Wow. What else can you say
after you’ve waited on a movie for so long, get up in the middle of the night to see
it and you’re on a caffeine high at work the next morning.
At least I’m at work.
The hubby woke me up at 11:15 last
night and said, ‘‘Hey. It’s time to go.’’
I wish I could say I jumped right
up, but at least it was close.
As the skies shuddered from
thunder and lit up with lightning, all I could think about was what would happen if a
power outage occurred at Gateway Cinema in Statesville. My brain couldn’t even fathom
it.
We rolled in, the lobby already
full of diehard ‘‘Star Wars’’ fans.
Seated, we watched as the
middle-aged mom and dad brought their 8- or 9-year-old son in. We saw two young parents
with their infant sleeping child who sat in the back with their maybe 4-year-old daughter.
We saw the geeks sitting by themselves, the lawyer with his wife, the college frat boys
smuggling in a bag of Doritos and a large IBC Cream Soda, not to be mistaken for beer.
Then some nameless guy stood up
from the front of the theater in a Darth Vader mask and raised his arms as people clapped
and shouted.
And we waited and munched on
popcorn dripping with some butter substance.
As I stood in the lobby to refill
the large Cherry Coke, I heard the cheer. It had started. I ran back.
I thought the previews would never
end.
Then the words appeared:
‘‘A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...’’
Two hours 11 minutes later, the
ending credits began to roll, and I suddenly felt that in the last 20 years, I had seen
the ending to a good story without reading the beginning.
I also felt a little cheated,
please forgive my blasphemy dieharders. The plot lacked the spontaneity, the surprise.
Writer, producer, director, movie mogul George Lucas almost has gotten into formula Star
Wars: meet characters, set up conflict, resolve conflict with several battles complete
with incredible special effects.
I have to say, those special
effects almost make it all worth it, from the new ships to the characters to the automaton
foot soldiers to the intense battles.
The burning question that I have
and the one that will draw crowds to the second and third movie is: What turns Anakin
Skywalker from that innocent, focused little boy to the evil Darth Vader?
I’ll give just a little
tidbit away. Fans meet young Anakin for the first time and see the love he has for his
mother. But when questions of paternity arise, fans find out there was no father –
the closest thing to Hollywood immaculate conception yet.
Fans also find out that Skywalker
shows much promise as a Jedi, but that his ‘‘future is clouded’’ as
the Jedi council determines.
In Lucas’ ‘‘Phantom
Menace,’’ for those who don’t know by now if the trilogy pre-quel to
‘‘Star Wars,’’ fans get to see a young, impetuous Obi-Wan Kenobi as an
apprentice with his master.
In the great tradition of Princess
Leia, Queen Amidala almost surpasses her in determination and wily ways, but most
especially in plumage.
Fans see both droids R2D2 and a
naked C3PO introduced into the plot.
And the movie comes full circle
when ‘‘Phantom’’ lands on Tattooine, Luke Skywalker’s home planet
where Obi-Wan Kenobi discovers the young Jedi.
There’s no Chewbacca this
time, but there is Jar-Jar Binks, a Gungan water creature. He can be annoying at times,
but at midnight, you’d be surprised what a person can find funny.
And then there’s Darth Maul,
who I might add only has one line the entire movie and goes something like,
‘‘Yes, my master.’’ Although his makeup more than makes up for his
lack of character development.
There are scenes that seem
repetitive and almost too pat.
Don’t look for a lot of
character development this time around from Lucas, but he’s going somewhere, and
because we already know where he’s going, fans want to know more. And that desire
won’t be assuaged for three and six more years.
Can we wait that long?
I guess we’ll have to.
Meanwhile, we can all go to see it again and spend the next three years competing for who
will see ‘‘Phantom’’ the most times.
At least then ‘‘Star
Wars’’ will fell vindicated when ‘‘Titanic’’ sinks to second
for all-time movie sales. |
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