Warring over Star Wars

For the unlucky ones unable to get extremely sought after Star Wars: The Last Jedi tickets last weekend, whether you’re a fan of the new trilogy or not, here’s what the A&E staff anticipates for TLJ.

JAKE LUKASKO and DOMINIC TAYLOR

DARK:   Sure, I’m excited to see it and I’ve bought my tickets. I’m a huge Star Wars fan. I’ve watched the cartoon network series “Star Wars: Clone Wars” and continue to enjoy the Disney XD series “Star Wars Rebels.” I consider these two shows to be among my favorite shows, diving deep into the universe with exciting story arches exploring many worlds and characters. I’m currently reading “Thrawn,” one of the most popular novels set in this universe.

Despite my love for Star Wars, I am expecting to be let down.

The last two star wars movies, “The Force Awakens” and “Rogue One,” were both bad films. A relatively poor attempt to try to invoke nostalgia, the prequels were a wreck, plagued by bad actors and mediocre fight scenes. Anakin was an annoying baby who became an angsty teenager. This series hasn’t produced a good movie since Return of the Jedi. Well, directors have changed but that is yet to produce anything decent.

Snoke is fairly menacing and mysterious. I suspect Snoke will be the best part of this movie. The other villain, Kylo Ren, is underwhelming. I remember giggling when he removed his mask during

The Force Awakens. I fully understand he isn’t meant to be Vaderish, he’s no perfect villain. He shouldn’t be laughable or pathetic either. There’s a middle ground and TFA was incapable of finding it, lord knows why.

Wow, a female lead and some ethnic diversity in the cast of a sci-fi movie. How progressive. Rey and Finn represent the commodification of femininity and race and every aspect of humanity.

“Everything that was directly lived has moved away into a representation.” said Guy Debord. Star Wars is at the heart of this, “smashing glass ceilings” to appeal to a wider audience and increase profit margins. It’s the insidious reality of recuperation. Anti-establishment, anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist or egalitarian attitudes end up protecting what they claim to be destroying.

 

LIGHT:  There are so many reasons why you should want to see “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” it is a burden to try and even eliminate some to make sure this article doesn’t overflow into the next section. For those who loved Star Wars sans 2000 prequels, the new trilogy won’t fail to appeal to the fans of the originals. Being the second movie in the trilogy, fans are sure to be treated with

the nostalgia wave they received during “The Force Awakens,” as the late great Carrie Fisher completed her role in the film before she sadly passed away almost a year ago, and is still a prominent character in”TLJ.” Jules Heath
Other characters such as the Luke Skywalker and Chewbacca are still alive and kicking and contribute to the films in big ways.

With all of the questions, conspiracies, trailers, speculation and teasers that have been developed over the past two years, it is hard for me to imagine a Star Wars fan who doesn’t have at least one nagging question keeping them up in the wee hours of the night. Who are Rey’s parents? Why is she holding Kylo Ren’s lightsaber in the trailer? Who is supreme leader Snoke? What will Kylo Ren do about the urges he feels toward the light side of the force? What will Luke Skywalker’s role in the story be? What does the title “The Last Jedi” mean? Is Jar Jar a sith lord? (Joke, calm down).

These questions could be answered for you as early as this weekend, and not only that, but more questions could be born with the witnessing of a single frame of this movie.

This is the newest edition easily one of the most beloved, hyped, and popular movie sagas of all time. There are reasons why people line up in front of movie theatres hours and days before to be the first to see it, why tickets are sold out months in advance. Even at its worst, people never question why they bought their ticket in the first place.