I’m a story junkie, so in a word, meh. Great CGI, of course, loved the idea of working salvage on the remains of a battlefleet, a stormtrooper with a conscience was interesting, some of the new characters were excellent and the new actors seemed to do a good job – but, in the end, to quote my Arts Editor, I was never on the edge of my seat. Not like the original. It didn’t have me thinking about it for the next few weeks, unlike, say, THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE, or ART & CRAFT. Every major plot turn had to turn the way it did, every major decision had to go the way it did – because that’s how such movies are made. So long as you revel in such movies, full of spaceships and the forces of good and evil, this will fill the niche amply.
But the ending just about makes me gag thinking about it. Of course Skywalker is waiting for her. With his back turned. With a grim, bewhiskered face from which sad wisdom radiates.
Of course. A chipmunk could have predicted that.
Here’s a little thought experiment. How about she climbs that mountain, seeking the legendary Skywalker, scion of the Jedi, and what does she find?
The old man, stuck in a hole with a broken leg. When she asks why he didn’t just levitate out, he replies … I no longer have the Force.
End of film.
Now that would have left the fans clamoring.
As it is, I can’t even remember the name of the bad guys.
