My Star Wars

 

The face of cinema and pop culture changed forever May 25th 1977 when Star Wars, later named ‘A New Hope’, hit screens. From the mind of George Lucas a new saga had arrived but who would have known the impact it would have throughout the globe. It’s iconic characters and story would go on to garner an astonishing $65 billion with $40b of that earned through merchandise alone. Star Wars has had an enormous impact on many people, myself included. The current situation of the juggernaut franchise is not as rosy as the billions of dollars earned may portray. With the original series seemingly viewed as untouchable, the prequel trilogy is viewed en masse as being poorly handled. The newer sequel trilogy is being met with mixed reviews from critics and fans, along with questions towards those within LucasFilm leaving the future of the saga in muddy waters.

The Past: Original and Prequels

When you think of Star Wars as an adult it is only right for the names, Luke Skywalker, Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca and of course the most recognisable and well-known villain Darth Vader, to pop into your thoughts. The original trilogy captivated audiences and defined a generation of filmmakers to come. All three films gained a cult status and have gone down in the history of cinema. The story of a boy stuck in life, dreaming of more, being swept up in a fight against the Empire and his father had people clamouring for more. Given the success of the first film, Lucas was able to collaborate with writers Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, the latter becoming a more notable name within the franchise. Along with Irvin Kershner together they created ‘The Empire Strikes Back‘, my favourite film in the franchise and widely viewed as the best within the saga; it was placed 3rd on ‘Empire’s’ list of 500 greatest films. It brought a darker element to the universe as well as furthering the mythology. The film also introduced my favourite Star Wars character Yoda. Throughout we see Luke’s struggles with becoming a Jedi and facing the reality that he is in; the ending leaves the protagonists in a state of despair and a feeling that all may be lost. Not to forget it gave us one of the most iconic quotes in cinema history “No, I am your father“. In 1983 “Return of the Jedi” had the daunting task of bringing the story to a satisfying ending and although being regarded as the weakest in the trilogy it did provide the perfect bow on the gift Star Wars had become. The redemption of Darth Vader, the realisation of Luke as a fully fledged Jedi and the defeat of the Empire satisfied critics and audiences, shown by an 80% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Being a 90s baby, my love affair with Star Wars began with the prequel trilogy. The expanded universe, a series of books, comics and games kept the franchise going in-between the two trilogies. However with an advancement in technology, Lucas was able to expand on his story and so the prequel trilogy was established and began in 1999 with the release of “The Phantom Menace“, set before the events of the original trilogy is tells the story of the Jedi, Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader) and the rise of Emperor Palpatine. The Phantom Menace, along with Return of the Jedi are the films in the franchise I have seen the least amount of times of the first six. The mixed reviews of Episode 1 were not helped when “Attack of the Clones” was released in 2002. Arguably the worst film in the franchise but one I remember watching a lot in my youth and so look back fondly on. The prequel trilogy was now well underway and I believe was a sign that George Lucas’ magic was fading, the fact he directed every film in the prequel trilogy can now be looked at as a mistake. He was not able to bring out the right performances from the actors and an over reliance on CGI took away from what could have been a compelling story of Anakin Skywalker, a boy turned adult who had been neglected by the Jedi and through fear and bitterness turned to the dark-side under the spell of Palpatine. I love “Revenge of the Sith” it is definitely in my top 5 films in the franchise and was the film that would define my childhood and cement my love for the franchise. I can remember watching it on DVD and could probably retell the story beat for beat. However to the older generation that was raised on the original trilogy I can imagine why the prequel trilogy could have been viewed as a bitter end to a legendary tale. Seemingly it was the end of Star Wars on the big screen and only the alternative media was left to keep it alive alongside the animated show The Clone Wars.

The Present: Purchase by Disney and Sequel trilogy

After George Lucas decided to retire, he sold LucasFilm and the rights of Star Wars to Disney in October 2012 for a sum of $4 billion. Along with this deal it was announced Episode 7 of the main saga would be released in 2015 (The Force Awakens). They appointed legendary producer Kathleen Kennedy as the new head of LucasFilm. It was seen as fresh reboot of the franchise, previous expanded universe material was deemed legend and new canon, such as the show Rebels and new books, would be developed and incorporated with the new trilogy to build up the universe. The first film, directed by J.J. Abrams was a monumental hit, introducing new characters such as Rey, Kylo Ren, Finn and Snoke as well as bringing back the original characters of Luke, Han and Leia. The film grossed over $2 billion worldwide making it the 3rd highest grossing film of all time and having moved the release date of Star Wars films from May to December, Star Wars was now going to dominate the holiday season. There have been criticisms of the film, a number of people call it a rehash of A New Hope and while it does have largely similar themes I believe the film stands on its own. You could argue that the next part of the new trilogy, The Last Jedi, was becoming one of the most anticipated films of all time. Having announced Rian Johnson a brilliant and creative mind to direct, every piece of marketing put out only cranked up the anticipation. Many pundits and fans debated and theorised over the possibilities that would be contained within it. Following the trend, the film was another box office hit earning $1.3 billion worldwide; proving the purchase of LucasFilm by Disney to be a success. However cracks within the fandom began to show, the film has had mixed reviews, I personally believe it to be a good film with some issues; however there are a vocal number of fans who vehemently detest the film. Their issues are far and wide, mainly the handling of Luke Skywalker. I do not have such an affiliation with Luke, having grown up on the prequel trilogy and therefore didn’t really have any distaste for his story arc. I do have problems with some of the humour and believe the ending drags a bit. My main issue is with the subplot of Finn and new character Rose Tico and especially the execution of the sequence in Canto Bight. The vitriol from Star Wars ‘fans’ online has been nothing but disgusting; racist remarks towards cast members and death threats towards Rian Johnson and others within LucasFilm is appalling, the bravery of people behind a keyboard continues to surprise me. Campaigns for the film to be remade are laughable. I would class the start to the sequel saga a success, it definitely is box office wise (and lets be honest that’s what matters most now) but the story is largely enjoyable. My problem with the Disney Star Wars is more in regards to behind the scenes issues, there seems to be a clear lack of communication or direction in story telling. It is a risk when you give directors and writers creative freedom, the story can lack cohesion.

With the success of The Force Awakens, Disney and LucasFilm announced plans to expand further outside of the main saga. Anthology films would fit in-between the Episodic series. They would tell separate stories but still be within the same universe. The first developed and released in 2016 was Rogue One, a story in regards to the lead up of A New Hope where a group of rebels go on a mission to steal the plans for the first Death Star. The film production had plenty of issues which began a trend for LucasFilm; although the film was directed by Gareth Edwards, he was pushed aside during the extensive reshoots which became a huge talking point. Tony Gilroy took charge during the reshoots and would have equal say in the final cut of the film. The final cut of the film was indeed well received, I certainly enjoy it. That Vader scene is iconic and probably one the best sequences in any Star Wars film. With the new era under Disney well underway, the second anthology film announced was a young Han Solo tale. Probably not the most asked for story, the film was already fighting an uphill battle. The casting of Alden Ehrenreich did not get the best response, not because of his skill as an actor but mainly because people were worried about a different portrayal of the iconic character. The real issues with the film came in production, original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller had begun filming however with rumours of on-set problems and an unusual take on the film/character they were practically fired; although it was announced as a mutual decision due to ‘creative differences’. In came Ron Howard to save the day, it has been reported that 70% of the film had to be reshot. It became one of the most expensive films to ever be made and turned into a PR nightmare for LucasFilm. Upon release the film failed at the box office and critically, it will be a forgotten tale in the franchise however the tale of production will live on. I hope a documentary is made on it, that would be a fascinating watch.

The current state of Star Wars is probably similar to the original story. An unsettled time but with hope of a better future.

The Future:

The reaction to ‘Solo‘ must have put LucasFilm and Disney on edge, with the public perception of the new Star Wars deteriorating Bob Iger the CEO of Disney took it upon himself to announce a slow down in Star Wars content. They believe they rushed everything, probably excited by the box office success of Episode 7. A lot of production companies see the success of the MCU and have rushed into trying to match the content they produce; DC and Warner Bros have fallen into this, Universal also fell for the trap when they announced the Dark Universe which flopped after the release of The Mummy.

The next iteration in the saga films, Episode 9, will be released in December 2019. The film having already had to change director, seeing J.J Abrams return, already faces the pressure of ‘steering the ship’ and bringing Star Wars fans together since the recent divide; although there will be some haters. It will be difficult and I believe there will have to be some pandering involved but if the story ties it all together and provides a satisfying ending there will be a shift towards a positive outlook of Disney’s Star Wars. With Disney announcing their own streaming service, to rival Netflix and the number of services currently available, came the announcement of a 10 episode season now named The Mandalorian; having just released an exiting first look image and directors list which provides diversity and progressive views the excitement for the series is building. Under the creative direction of famed filmmaker Jon Favreau and Star Wars prodigy Dave Filoni it would be easy to predict this series being a massive hit; it’s large budget will allow it to rival sequences seen in Game of Thrones and be a valued part of Star Wars. Speaking of Game of Thrones, the minds behind the series (Benioff and Weiss) have been given a series of films; with their current track record you should be excited to see what they produce. They will definitely bring a different view of the Star Wars universe. Along with this, Rian Johnson was given his own trilogy to work on separate from the saga films. This deal was announced before the release of Episode 8 and perhaps the perception of this deal has now changed; however if you allow Johnson to create his own story then his trilogy could be breath of fresh air in the universe. A story set in a different time with new characters would expand the lore and bring new characters for the audience to gravitate to. There is no doubting his ability as a filmmaker and personally the documentary The Director and the Jedi make you gravitate to him as a person and lover of Star Wars. Bob Iger’s comments of a slowdown period in the franchise does put these projects in difficult positions however maybe it would allow more time for them to be developed and therefore producing better content.

The future of the franchise and the perception towards it depends on those making decisions at a higher level. Film is largely subjective so there will fluctuation in reviews and box office numbers however those at the top can do better to push the franchise forward. Shouldering the burden from Kathleen Kennedy and bringing in better creatives to bring better cohesion between films and include the existing story group more. There should be a bigger effort to bring more diversity behind the camera will bring different stories and viewpoints; hopefully the director list for The Mandalorian shows this progress. With Disney opening immersive Star Wars areas in their California and Florida parks, to be opened 2019, shows they are all in on the franchise, these parks will bring people closer to a galaxy far, far away and help inspire a new generation of fans.

Star Wars is not in a bad place at all, even if there is that online perception. A box office monster and pop culture legend it will continue to captivate audiences across the globe.

This is quite a long read and so if you have made it down to here thank you for taking the time.

May the force be with you, always.