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... I saw Star Wars
So, that thing I said yesterday about waiting 'til the crowds die down? That lasted maybe 12 hours tops. And I am SO GLAD I saw it unspoiled.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
Guys, this was the Star Wars sequel of my heart.
I agree wholeheartedly with xparrot's post and naye's post: I am not entirely sure if I'd say it was a good movie, but I don't fucking care because it was THE MOVIE OF MY 12-YEAR-OLD HEART and it was OTT and ridiculous in all the right ways, and it felt like Star Wars in every way I care about. I am pretty sure the way a lot of people reacted to Jupiter Ascending is the way I have fallen for this movie: like, as a movie, I know it's probably not that great, but THIS is the movie of my teenage id, and Rey is the heroine of my teenage id. This is the movie I've been waiting for for 25 years. I literally teared up at the opening theme music and text scroll.
I am in serious denial on Han's death, though. I'm not seriously holding out for a canonical death fakeout, although if they actually do that I will love this franchise FOREVER, but I am headcanoning fixits in a million different ways, because the idea that the trio broke up in anger/sorrow and went their separate ways and never got a reunion is too terribly sad. That said, if that WAS Han's death scene, for real, he got to go out in a really cool way, and he got to die as Rey's ~Big Tragic Mentor Death~. (Side note: have I mentioned how one of my big narrative kinks is crusty aging mentor + awkwardly distrustful teenage girl protege? BECAUSE IT IS. Think Katniss-Haymitch, for example. I never expected to get it in this movie! I was so delighted! And now the Millennium Falcon is Rey's and IT IS AWESOME.)
I also feel like, in a way, if this was indeed Han's death, he went out in a way that indicates just how much of an impact Luke and Leia had on him -- because he died unarmed, trying to win back Ben/Ren to the light side; the guy who started out the series firmly convinced that he lived for money and didn't care about other people ended up dying because of love, and while I very much don't want him to be dead, I also feel like he lived a good long life before that, and he was loved, and he died loving someone, and that's worth something, don't you think?
And ... I love the new characters too! And THAT was a source of infinitely huge relief for me! Rey is the scrappy post-apocalyptic scavenger of my heart, and Finn is adorable and also a really lovely bad-guy-turns-good story (not that he was ever bad, but you know what I mean), and Poe was the breakout character that I had no idea even existed and then spent the whole movie expecting to die. I don't really OT3 them because so far, they're missing one of the critical ingredients for an OT3 for me: I don't really OT3 characters unless they all love each other and have individual relationships with each other, and Poe and Rey haven't even met yet! (I have been looking at OT3 fanart and finding it pleasing, however. :D)
Basically I have a feeling my Tumblr is going to turn into all Star Wars all the time for awhile, and I want all the old and all the new OT3 on there, which is really a delight for me.
I also love how this movie left us with some pretty major unanswered questions that the Internet is already deep in fanperson discussion over. Such as: is Rey Luke's daughter? (I lean strongly towards "yes", but I think it's interesting it wasn't confirmed in this movie, thus leaving the question open.) And "Is Han really dead?" is apparently a topic of discussion as well. I'm leaning "no" there, but we didn't have a body and Harrison Ford has apparently been confirmed to have some role in the next movie -- which could easily be a ghost or a flashback or who knows, but seriously, if they bring him back, you will be able to hear my shriek from SPACE. Anyway, I don't remember having that feeling after any of the prequel movies: the sense of a whole world of unanswered questions and a desperate desire to see the next movie to know what's going to happen.
This movie was gloriously beautiful, too, in a not-overly-CGI kind of way. Everything from the old battlefield of scrap parts where Rey grew up, to the big final duel in the snowy wilderness, to the chase scenes with the Millennium Falcon, was a visual feast that never made me feel like the movie was trying so hard for spectacle that it lost sight of the underlying layer of story. (PETER JACKSON I'M LOOKING AT YOU.)
And the humor! I laughed a lot, which was another thing that made it feel like original-flavor Star Wars to me. Everyone spending half the time being adorable failboats! I mean, this IS the series that started off by having its heroes fall into a trash compactor. Oh, and "That's not how the Force works!" I LAUGHED SO HARD. eeeeee. So much love. Even the new little robot was wonderful -- more Wall-E than R2, and definitely its own thing. I will take two, please!
Oh, and there wasn't a canon romance in sight (aside from the obvious legacy pairing of Han/Leia, which was of course very welcome) -- it could go any number of ways in the future, with Finn/Rey being the most obvious, but their big reunion scene was a hug when it could easily have been a kiss, and that meant a lot to me.
And finally: this movie feels about as close to a reboot as it can get without literally recasting the characters. And, especially as this is JJ Abrams, i.e. he of the Star Trek reboot, it would have been very easy for them to do a reboot that is demographically just the same as the original. BUT THEY DIDN'T. This is a movie with a girl as Luke, and two nonwhite actors as her Leia and Han, and female pilots and generals and baddies all over the place, and it never feels forced or strained; it just is. As with last summer's Mad Max movie, this felt to me like a Star Wars for the 21st century, when it could very easily have been so much less. And I truly, deeply appreciate that.
So yes, this movie has slain me; I am dead of fandom feels for a fandom that's been with me for thirty years, but I've never actually been that way about before. And now apparently I am.
... btw, I don't mind if you point out things in the comments that were not that great about the movie. I know it has flaws and I don't mind people talking about them. But I'm lost in a whole world of squeeful love for this movie and this franchise right now.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
Guys, this was the Star Wars sequel of my heart.
I agree wholeheartedly with xparrot's post and naye's post: I am not entirely sure if I'd say it was a good movie, but I don't fucking care because it was THE MOVIE OF MY 12-YEAR-OLD HEART and it was OTT and ridiculous in all the right ways, and it felt like Star Wars in every way I care about. I am pretty sure the way a lot of people reacted to Jupiter Ascending is the way I have fallen for this movie: like, as a movie, I know it's probably not that great, but THIS is the movie of my teenage id, and Rey is the heroine of my teenage id. This is the movie I've been waiting for for 25 years. I literally teared up at the opening theme music and text scroll.
I am in serious denial on Han's death, though. I'm not seriously holding out for a canonical death fakeout, although if they actually do that I will love this franchise FOREVER, but I am headcanoning fixits in a million different ways, because the idea that the trio broke up in anger/sorrow and went their separate ways and never got a reunion is too terribly sad. That said, if that WAS Han's death scene, for real, he got to go out in a really cool way, and he got to die as Rey's ~Big Tragic Mentor Death~. (Side note: have I mentioned how one of my big narrative kinks is crusty aging mentor + awkwardly distrustful teenage girl protege? BECAUSE IT IS. Think Katniss-Haymitch, for example. I never expected to get it in this movie! I was so delighted! And now the Millennium Falcon is Rey's and IT IS AWESOME.)
I also feel like, in a way, if this was indeed Han's death, he went out in a way that indicates just how much of an impact Luke and Leia had on him -- because he died unarmed, trying to win back Ben/Ren to the light side; the guy who started out the series firmly convinced that he lived for money and didn't care about other people ended up dying because of love, and while I very much don't want him to be dead, I also feel like he lived a good long life before that, and he was loved, and he died loving someone, and that's worth something, don't you think?
And ... I love the new characters too! And THAT was a source of infinitely huge relief for me! Rey is the scrappy post-apocalyptic scavenger of my heart, and Finn is adorable and also a really lovely bad-guy-turns-good story (not that he was ever bad, but you know what I mean), and Poe was the breakout character that I had no idea even existed and then spent the whole movie expecting to die. I don't really OT3 them because so far, they're missing one of the critical ingredients for an OT3 for me: I don't really OT3 characters unless they all love each other and have individual relationships with each other, and Poe and Rey haven't even met yet! (I have been looking at OT3 fanart and finding it pleasing, however. :D)
Basically I have a feeling my Tumblr is going to turn into all Star Wars all the time for awhile, and I want all the old and all the new OT3 on there, which is really a delight for me.
I also love how this movie left us with some pretty major unanswered questions that the Internet is already deep in fanperson discussion over. Such as: is Rey Luke's daughter? (I lean strongly towards "yes", but I think it's interesting it wasn't confirmed in this movie, thus leaving the question open.) And "Is Han really dead?" is apparently a topic of discussion as well. I'm leaning "no" there, but we didn't have a body and Harrison Ford has apparently been confirmed to have some role in the next movie -- which could easily be a ghost or a flashback or who knows, but seriously, if they bring him back, you will be able to hear my shriek from SPACE. Anyway, I don't remember having that feeling after any of the prequel movies: the sense of a whole world of unanswered questions and a desperate desire to see the next movie to know what's going to happen.
This movie was gloriously beautiful, too, in a not-overly-CGI kind of way. Everything from the old battlefield of scrap parts where Rey grew up, to the big final duel in the snowy wilderness, to the chase scenes with the Millennium Falcon, was a visual feast that never made me feel like the movie was trying so hard for spectacle that it lost sight of the underlying layer of story. (PETER JACKSON I'M LOOKING AT YOU.)
And the humor! I laughed a lot, which was another thing that made it feel like original-flavor Star Wars to me. Everyone spending half the time being adorable failboats! I mean, this IS the series that started off by having its heroes fall into a trash compactor. Oh, and "That's not how the Force works!" I LAUGHED SO HARD. eeeeee. So much love. Even the new little robot was wonderful -- more Wall-E than R2, and definitely its own thing. I will take two, please!
Oh, and there wasn't a canon romance in sight (aside from the obvious legacy pairing of Han/Leia, which was of course very welcome) -- it could go any number of ways in the future, with Finn/Rey being the most obvious, but their big reunion scene was a hug when it could easily have been a kiss, and that meant a lot to me.
And finally: this movie feels about as close to a reboot as it can get without literally recasting the characters. And, especially as this is JJ Abrams, i.e. he of the Star Trek reboot, it would have been very easy for them to do a reboot that is demographically just the same as the original. BUT THEY DIDN'T. This is a movie with a girl as Luke, and two nonwhite actors as her Leia and Han, and female pilots and generals and baddies all over the place, and it never feels forced or strained; it just is. As with last summer's Mad Max movie, this felt to me like a Star Wars for the 21st century, when it could very easily have been so much less. And I truly, deeply appreciate that.
So yes, this movie has slain me; I am dead of fandom feels for a fandom that's been with me for thirty years, but I've never actually been that way about before. And now apparently I am.
... btw, I don't mind if you point out things in the comments that were not that great about the movie. I know it has flaws and I don't mind people talking about them. But I'm lost in a whole world of squeeful love for this movie and this franchise right now.
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Because yes, I think I feel much the same way about it as you do. It's a Star Wars film in a way that the prequels weren't. And I am very happy with that.
*disappears again, happily*
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Oh, goodness, I adored her so much more than I expected I would.
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