The Rise of Skywalker - adding my very important opinion to the internet.

Opinions are like **holes, everyone has one. Just that this isn’t true. People rarely substitute theirs with someoelse’s **hole. 

Looking back at some of my predictions I was wrong about some major plot points. I always said that the Bendemption and Reylo would make me walk out of the cinema. I thought it would be the two things that would ruin Star Wars for me and quite arrogantly assumed it’s ‘too stupid for Star Wars’. 

Now.. I stand corrected. To be honest, after the premiere I didn’t know what to think. Like everyone else I had this idea what the movie should be in my head. All the puzzle pieces I put together to a picture I liked. All the clues that lead my to my own personal conclusion. And like everyone else I saw the movie through this filter. 

I have to divert a bit to explain what I mean.

A Zen master was asked about Zen by a critical guest. Instead of answering he filled the guest’s teacup but did not stop pouring when the cup was full and the tea spilled out and ran over the table. 

"Stop! The cup is full!" said the guest.

"Exactly," said the Zen Master. "You are like this cup; you are full of ideas. You come and ask for teaching, but your cup is full; I can't put anything in. Before I can teach you, you'll have to empty your cup."

Letting go of our expectations is hard. Very hard. There is comfort in the familiar. There is stubbornness in wanting to be right. The unknown is scary and we want to be in control of our own narrative. So I watched the movie again and saw it for what it is. I’m gonna be honest. I am a ‘true believer’ and apologist. I will find goodness in every bit. If you want to find mistakes you will find them. Psychologically we mostly make up our minds whether or not we’ll like the movie before we see it subconsciously. Then we just look for proof we’re right. I didn’t really want to see Joker. I expected it to be a pretentious attempt to make a Scorsese 70ies movie while lacking substance. And that’s exactly what I’ve got. Knowing what to expect in the 2nd viewing I was able to appreciate it more. There is so much depth and love for Star Wars in it that’s not apparent if you walk out of the 1st screening snubbed about what you don’t understand. I sound like a broken record when I say Star Wars is not a Comic Book movie, not everything has to be explained or tie into everything perfectly. Just look at the Original Trilogy. Nothing is 100% clear. Obi Wan is twisting the truth and nothing aligns perfectly. Star Wars is like a Greek myth. WHY did Thetis dip Achilles in the river Styx? What was her motivation? How could she forget to dip his heel? That’s stupid. That’s RUINING Greek mythology.   

I liked the movie, very much. I’m not even sure if it might not be my favorite sequel. Before I go into my thoughts here is what I didn’t like.

I liked it, yes, but that doesn’t keep me from agreeing that it seemed like a mash-up of fan-service. And with fan service I mean the kind of parents who have no idea would give their kids. ‘You like your Nintendos, right? The man at the shop said this is as good.’ It somehow felt like a panicked corporate decision to undo the backlash after The Last Jedi (a movie I have seen 13 times in the cinema and now consider to be the weakest installment since Attack of the Clones), so they mistook the loudest voices on the internet to be the most representative for all fans. So they had to include Bendemption and Reylo because ..fanfiction.. ?! And people have long asked for ‘bring back Legends’ so throw in a bit of that. And then we need Han Solo and the Emperor to save this trilogy after we made the mistake of not overseeing what these film makers actually do and have an overall idea for the trilogy and Rian Johnson wrote the story into a corner. The Last Jedi felt more like the 3rd movie of a trilogy, so what are we gonna do? Rey has to be SOMEONE, right? How about the emperor is suddenly interested in his bloodline for some reason despite the Sith never having cared about that (what is her midi-chlorian count?). 

But I can live with all of that and I have my explanations for everything. Palpatines son who must’ve been born after his face got all f**ked up. So was he a clone? Some sort of attempt to create life like Anakin? An artificially created baby like the Nazis did to get a super soldier, just to be able to possess his body and when he ran off and fled he was more interested in his ‘granddaughter’ because her body was even younger? Did the force skip a generation like some diseases.  Not everything has to be answered, but it’s fun to think about these things. I find this to be more Star Wars than the thought he had a wife all the time, which is absolutely not in character. 

The one thing I didn’t like was the super cringy, cheap jump-scare with monster teeth during the Dark Rey scene. We have seen this too often. It’s not ‘worthy of Star Wars’. It didn’t even look good in IT or any other movie. 

And the kiss? Would I have cut it out if I’d have something to say. YES DEFINITELY. Do I think it’s romantic and actually hints to romantic feelings? HELL NO! In my opinion their bond is different. Calling it romantic undermines their connection and ridicules something that could be very deep. Kylo/Ben even says it, they are a Dyad. Whatever that means, it surely doesn’t mean something straight-out of Twilight. I see the kiss as relief, burst of emotion. Not unlike a kiss a mother would give a child that has been missing or rescued from peril. Affection yes, romance no (aka ‘no tongue’). The beauty of it is that it’s ambiguous. If you want them to be in love, then you can think that for yourself, probably wondering why she is not really grieving.

I said I’d hate Bendemption and many people have stated that Ben should’ve survived. No offense but this is completely missing the point. The way his redemption is portrayed is absolutely beautiful. The shame and regret in Ben that leads him to the realization what he needs to do is what makes his who he is. He says it himself. He can’t go back to his mother. She sacrificed herself for him. He killed his father. Everything is lost for him. He made so many mistakes. But he can do the right thing for once by saving Rey. And this is why he disappears. This is why he became one with the force. If it he’d have survived there wouldn’t have been a redemption. Ben Solo was ‘weak and foolish’ which led him to the dark side. Ben Solo is flawed, the good in him understood that to kill the looming darkness he has to sacrifice himself. Like the Terminator at the end of Judgement day. This is what made the scene so powerful and mirrored Vader. Ironically you could say he finally became like Vader in the last moments of his life.

As for the emperor being alive. Why not. If you’re that sort of badass and considering that Maul and Vader both survived major injuries with the aid of the dark side of the force it’s not that unlikely. And here is something some people seem to miss. He is desperately looking for a new vessel to transfer his spirit into because he is a corpse. He is a corpse on life support. As hinted at in the movie and as explained in the visual dictionary he is being kept ‘alive’ by a mixture of medical aids and Sith alchemy. One might argue that ‘we never heard about Sith cultists and all that’ but that’s not entirely true. Even outside of the books, comics and what not there are things you can easily retcon to fit the narrative. Just look at the emperors advisors in Return of the Jedi. At the time of The Force Awakens there have been theories that Snoke is nothing but a puppet. I have used the Wizard of Oz comparison before. When we got to see him ‘in the flesh’ in The Last Jedi we were nothing the wiser. So that somehow adds up.

Chewie got a medal now? Well that just serves to show what I always say: no one in the cinematic universe cares a great deal about books and comics. A lot of fans are always so eager to see stuff from canon in the movies and get upset when there are contradictions (also see S-foil from Lukes X-wing being used as door) but I think it’s best to consider whatever is not in the movies as ‘soft canon’ and take it with a grain of salt. This might change in the future now that Star Wars is free of the shackles of the Skywalker saga and it;’s very likely they learned from the lack of consistency, but it also opens it up to mediocracy and weird stuff like the world between worlds and space whales.

If you only watched the movie once there are many things that might have slipped by you. Which is a shame. I think some f the outspoken critics will change their minds about the movie over time. A lot of the emotional backbone of the movie was in these tiny moments, such as the scene in which Rey feels that she won’t see Leia again and has to say good bye. It is in the open whether or not Leia feels it too and just taunts her by saying ‘tell me when you're back’.

Let me just say that Rose is absolutely cool in this. I always maintained the position that the backlash against her character was mostly based on the weak costume design that made her more like like a cosplayer. Now that she looked the part she was fantastic. It’s not about quantity. Her screen time was impactful. The argument that JJ cut her screen time in favor of his buddies is ridiculous and uninformed. Everyone had their specific parts to serve the story. According to the visual dictionary Dominic Monaghans character was a former teacher and served as the ‘Sith’ expert to explain why the Resistance wasn’t collectively going ‘umm wut?’ when they heard about Palpatine being back and all that. Greg Grunberg was the link to the fleet and Rose was at the heart of operations. I can't understand how this isn’t obvious. 

And in conclusion let’s talk about the impossible task to end a 9 part saga, with the additional challenge of having lost Carrie Fisher. Can you even imagine being in that predicament? How did JJ Abrams say yes to this? Well knowing that he’d get shit from all sides. RESPECT! It is a miracle the movie turned out the way it did. I liked it and if we look at the numbers of things I didn’t like in the other movies despite liking them it might become my favorite or close 2nd of the sequel trilogy over time. Only this blade tells.

The Mandalorian fighting..  whom?

One this photo has been released people started jumping to conclusions again. Business as usual.

The Mandalorian is fighting Trandoshans they said. But they also said it’s IG88 and we all know it’s actually IG11. Everyone who gave it a second glance could’ve noticed its definitely NOT IG88 unless he has some major up or downgrades, but hey..if it vaguely looks like something on first glance it certainly has to be that. There is no more further investigation. 

First of all. Let me say. These guys look very Star Trek. I trust Jon Favreau and to a certain extent Dave Filoni enough to not get nervous about that, but unless they pulled a JJ Abrams Star Trek Klingon whatever reason that would upset fans I’m calling it now: they are NOT Trandoshans. They promised us new species as well as old. Might be a new one or a different old one, such as the Saurins as seen in the Cantina scene. At least they are confirmed to have 5 digits aka human fingers. Something Transdoshans don’t have.

Saurins 

Trandoshan hands

I know that technically Saurins are a subspecies of Trandoshans - and they still look very different from the guys in the picture - but all I’m saying is FFS hold your horses and don’t always jump to conclusions. It’s not always the first thought that comes to mind...

Predictions after seeing the D23 footage and reading too many stupid fan theories..again.

So now that the ‘special look’ has been out for a while and there are some alleged plot leaks on reddit, I think it’s time for to go over my predictions. Mostly to be able to say ‘I knew it’ and ‘I told you’ later on, because there is no chance in hell that Rey is just one many clones from Lukes hand or the emperor or any of the other wild theories that spread across the internet. And without pointing fingers or mentioning names, if you can’t even get minor (hint) details right and have a horrible track record, how do people still listen to you? Because you have a lot of subscribers on Youtube? Welcome to the Internet..

This might contain spoilers so be warned:

- Finn is not Landos son and Jannah is not his sister, because there are more than 3 black people in the galaxy you know. Star Wars might be about family, but not everyone is related. Palpatine was a bit ginger, that doesn’t make him Hux’ grandfather either.. Will we learn about Finns family. What for? What is there to gain story-wise. That’s something everyone coming upon with wild theories needs to ask themselves. 

- is Jannah (Naomi Ackie) Landos daugher? See above. Looking at the little evidence we have so far she has always been seen on a grassy planet, whereas Lando is known to have filmed Millennium Falcon and Pasaana scenes at a sound stage.  There are theories that the planets won’t be one biosphere, breaking with Star Wars tradition, so it’s still possible however unlikely that they are related. 

Just look at the pilots gloves and helmet. This isn’t the Millennium Falcon 

-  C-3POs red eyes. There are conflicting rumors about the cause, one being spiritual and the other being.. technical. I think it’s more likely that his eyes change color due to operational rather than ‘esoteric’ reasons. Also in relation to him being shown holding a bowcaster and Anthony Daniels telling Vanity Fair that ‘C-3PO does something in this movie that surprises everybody’.

- Red laser destroying snow planet. I assume that’s Kijimi where Zorri Bliss is located and where according to some plot leaks some altercation takes place. Looks like the First Order doesn’t fuck around.

- Rey training in the forest throwing her lightsaber is most likely connected to Leia standing in the same environment dropping some Jedi knowledge she got from Luke. I’m wondering what the red ribbon is about. I’m gonna get crazy and say it might be a blindfold. There is also a Jedi training droid present, so why wouldn’t she training ‘blind’ with it just like Luke did.  I’m gonna go out on a limb and propose something with a 5% likelihood of being true, but.. as is looks a bit as the red ribbon is also wrapped around the double bladed light saber ‘dark Rey’ is holding later on, so what if.. it’s something related to her parents and her ‘holding onto it’ is a dark side trait she needs to conquer. Star Wars is filled with symbolism and philosophical motifs like that. ‘Let go’ of your need to belong. Don’t dwell in the past. Even Maz told her ‘The belonging you seek is not behind you, it is ahead.’. Could be that or just a regular rag. Probably the latter, but it’s sure fun to theorize. #theorizeresponsibly

- Rey and Kylo fighting on what looks like the Death Star remains. I think a lot of people now tend to believe that JJ Abrams is bypassing The Last Jedi and continue his initial story, not ignoring the movie but positioning it as a detour for the characters to find themselves. And for once I agree what seems to be the consensus amongst Star Wars theorists. I think what we see here is not unlike the force flashes Rey had when she first touched the lightsaber. I can imagine them changing environment with every stroke of their lightsabers. That allows for a ‘best of Star Wars’ highlight reel, so desperately needed to reunite fans after the The Last Jedi backlash, that would combine all the previous movies. And that’s what they promised. 

- voiceover ‘your journey nears its end’. Is it just me or does it not sound like the emperor. I mean it sounds like Ian McDiarmid alright, but I’m missing the uber-evil timbre of his voice. Who is he talking to and will the emperor appear in this movie? First of all.. when we talk about tying together all the movies, we must not ignore the so called ‘tone poems’ used for The Phantom Menace. Based on that I’d say he isn't necessarily talking to anyone. Or even more recently, in The Force Awakens trailer they used Lukes ‘the force is strong in my family..’. So I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s just a distraction or to set the mood. My guess is that the emperors ‘spirit’ looms above everything and had the power to influence other people, just like depicted on the poster. There had been speculation about Snoke being some sort of Wizard of Oz early on. What if the wizard behind the wizard is actually worse. Wouldn’t that be wizard?

- Dark Rey. I will say one thing, I was happy to see that most fans immediately were like ‘dark side vision!’. If you read my earlier posts you will know how much I LOVE new lightsaber designs in every movie. Not. Especially when they are pointless. When I said I want a saber staff this is not what I mean. The only thing that makes me a bit skeptical is that Daisy Ridley said she was surprised that they’d show that scene in trailer. If it’s just a vision like the one Luke had, what’s the big deal? Then again, they also claimed that everyone will absolutely love the movie and especially the end. Enter wild fan theories from ‘she saw multiple reflections of herself in the cave. Clone Rey confirmed!!!11!!’ to ‘She must be Palpatines granddaughter’. I said it before and I’ll happily say it again. That would be SHIT STORYTELLING. After all the impatient smart-asses calling Rey a ‘Mary Sue’ not knowing anything about her origins, how would the public react to good old Palpatine having a granddaughter? That’s Robot Chicken level stupid. Now.. considering that an early draft of Revenge of the Sith had Palpatine telling Anakin that he ‘is his father’ for manipulating the midichlorians to create life, from a certain point of view that would make him Reys father IF he tried again. And it would fit much better into the established story structure of Star Wars. Every story that requires knowledge of the extended universe outside of movies or lengthy exposition will lead to casual fans and ordinary moviegoers to be like WTF?! It might be the last movie for a while but they still want people to go and not be appalled from early reviews about the movie being a convoluted clusterfuck. I also think the ‘clone’ idea is a cop out. Whenever you’re stuck because you can’t explain the origin of a character or don’t know how to deal with the death of a character - BAMM! Clone! Problem solved. That's just lazy. So to sum it up. Dark Rey? Vision of what she was supposed to be or should be because it backfired? ‘Darkness rises, and light to meet it. I warned my young apprentice that as he grew stronger, his equal in the light would rise.’ (Snoke)

- Sith Fleet / Sith Troopers ..those following the new canon even just a bit are already aware of the importance of the ‘Unknown Regions’. Its hard to miss references to it these days, from Galaxys Edge to Rebels. So how are they gonna explain this in the movie? From a storytelling point it makes sense. The empire was defeated and its remnants were hiding and regrouping. Hang on. This sounds like a job for OPENING CRAWL. OK, so there is a massive fleet. Maybe unrelated to the First Order, but looking pretty similar. Based on the state of the Resistance after the Last Jedi one might assume it’s not really needed. Does that mean we’re dealing with an internal struggle of sorts.There are persisting rumors of a high ranking First Order member leaking details to the Resistance, which doesn’t come as a surprise given Kylo Rens personality. Reminds be a bit of Operation Valkyrie. 

I’m delving deep into leaks and rumors but as things are now I have no idea how this pans out and what the relationship between Sith Trooper and First Order will be. Apparently you need a certain navigational device to be able to make it to the Unknown Regions, so my guess is Kylo is looking for more knowledge/power there just like Palpatine did, the rest is pure speculation so I will leave it for another time when more details surface. Same goes for stuff that’s not directly related to the ‘D23 Special View’ such as ‘who is Zorri Bliss?’.

Minor spoilers from visiting filming locations?!

I just returned from Jordan where I was returning to the Wadi Rum desert. Last year I went there because it was used to depict Jedha in Rogue One. 2 weeks after I left - unbeknownst to me - they returned to film The Rise of Skywalker. Talk about timing. Our travel guide was quick to confirm what at this point was still a rumor. His sources confirmed they were in deed filming what was still called Episode 9 in Wadi Rum. So we needed to go back. Back into the desert.

For this years trip our travel guide got us in contact with someone who actually worked on the movie as translator. We sent him a couple of screenshots ahead and he checked with the local beduins, some of which worked on the movie as extras, to confirm all the filming locations. He told us that they even brought in the military to help with he production. Around thousand people were involved setting up the camp there. Some might remember the funny ‘wood cut outs’ from early picture leaks. This was done to emulate a ‘busy market town’ of sorts with people approaching from all directions, as confirmed by other rumors. In this particular spot the crew built a road that is still visible.

‘road’ build by the production of The Rise of Skywalker

location of the wood cut outs 

He also confirmed that a lot of filming was going on here and that they added ‘fake rocks’ that looked absolutely real. He specifically mentioned the speeder scene depicted in the Vanity Fair article:

The entire area is surrounded by a U-shaped rock formation, that protects the area from spying eyes and makes for a nice backdrop. I’m curious to see what they actually set you there. 

I didn’t manage to find the exact spot but its very likely this picture is also from there:

I tried

We then headed to another plain in the northern part of Wadi Rum where there scene in the trailer in which Rey jumps on the approaching TIE-fighter scene was filmed. The layout is exactly as shown in the scene, looking to the right from where the TIE-fighter approaches:

looking to the left where we see Rey waiting

and finally, where they both meet

***** SPOILER WARNING *****

Before we move on to the third major filming location, let’s speculate a bit. Delving into some of the rumors that Wadi Rum has been used for 2 planets, Pasaana and good old Tatooine I have to say it’s not unlikely. Wadi Rum might seem as if it only has that Mars vibe, which is why it wasn’t only used for exactly that in The Martian but also the Val Kilmer movie Red Planet, but the more area you cover the more you start to realize how diverse the environment is. The sand changes from red to light yellow looking a lot like Tunisia and there are even white-ish flats reminiscent of  Death Valley, so looking at the evidence it would be no problem to pass if off as Tatooine, then drive 30-45 min and have another planet with different sand and different rocks and not even need CGI.

And now to some more pics straight out of vanity fair that turned out to be the same spot as seen from different perspectives. First we have the Pasaana locals as seen here 

when you turn around you look straight at where Rey was standing 

as for the its-bitsy possible spoiler (I warned you, better safe than sorry) - the Knights of Ren are in the same location

I took roughly 1000 photos and can’t wait for more details to come out, so I can scrutinize every centimeter of desert in search of more filming locations. 

To wrap it up for now I have to say Jordan is a great place to visit, it’s very safe, people are very friendly and hospitable and almost every one speaks English. If you get the Jordan Pass (www.jordanpass.jo) in advance you safe yourself the visa costs and it includes  all the top attractions. Wadi Rum is close to Petra so you can combine it with a quest for the grail, but unlike Petra you cannot access Wadi Rum alone. You will need a local guide and register at the visitor center. If you book one of the many authentic and some not so authentic beduin tent experiences they will gladly provide transport and guides. 

Bonus picture. Our guide Hussein proudly showing us the filming locations:

Just realized that I never uploaded last years photos from Jordan here. I went there to check out Rogue One filming locations 2 week before they started filming The Rise of Skywalker. I was not aware but our guide confirmed it early on when it was still a rumor. I’ll be back next week and he will take us to all the filming locations. 

what I ..would like to.. see in The Rise of Skywalker

I’ve seen a lot of people doing this lately and I was careful not to phrase it in a way that makes it sound like ‘there better be..’. WE as fans are not entitled to have it out way, so no ‘I want to see’ but more of a ‘would be cool, but I'm fine either way. 

1. No Reylo - Rey has quite literally closed the door on him. Whatever he might make of it or phantasize I don’t care, which leads me to..

2. No redemption for Kylo - unless it’s as a sacrifice. Ben can join Hayden as blue ghost. that’s ok, but there is no coming back after patricide. Period. If he wants to throw himself in front of Rey to save her, then I’m fine with theoreticially calling it redemption.

3. No Rey family retcon - that requires a super weird lengthy explanation why Rey is the daughter of XY and 3 tie-in novels. Keep it simple and straight forward. that means: 3a No Rey Kenobi and 3b No Rey Palpatine. Make her Qui Gonns revenge from the netherworld using dark side knowledge he somehow achieved to ‘create life’ as a mirror image to Anakin for all I care, that would make more sense and follow the narrative more than some clumsy Kenobi/Palpatine retcon.

4. No important information that requires knowledge of canon material such as books or comics. That would just confuse casual fans and be pretty bad writing. That doesn’t include some mild tie-in stuff like Rogue Ones Catalyst which wasn't required reading and acted as a nice introduction or some sort of extended prologue.

5. Don’t resurrect the emperor in flesh and blood. As much as we all would love to see the emperor again there would be some explaining to do. Especially after Ian McDiarmids appearance at SWCC and the laugh in the trailer I would expect it to be a red herring. I think there is a way to do it more elegantly. Who is to say that Sith couldn’t have developed the ability to be some sort of force ghost counterpart. Might not be referenced in the EU or new canon, but the doesn’t mean anything.

6. Don’t ignore Snoke - Please don’t leave Snoke a complete mystery that requires further reading and leaves the casual viewer wondering what this was all about. I can be just one throw away line from the emperor ghost about ‘this former advisor fool thought he can take my place after studying too many holocrons’ or something. I just rewatched Return of the Jedi and they have been mentioned in the Aftermath books. Palpatines purple advisor dudes were creepy enough to fit the bill. And they could still be very old. Who knows, they might have served Darth Plagueis before, like it would have been custom on a medieval court.

7. Use the sentence ‘from a certain point of view’ - Since The Last Jedi threw a wrench into the narrative laid out by JJ Abrams it looks a lot like JJ is trying to restore some bits of his initial idea, so it would be pretty neat if they’d incorporate ‘from a certain point of view’ into the movie as a tongue in cheek nod to the audience.

8. Surprise us with unexpected appearances - Appearances by characters like Obi Wan or Anakin will always be on top of the rumor list, but I’d really like to see some familiar faces in minor rolls, like they did in Rogue One. Wedge actor Denis Lawson repeatedly stated he has no interest (later claimed it was just a scheduling conflict and he would’ve like to be part), but his character appeared A LOT in recent canon material and he has been attending some conventions. Maybe that was to test the water to see how popular his character is. Maybe his nephew (Ewan McGregor) convinced him. So I’m calling it. Wedge cameo. Keep your eyes peeled. 

We’ve seen a lot of new alien species, but the at this stage the Resistance needs all the help they can get, so it would be really cool to see some Prune Faces or other familiar Rebel alliance members.

9. Saberstaff - I can’t believe I’m saying this. I was complaining about the new lightsaber design in every new installment from Darth Mauls double light saber to the light saber tonfa in The Force Unleashed, from Kylo Rens cross guard to the inquisitors helicopter lightsaber,.. but.. Rey is an excellent staff fighter. The fact that she kept her staff made me think that she might create a saber staff. And now I even think that would be pretty cool. It hasn’t been shown in the trailer, I know, but that doesn’t mean we could get a scene in the end when she starts training others and Luke might have even encouraged her to be herself and do what feels right for her, so that would seem like a natural evolution of the character. 

10. Give Lando an emotional Lando moment with the Millennium Falcon - Something fans of Solo can appreciate that isn’t too much in your face, just a quick ‘hey baby how have you been’ when he enters the ship or something. 

And that's it for now. We’ll surely get new material soon, so the list might change eventually but for now these are my personal Top 10 topics. 

I’m concerned about the Star Wars canon

I’ve always been a huge Star Wars fan but didn't follow the old EU (extended universe) because it was too convoluted and well.. a bunch of gobbledygook (granted there were some good bits in it, who doesn’t love the Thrawn trilogy even though he is pretty much a different character now), so I actually welcomed the new canon. Start over with a clean slate and make sure everything is connected, makes sense and feels Star Warsy. So far the story group has done a decent job, even though there were some questionable bits and pieces. As hardcore Star Wars fan and apologist I can force myself to get behind a lot of things and I was cool with the Bendu somehow, but the Clone Wars Mortis arc, as well as space whales and the world between worlds really rubbed me the wrong way. A lot of people are celebrating Dave Filoni as savior of the true Star Wars spirit and he is certainly an inspired artist and nice guy but I once again have to wonder whether or not some of the comic bookish stuff REALLY fits the Star Wars universe. Yeah I know ‘it’s a huge universe bla bla’ but do we really have to accept everything?

Someone recently described hardcore fans (such as myself) as a ‘cult’ and Star Wars Celebration to a religious ceremony and if I’m being honest and self-reflective I can’t really argue against it, but that’s also why you always need to check yourself and not just ‘swallow’ everything without questioning it. Keep a critical eye. Things like time travel and other super hero stuff ( I haven’t seen any of the recent Marvel or DC movies) have no place in Star Wars. Of course Star Wars is for everyone, but does that then also mean we need a Star Wars romcom, a Star Wars coming of age movie ..or ..?  I don’t know..porn? Leave that to fan fiction. 

Star Wars was always more about mythology, some sort of buddhist Excalibur and I am seriously concerned that at some point the ‘people in charge’ will forget that and it will become a shallow bubble gum entertainment focus on ‘what is selling at the moment’. A good example are - again - all the super hero movies picking up on trends. I don’t want a Thor Ragnarok Star Wars movie with a Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack. Don’t make everything the same. Keep Star Wars unique. Keep ‘that Star Wars tone’.

‘XY doesn’t UNDERSTAND Star Wars’ is an overused and abused phrase and in so many ways pointless as there are many facets to Star Wars especially now that we have generations of fans who grew up with the prequels, the Clone Wars, Rebels or even Resistance - I should point out that I actually liked Resistance because it’s not tempering with the mythology - but the lore has been laid out in the original trilogy and everything needs to acknowledge that. We cannot have some Terminator-franchise kind of disaster a la ‘Ezra traveled back in time and actually was there with Yoda on Dagobah’ or what not. 

By now it’s common knowledge that - despite what they say - there has been no overall plan for the sequel trilogy, which is quite concerning and feeding into my concerns that it’s all downhill from here (after The Rise of Skywalker and the Mandalorian or course). I know a lot of people who vehemently defended The Last Jedi when it came out, mostly as a reaction to all the stupid hate it got for the wrong reasons and I am one of them myself, but most of them are admitting now that there is something off about the movie. It is written into a corner and not picking up on the clues given in The Force Awakens. It has some amazing scenes and I will keep defending it, but there are some scenes that just don’t feel right and leave a bad aftertaste. I frequently rewatch all the movies and besides Attack of the Clones it’s the only one where I think ‘Now I have to endure THAT bit again’. I go to a lot of Q&A and it’s interesting to see how people who have worked on the movie feel the same. Even if you 100% loved it and it’s your favorite movie ever, let’s be honest - the humor is completely out of place. Fart jokes in The Phantom Menace > Your Mom jokes. And it’s just too long. Of course we all want MORE Star Wars, but where does it end. Would you go and see a 6h movie? If you are a good filmmaker you should be able to say what you want to say in the same about of time as the other movies. But that’s just my personal 2 cents. It just felt like someone who was hellbent on doing his own thing for the sake of doing his own thing and not for the sake of the story. Don’t get me wrong. It was a great idea to (spoiler alert) kill off Snoke that casually, so the movie has redeeming qualities that save it for me. Then again, as a Star Wars fan I WANT to like it. I still watched it 13 times or so. I was in the room for the trailer reveal at SWCO. I want to take ownership and be part of the hardcore fan community, but they shouldn't bank too much on it. I still want a good movie. I’m not gonna be meek and mild about something contradicting the core mythology. Ryan Johnson is allegedly still doing his trilogy and then there is the Benioff and Weiss trilogy. They didn’t exactly do a great job wrapping up Game of Thrones and left fans in awe about how the show ended and have not really proven that they can handle a franchise well either. Will all off them have free rein and just go to town on a Star Wars story as they please? Am I the only one who finds this a bit odd?!

I trust JJ Abrams to do the right thing and I hope my trust is not misplaced. I think the allegations of The Force Awakens being a A New Hope reboot are misplaced as there are also a lot of similarities to The Phantom Menace, so.. if you’re a fan you know what comes next.. ‘it rhymes, it’s like poetry’. So it makes sense. So I think ‘he gets it’..

My main concern in the new canon overall. I made an effort to get all the publications of the new canon, but the books and comics already started to get weird again. Star Wars always had a slight alien but yet familiar vibe and some stories feature people smoking cigars, drinking coffee in the morning and doing other stuff never depicted in Star Wars before. How long until someone gets a Star Wars burger at Star Wars McDonalds or orders Star Wars pizza while watching Star Wars HoloNetflix. I’m sorry. That’s ridiculous. It’s not automatically Star Wars just because you use Star Wars terminology like death sticks or Nerf steaks. Watch the movies and make an effort.

 And now the novelizations of the movies are apparently not considered ‘hard canon’ anymore because the authors didn’t know the direction the next movies are going, so the clues and hints may be completely useless. So why do I force myself through some really not very good books then (others are great, no generalization here)? That’s quite alarming. Wasn’t the entire reason they got a story group to avoid that? What’s with all the loose ends?  That's also why I think they will shy away from using canon characters in the movies (for the most part). Its easier to have a self contained canon universe where you can introduce Purge Troopers in a comic and then have them in a video game. I once read an interview with one of the Star Wars authors who invented a character and then got told ‘give him that name / make him this person’ instead of having this particular character in mind from the start. This is how you lose consistency. I’m well aware that over hundreds and thousands of years that’s EXACTLY how ancient history was written, which is why there are flood legends all over the world and why Jesus and Mithras are pretty much the same person, but they DID NOT HAVE A STORY GROUP and ancient mythology hasn’t been written over a course of a few years.

At the same time it’s interesting how there seem to be purists who are very determined to bring that original Star Wars vibe back. Like Jon Favreau with The Mandalorian. And like I said earlier about Resistance. Its so much easier to do that if you stay away from the mythology. It’s really tricky and so much could go wrong. The stuff introduced in Rogue One like Guardians of the Whills and the temple of Kyber is a perfect example how it’s done. Some of the stuff in the Clone Wars and Rebels is the complete opposite, so I’m really curious to see how Dave Filonis involvement in The Mandalorian pans out. He is really great with stuff like Mandalorians, Clones and I even came to accept Ashoka after reading the book and seeing her all grown up as Fulcrum, but I’m very skeptical when it comes to his ‘mystical side of the force’ interpretations.

In conclusion I know that I sound like a preacher and George Lucas repeatedly stated it’s ‘just for 10 year old kids’ but tell that to all the dead Bothans.

Please just don’t ruin Star Wars.

people wondered who’s gonna fly the tie-fighter. prediction: red tie fighter of red trooper?

I sent a complaint to StarWarsCelebration - why?

I have a strong sense of justice, so I felt the need to speak up, because there was something that really bothered me about Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2020:

To whom it may concern, I’m usually not one to write complaints. I’m well aware that most complaints are just people upset because things didn’t go THEIR way and need someone to blame. So please forward this to the right department. I really hope this finds the right person and doesn’t get ignored or shut down by a ‘we take every complaint seriously’ template.

I was at all the recent celebrations, no matter where. I’m happy to travel for Star Wars and my entire live revolves around Star Wars events. I was always on board with all the changes and thought the panel lottery was great and fair (again, obviously people who didn’t get in complained), but today I’m extremely disappointed. The slogan Star Wars is for everyone seems very ironic all of a sudden. Star Wars is for those who have money. I know plenty of people who were still financially ‘recovering’ from Chicago, so the announcement that the 'tickets go on sale in 2 weeks' seemed a bit rushed and unusual. And here is why: You didn’t give people the chance to put money aside for it. In most countries payday is at the end of the month, so the 21st seemed like an odd choice. Especially given that the announcement happened so shortly before. This automatically excluded low income families. A very ‘Empire’ move that’s not in the spirit of Star Wars. People who didn’t have the money ready now for whatever reason or weren’t able to be online at the time of the sale (I understand its first come, first serve, but still..) had no chance. 4-Day tickets are sold out and Saturday (most likely the main event) tickets are probably also sold out by the time I’m typing this. This is not fair. This is elitist.

Why? Just look what already happened? Tickets already popped up on eBay for ridiculous prices. Whoever wants to go, but has to wait for the next paycheck, work to end, plane to land or whatever reason you had for not purchasing the tickets immediately and pay ..what..3 times, 4 times the amount? I know that your T&C don’t even allow that, but tell that the scalpers in whose hands you played by announcing the sale 2 weeks prior and choosing that date and the desperate fans, like myself who has to travel 7000 miles.

Is this really the message you wanna send? Star Wars is for those who can allocate funds in a short amount of time and supports scalpers? I understand, at the end of the day it’s all about money, but come on. It still can be done ‘nicely’. Events like this usually announce the sale months in advance. What is the reason for this unusual step? It surely backfired and alienated a lot of fans already as social media posts show.

I tool the liberty to also attach screenshots from eBay. THIS CAN’T be in your interest. That’s not the Star Wars I know.

Why do people think Kylo is killing Knights of Ren?! ARE WE BLIND?

Kylo and the Stormtroopers are clearly fighting some ‘primitive tribe’ wearing primitive weapons looking a bit like Polynesian war clubs . IT IS IN THE TRAILER. 

The Knights of Ren all look different. There is another one wearing the same clothes and weapon coming in from the right during the last frame. They look more like a mix of Scarecrow in Batman Begins and zen monks. 

Am I excited about a new Star Wars trilogy? No? Yes? Maybe

Are we excited about the new Star Wars trilogy? Not yet. The hype machine hasn’t started and there are so many ways it could go wrong. My initial thought was ‘Grimes of Grindelwald’. I must confess I haven’t read or seen anything of Harry Potter. I’m just too old and don’t have kids, so it completely slipped me, BUT (!) I’m somewhat aware of what’s going on and now A LOT OF hardcore fans. Most of which were disappointed by the new movies. Is this just their Prequel Trilogy that couldn’t capture the magic of the books you grew up on? Nothing will ever compete with the feeling you had being immersed in a franchise growing up. Yet The Force Awakens somehow mastered it... Can the Game of Thrones guys and Rian Johnson who brought us the most controversial Star Wars movie since the prequels do it as well?

I was never one to complain about Disney. The got the funds and it looks like the right people who seem to ‘understand’ Star Wars. Then there are the shareholders. All they understand is profit. So as long as you got someone on top who knows how to sell them Star Wars and avoid wrong decisions (such as releasing Solo 5 months after The Last Jedi #irony ) we’re good. There are enough sources for money, so that they don’t have to react to certain tendencies (’Loki was supposed to be the bad guy, but the audience loves him, shit, what are we gonna do about that..’) and thankfully can and want to afford to say ‘you didn’t like The Last Jedi? Well, your loss, you shouldn’t count the chickens before they hatch, so wait for Ep9′.  

So you could say, as long as there is no Yes-man or Yes-woman in charge I’m fairly confident Star Wars is safe. At least for the time being.

What am I afraid of? What are my concerns? That down the line this will change and Star Wars will departure more from it’s ‘core values’ and become a superhero-esque popcorn spectacle without any substance or gravitas. I am extremely happy about the 2 year interval, that will make an event out of the movies, like it used to be. I went to all the premieres and they were always sold out and the director, producer and/or cast made a surprise appearance. Only for Solo the cinema was half empty and no one showed up. Disneys Bob Iger said that they learned from that mistake. They were not in tune with Star Wars and just tried to carbon-copy the MCU, something I personally always knew wouldn’t work. Now they know as well. Good.

We heard about two new trilogies being in development. A prophecy that could easily have been misread. I doubt that they start preproduction for something that’s gonna be in cinemas in 10 years and after The Mandalorian and the announced Cassian series who is to say that one is not another TV/streaming thing. Or maybe even the same thing. Or Obi Wan (if you want fans to freak out).. 

Be it as it may..even though I like The Last Jedi I sound like a broken record when it comes to some of the writing. That and the lackluster turn Game of Thrones took in its last episodes that had fans on their feet wondering WTF went on, makes me slightly concerned. Game of Thrones was successful, but did it know where to go? I loved LOST, still do, but a lot of fans complained that it led nowhere, that there was no plan laid out from the beginning and it showed in the last episodes. So is it a one hit wonder. Is it enough to give them control over a Star Wars trilogy? And The Last Jedi? I’m not upset about the way Luke was portrayed. I’m more concerned about the Harry Potter-y broom kid. 

Star Wars is for everyone and at this point it has become ‘religious’ and I mean it exactly the way it sounds. Splintered into separate factions interpreting ‘the force’ differently. Do anything that affects the Old Testament and fans will go nuts. Add a New Testament and followers of the Old Testament might reject it. Write the book of Mormon and you lose most of the old followers but gain completely new ones... and then there will be casual followers who only go to the church in the end of December who also have their opinions influenced by other things. 

So what does this comparison teach us? It can get ugly if we think our truth is the only and ultimate truth. Star Wars is for everyone. Take it for what it is, enjoy the parts you like. No one is taking Star Wars away from you. 

Look who is talking. I said I’m concerned. But the thing I’m most concerned about it that I won’t get excited about Star Wars anymore, so PLEASE, PLEASE excite me. Start the hype engine, let me get on board, sell it to me and for the forces sake don’t contradict the Old Testament.

My opinions after reading fan theories about ‘The Rise of Skywalker’

Let me start off once again by saying that I think Star Wars cannot be compared to Comic Book movies and predictions and speculations based on ‘it’s like in [insert random MCU movie]’ are therefor destined to fail. I wouldn’t normally post my prediction but I’ve seen sooo many wild speculations and unlikely predictions that I thought I should post it somewhere for the sake of ‘told you so’ later this year.

Apart from the Comic adaptations and to some extent the animated series Star Wars always stuck to a certain style of storytelling rooted in classical mythology. Joseph Campbell and all that ..blabla.. So even if books or episodes of Rebels ventured outside of this story structure, the movies always followed a certain style. 

The Last Jedi got a lot of hate, some justified, some completely out of place, but mostly for the wrong reasons. I have repeatedly spoken up about how I think that in some instances the dialogue doesn’t fit and shows too much of the writers handwriting. Same goes for the humor, much loathed by a lot of fans. Humor has always been a part of Star Wars and nothing will ever top the humor used in the prequels (battle droid humor is the worst), but the handwriting clearly shows and feels out of character. In a story like Star Wars the rules are pretty much set and you have to follow the flow of the characters and not the writers. And while we’re at it.. Maybe I got Aspergers or something but it bothers me a tiny bit that The Last Jedi doesn’t adhere to the established form of Star Wars titles. First part of the trilogy is 3 words (The Phantom Menace, A New Hope, The Force Awakens) , Third is 4 words that was pretty similar which is why I LOVE the EP9 title (Return of the Jedi, Revenge of the Sith, The Rise of Skywalker) and Second was supposed to be the same (The Empire Strikes Back, Attack of the Clones,..). So The Last Jedi feels even more like one writer/director doing his own thing. Don’t get me wrong. I love the movie, but so much could’ve been done more elegantly. The title feels more like the end or beginning of a trilogy. Back to the titles; now if we look at the abbreviations there is a beautiful rhyme to it: TPM-ANH-TFA, ROTS-ROTJ-TROS.. and AOTC-TESB- and .. TLJ which sounds much more like the set up of a trilogy. OK, I can see how someone might think ‘Is he seriously obsessing about that?’ Yes I am, and it’s one of the reasons I’m very happy with TROS restoring order in the galaxy far, far away..

POTENTIAL SPOILERS?

A lot of people seem to think Skywalker is the new title for Jedi and I’m just loosely quoting Collider here, which I usually wouldn’t do as their speculations have been a bit too wild for me in the past and their track record is not as high as they think themselves (no hard feelings though, they are doing a great job): ‘that makes no sense from a branding perspective, why would you change an established part of popular culture. everyone knows what a Jedi is’. I couldn’t agree more. I think we have to look more towards mythology once again. As much as they tried to retcon the name in recent books Skywalker is Shmiis last name. Take Buddhists or Christians for example. They are not followers of the religion of John Buddha or Joe Christ. Both were titles given to the respective prophets or gurus or whatever term for regions leader you prefer. So using that logic the term Jedi - from Jedi master or Jedi knight - makes a lot of sense. You could of course create some lengthy explanation and fashion something in the vain of ‘Lutheranism’ based on the name of the person who reformed the existing religion, but this has not happened in the movies. Not even in canon, so I think it’s highly unlikely. You always have to think of the general public and casual fans. JJ Abrams stated it himself. It has to appeal to everyone and work as a standalone movie. If too much exposition is needed, it’s not gonna work. And that’s not something you can put in an opening scroll. So...nope. 

Can Rey still be a Skywalker? Why not? After the BS Obi Wan told Luke we never can take anything at face value. I mean by now it’s kinda clear that there weren’t anything planned out properly but there are hints here and there that could or could not be used. Everyone was much too interested in ‘the girl’ all the time? why would Leia hug her, a complete stranger? why is Luke so curious who she is and then there is the ship in the trailer that seems to be the same that dropped her off on Jakku. The dark side cave showed her what she needed to see. Vader didn’t have Lukes face either. Symbolism, people! I really don’t wanna come up with my own fan theories now, but there are so many ways this could pan out and would work.

Can Kylo Ren be the Skywalker and have his redemption moment? I always said Kylo can not be redeemed and I’m still maintaining this position, but I’m willing to admit, there is ONE WAY this could work and I have read some rumors recently that seem to go in that direction. There is no way there is a happy ending of him and we see him frolicking around with a blue lightsaber and brown robes, but he could follow his grandfather and have a last minute sacrifice-himself-for-the-good moment, followed by his immediate demise. George Lucas is known for saying ‘it’s like poetry, it rhymes’, so there is that. as for him being the Skywalker, he has been introduced as Ben Solo. I don’t know a lot of people who take their uncles name after their parents get a divorce, so that makes no sense to me.

Reylo - I will not even dignify this with a response. She shut the door, what else do you need.

Who is rising? Luke Skywalker is obviously still in the picture and we’ve seen Anakin in his force ghost form. They were supposed to bring balance to the force. I don’t expect that we see the literal rise of Skywalker. ‘We’ve passed on all we know’.. My guess is, that it’s ‘just a title that sounds cool’ and refers to them becoming one with the force once the balance is finally restored.

UPDATE: The newly revealed German translation which can be retranslated as ‘the ascension of Skywalker’ backs my claim.

How is the emperor still alive? That’s easy. He isn’t. We see the ruins of the Death Star and Luke says ‘no one’s ever really gone’. There is all this Darth Plagueis talk about keeping someone from dying and the emperor was powerful. I think Ian McDiarmid was saying the truth when he quoted George Lucas saying ‘he is dead’. At the same time I think his spirit or essence is alive and was maybe even influencing Snoke. I don’t expect to see him in flesh, but he’ll probably be haunting them and might still have be pulling strings from the beyond. Some say ‘why would he wait so long’, but I don’t think time is relevant when you’re dead. Or he waited for a good vessel, or someone who is receptive for his low level radar signal of dark side force and Kylo was a good receptor.

What’s up with the TIE-fighter? I think it’s cut to deceive. Yes we see Kylos gloves. But is it from the same scene? A lot of fans argue that it’s a training sequence. We see Poe and Finn at the same location and as we all know both know how to fly a TIE-fighter, so it could be a stolen one - after all it’s to be expected the Resistance is short on equipment - so I’m taking a bet that it’s Poe or Finn and it’s just the magic of editing making it look as if it’s Kylo flying. We’ve seen similar in the The Last Jedi trailer. So, training sequence or something. Yeah, I can see that. Might as well be part of the fight, but why is he not shooting.

Can't wait for another trailer and more theories. Just remember: The higher the expectations the more likely the disappointment. Not everything will be explained, solved, make sense. Take it for what it is.

My Star Wars

This is editorial and highly subjective. I apologise in advance. The thing that annoys me the most is also the thing I love the most. The fact that there is not one Star Wars fandom, there are several. Star Wars is for everyone. All ages, all ethnicities and all walks of life. And I love that. At the same time there is a lot of room for things that I don’t love. Don’t get me wrong. Just because despite trying my best I just couldn't get into The Clone Wars (I still prefer the 2003 Star Wars: Clone Wars series) I don’t think that it’s inferior. I acknowledge it. I acknowledge Ashoka, but I just don’t get excited about it the same way I get excited about other stuff. That doesn’t mean that ‘my Star Wars is better than your Star Wars’, it just makes it more interesting and at the same time challenging. I see a lot of things contradicting my personal perception of what ‘the force’ is. Even seasoned fans with popular channels sometimes seem to have a completely different perception of what Star Wars is. And instead of thinking THEY ARE WRONG I started wondering where this is coming from. The fact that we all still love Star Wars just proves the universality of the mono myth as described by Joseph Campbell. You don’t have to understand why it speaks to you. It simply does. Does that mean you’ll have a hard time predicting the plot or understanding connections. Yes, no, maybe. After all - by now - it’s ‘just a story’ that’s being made up by other individuals. Not an universal truth. I came to the conclusion that every fan has it’s own unique Star Wars fandom, built out of a large pool of pick-and-chose parts. To understand mine, here is the kind of Star Wars fan I am and what I think about that subject.

I didn’t grow up on comic books. As a European suburban kid that always seemed uniquely American to me. I grew up influenced by the history of the land around me. Medieval castles, Roman ruins and pagan folktales. I was always very interested in history and movies. So thanks to - but not exclusively owing to - Indiana Jones my dream job as a child was archaeologist. So I chose Latin and Ancient Greek in school, further focusing on ancient myths of heroes going on journeys, seeking adventure and fighting evil. Jumping a few years ahead, I started to get interested in eastern philosophy. Everything always just brought me back to Star Wars or was in some way related or seemed very familiar in that way.

If I’m interested in something I always want to go to the core, to the source, so the natural development for me was to study Kendo. The way of the sword. Ironically one of the first things the Sensei told us ‘this is not Star Wars’, this is not ‘sword ballet’ Just one of the reasons why it pains me to see beautifully choreographed sword fights in movies (did someone say prequels?). Reality is fast, reality is quick and painful. The better you are the less movement there is. I fought with 80+ year old 8th Dan Japanese Sensei who didn’t seem to move at all. They won easily and it looked like they’d just stand there. Reminded me a lot of Darth Vader in A New Hope actually or SPOILER ALERT the way Obi Wan dealt with Maul in Rebels. Luke is still a learner in Empire Strikes Back and Vader is toying with him. Those fights seem authentic to me. Same goes for the way Kylo Ren fights in The Force Awakens. Someone who is too sure of himself and puts too much power into his fighting because he isn’t used to fighting someone even close to equal. Rey has the fluidity of someone with talent (and previous training). In a fight there are no unnecessary show-offy swirly moves. This would just give the opponent an opening. Granted, a lightsaber is a bit different. Whereas a sword, or saber has 1 or 2 sharp edges, a lightsaber is deadly no matter where it hits. But enough geeking out over Japanese swordsmanship.

As for the philosophy, I started meditating and again found a lot of similarities with the force as portrayed in Star Wars. Especially after or before a fight, we used to meditate. Before to focus. After to regulate the heart rate. Both in combination would what Qui Gon did, I have to assume. There are many stories about buddhist monks who managed to achieve things through meditation some consider to be unnatural. The Chinese and Japanese even have a word for it. Chi, or Ki - the life force. Clearly a major inspiration for George Lucas when he came up with the concept of the force. 

In the west and especially in our modern ‘we have solved and explained everything through science, there is nothing we do not know’ mindset we sometimes fail to see or understand other perspectives. So when someone talks about how a force ghost can’t do this or that or be at a certain time or space based on our ‘wordly’ limitations I have to wonder why they assume that force ghosts are limited the same we are. You don’t have to study quantum mechanics to be able to grasp the concept of more ‘timeless’ existence. The way I see it - once you’re one with the force you can pop up wherever and whenever you want. Ironically the fact that the midichlorians prove that the force can itself create life it also opens the door for reincarnation. I feel like a lot of people have problems understanding this concept of the force, which limits their comprehension a lot. Then again. Who am I to judge. But I think the force has to make sense in a philosophical kind of way. Something that parallels the myths on our own planet, be it Native American or Tibetan. This is also why I think seeing Star Wars through a Comic Book filter is bound to fail. And it’s why speculations of people too much into comic books tend to be wrong. I don’t know it very well but people suddenly turning good guys after being bad and killing people and no-one bats an eye, seems a bit too WWE wrestling for me. Motifs such as redemption and fallen heroes are a primal aspect of story telling. Enkidu in the epic of Gilgamesh couldn't return to his previous state once he spent too much time in civilisation. He went too far. The reason why Star Wars is so appealing is in my opinion because it speaks to this very essence of human story telling and repeats themes we heard and told over and over again for thousands of years. That and the fact that it mixes ‘fictional’ elements with real life. 

It always worked best when movie sets can be visited. We can identify with it. Avatars Pandora might be impressive and tantalising but at the same time, deep inside we know it is not real. Star Wars feels ‘more real’ even in it’s almost Freudian usage of the ‘slimy slug’ as gangster boss or someone named Greedo who’s claim to fame is trying to make a quick buck and even double crossing his boss to achieve that goal. There is no dead superhero who is suddenly someone else and then a giant human planet attacks. There are no superpowers. The force is something everyone can feel. To use another buddhist metapher. The mind is like a glass of dirty water, when you stir it it becomes cloudy. If you calm your mind, the dirt will settle and the water will be clear. In my understanding seeing clear water equals feeling the force.

Myths also serve as moral principles and teach us valuable lessons. Darth Vader was tricked into becoming a dark side apprentice. He had doubts. He was redeemable. Kylo Ren chose the dark side. He committed patricide. An element that can also be found in ancient myths from all around the world. An act that will always lead to the ultimate demise. Don’t go too far. Don’t cross the point of no return. Don’t turn around, Lot. or your wife will turn into a pillar of salt. 

Don’t turn around, Orpheus…

People talk about Anakin killing younglings (off camera) and use it as an argument that Kylo could turn to the light. If you look at historical themes this seems to me very unlikely and too comic booky for Star Wars. Which brings me back to why I didn't like The Clone Wars. Even though George Lucas stated that Star Wars is for 12 year olds, there has always been an additional element to it. Lets call it added depth. This depth I’m missing in The Clone Wars. Ashoka speaks up to her master and no-one is really acting the way they are supposed to act if they were Jedi or in some sort of military structure. Sure it’s good fun, but he constant disobeying of orders seems a bit..shall I say unrealistic (I’m aware of the irony). At the same time, that absolutely works for Star Wars Rebels. Kanan is an insecure half-Jedi teaching a street brat hungry for knowledge. While I’m not entirely on board for everything (you almost lost me at space whales) I am definitely a Rebels fan. The introduction of Thrawn gave me goosebumps and was the best thing that ever happened outside of the movies. I’m a strong advocate for the reboot and I never liked the old EU. Too many weird stories. The reboot came at the right time and was necessary. I never really followed it, but I’m all in when it comes to the new canon. I try to read all the books and get all the tiny bits and pieces of lore they hide in them.

As for the games, I know a lot of people like them and even though I’m not a gamer, I played most of them. Actually I exclusively play Star Wars games. I had a lot of fun with Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy and hope they do something similar again at some point. I also liked the Force Unleashed series and for a bit of fun the old Battlefront games. I don’t have a TV or console, so I couldn’t try out the new ones and I have yet to be convinced that a new game is so good that it warrants a purchase of the aforementioned. Of course I also played some Knights of the Old Republic and the visuals of the Sith are simply awesome. Darth Malak and Darth Nihilus are great. But somehow it seemed too detached from the Star Wars I knew. A bit of The Phantom Menace times a hundred. How often would designs and looks repeat themselves over thousands of years. And if it’s just a kind of similar look, then it might as well be Hunger Games with a lightsaber. I know a lot of people hope for an Old Republic movie or TV series. I’m not one of them. And I also think it’s not as marketable. The gaming target audience is huge but it’s not something that can easily be sold to the general audience. To quote Snoke ‘we shall see’. Of course I would watch and love it, but if I could chose I’d have other priorities, such as boba Fett never taking off his helmet in a movie unless it’s for 10 seconds and they get Temuera Morrison. Because: consistency.

Now for the movies.. There are several generations of Star Wars fans out there. Some say their favourite movie is Attack of the Clones. Some say their favourite character is Ashoka. If that’s what they grew up with that’s understandable. Star Wars is about emotions and association. If you grew up getting a battle droid for X-mas that’s the natural consequence. To me it still feels like a Christian saying that the local priest is better than Jesus. I can’t help it. The original trilogy is holy. Nothing can ever touch it. No matter how good the movie is it will never surpass 40 years worth of memories and experiences associated with the movies. I have seen the OT hundreds of times and they still hold up. When I watch the movies every couple of months I’m usually like ‘I forgot how awesome they are’.

Which brings me to the prequels. Yes I know. blabla, but.. I never had an issue with the prequels. I have always been an apologist, even though there are parts that tested my love. I don’t mind Jar Jar as much as I mind farting space gnus, but the pod racing scene always seemed much too long. And it seems longer every time I watch it. Apart from that I still hold on to the argument that the opulence and use of colours was a genius way to portray the fall of the republic and visualise the change to a bleak and cold empire. Of course the battle droids are no substitute for stormtroopers, but over all I’m surprisingly OK with The Phantom Menace. I would’ve preferred an older version of Anakin, but like I said.. it’s OK. It had Qui Gon Jinn in it. That immediately makes every movie five times better. Now Attack of the Clones is a different story entirely. I remember having high hopes for that one. The promotion back then seemed nice enough and the scene with the imperial march is still one of the most gripping scenes from the prequel trilogy and some of the battle scenes are really good. I’m talking about the clones, not the Jedi just pretend someone shoots at you CGI disaster. But that’s that.. The movie lacks a real opponent and the position is weirdly split between Count Dooku and Jango Fett. It somehow didn’t work for me. They should've kept Darth Maul. There is also something in Star Wars I don’t really like. Every bad guy needs a new and different lightsaber. In the end it make somehow sense for Kylo Ren, but did we need a bent one for Dooku, 4 for General Grievous, a Tonfa style in Force Unleashed, an upside down one for Ashoka, a helicopter lightsaber for the inquisitors. I mean it starts getting ridiculous. What’s wrong with a good old standard lightsaber. Thank you, Rey! (if she gets a saberstaff I’m ok with that). I recently rewatched Revenge of the Sith. I always liked it but for me - after watching The Force Awakens and Rogue One - it just didn’t hold up. It’s not Haydens fault though and the visual storytelling again is on point. The clouds increasing on the horizon to symbolise the fall to the dark side. Impeccable. And while I didn’t like the design the phase 1 clone trooper design, the phase 2 armours looks bad ass. It’s the unnecessary and completely out of place slapstick comedy that’s bothering me. The R2D2 vs. Battledroids scene in the beginning is the stupidest part of all movies. I always have to cringe. The CGI is also off.  

The Force Awakens on the other hand.. I’m not an impressionable person. Leaving the cinema I’m not like ‘WOOO THAT WAS AWESOME. BEST MOVIE EVER!!!’. I usually like to let it sink for a while and philosophise about what certain parts meant and such. I have seen it 14 times in the cinema. That should give you an indication whether or not I liked it. A guy told me ‘yeah.. I saw it 2 times, the first time I was like awesome, but the 2nd I didn’t like it at all. I give it 6 months and then it’s the next Phantom Menace’. Well it’s been 1 1/2 years and it’s still far from being the new Phantom Menace. Overall the movie feels just right for me. I think the argument that it’s a remake is plain stupid. Unless you make an entirely different movie and remove all that makes it Star Wars you will always have parallels. And if we stick to the mono myth theme it’s obvious that the new hero will have a similar journey. Yes, but… yes, but..  A weapon inside a planet might be round but it’s not a Death Star. If they’d contracted a new super star destroyer the experts on the internet would’ve said ‘it’s another shape but it’s just another death star. So there is no winning here. What I personally didn’t like was the fact that Han Solo wanted to put Cpt.Phasma in a trash compactor as if he’d be doing his ‘best of’ tour. Remember that, kid? You all like that, right? We were crazy back then. That seemed a bit lets say..pathetic. 

At first the rathtars bothered me but I somehow got used to them. Weird ball shaped monsters with tentacles seem to be both retro and Star Wars appropriate. The low budget cosplay look of Kanjiklub bothered me more. They looked more like the uninspired product of a costume designer on a budget for a cheap Nickelodeon series. I always thought it would be awful if Kylo took off his mask, but they way they did it worked perfectly. Most of the ‘plot holes’ people talk about can easily fixed by either watching the movie closely, thinking or being patient. Why do we need everything laid out and explained? I like that The Force Awakens left some questions open. I also think the often discussed scene - that even Mark Hamill himself would’ve loved to do - of him catching the lightsaber at the end would've completely defeated the purpose. Fan sometimes seem  like kids that want to eat sweets all day. Don't give them everything they want. They don't know what’s good for them. This plot would've been disastrous and much too tacky. ‘was someone Luke-ing for me?’ Star Wars is not an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie.

Speaking of what’s good for fans. Rogue One. Holy moly. Can Gareth Edwards please do every Star Wars movie now? (Unrelated: I’m a bit worried about Han Solo) When Star Wars episodic movies are for 12 year olds, then Rogue One is what happens if you look at the Star Wars universe through the eyes of an adult. Rogue One was intense. I’m lost for words. If it wasn’t for the sanctity of the OT Rogue One might as well be my favourite movie. We got introduced to new aspects of the force. Showing once more that the Jedi dogmatic approach that lead to their demise is just one way of interpretation the force, which reminded me of the buddhist saying ‘there are may ferries leading to the other shore’. There are mystics and pragmatists but in the end we’re all one in the force. Chirrut and Baze are two sides of the same coin. The one who loses faith and the other one who trusts the force. It doesn’t matter if they are gay. That’s quite frankly insulting and ignorant. The way I understood their bond was beyond puny worldly understanding. A spiritual bond. Brothers in the force. And I’m so glad they didn’t make a love story out of Jyn and Cassian. Out of the same reason. Not every bond has to be sexual. That’s a shallow assumption. I wouldn't have minded if someone would’ve survived, but that’s the way things go. A bold move and it breaks my heart every time I watch the movie. It puts so much weight on the sacrifice they made for the rebellion. Everything else would've been wrong. No matter how much I would’ve liked them to survive. At the end of the day we all want a happy ending.

Going forward..where do I think will the franchise go?

I’m just worried that at some point they will cast aside the traditional storytelling aspect in favour of a more comic book style popcorn cinema approach. I don’t think we’re there yet and I hope they are aware of what Star Wars is about and don’t try to jump on some train that is selling well at the moment. Kathleen Kennedy and the story group seem to be on top of it and seem to be very aware of that. Also luckily Star Wars is still No.1 but for the unlucky case that Guardians of the Galaxy or Avatar are more successful, if that ever happens, I fear movie executives do what movie executives always do and ruin everything by desperately trying to sell. Be it by doing a reboot with whoever is popular at the time. The next Jennifer Lawrence as young Leia or the next Zach Efron as Han Solo or by just copying the highest grossing movie. Marketing will make sure the general public will like it but what about us smart ass fans?

Predictions for The Last Jedi: Did/will Luke turn to the dark side? Of course not. Luke made his decision in Return of the Jedi. I can only assume that the reason why he became a hermit has something to do with the fact that sometimes doing nothing is the best option. Just like in the educational game September 12th. Everytime you shoot a terrorist, you create more of them in response until the entire game is populated by terrorists. Sometimes you have to cut your losses and not get involved to avoid even worse consequences. History is often repeating itself, so why wouldn’t Luke do the same thing they did to him? Hide a force sensitive relative in a remote place? There are several ways this could pan out, but it has been said repeatedly that Star Wars is about the Skywalker lineage. Kylo will never be redeemed, so it doesn’t really make sense to focus on him. There is only one person left. There seem to be a lot of people thinking she is a Kenobi. Which brings me back to the The Clone Wars. Obi Wan might have had feelings for someone, but Obi Wan abided the Jedi code. There is no way she is a Kenobi. Also from a storytelling point of view. The jump would be too big. The regular audience would be like ‘WHAT!?!’ and it would just be lazy storytelling. Yeah btw Obi Wan totally did it. And you are his granddaughter, because he hid his daughter well. We will also not have the time to explain who your father is, so just bear with us. NEVER GONNA HAPPEN. People seem to have a big problem grasping the Jedi concept of non-attachment which is a 100% Buddhist concept. It’s not about being living in celibacy. Anakin even says it. It’s about attachment, which leads to the fear of loss. Just take spies. They aren’t forbidden to marry. They have to accept that their family can be used against them which makes them vulnerable. Which is exactly the point, both physically and philosophically. So this attachment is what ultimately led to Anakin's downfall. Makes me wonder ‘have you understood NOTHING?’. Obi Wan might be able to see through the problems caused by the Jedi orders institutionalised dogma rules but he surely won’t make the same mistake as Anakin. Rey has to be a Skywalker. Even C3PO theoretically is. Family finds family in Star Wars. She might not even be Lukes daughter. There is a way to squeeze in a ‘Ben started acting strange so we hid his little sister from him’ explanation. He says ‘so it is you’. That can be everything or nothing. And Snoke. He will most likely be a nobody. A wizard of Oz. I expect him to be some slimy poser ex-politician, who is as much of an imposter as Kylo is. Someone once theorised that Kylo might kill him at some point, which would be a nice twist on the Darth Vader / Emperor relationship. A lot can happen in some 30 years and we don’t know half of it, so it will be interesting to see how they fill the gaps. 

To return to The Last Jedi - there are rumours that indicate that (SPOILER ALERT) Benicio DelToro won’t be some super duper Baddie, but much rather a sleazy casino owner kind of guy. I’m really looking forward to seeing his performance. He will bring gravitas to whoever his character is. Even if he is just another Dexter Jettster. 

At this point I have no clue what the plot will be. I have no clue how Carrie Fishers death will affect the plot. I kinda expected the legacy characters to die one by one, the same way Obi Wan, Yoda and Darth Vader did. Now Carrie Fishers family said that there won’t be a CGI Leia in Episode 9. Lets just say, if she died in The Last Jedi and that was the plan all along there’s no way they’d say ‘all good, we don't need reshoots’. Could all be a diversion. Leias death on screen would definitely give the movie an additional emotional momentum. Just look at what happened with Fast & Furious after Paul Walker died.

Quite some Star Wars related content at the London Comic con. Donnie Yen spoke about his inspirations for Chirrut, actors and puppeteers involved in The Force Awakens and Rogue One spoke about their experiences on set and legends such as David Prowse and Warwick Davis were doing photo ops and autographs. Even the Ray Harryhausen panel mentioned Star Wars.

The Last Jedi filming locations in Dubrovnik

The Last Jedi filming locations in Dubrovnik

vintage Star Wars collectibles at Nakano Broadway / Tokyo