Long time readers of the site will have likely picked up on the fact that I'm not that big a fan of Star Wars. I understand and appreciate the original for it's historical value in the history of cinema, and recognize the quality of Empire as being one of the strongest sequels ever made. The other four suck pretty hard. And because of this belief, I have not gotten caught up in the flurry of fandom surrounding the new film. On December 18th, I will be seeing Sisters, the new Tina Fey/Amy Poehler film, unless they've caved and just ceded the weekend to the might of Disney.
I've also avoided getting too wrapped up in what they are calling the Anthology films, a blatant ploy to keep revenue flowing while the Episode movies get physically made. These Anthology films are a transparent cash grab and a hideous symptom of the sort of environment cinema exists in today. I mean, they seem to be insistent on making a Boba Fett movie, when Boba Fett is the most shit character from the series. More so than Jar-Jar. Yeah, I said it: Boba Fett sucks worse than Jar-Jar. Come at me, nerds!
The only thing that would have even the potential to turn my head would be attaching talented writers and directors to these projects, to breathe into them the sort of vitality that Lucas was incapable of. J.J. Abrams certainly isn't going to win me over, not after what he's done. Bringing in Rian Johnson was a bold and attractive choice, and until I saw Godzilla, I might have said the same about Gareth Edwards. But still not enough to turn my head. So they doubled down, and yesterday announced that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, possibly my favourite two filmmakers working today, will helm a Han Solo solo-pic. The minds behind Clone High, The Lego Movie and Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs will have control over the holotype space cowboy character, as a young ne'er-do-well. And just like that, I'm interested.
I still think these Anthology movies are soulless corporate tripe, but Lord and Miller uniquely have shown a knack for taking soulless corporate tripe and turning it into something magically entertaining, and that has real value as a story. The film has already been written, by Lawrence Kasdan and his son Jon, but I find it impossible to believe that Miller and Lord won't put their own touches on it. Their statement blisters with good intention and the right mindset (and humour), saying:
"This is the first film we’ve worked on that seems like a good idea to begin with. We promise to take risks, to give the audience a fresh experience, and we pledge ourselves to be faithful stewards of these characters who mean so much to us. This is a dream come true for us. And not the kind of dream where you’re late for work and all your clothes are made of pudding, but the kind of dream where you get to make a film with some of the greatest characters ever, in a film franchise you’ve loved since before you can remember having dreams at all."And I cannot believe that these two, two of the most in-demand filmmakers in the field (they are already writing or producing an animated Spider-man film, the Flash movie, and various Lego Movie sequels and spin-offs), would take this job if they didn't have a firm handle on how to do it, and how to do it right. And that might be enough to get me in the theatre.
Oh, and five will get you ten the movie gets titled The Kessel Run. I'm just putting that out there.
Via Star Wars.