So I just began to think about Star Wars Episode VII and actually wondering what JJ Abrams will put into the movie to resurrect the respect from the fanboys whom have all but abandoned the franchise thanks to the prequels. Now I was much younger when I saw the prequels and when I was a kid I found them enjoyable to watch, they're not bad movies. They're also not Star Wars movies. The main reason I think the prequels got so much hate was because they didn't match the originals in tone at all.
Now I actually liked the origin of Anakin Skywalker in the prequels and a few of the fight scenes were visually stunning and emotionally thrilling, such fights include- Qui Gon Jinn and Obi Wan VS Darth Maul, Anakin VS the Tuscan Raiders, Yoda VS The Emperor, Anakin VS Obi Wan. However there some cardinal sin amongst the originals, such as the use of WAY too much cgi. This distracts me every time I watch Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones. It's like they just stumbled upon a blue screen in the studio and were like "Oh my God! This will save us so much money!" CGI is a wonderful tool for filmmaking and can be astonishing from a visual perspective if used properly, I don't think there's anyone who just thinks CGI should never have touched the silver screen but practical effects are part of what makes the sci-fi we love so much so lovable. Did anyone think that A New Hope was greatly improved by George Lucas' CGI "enhancements"?
Okay, the last cardinal sin is this: arbitrary characters. I don't mean adding a bunch of characters that don't contribute to the plot but are just there to be there, that can be done well (Examples: the Jawas, Boba Fett, Admiral Akhbar, Greedo, the Ewoks etc.) No I'm referring to characters that actually kind of contributed to the plot but we didn't need them to really. In fact in my opinion we could have done without: Mace Windu (I guess Lando isnt the only black guy in the galaxy), Count Dooku (was I supposed to be afraid of a seventh year old Christopher in the WORST cape in movie history?), the clones (so we get an origin for the storm troopers now? Couldn't they just have been soldiers?) Chewbacca's cameo in Revenge of the Sith (HEY EVERYONE IT'S A PREQUEL!!!!) Jango Fett (why?) and I won't say Jar Jar Binks because you know what at least we laughed one time in Phantom Menace.
The point is JJ Abrams has to bring back the Star Wars movies, what a daunting task right? WRONG! Just make another Star Wars movie with an original story and a good cast. So, to the point here are some things I'd like JJ Abrams to pull off in Episode VII.
1. Don't make it into Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I've seen a lot of this crap recently and here's what I mean, it's stuff that has the old classic action stars in it harks ing back to their days when they did cool, original stuff without actually bringing something new. If you have seen RED, RED 2, The Expendables, The Expendables 2, A Good Day to Die Hard, GI Joe Retaliation, etc. Don't have Lando and Han be doing crazy, badass stuff. I'm the biggest Han Solo fan in the world but I don't want to see him except for maybe half an hour of screen time, that includes: Luke, Leia, Chewbacca or Lando. In fact Lando shouldn't even be in it. It over saturates the movie and is basically just using the old movies instead of standing on it's own two feet. I want a new cast, new adventures and make it FUN again. I'm fine with C3P0 and R2D2 being in the main cast as they can still act as comedic relief and they're droids, they don't age.
2. Practical Effects. Really important, if JJ thinks he can just be like "see Im filming this on actual film like those other movies! I did it again!" then he's wrong. He needs to use practical effects, sometimes they look cheesy by at least I feel like I'm seeing something real, cause trust me people can tell the difference. The only time I have felt like I've actually been actually fooled by CGI was in Life of Pi and some moments of Thor (the Bifrost being broken and the ice tree). Just do it man, don't be afraid of cheesy, if you do it right it'll fine. Which brings up my next point...
3. Substance: if I don't feel like things have ever been touched before and everything's gleaming and polished I won't believe anything I'm seeing, which is why I'm afraid for JJ, everything in Star Trek into Darkness looked brand new (granted they're on a billion dollar space ship funded by the government but still). And since substance has more than just one meaning I'll just say that I want this to be a story. If it's just droning space battles I will not care, just like Star Trek into Darkness. Just tell a story, in A New Hope there was one lightsaber battle and off the top of my head I think two people (not including everyone in the Death Star died) that was Ben Kenobi and Greedo, and I don't remember maybe some Storm Troopers. The point is most of the action was in the story, it was because they were running away from the Imperial Fleet, running away from storm troopers, running away from San People, almost being crushed in a garbage compactor. It should be mainly running.
4. The Millenium Falcon. This is one of those things they should bring back. As long as they don't cram this in along with cameos from every single characters from the originals they'll be fine. This is also one of those things that should in my opinion be a model and not cgi. It pays homage to the realistic look from the original trilogy. Obviously the space battles can be in CHI but if its all CGI I feel like it'll just look bad.
5. The Protagonists. I have no clue. I feel like if it's the kids of Han and Leia then it'll just be like Star Wars: Next Generation. Maybe one of the characters is Han and Leia's son or something and then C3PO and R2D2 for comedic relief, maybe Chewbacca, but I really want somebody new "a new Jedi" and NOT Luke's son. There should be something keeping Luke and Han and Leia from joining the action and not death. I'm thinking maybe they're arrested for being old war criminals from the first war. I don't know honestly, I hope I like the characters but frankly they just have to stand on their own without the training wheels of the originals.
6. The Action: the space battles can be CG I'm fine with that, it's one of those things that should be in CGI. The boasters should be the same from the originals, one of the things I didn't like about the prequels was how the technology differed so much. And finally the lightsaber battles should be more akin to the originals in the way that they're more like samurai and less like acrobats. I thought it made sense to have the fighting styles differ in the prequels but now it's time to bring it back in, especially since Episode VII takes place after the originals. I know that you make think the old style is "slow" but in fact it's some of the most interesting fight scenes in the Star Wars franchise. Okay the three second battle where Ben sacrifices himself is pretty lame but in Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi we get one of the most riveting action sequences of all time (and it didn't even rely on fast paced attacks and computer animation).
7. Finally, if there is one last favor JJ Abrams could do for himself it is too keep visibility low and ignore the fans. Since when has a fanboy ever known what they want? You start throwing in stuff the fans want and pretty soon it's just two and a half hours of homages and nostalgia and then they still won't like it. You either get the balls to do it the way you think it should be done or you don't do it.
Thank you for reading and tell me what you think below.