star Wars as people today have not really bothered to educate themselves on what a "plot hole" is.

It's needless, but then, what film is needed? It tells the story of how the Death Star plans were originally captured, largely because that's a piece of Star Wars mythology which people already know about and is thus fertile fodder for a stand-alone motion picture with a cast of unfamiliar protagonists. In a way, much like the similarities The Force Awakens had to the first Star Wars, Rogue One plays it safe.

But now that I am clicking on articles and reading reactions from my friends I'm seeing many criticisms of the picture such as the "Uncanny Valley" effects used to recreate 1977 vintage Tarkin & Leia (I wasn't bothered by the effects at all - then again, I saw it at a 3D showing, perhaps it looks less-convincing on flat film?).

I've also seen complaints about the tone of the movie. My friend (and former colleague) Peter Sanderson complained on Facebook:

"It was unremittingly grim and dark, literally so. with little light or color, with no sense of joy or hope, no human warmth, no characters who inspired empathy, no sense of wonder. The movie just dragged on and onwithout ever feeling inspired to me."

On the flip side, Todd Alcott has a reaction which I feel elucidates why I'm more pleased with the film than Peter: "If one goes into a movie with a set of expectations and those expectations are unfulfilled, sometimes one’s response is to spend the running time looking for the movie expected instead of watching the one being screened."

But to Peter's point: yes, Rogue One is a grim story. It's set in the days before "A New Hope," after all. By the end of the film, all six of the protagonists are dead, giving their lives to retrieve the Death Star plans, which are then transferred to Leia.

This bleak-yet-hopeful climax didn't bother me in the way it bothered Peter; after all, I'm a Halo fan.

Halo: Reach was the first Halo game I played on the day of its original release; I had been watching videos to prepare myself for all the combat changes and new strategies. And while I had not read the novel The Fall of Reach which originally established the battle of Reach, I had gleaned details online - primarily, that the reason why the Master Chief seemed to be the last Spartan left for the war with the Covenant in the original Halo trilogy is that all the other Spartans died on Reach.

From the start, I knew the character I was playing (Noble 6) and his teammates (Noble Team) were destined to die, and they did. And yet, it ends on an emotional, hopeful note. As in Rogue One, the team are trying to relay important data - that is, the character of Cortana - to an escaping ship. Noble Team die so that Cortana can live and thus enable the Halo trilogy to occur. Notably, the game was promoted with a trailer entitled: "Deliver Hope."

A grim sci-fi tale where everyone dies for a just cause is A-O-K by me. I suppose where the comparison between Rogue One and Halo: Reach breaks down (and Peter would agree) is in terms of character - that Noble Team's personalities and relationships were demonstrated very cleanly and efficiently so that as the team died the player would (hopefully) have an emotional reaction. However, I had difficulty connecting to the crew of Rogue One; perhaps it's because of reshoots but I feel the film needed more time for the characters to sit down and interact with other rather than advancing the plot (or do both at once). The characters spend a considerable amount of time simply getting into the same room as each other and then keep going on journeys to other places; perhaps if they'd all met in the first 15 minutes then spent the rest of the film working on the main problem (getting the Death Star plans) they'd gel better. There's a moment near the end of the film where Jiang Wen's character Baze calls Felicity Jones' Jyn "little sister." It was cute, but I didn't have a sense of the two sharing any form of rapport prior to that bit.

However, to some extent what I'm asking for is more; I'm not unhappy with what the film offered, I simply want more of it. I truly enjoyed Donnie Yen's character Chirrut and wished he'd had more dialogue and exploration of his philosophy. There was something instinctively likeable about Riz Ahmed's Bodhi and I wanted some more character beats from him. I would have appreciated getting into the head of Diego Luna's character Cassian for more than one conversation.

If I had any trepidation about this film it was because the director of the underwhelming Godzilla was back. Given his previous love of refusing to give fans what they wanted to see I was pleased to see he's now adapted himself to his current audience, loading in the expected fan service (to the point where I laughed when Gold Leader & Red Leader appeared) and framing action scenes so that you can - get this - understand what's happening! Good on you, Gareth Edwards.

You've probably already seen or are going to see Rogue One. But, on the off-chance that you aren't sure and you do love Halo: Reach then you and I meet on the same Venn diagram. In that spirit, enjoy the picture.

"Are we really doing this?" Thoughts about Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I wasn't certain I would bother seeing Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the theatres. The trailers made very little impression on me - simply seeing the Millennium Falcon or Han Solo again doesn't cause me to "geek out." I was perfectly fine having no more Star Wars films.

Still, it did cause me to reflect a little upon the franchise in the months leading up to the film, thus leading to my six-part look at Roy Thomas & Howard Chaykin's Star Wars comics (part 1; part 2; part 3; part 4; part 5; part 6). I also told the story of how I watched the Star Wars prequels, which was an anecdote I'd long been meaning to share. Finally, I listed my top 10 favourite moments in Star Wars #51-52.

When my friends Al & Nathan asked if I would like to watch The Force Awakens with them, I said yes. As part of my ongoing effort to not be a jerk, I've resolved that I won't refuse watching films with my friends (unless the film they want to see is truly dire). Further, I had a suspicion that Force Awakens would be at least as good as J.J. Abrams' first Star Trek and that was entirely watchable. My friends tasked me with buying them tickets and after we sorted out which night and time we would go, it transpired that we wound up going on cheap movie night and the showing was in the "reclined seating" room. I had never seen a film with reclined seating before and being able to reserve our seats (no need to arrive early) and recline while watching was so pleasant (and at $8 per seat, affordable) that I was already in a pretty good humour as the film came on.

The lights came up and Nathan asked, "What did you think?" One word came to mind:

SPOILERS BEGIN HERE

"Safe." Then, reflecting on that word added, "...Which is a strange way to describe a film that killed Han Solo."

Star Trek fans may argue about when the franchise lost its soul, but I think we mostly agree that has happened. The two Abrams films were fairly generic action adventure/science fiction films (hence why I'm known to refer to them as "Space Dudes") which succeeded in making money despite being extremely superficial in how it approached the material. Now Abrams has come to Star wars and the difference is striking; although Abrams makes filming choices which Lucas wouldn't (the tight close-ups, off-center angles, lens flare), and yet at the same time submits to the audience's expectations from a Star Wars film. The music, sound effects, vehicle designs, costumes, props and screen wipes which one would expect in Star Wars are there and the plot is (as many have noted) very much like that of the original Star Wars.

Nathan told me he wished the film had been less safe - "taken risks" - but as the beginning of a new franchise which hopes to spawn a limitless number of new Star Wars films, the way to start is definitely to assure the audience that things are much the same. You know, it's like poetry: they rhyme.

On the one hand, I don't really want to see more Star Wars - I liked the ending of Return of the Jedi, which pretty much has to be overturned in order to generate another conflict. It also seems disingenous to continue Star Wars without Lucas as those films were so tied up in his interests, particularly his love for old serials. When Lucas did a screen wipe in Star Wars, it was an expression of his love for Akira Kurosawa. When Abrams uses a screen wipe in Star Wars, it's an expression of his fidelity to Star Wars. Star Wars was a thing which nostalgia spawned; now it has become the nostalgic thing which references itself. We have gazed too long into that abyss.

On the other hand, The Force Awakens is... good. Like, I enjoyed it more than either of Abrams' Star Trek films. How'd that happen? To again sum it up with one word:

FINN

As I said, I wasn't sucked into this film by the power of nostalgia. Thus, I was extremely pleased to find something in this film which I truly enjoyed - the character of Finn, who has a pretty good case for being the story's protagonist. He's a sort of audience surrogate - familiar with the past history of the franchise but uncertain of what the new plot is all about. I really enjoy stories about characters who are self-involved and gradually become heroic (it was basically Han's arc in the first film). So Finn, the reluctant Stormtrooper, escapes the First Order and has to think on his feet, trying to get out of danger. When he volunteers information to help assault the First Order's Starkiller weapon - his motivation being to rescue Rey - he finally becomes entirely selfless (and, noticeably, more confident in himself).

I know there are some concerns about Finn not being a Jedi, as the advertising suggested. I guess it would have been a big deal for African-American audiences? I mean, Rey being a Jedi has to be a big deal for women, but why would Finn being a Jedi be so huge for African-Americans? We already had Samuel "Internet Meme" L. Jackson as a Jedi - albeit, one who held as much intrigue as a rice wafer. But isn't it enough that Finn's a great character? When Kylo Ren demands Finn turn over his lightsaber and Finn answers, "Come and get it!" I was more engrossed in the picture than at any other moment - 'cause I knew Finn didn't have a prayer of winning, but I really wanted to see him succeed. The real triumph was that he was going to try and beat the villain on his own terms.

I also admire that Finn helps muddy the waters around Stormtroopers, making them less acceptable as cannon fodder. Now that we know they're not all evil and others might possibly want to switch sides. As a guy who's often bothered by the callous treatment of life in sci-fi epics, to me the redemption of Finn points the value of all lives.

How much do I like Finn? Having previously been unengaged with these films, I am now pre-sold on the continuation because I want to know what will happen to Finn!

Then there's...

KYLO REN

Man, can you believe we used to make jokes about Anakin Skywalker being the "emo Jedi?"

There's something formidable and ridiculous about Kylo Ren. Formidable, because he demonstrates force abilities which Darth Vader apparently didn't have (halting blaster fire mid-air, immobilizing people) and has an extremely loose temper which causes him to smash up perfectly good electronics (which makes sense to me - if the Sith are supposed to be the ones consumed with anger, fear, hatred, etc, then they shouldn't all be calm and collected). He's ridiculous in the way that he tries to emulate his grandfather. I felt it was a mistake to unmask him before his face-to-face encounter with Han Solo because his big dorky face seriously defangs him. Still, as soon as you see him unmasked you finally understand who he is: he's a nerd. He cosplays as Darth Vader, prays to his collectibles and isn't quite as powerful or dangerous as he likes to pretend.

He's no Darth Vader, but he works well enough as a villain (certainly better by far than any prequel foes). But strangely, the most contentious character is:

REY

Although I didn't look up anything on the film before watching it, I did occasionally see article headlines which gave away certain details. Some time before seeing the film I saw Rey called "Mary Sue." Having seen the film I have to say - I kinda agree? I mean, she's not a Mary Sue in the sense that I don't think she's the author's surrogate. However, she does seem unreasonably perfect; she avoids the temptation to surrender BB-8 for food; she doesn't need Finn's help in a fight; she can fly the Millennium Falcon, fix everything aboard it, seems to know it better than Han; she escapes the First Order before she can be rescued and she turns out to be so good at using the Force that she doesn't even need training to figure stuff out. She has maybe two failings: she lets out some monsters by mistake while trying to help Han (but the monsters wind up helping anyway) and she loses in her first enounter with Kylo Ren. For much of the film she's great at everything and is just waiting for the necessary motivation to do something.

Some online have countered that Luke Skywalker was pretty good at everything he attempted in the first film. To which I counter: not really. He whined an awful lot (fans have yet to forgive him for a certain line involving "power converters"), even during his one training scene and he tried to backseat drive with Han when he had no idea what was going on. Rey doesn't whine, gets by without training and is pretty much a peer to Han.

Then again, my favourite super hero is Captain America, a guy who I'm steadfast against being laden with personal failings, so what do I know? (but of course, Cap doesn't always win fights, he just tries - which again, is an attribute I noticed in Finn) I hope that the next film will give Rey some kind of personal troubles which will counteract her seemed "perfection" in this debut film.

It does seem odd to me that Kylo Ren accuses Rey of looking up to Han as a father. At that time she'd known Han for what, six hours? (probably Kylo reflecting his own Daddy Issues)

There's still a lot of mystery surrounding Rey so I'm not ready to praise or condemn her yet. The jury is out.

WHAT ELSE?

Nathan felt the movie had "just enough" C-3PO for him; I could have taken a little more, as his reintroduction was one of the funnier moments in the picture. And yet, Abrams might not be comfortable with the slapstick antics C-3PO normally generates. BB-8 was a welcome source of cuteness and comedy, however.

R2-D2's reawakening at the end of the film makes no sense. Did he wake up then because he read the script? I bet that's it. Maybe it was the will of the Force.

In addition to Finn's redemption, I like that the Stormtroopers have picked up some new tricks. That baton which could withstand lightsaber strikes is a pretty great weapon for future films since it gets boring when Jedi can't be stopped by their enemies (re: battle droids).

This must easily be the first Star Wars film to pass the Bechdel Test (even if you include Abrams' two Star Trek films). This film just be the first time two women in Star Wars spoke to each other about anything (in fact, the female quotient seems higher than usual).

My relatives wanted to talk to me mainly about how much Han Solo had to do in the film (they thought he'd show up for only a cameo). Perhaps a greater surprise is how much Chewbacca had to do, considering his lack of English dialogue. Heck, it might be the most demanding part Peter Mayhew has ever played.

Anyway: Star Wars! You already have an opinion.

My 10 Favourite Moments from Star Wars #51-52

With that new Star Wars thing happening, I've consciously blogged a little about the franchise - about how I first saw the prequels and a six-part series about Roy Thomas & Jaxxon in the Marvel Star Wars comics (part 1; part 2; part 3; part 4; part 5; part 6).

One more blog post idea came to me: why not list my 10 favourite moments from the Marvel Star Wars comic? The problem was, so many of those moments came from the two-part "Tarkin" story in issues #51-52, as written by David Michelinie and drawn by Walter Simonson. The obvious solution? My Top 10 Favourite Moments from Star Wars #51-52!

#1: A Walk to the Airlock

David Michelinie took over Marvel's Star Wars from Archie Goodwin shortly after The Empire Strikes Back. He seemed eager to incorporate ideas from that film into the Marvel series and among these was the constant abuse Darth Vader inflicted on his Imperial officers. In this sequence, a disappointed Vader orders his subordinate to take a walk - out the nearest airlock. It's darkly humourous, as the sequences in Empire had been.

#2: Lando the Loathed

One of Michelinie's challenges would be adding Lando Calrissian to the series. Michelinie didn't get to write Han Solo and was instead stuck with the guy who betrayed him - a betrayal felt by many of the children who watched the film to judge from anecdotes shared by Lando's actor (Billy Dee Williams). Michelinie put that into play in the series: Lando would have to earn the trust of the other characters and that was one of the subplots in #51-52.

#3: Leia Doesn't Know Her Own Strength

In a very amusing scene, Luke and Leia need to obtain a set of uniforms to impersonate contractors toiling on the new Imperial weapon. Leia attempts the old trope of trying to seduce a man, only to find it backfire somewhat when the man is way too willing. Amusing moments and fun dialogue are peppered throughout these two issues and help make it feel like a story set in the same universe as the films - which, in case you've forgotten, have a lot of pretty funny moments, many of them derived from toying with familiar tropes.

#4: The Tarkin Superweapon

Walter Simonson went all-out with his design for the Tarkin weapon, a duplicate of the Death Star's superlaser weapon. It's not very Star Wars-ish in design, looking more like something which might bedevil some anime heroes, but it's an instantly impressive visual. And, as has been circulated many times, originally Michelinie meant for it to be a 2nd Death Star but was prevented by LucasFilm.

#5: The Conspiracy to Kill Darth Vader

Given the above noted sequences of Vader killing his subordinates, the idea of a conspiracy within the officers' ranks to have him killed makes perfect sense. It's not only a great cliffhanger reveal for issue #51, it provides great complications in #52 as the attempts to kill Vader inadvertently aid the Rebels.

#6: Stormtrooper Tossing

In another fun scene, Chewbacca has to shut down a shield generator on the Tarkin, much as Obi-Wan Kenobi did in the first film. Of course, this is Chewie we're talking about - he's not big on subtlety. Hence, he lobs a Stormtrooper at the generator to smash it up!

#7: Vader Walks on Air

The officers' best effort at killing Vader occurs when they blow open an airlock hatch, blasting Vader into space. And then... Vader calmly walks back inside. And he knows exactly what just happened. You come at the king, you best not miss.

#8: Lando the Loquacious

Micheline happened upon a great idea for how to make Lando work in the series ensemble without simply being a clone of Han Solo. Lando's best-identified skill under Michelinie is his love for subterfuge. Unlike Han (who audibly noted his displeasure for "sneaking around" once), Lando enjoys matching wits, bluffing and lying to his enemies. As the series would progress, Michelinie's eventual replacement Jo Duffy would make Lando's sneaky tactics even more fun and useful to the Rebels' plans.

#9: Bluffing the Stormtroopers

In the original Star Wars, the escaping Rebels had to reach their ship despite it being surrounded by guards; thankfully, a Jedi duel broke out to distract the Stormtroopers. This time, they have to create their own diversion and Luke manufactures one by hurling a makeshift grenade. Except, it's not a grenade - it's two comlinks tied together, as one of the Stormtroopers subsequently discovers. Easily the funniest moment in the two-parter.

#10: Instant Asteroid Field - Just Add Water!

Finally, as in Star Wars we have Darth Vader in his TIE Fighter and a clash with the Millennium Falcon. This time, it's the Falcon being pursued, but Luke comes up with an extremely clever trick: dump the ship's water supply! The water freezes into giant clusters of ice and appear too quickly for Vader to dodge. He has time to remark, "Well done, young Skywalker!" before the ice smashes his craft out of the pursuit.

You can buy issue #51 from Comixology right here and issue #52 here.