I'm going to come right out and say when it comes to the Mandalorian franchise, I can't even pretend to be an impartial critic. I just love Grogu so much!The Mandalorian and Grogucould have been two hours of Mando and Grogu sitting in a cockpit, not talking, with Grogu occasionally eating a snack, and I'd have come out satisfied. So even though this ultimately just feels like a few episodes of the series filmed in IMAX, I don't care. And more importantly, why would I care? Because it's a cash grab by Disney? Yes, and...? I wanted more of the series. I got an enjoyable movie. I'm not going to nitpick this.
The film opens with a scenario that feels like the cold open of a James Bond movie. Mando and Grogu are on an assignment on an icy planet, attempting to capture an Imperial warlord. After their successful mission they report back to Ward (Sigourney Weaver), the New Republic commander they've been working for. She has a new mission for them that involves Rotta the Hutt (voiced by Jeremy Allen White), son of Jabba, who as been kidnapped.
This first half of the film plays like a Star Wars version of a gangster story, with Mando and Grogu fighting crime bosses and corrupt "prize fighting" on a planet visually reminiscent of Blade Runner. It even features a cameo by gangster film godfather Martin Scorsese as a diner cook with four arms and some loose lips.
The second half finds Mando and Grogu on a more traditionally Star Wars-y world, with lots of fighting against various androids and aliens. And this part of the film also allows Grogu to take center stage, often with the help of an (almost literal) handful of delightful Anzellans.
The Star Wars universe is filled with abandoned children, and both heroes and villains with daddy issues. The story of Mando and Grogu has always followed in that vein, though it is becoming, more and more, a saga about a reluctant father learning to accept that responsibility, and then accepting that he will eventually have to let go of it
But it's also a movie about Grogu waddling around behind his dad, getting into places he shouldn't, eating whatever he can find, and learning how to become a...whatever it is an adult Grogu becomes. And that is the way. That is the way, and it is enough for me.
I missed the window for my hot take on Solo: A Star Wars Story a week ago, so I'm not posting a review this week. Instead, here's an AMA between me and myself. No spoilers!
Q: Did you like it?
A: It was fine!
Q: But seriously, do we really need a Han Solo origin story?
A: No, of course we don't. But if they're going to insist on churning out these "Star Wars Stories," I'll take a movie centered on Han Solo over the proposed Obi-Wan movie any day. (Also, Obi-Wan had THREE prequels already! Obi-Wan is Obi-Done.)
Q: There's no way that Alden Eheren...rich..reich.....that guy is as good as Harrison Ford though, right?
A: I'll admit something a little embarrassing here. When the original Star Wars came out, I was immediately enamored with Luke Skywalker, not Han Solo. Mark Hamill looked more like Shaun Cassidy and Andy Gibb, the subjects of my pre-teen crushes, than Harrison Ford did. Plus, Han Solo was very much an adult, and therefore kind of scary.
By the time The Empire Strikes Back came out, and Mark Hamill wasn't so pretty any more, I began to understand the rakish appeal of Han Solo. Return of the Jedi came out in 1983, a year after my mind had been blown by science fiction films like The Thing and Blade Runner, and it just felt hopelessly dated to me. Not even my burgeoning crush on Harrison Ford (thanks to Blade Runner) could negate the presence of all those damn Ewoks.
I like Han Solo. He was certainly much more *fun* than Luke Skywalker. But I never had his posters on my wall. Which might be why I came away from "Solo" amused and not annoyed by Alden Ehrenreich's take on the character.
Q: OK, what about Lando? How's Donald Glover?
A: He's great, and if they don't give him his own Lando movie, they're fools. He's also got a robot co-pilot who's one of the best droids in any of the movies EVER.
Q: Is there anything bad in it?
A: Emilia Clarke. She's pretty but maaaaaan, is she stiff.
Q: What's the key take-away/pull quote.
A: Solo: A Star Wars Story is fun space heist that both benefits and suffers from its Star Wars universe setting. And I can't wait for the all Chewbacca spin-off.
While I loved The Force Awakens more than any Star Wars sequel or prequel since The Empire Strikes Back, I couldn't exactly argue against anyone who criticized its story structure, and how it's as much a remake of Star Wars: A New Hope as it is a sequel. That argument is valid, but that type of movie is what I, and many Star Wars fans burned by the prequels, needed.
So going into The Last Jedi, I was a little worried the story might take the same route, essentially giving us a soft remake of Empire. My worries were unfounded. While The Last Jedi acknowledges the inevitable comparisons to that second (or fifth, whatever) Star Wars movie by setting up some similar scenarios, it then does original and surprising things with those moments.
Yes, Rey (Daisy Ridley), who found the elusive Luke (Mark Hamill, at full intensity) at the end of The Force Awakens, much like Luke finds Yoda in Empire, is all set to do some similar Jedi training with the aging master. And much like Yoda, Luke shows reluctance to be a teacher. But his reluctance isn't a mere test. He really doesn't want anything to do with the Jedi or the Resistance.
And as in Empire, our beloved band of players spend the majority of the movie separated. Finn (John Boyega), after initially recovering from his injuries on board the ship led by General Leia (Carrie Fisher, sniffle), ventures on a quest with newcomer Rose (a great Kelly Marie Tran). And Poe Dameron (Oscar Issac), demonstrates he's even more of the cocky pilot he appeared to be in his first outing. His first scene in the movie, with Domhnall Gleeson's smarmy General Hux, is also hilarious, and a perfect introduction to the film's comedic tone.
There's a lot of humor in The Last Jedi, and I imagine some may criticize it for it. But it's the kind of smart humor that was also present in the original trilogy, and sorely lacking in the prequels. (Which isn't to say the prequels were lacking in any attempts at humor; it's just that the humor usually relied on Jar Jar Binks saying something stupid or stepping in alien shit.)
Hello comic relief!
But the movie is also surprisingly heavy. Rian Johnson doesn't shy away from some basic facts. Luke and Leia are growing older, and the weight of their experience has them questioning the worth of the Resistance, especially since the Resistance has suffered some major losses. Are more worth it?
Rey continues to question her place in all of it, with the longing to find her parents as strong as ever. And Kilo Ren (Adam Driver), whose inner conflict can't be hidden from Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis), begins to question his place as the Supreme Masked Baddie. Almost all of the characters face moments where they must make some pretty tough decisions, and it all adds genuine tension to the film.
More tension than a lot of the battle sequences, to be honest, of which there are more than enough, with most centered on the need to stall the enemy so the Resistance can get something done in time. This is the longest Star Wars movie yet, clocking in at 150 minutes, and it has at least one ending too many, and a middle that sags a bit.
Still, its longer length does allow us to spend some time in some beautiful new worlds, like Luke's lushly green island, which is also home to some native creatures, including Porgs, the big-eyed, pot bellied birds that might convince you to become vegetarian; a gaudy planet filled with the galaxy's equivalent to one-percenters; and my favorite, a salt-covered world that reveals its blood-red center, a color that permeates the film.
It also leaves room for some good cameos. Along with the hyped cameos of Princes William and Harry (who, them
playing storm troopers, are impossible to spot), also look out for Chewing Gum's
Michaela Cole, model Lily Cole, and Justin Theroux. (I'll also have to
see it again to figure out how director Rian Johnson worked the theme from The Long Goodbye, which was co-written by composer John Williams, into the
movie, as the song title appears in the end credits)
One of my best movie-going memories is seeing The Empire Strikes Back in 1981. Seeing it on a weekend required standing in line for hours, so my family didn't get to partake in one of those opening weekend showings. But one weekday not long after it opened, my dad woke me up to get ready for school, and when I gave the usual complaint of "Ugh! I don't WANT to go to school" he said, "OK. Do you want to go see The Empire Strikes Back instead?" And we did.
Watching The Last Jedi, despite its faults, still managed to make me feel, more than once, like that excited eleven-year-old ditching school.
