Saturday, November 29, 2014

Almost There

You might think that the title of tonight's post is in reference to the coming end of NaBloPoMo.  If so, you'd be partly correct.  Those who are especially perceptive will note that it is also a (frequently quoted in our house) line from the trench run in the greatest movie of all time - Star Wars.

There has been much ballyhoo about the upcoming movies in the last few days.  I've been trying very hard not to read articles that surface on the line (sorry, I recently re-watched The Internship); I don't want to be swayed by public opinion or come across any potential spoilers.  I was quite unhappy when Lucas sold the franchise to Disney and I was only guardedly happy when I heard that they were indeed going to make a new set of movies. 

Don't get me wrong...if done correctly, I'd be giddy as a schoolgirl!  I was just unsure if I could trust anyone to really do it justice.  Let's face it, Episodes I and III weren't great.  Parts of them were downright awful.  Episode III was pretty enjoyable, although it did forever skew my perception of Darth Vader - I wasn't thrilled about that.  But really...are three more really necessary?  From a money making standpoint it totally makes sense.  They want to get yet another generation hooked.  But for this child of the 80's who is a purist, I'm a little worried. 

My initial reaction to J.J. Abrams was positive; I like what he did with the Star Trek reboots.  But I was still very unsure.  It's like I really really wanted to be excited but I was still holding my breath.  And then the trailer came out yesterday. 

Sigh.  Have you seen it? 


My men and I all huddled around my phone and anxiously watched it.  For the first thirty seconds we honestly thought it was a joke, and that someone had spoofed the real thing.  Then for a few seconds it looked like a video game commercial.  Only at the end did we realize that it was indeed the actual trailer.  One of my men was quite charitable and said that "as long as it's better than Phantom Menace it'll be okay."  The rest of us weren't so sure.

My apprehension was further validated by various posts and reviews that we read this morning.  Look up William Shatner's various tweets about the trailer.  They're pretty funny.  And then I saw this:




So wrong.  
Not the quote that someone wrote, but the fact that there is a new movie coming out and in only 24 hours people are already not taking it seriously.  My worst fears are already coming true.  Star Wars should never be mocked, and it's quite sad that as a franchise, it's come to this.

I will undoubtedly see the new movies.  I'll probably even brave the crowds on opening night.  
But deep down inside, I'm very worried.  Kind of like how my dad never wants to have another  cherry coke from the soda fountain in the little town where he spent his summers as a kid because he's afraid that it wouldn't live up to the awesomeness of his memory.  That pretty much sums up how I feel about the new movies.  I'll see them.  But I'm very afraid that at the end of the day, when looked at with a critical eye, I'm not going to like them.

And that makes this Star Wars junkie very sad.


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