I plan to watch this NEW movie version at least three times : on the largest screen at CGV Starium, the most audio, visual and physical effects via CGV 4DX 3D SoundX then the most expensive thus comfortable seats at either CGV or MegaBox . so this review will be largely edited at least that many times .
before-all, two counts :
- manic fans who built-up the hype : from the announcement of new owners of the series, all the way to imminent release of The Second Foundation . unbearably joyous tears in their eyes . did they think (ofcourse I understand they direly wanted to believe) this would indeed be a continuation of the legacy ?
- deep secrecy reminiscent of the times of starkest Cold War veterans : they even shut-off personal blogs of new-found starlings . only in the end, just as the movie was about to come-out : hurdling every other aged, aging and ager stars and their predecessors onto any morning and late-night shows (Mission) possible //
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* * * * * SPOILER AHEAD * * * * *
[ Prologue ] the earliest reviewers who had the chance to attend its Preview had some similar connotations, noteably : that is was light, fast and re-do’s of similar story-line from previous sequels . I generally agree but it was NOT f-a-s-t, as some the dialogues weren’t deep and quite boring, I had the urge to go to the bathroom in-between .
On Creator, Owner, Maker AND Players :
notice the designs of space-ships between the earlier-made trilogy and latter . they differ drastically . also the latter-made is much more futuristic with fluid lines, than the former even though the latter comes earlier in time sequence . but the story connects and continues, or so we can believe for it comes from the very creator .
but on the beginning of this third trilogy (as two more sequels are already announced), the designs are the same, even the back-drop and story-bits happen as they did before . so as the owner switched hands, they had to keep the link identifiable to keep the aura of the master-piece and hopefully retain its fan-base, along with money they would generate .
the elders of trilogy-past enter, but all adventure-gone : their every expression notes between tired and have-seen-all thus don’t care no more . in sudden contrast are the new starlings, who seem lost half of the time, and the rest : simply (too energetically) amazed how they rode the previous scene (to hyper-drive, or was it space) to land automatically onto the next ?
[ Recurring Themes ] Round-and-Round
- lone infiltrator hides a vital map onto his/her tiny robot
- reflections of life on a rag-tag desert planet
- child borne of pure midi-chlorians without a pair of parents, who eventually realize their super-powers as they grow-up
- universal cantina drinking-hole where underground deals are made between all sorts of species .
- super-weaponry, such as that which can destroy a whole planet in one single blow
- a boy grows-up to be a Master, and eventually duels against his own father
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* * * * * SPOILER WARNING * * * * *
[ Characters ] money is paid just as any other commodity when sold, add dividends if it’s a long-time best-seller . so it is understandable the new owners fetched the youngest talents they could find, as they saw how it made the first-round of characters last a trilogy and then double-that ! then to bring-back old stars just to make a connection link, was futile (and to kill one in the process, was cruel – although we know he survived the drop, and would return to make them more money for another episode). for there is too much gap between the two, and you wish there was someone in between the fault .- good thing the age of big-foot cannot be guessed, as most of its body is under long-thick fur .
- but the once maverick pilot of the fastest rogue space-ship in the Universe, got out of retirement home just to make crack jokes all-along the movie . how empty it seems when all the adventurous spirit is gone from the once-indiana Jones ..
- unrecognizable from the initial master’s series : Princess-turned-general ? Golda Meir, Prime Minister of israel has returned this time to save the species .
- acting aside, from the fresh new faces : the new title for-ever trilogy-from-now-series should have been Star Wars – The NEW Generation, as they are playing roles played by their predecessors of the former generation .
- the ultimate down-point is the evil-head of this movie trial – a grown giant Gollum straight from another block-buster trilogy : Lord of the Rings fame, played by the same actor – and it was lame that it was a hologram of him, so that he may return again to do more bad things in future episode/s . better to have killed him off this time, to conjure a more brand-image-ful cooler/deadler evil boss .
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* * * * * SPOILER ALERT * * * * *
[ Climax ] Twelve O’Clock HighPart I : We are shown how the desert of the opening planet Jakku, is sort-of a grave-yard to all sorts of fighters and space-ships, from AT-AT Walkers to those even as huge as star-destroyers . there are trader camps here, where parts from these machines are bought and sold . among them : were we surprised to find one of the vehicles lying around, called as “junk” by locals – was in deed the fastest space-ship heralded on earlier battle-tales !!!
Part II : We always love the ritual on television series as well as movies, when the cavalry comes to the rescue on American indian attack (still with all due-respect to the mighty nations-turned remote casino reservations). this time around : Rebel fighter-planes come to save our rag-tag heroes, when the remnants of evil side come to destroy a planet of universal misdemeanors, comparable to Caribbean pirates’ nest .
Part III : We’ve been amazed and even got used-to the scenes, where a Master reaches-out for his weapon far-out of reach .. and it flies into his grasping hand . in this movie : it is the scene where young dark-knight reach-out for the last old Master’s weapon stuck afar .. but the weapon flies-by him ~ only to land on the wonder girl’s hand !!! so SuperGirl the Television series has begun this Season too //
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* * * * * DANGER ! DANGER ! WILL ROBINSON ! * * * * *
[ Epilogue ]the original old drone robot in hibernation all this time, wakes-up to project a larger map : so that this new mini-drone robot’s smaller partial map, can fit into it . thus finally revealing the location of the last known Master, the very heroe of previous double-trilogy .
15 Century-old Christian monastery built of rock-piles on the irish island Skellig Michael was one of the movie’s locations revealed early-on . it’s man-made rock-hut formation truly out-of-this-World . little did we know this would come as the final scene of the whole movie, when the battle between good-and-evil was over (for now).
the wonder girl flies there to hand him his long-lost weapon // Q.E.D. but he is now bloated just like legendary Captain James T.Kirk, during his final series of famed Star Trek movie .
plus the moment that we hate for what it stands, yet also love for sheer Hope : several scenes toward the end takes for granted, more episodes will ensue, almost like a television (No, not even mini-) series .
( On Movie Critics – Then and NOW )
here too, the master is gone but not voluntarily though, as he held onto life with ingenial means . what would he say now in morse-code, from behind the book-shelves of the greatest libraries on Earth ? certainly the message isn’t coming through, as his apprentice is hailing it . but it has to come-through, for we are witnessing the point where a great master-piece ends and perhaps continue – even for ever . but as there was ONE simple word that came-through in the beginning of that /other/ sci-fi (but kept all physically and time-ly correct) movie : I hear one single number, 2 . although my humble brains and Post-Modern technology may not yet be able to comprehend the full-meaning of that number : it may mean, to think in two different angles or that they are two differing things .
or it may mean to listen to the neo-Century duo .
– Enter The Second Foundation, Korea Tech BLog –
