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TCTTS, I have lurked your threads for some time and have always found your insight and vision for movies extremely entertaining and just a joy to read.
You may have already done this on another thread or perhaps I missed it in this one and I apologize if I did.
I would love to get your opinion of what this movie should be. Plot, characters, charachet development, cameos from other movies, villian, ending, etc.
I am a huge SW fan, it may damage my credibility, but I thought Episode II and III were really good. Not great and nowhere near the original series, but I mostly enjoyed the ability to experience more of the SW universe and particularly the uses of a lightsaber due to the new technology we have compared to the 70's.
Anyway I would love to hear your thoughts on what you would do if you were creating this movie. I just can't picture what it; A. is going to be like or B. what it could be like if done right.
Maybe I haven't done enough reading on the subject but it would be much appreciated.
DartAg1970 - Thanks! I appreciate that.
Truth be told, I haven't really put much thought into what the actual story could be, or even what I'd ultimately want from this movie, personally. There are so many directions they could go, and so many possible scenarios, that it’d be a challenge just to list all my hopes/wants in any kind of detail. But what I can do, based on what little info is out there right now, is speculate on certain rumored aspects, if only to try and organize most of the existing info into a single post (again, it’s not much). Also, just as a disclaimer, and to re-iterate for the uninformed, they’re not using a single thing from the EU. And personally, I’ve never read anything from the EU either. So I’m coming at this solely as a fan of the movies themselves (save the prequels), without any preconceived notions of what’s been attempted in the EU already...
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Hamill, Fisher and FordAbout the only solid info at this point is that these three will be back, and that their characters will be roughly the same age as the actors are in real life. So right there, we’ve got a timeframe for
Episode VII, which should be about 30 years after the events of
Return of the Jedi. No one knows how large their roles will be at this point, but I’d be willing to bet that Fisher and Ford will have smaller roles than Hamill. From what little has been implied at this point, it sounds like Luke could essentially be the Obi-Wan of this story. Probably as some kind of mentor who has to train the main character. But who knows in what capacity. In the 30-or-so years between
Episode VI and
VII, has Luke restored the Jedi Order, has he re-imagined it, or has he retreated to some sort of relative seclusion, and is still the last remaining Jedi? If I had to guess, I’d go with a version of the latter. I don’t imagine him being some mysterious hermit, a la Obi-Wan; rather, I’d go with some kind of Bilbo Baggins scenario, where he’s content living the simple life, wherever that may be (potentially in some kind of communication with Obi-Wan’s rumored Force-ghost). He'd then be reluctantly called into action as a mentor/trainer-type when the new threat presents itself. Going the newly-established Jedi Order route feels too prequel-ish to me. Post-
Return of the Jedi, I doubt things went back to the way they were pre-Empire-taking-over. Meaning no Jedi Order, a different political system, etc. Plus, IMO, the idea of old-Luke-getting-called-into-action / not-appearing-‘til-the-second-act has more of a dramatic-reveal effect, instead of him already being some kind of established Jedi leader on Coruscant (or wherever). But again, that’s just my own personal thoughts/opinion.
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The Next GenerationRumors at this point imply that the main focus will be on the “next generation.” Now, whether or not that means the actual children of Luke, Leia and Han, who knows. But that does seem to be the case, as Han Solo’s kid is the most consistent character casting rumor at this point, while Luke’s son may also be making an appearance (though I think the latter is a potential misdirection). If I had it my way, I’d much rather focus on a different family or set of characters (i.e. not the Solos or Skywalkers), but I get why they’re likely staying with that lineage. So, based on what’s been rumored, as obvious as this sounds, Han & Leia’s kid(s) will likely either be the main character(s), or closely involved with the main character, while Luke’s son could be in the same boat. Though, who knows if Han & Leia will even be together. Because everyone expects it, that may be the exact reason to go a different direction. Either way, the other strong rumor is that the main protagonist will be a female this go-around, which makes sense. We don’t need Luke/Anakin 2.0 (or 3.0, depending on how you look at it). Seeing as
The Hunger Games,
Twilight, etc. are so popular now, and teen/20-something female leads are en vogue, it makes sense. Not that Abrams & co would simply follow a trend like that, but I just don’t see them going with
yet another white, blonde male in his early 20s as the main protagonist. That character may exists (potentially in the form of Luke’s son), I just don’t think he’ll be the main focus. If it were up to me, regardless of the story/family being focused on, I'd probably go the female-lead route as well. So I really like this decision, if, in fact, it's what they're going with.
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Palpatine & the EmpireIf the rumors are true about
Palpatine potentially returning as a Force-ghost - and I believe they are - then it’s pretty obvious who the villains are, and what their motivations will be. As if there was ever any question, the Sith will return yet again. Honestly, I was hoping for some new kind of new evil this go-around, but that was a pipe-dream, and likely wouldn’t make much sense thematically. The Force-ghost of Palpatine probably best-ensures the continuation of that thread. I just hope he’s not too prominently featured. What worries me more is Palpatine’s rumored apprentice, one he apparently started grooming either during or just before the events of
Return of the Jedi. If we have to do the whole “always two there are” master/apprentice Sith thing again, I just hope they don’t go down the same prequel-road of doing a new Sith apprentice each movie. Dooku and Grievous were beyond forgettable, and while Maul was definitely the
coolest, he wasn’t much of an actual
character. With Palaptine potentially sidelined as a Force-ghost, I want a true, flesh-and-blood apprentice/villain who’s going to be around for at least a couple movies. One who has his own motivations beyond simply being Palaptine’s lacky. And that may be exactly what we’re getting, considering there could be a long, built-in history with this character. Just as long as he’s not an
Episode VII-specific
toy, we should be good to go. Now, whether or not the remnants of the Empire will be involved in all of this, I’m not sure. Though, I do kind of like the idea of the Empire essentially being the “Rebels” this go-around, in that they’re the ones outnumbered and on the fringes; a small, but growing threat. Then again, a fresh, new threat would definitely be my first choice.
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Potential Casting / BreakdownBack in June, an apparently Lucasfilm-verified
Episode VII casting call leaked, which is still believed to be the real deal by many outlets (including TheForce.net). Its vagueness lends to its credibility, along with the fact that it doesn’t read like some kind of fanboy wish-list/fake. Usually by this point, “leaks” like this either fade from the news, or are proved as bunk, but this one has endured. Also, save for the “big three” returning from the original trilogy, the only other actor-rumors at this point with any kind of legit traction are
Jonathan Rhys Meyers (as a new character) and
Ryan Gosling and/or Zac Eforn (as either Han’s son, or Luke's son). So, taking those names into account, along with what I’ve mentioned as rumor above, glean what you will from these potential descriptions (which, if real, will not necessarily be billed in the order presented)...
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- Late-teen female, independent, good sense of humour, fit.
- Young twenty-something male, witty and smart, fit but not traditionally good looking.
- A late twenty-something male, fit, handsome and confident.
- Seventy-something male, with strong opinions and tough demeanour. Also doesn’t need to be particularly fit.
- A second young female, also late-teens, tough, smart and fit.
- Forty-something male, fit, military type.
- Thirty-something male, intellectual. Apparently doesn’t need to be fit.
Again, overall, I know it’s not much, but at this point, this is really all we have. Beyond those four bullet points, anything else would be pure, baseless speculation (though, I’m sure I’ve missed a (legit) small rumor or two). It's hard to offer much insight when the parameters are this broad. But feel free to speculate - I’d really love to hear what everyone else comes up with based on this info so far.
Ultimately, I just want the movie to feel
fresh. Even though it shrinks the
Star Wars universe incredibly, I’ve come to accept the Skywalkers, Solos and Palpatine being forced on us once again as the main players, as long as there are enough new characters/places/ideas for it to not feel like a rehash of characters/places/ideas already presented in the first six movies. For instance, I’m hoping there won’t be a trace of Tatooine or Naboo this time, as we’ve already been-there-done-that more times than I can count. We don’t need to go back to either of those planets. And I’d be perfectly content never seeing R2 and C-3PO again either. Loved them in the original trilogy, but how about some
new planets and some
new droids this go-around? I'd also echo a few of Simplebay's thoughts in the previous post. Just anything that doesn't continue the stale nature of the prequels.
Thankfully, screenwriter Michael Arndt is a master story-teller, something Abrams has never had before. We all know Abrams can do action, he can do emotion, he just hasn’t had a truly great screenplay to work from yet (which I blame mostly on Kurtzman & Orci). I do believe, with the right ingredients, Abrams has an amazing
Star Wars movie in him. I’m probably one of the few who actually loves his lens flares, and I genuinely can't wait for some lens-flared light saber action, which could be incredible considering Abrams’ frenetic style. And based on his
Star Trek reboot, we know he can assemble and direct a killer ensemble cast, so there’s no reason to doubt he won’t do the same here. In fact, with both
Trek movies, he made space feel epic and operatic again - something lacking in movies over the past couple of decades - and I truly believe those sensibilities of his will mesh better with
Star Wars than they ever did with
Trek.
From everything we’ve heard so far, it honestly sounds like the team behind
Episode VII is doing everything they can to make sure the story is
perfect. This go-around, not only do they have the advantage of knowing what
not to do from the prequels, but producer Kathleen Kennedy has at least been saying all the right things. She’s recently placed an emphasis on
practical effects and
actual locations, which is half the battle right there. And they’re on record as saying they’re skewing more toward the original trilogy in tone (i.e. they hated the prequels, but can’t say that). So, at least on paper, this one
feels right. In the coming months, around October/November, we should start hearing
a lot more, so hopefully we’ll have a better idea of what to expect then...
[This message has been edited by TCTTS (edited 8/20/2013 7:26p).]
