No wonder it’s a trilogy. The ending seemed like it was only the beginning. The entire two hours of this movie seemed like it could have been the first half hour of any other movie. What happens in the film? Not a whole lot.
Lucas seems more interested in creating an environment/universe rather than exploring characters. As a fantasy, without the backstory that we might have in an Earthly drama or even science fiction, we NEED a deeper, meaningful history to make the current universe authentic and engaging. But we don’t have that. Here, the universe is glued together with loose connections between characters, references that we’re supposed to remember about things that may have happened to someone in a place far away and a long time ago, and special effects that, while good for their time, have not aged well. Lucas’ attempts to “fix” the movies with updated special effects in special editions help the visuals somewhat but have not made the story or the universe it is told in any more authentic or engaging.
Characters are mildly interesting, but so simple. Luke is the naive apprentice, Leia is the virginal and innocent love interest, Han is the wise-cracking sidekick, Vader is the big bad guy wearing black. It’s all too simple, it’s paint by numbers. We have archetype characters that are explored only superficially. There’s an opportunity to learn about these characters and their histories and their personalities with insightful or witty dialogue, but the dialogue in this film is cheesy at best and truly awful at worst.
George Lucas may have been a visionary in practical special effects and may have had an interesting angle on the space opera, but he is not a good director.
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