So sometime in early December, I plan on writing a lengthy article on what must happen in The Last Jedi in order for it to be a great movie and, make no mistake, it WILL be great. I read somewhere that Mark Hamill should win an Oscar for the role which, consequently, would be the first Oscar ever given for a Star Wars movie. I'm more excited for this movie than any other movie ever so when news comes out about the movie, I'm all over it. Enter Entertainment Weekly. Today, the magazine released a bunch of new pictures and articles about The Last Jedi and...this tidbit showed up in an interview with Mark Hamill: “[Luke] made a huge mistake in thinking that his nephew was the chosen one, so he invested everything he had in Kylo, much like Obi-Wan did with my character." --Mark Hamill Wait...what?! Of all of the news that was going to come out about The Last Jedi, I didn't think something so interesting would be revealed, especially this soon. This is intriguing; yet, it totally makes sense. Luke thought Ben was the Chosen One because, obviously, even though Palpatine and Vader were dead, the Force was not balanced. Lor San-Tekka even states in The Force Awakens that "Without the Jedi, there can be no balance in the Force." Luke knew that in order for balance to be found again, that he needed to train up a new Jedi Order and find the Chosen One, taking upon the charge of his old master, Obi-Wan. Ben was a natural choice since his own grandfather had taken up that role, too (but not fulfilled it). So when Ben revolted and murdered all of Luke's younglings (along with Captain Phasma it looks like in the trailer), it must have devastated Luke to know that he'd not only failed again, but made things much worse. Not only had he tried and failed to start the Jedi Order, but now there were no Jedi (again) and he was the Last Jedi (and an aging one at that). In The Force Awakens, Han says, "Luke felt responsible." It must have broken him. He must have felt that not only he failed the rebellion and the Jedi Order, but the galaxy itself. Enter Rey. Undoubtedly the Chosen One. There is NO other option. She is why this new trilogy of movies is even being released. Kylo is obviously NOT the Chosen One. Luke is obviously NOT the Chosen One. Anakin is obviously NOT the Chosen One. Jar-Jar is...okay, you get the point. It must be Rey. (See the very convincing theory video below) Star Wars is cyclical (like life) and now that we have a new trilogy, we have a whole new group of characters playing roles within the story. As such, we need a young up-and-coming hero (Rey), a rebel leader (Leia), a rogue scoundrel (Han), comic relief (BB-8), some sidekicks (Poe and Finn), and a wise, old Sage (Luke). Now Luke is playing the Yoda role in the story and Rey, like Luke, finds a sage to help her on her path. This time, though, the Chosen One will be successful. I'm so excited. Can't wait to see all of the Star Wars theory videos to come out on Youtube. Until then, may the Force be with you.
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School is almost in session and, in order to prepare for the new year, I did the one thing any responsible adult would do: Began watching Seasons 1 and 2 of Star Wars Rebels. I knew that I would need to prepare for the release of Season 3 on Blu-Ray and the eventual beginning of Season 4 on Disney XD. Watching Rebels, I couldn't help but think of some of my favorite episodes from Rebels and the Clone Wars. I posted a poll on Twitter to some of my Twitter friends, Star Wars enthusiasts, and some of the Star Wars and Lucasfilm braintrust. Seeing their enthusiasm and the variety of their responses, I revised (and improved) the poll and I thought you'd be interested in what they had to say and share your own opinion. Last week, Inferno Squad, the prequel novel to the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront II video game, was released. The idea that there is a book explaining the backstories of characters in a video game is crazy, innovative, and interesting to say the least. Literature intermingled with video games? Crazy. The story of Imperials after the second Death Star is attacked in literature and video game form? Innovative. The book and game following the Empire and humanizing them? Interesting. Supposedly the game will feature some long-needed tweaks and changes, and, if everything is as well-done as EA has let on, Battlefront could go down as the greatest game ever. That being said, I'm not going to talk about the book version, Inferno Squad, until later. Reading the book; however, has got me interested in what we will see in Star Wars Battlefront. Here are some facts and rumors... The characters will span all three eras (Clone Wars, Empire/Rebellion, First Order/Resistance). Check out some of the possible characters from the Clone Wars era: Can you imagine if we had Obi-Wan, Anakin, Yoda, Ahsoka, and Padme just in the Clone Wars era? This game would go down as one of my favorite games ever and, having seen the limitations of Star Wars Battlefront 1, it would be a welcome change. Rumor has it there will be 28+ Heroes in Battlefront. If that's true, I can see the characters above being joined by Han, Luke, Chewie, Lando, Leia, Nien, Rey, Jyn, and Finn, which is 16 characters. Darkhorse hopes: Qui-Gon and Mace Windu. The villains are rumored to be the characters from Battlefront 1 (Vader, Palpatine, Greedo, Boba, Bossk, Krennic, and Dengar). They will be joined by Darth Maul and Kylo Ren (who we've already seen in the trailer), as well as General Grievous, Count Dooku, Iden (the special forces Tie pilot from Inferno Squad), and Jar Jar. Just kidding. Darkhorse hopes: Asajj Ventress and Supreme Leader Snoke. You can see a lot of the new characters in the Star Wars Battlefront 2 trailer. In addition, the game will have a story mode where you can go through the entire game with one character, which was missing in Battlefront I. The story mode will focus on the era right after the second Death Star is destroyed, which we haven't seen much of except for what we learned in The Force Awakens. The little details matter, too. Battlefront II will tell R2D2's story after Luke Skywalker disappears, which many have been wondering about. There will be more vehicles offered to each player, including a super star destroyer. Starkiller Base, amongst other planets, will be one of the settings offered in Battlefront. New planets never before seen will be available as well. Characters will be able to shoot doors to seal them from being followed. The stormtroopers and clonetroopers will also offer different kinds of classes, like in the original Battlefront. There will also be droids that can hack doors and help defeat foes connected to the special forces unit. Finally, there will be tie-ins to Star Wars: The Last Jedi to give us more information about the movie before it comes out in December. Suffice it to say, I'm very excited. So...I'm going to get back to reading Inferno Squad. Enjoy some more concept screen captures and ideas below. Can't wait until November 17 when Star Wars Battlefront II comes out. May the Force be with you. It's the day we've all been waiting for: the release date for Wonder Woman has been announced. Officially the highest grossing movie of the summer of 2017 (beating out Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spiderman: Homecoming), Wonder Woman is easily the best DC Universe film since...okay, it's the best DC Universe film ever (although there's not much competition). Much of its success has been attributed to its female hero, Princess Diana of Themyscira, but the movie is simply just really well-done. The characters are interesting, the premise is compelling, and Diana is an awesome, likeable hero. Today, iTunes has Wonder Woman being released on digital HD for pre-order, saying it will be available on Tuesday, August 29. The outlet also reported the blu-ray disc will hit store shelves a few weeks later on Tuesday, September 12. I'm so excited. Additionally, San Diego Comic-Con announced that Wonder Woman 2 is set to be released on December 19, 2019. Hopefully we'll get to see more of Gal Gadot and Chris Pine and see more of Diana's backstory. Last week, I decided to catch up on some reading and finished Ahsoka by EK Johnston. Unfortunately, I didn't love the novel, although I do think that there are a few interesting tidbits in the story, including how Ahsoka decided to help the Rebellion, which leads up to Season 4 of Rebels, and how she got the kyber crystals for her two lightsabers. After reading Ahsoka, I was left wanting and decided to try something different: Rebel Rising. I was going on a week-long scout camp and knew that I'd have some down time. I'm so glad I grabbed Revis' novel because not only was it really good, but it really did a great job answering questions I had about Jyn and Saw and helped me understand them much better and like them immensely. Although I had issues with the last two-thirds of the story, I loved the book and finished it quickly. I would highly recommend it. The main reason I really liked Rebels Rising is how much more I understand Jyn. Even though I loved her character in Rogue One, I admit that I don't understand her much more than seeing her parents being taken away from her by the Empire. In Rebel Rising, Beth Revis tells her story from when Saw finds her to when she's rescued by the Rebels on Wobani. The reader sees how Jyn grew up under Saw's eye and explains why Saw left her as a 15 year-old. Rebels Rising shows us Jyn's isolation and shows how she developed as a woman and human alone in the galaxy without family or a home. It tells us why Jyn always wears a scarf (and why such a minor detail is so important to the story) and we even see her fall in love and be betrayed, not only by Galen and Saw, but by both the Empire and the Rebellion. We learn how savvy Jyn is at forgery in Rebels Rising and why she's been put into prison. Rebels Rising shows us the pain and suffering Jyn suffered in the work camps on Wobani and even shows that in the work camp, Jyn inadvertently worked on and helped the Empire build the Death Star. At the end of the story, we find out why a very neutral Jyn is willing to help the Rebellion and see the story connect to the beginning of the Star Wars anthology film Rogue One. In Rebels Rising, Beth Revis also shows us a much more human and even loving Saw Guerrera. In Rogue One, Saw is basically an insane, radicalized rebel and I couldn't ever see him raising Jyn as a father figure. Their relationship wasn't developed well. In the book, we understand why Saw loves Jyn so much: he respected the Ersos immensely and Jyn reminded him a lot of his own sister, Steela, from the Clone Wars. Revis shows us how much Saw loved Jyn even though he used her, as well as why Saw desperately left 15 year-old Jyn on her own, knowing how dangerous that decision could be. In Rebels Rising, we find out why Saw doesn't trust ANYBODY & why his body is broken: after being betrayed by one of his men, he shielded Jyn from a Tie blast. Knowing that Saw's evident injuries in Rogue One are from protecting Jyn makes him so much more compelling. We also see why Saw Guerrera immediately took Bodhi Rook to Bor Gullet in Rogue One. He didn't trust anyone connected to Galen because he thought that Jyn's father truly was an Imperial sympathizer. Saw is a much more likeable character in Rebel Rising and I appreciate their relationship more now when I watch Rogue One Rebels Rising also offers other insights into the Star Wars universe. @bethrevis shows us the planet and people the Imperials enslaved to build the Death Star: Tamsye Prime. Jyn befriends other races and people we haven't seen before and we are given are broader view of the galaxy. The Empire is both weak and uncompromising in the story, which is really interesting. Rebels Rising shows us how the Rebellion obtained the information necessary to track down Jyn at the work camp on Wobani. All this being said, I wish Beth Revis would have spent more time developing Saw in the story. I started to like him enough that I wanted the story just to be about him and Jyn until they separated. Instead, my huge issue with Rebels Rising is that the last 2/3 of the novel until right before the end seems like an anthology of short stories about Jyn after Saw has left her rather than one complete story. The story is so unfocused that I can't find myself being able to like the characters and places she meets and visits because I'm spending too much time trying to transition between plot events, including when Jyn meets a boy that she falls in love with. I wish that Revis had focused more on one or two of these stories, not five or six. There's just too much going on until the end of the book. The ending, where it explains how Jyn betrays a group of rebels to the Empire, is really good and connects to the beginning of Rogue One really well. If you loved Rogue One and want to understand Jyn Erso and Saw Guerrera more in-depth, you need to read Rebel Rising. The story connects the dots & fills in gaps we needed to better understand Jyn and Saw in Rogue One. This is what good Star Wars Literature should do. Having read Catalyst, Dark Disciple, Lost Stars, Bloodline, the Rogue One novelization, and Rebels Rising, my favorite is @bethrevis novel. I just received my copy of Inferno Squadron a few days ago and I can't wait to read more solid Star Wars Literature.
You probably heard that San Diego Comic Con went down this weekend. Amidst the fervor, a new trailer for Thor 3 and Justice League came out, as well as the trailers for Stranger Things 2 and Ready Player One, which looks amazing. A few tidbits from the Con you might be interested in:
I teach sophomore and junior English at a local high school and, being a lover of great stories, I'm always looking for an epic, well-told story. A few years ago, my kids really got into this Nickelodeon cartoon called Avatar: The Last Airbender and, being the responsible parent that I am, I decided to check it out. Immediately I was riveted. Avatar isn't just a well-told cartoon or show; it's an impressively written and awesomely told epic. The characters are charming, the storyline is fun and thought-provoking, and the animation is impressive. So when it was announced in 2010 that there would be a live-action movie, I was REALLY excited. I shouldn't have been. Book One: Water was, admittedly, one of the worst movies I've ever seen. The characters were wooden and undeveloped, the storyline was boring and had too much exposition, and the CGI was horrific. Being an English teacher, I've seen my fair-share of terrible book-to-movie adaptations and, honestly, this adaptation was up there in the pantheon of bad adaptations. For me, characters literally can make or break a story and Avatar: The Last Airbender (the TV series) has some of the best characters out there. It's characters are complicated and diverse. My favorite character in the series is Sokka, the funny and charming sidekick to the Avatar. Yet, in the movie, Sokka is sullen and dull, lacking personality or enthusiasm. The actor, Jackson Rathbone, played Jasper Hale in the Twilight movies, a character that was supposed to lack personality and enthusiasm. As a casting director, why would you pick an actor who is the exact opposite of funny and charming to play one of the most important characters in the story. M. Night Shamalayan did a poor job at choosing the actors and characters for Avatar: The Last Airbender. Although it may seem nitpicky, I was shocked by how poorly Shamalayan casted the different tribes. The water tribe was supposed to have darker skin, like many Native Americans, yet Sokka and Katara, two of the prominent members of the water tribe were white. The Fire Nation, seemingly Chinese, had Prince Zuko, who was Middle Eastern, and Uncle Iroh, who was white. The director commented that he wanted to stay true to the source material when casting; yet, he obviously never used the primary source material, the cartoon, to make any decisions. Avatar: The Last Airbender had a HUGE budget (150 million dollars). Despite its budget, the CGI and graphics were cheesy. The creatures looked fake and the bending looked fake. In one scene, SIX Earth benders look like they're playing a round of Just Dance 7 just to shoot a rock a 10 year old could pick up at the bad guys. It was embarassing, at times, to watch the special effects. Amongst a few other complaints, the writing was TERRIBLE and there was too much exposition. Why would Shyamalan shy away from his source material, which was written brilliantly, to put his own spin on the story? Obviously he's lost his way because in the clip below he blames the bad reviews on a cultural difference and says that when he took the movie to Japan, they loved it. (Well, they don't have to hear the poor acting because they get subtitles and voice-overs.) However, in spite of all this, I'll admit it: I still liked the movie. Maybe because I first saw it at the drive-in with my kids or maybe because I love the TV series, but I liked it. I just forced myself to look past its many issues and appreciate the good. It did stay pretty true to the storyline in Book One and there's potential for it to get better. But I never held out hope for a sequel. That would have been like holding out for a sequel to another Transformers movie: a pure waste of time. So, after seeing Avatar: The Last Airbender, I was skeptical we'd ever see Book Two: Earth. But here it is. So let's imagine that Shyamalan had a lobotomy and gained some sensibility before creating Book Two: Earth (which is my favorite of all of the seasons in the TV series). What would he need to fix in order to redeem himself? Shyamalan needs to recast his characters so that each nation is one race and he needs to recast his main characters so that we can get better actors in the movie. He needs to write the screenplay so he is showing us most of what is happening, rather than just telling us in long monologues of exposition. He needs to use the screenwriting from the TV series to create his screenplay. He needs to make the benders powerful when using CGI but use as little CGI as possible. He basically needs to bring in consultants to change everything, sort of like what Lucasfilm did to Gareth Edwards when Disney reshot 40% of Rogue One. Then, hopefully, we will get a movie worth watching. Then we might even get a third movie. May the Force Be with You. About three years ago, my BIL and I decided that we were going to start going to the midnight showing of every Marvel and Star Wars movie (and any other decent movie in-between). When we first saw the trailer for Spiderman, we were excited because (1) it was a new Marvel character to add to the universe and (2) we felt that the Spiderman story, in spite of many iterations, hadn't been done well. The Spiderman story, when done well, is fun and interesting. So...going into Spiderman: Homecoming, our first worry was "Where will it fit in the Marvel pantheon?" and "Will it be better or worse than the previous versions of the Spiderman story?" I'd read some very positive and negative comments on Twitter about the movie, but was excited to see for myself. Spiderman: Homecoming did NOT disappoint. *SPOILER ALERT* First of all, the stakes were high in the movie even though it was about a 14 year old kid saving the Bronx from a villain called the "Vulture." With superheroes saving Earth and the Galaxy now, I think it's more difficult to make cities and towns important anymore, but Spiderman does. Spiderman mattered to me because I'd seen him in Civil War and liked his cameo. The Bronx mattered to me because I met Peter Parker's friends and neighbors in the movie and started to like them, especially Parker's nerdy friend, Ned. I liked how Spiderman: Homecoming made something as small as the Bronx matter to me. The villain mattered to me because of Michael Keaton's portrayal of the character. The villain, the Vulture, was likeable, relateable, and believable. Michael Keaton did a great job developing a character that was pretty insignificant to the Marvel universe and, by the end of the movie, I wanted him to succeed in some small way even though he had killed people. I liked how he was Parker's crush's father, even though that seemed too coincidental, and I felt that finding out that Spiderman's moment "meeting the parents" and the parent being the Vulture was the best part of the entire movie and a twist I was not expecting. Keaton's character was your average Joe trying to fend for his family and I thought that he was a very believable character. Spiderman: Homecoming was funny, too. The "Interrogation Mode" scene, "Instant Kill" scenes with Peter's AI, Karen, and even having Lando (Aaron Davis) in the story was fun and I honestly found myself smiling during many moments in the movie. My favorite part of the movie was the ending scene with Tony Stark where Peter rejects Stark's overtures to make him an Avenger and returns home to continue to protect his city. That moment made me like Peter even more, especially because he'd received a legit new Spidey suit from Stark and had every reason to leave. At one point in the movie, Parker is suffering in school and counts down the minutes to when school is over and, once school ends, he runs out and jumps into his Spiderman suit, which makes the moment understandable and charming. Disney did not do a good job on most of the adult figures in this movie. Like many Disney movies, where adults are incompetent, abusive, deadbeat, stupid, airheaded, and, at times, terrible people, Spiderman doesn't dispel the myth that every adult in our society is worthless, especially in the eyes of youth. Stark is the only adult that really doesn't screw up with Peter, and, even then, Stark temporarily disappoints him when Peter thinks that Stark isn't listening to or reading any texts he's sending Happy, Stark's assistant, or Stark himself. I was disappointed with adults in this film. Overall, however, Spiderman was a great movie. My brother-in-law commented after the movie that this might be in his top 3 Marvel movies, which I laughed at. After thinking about the movie, though, I have to say I would put it right up there with my favorite Marvel movies, including Guardians of the Galaxy Volume I, Captain America: Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Dr. Strange. I would definitely go see it. Okay. So now you're wondering who Rey's parents are. (If you aren't, read through my previous post). Now, watch the following trailer. Focus on the opening line(s): So I'll admit it: I'm an adult and I like cartoons. When I had my first child, I loved sitting on the living room couch and watching Little Einsteins, Animaniacs, and the rebooted He-Man cartoon series. Sometimes, long after my son went to bed, I would stay up watching the next few episodes. Yes, I'm one of THOSE guys. I don't just like any cartoon; though, I'm a sucker for good screenwriting. That's why I love Avatar: The Last Airbender, Phineas and Ferb, and The Clone Wars. When the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series began in 2003, it wasn't a huge jump for me to get on board. The animation was solid, Anakin was (finally) really likeable, and the screenwriting was great. I grew to love the series (even moreso than most "real-life" series). Lucasfilm filled plot holes, developed characters in-depth, and gave me more Star Wars. If you haven't seen all six seasons, you need to get onto Netflix now. Rumor has it, Netflix won't keep it on there forever. In 2014, Lucasfilm decided to release a new animated series called Star Wars: Rebels. At the time, I was excited, but wondered why they were releasing a new series that was not connected to the new trilogy. While Star Wars: The Clone Wars bridged the gap between prequel episodes 2 and 3, Star Wars: Rebels would bridge the gap between Episodes 3 and 4 and although that is a gap that I wanted filled, I didn't see the need. Until now. Until the trailer for Season 4 of Star Wars: Rebels. The story is centered around a ragtag group of adventurers: Kanaan Jairus, a former Jedi Padawan; Hera Syndulla, a Twi'lek pilot; Ezra Bridger, a street-rat from Lothal; Sabine Wren, a Mandalorian girl; Zeb Orellios, a Lasat rebel (and one of the last of his race); and Chopper, a hothead droid. The six join the Rebellion in order to fight the Empire because they've been hurt by the Imperials for a myriad of reasons. The main characters, Kanaan , who was saved from Order 66 by his master, and Hera, the daughter of a rebel leader on Ryloth, lead the Rebels and, to this point, have been the main characters in the story. The series has been solid (although not even close to the Clone Wars) and many of the most recent episodes have been extremely compelling. Nevertheless, it's not really been must-see television and I've doubted Lucasfilm's purpose having seen every episode. Until now. Until the release of the Season 4 trailer. Now I know why we are watching Star Wars: Rebels. We are watching the story of Rey's parents. We are seeing the story of her mother, Sabine Wren, the daughter of The Duchess of Mandalore, Satine Kryze, and her father, Ezra Bridger, a force-sensitive youth from Lothal. Thinking back on the last three seasons, there are too many coincidences in the story for these two to NOT be Rey's parents The Season 4 trailer opens with the line: "It [the Rebels story] was a simple story of a boy who was lost and a girl who was broken" which contradicts everything I'd believed thus far about the Rebels. This line insinuates that Ezra and Sabine, NOT Kanaan and Hera, are the main characters of the series. This line blew me away because even though I'd really enjoyed both characters, I'd never been under the impression that I needed to focus on them until this trailer. This could be due to my ignorance or because Disney and Pablo Hidalgo wanted to misdirect our attention until the right time. The natural ending of the trailer line would be, "It was a simple story of a boy who was lost and a girl who was broken (who fell in love)." They didn't want us to realize, so soon, that this was the story of Rey's parents. It would be so compelling for Rebels to be about Rey's parents. We would know about the two people that are most important to Rey. We would be able to find out answers about Rey's past that Rey doesn't even know. We would understand Rey's personality better, her penchant for courage, and her force sensitivity by watching her parents. We would be able to see the significance of Ezra visiting Obi-Wan on Tattoine in the Twin Suns episode of Season 3. More importantly, we would be able to learn why Rey's parents left her because the ending of Season 4 would be the ending of Rey's parents OR answer the question about why she was dropped off on Jakku. Dave Filoni has said that the ending of Season 4 of Star Wars Rebels would be like NOTHING WE'VE EVER SEEN BEFORE. This must mean that we are going to see things that are not only surprising and different, but, more importantly, significant. Will we see the end of Ahsoka? Will we see the end of Grand Admiral Thrawn? Will we see the rebels fight on the Battle of Scarif? Will we see Hera become a general in the Rebellion? These answers pale in comparison if we see the beginning and end of Rey's parents in Season 4 of Star Wars: Rebels. On the IMDB page, there are three new, significant characters on the page of The Last Jedi that weren't in the Force Awakens. One of them is a older woman with purple hair (Sabine has purple hair in Rebels), played by Laura Dern, and the other is an older man with dark hair and an obscure character name (DJ), played by Benicio del Torro (who could definitely be Ezra). What if these two new characters are in a flashback in The Last Jedi? Rian Johnson, the director of the Last Jedi, has said that there will be significant flashbacks in the story. If Star Wars: Rebels is about Rey's parents, the entire Star Wars story would be enhanced by this animated series. One last thought: Will the next Star Wars animated series, which Disney has already announced, bridge Episodes 6 and 7? That would be amazing. May the Force be with you. |
AuthorThree-time Spartan Beast. Utah Jazz fan. Cougar. Aggie. Pioneer. Colt. Teacher. Auror. Earthbender. Ranger. Jedi. Hero of the Lance. Guardian of the Galaxy. Archives
December 2017
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