Lucas Is Done

And honestly, aren’t we all glad in some sense? J and I broke down and saw the final Star Wars movie Sunday morning. I am now free to ignore George Lucas for as long we both shall live. Unless he decides to make Episode VII or something, in which case I’ll curse and swear and go see the bloody thing.

I was proven wrong in my predictions of doom and gloom. This was actually worth seeing, unlike the previous two crapfests. I can honestly recommend it without reservation. Yes, all of the criticisms of Natalie Portman’s acting are true. Some scenes are wooden beyond belief. George Lucas has a tin ear for dialogue. All of these things we already knew, didn’t we? Quit bitching. It was better than expected, and more than I had hoped. Go see it.

Or don’t. You can remain assured that some portion of your spending this month will end up in the coffers of the Lucas empire. He has licensed the brand to be applied to every single consumer item imaginable. I think this marketing blitz outperforms any previous one, or as J put it: "Lucas is such a whore." I have no real need to see Star Wars characters emblazoned all over the grocery store. However, nobody gave me a choice. If I wanted Pop-Tarts this month, they were coming with Darth Vader on the box.

I was amused by one of my geek moments. In a scene before Yoda bails on the Wookies, I looked at one of the many Wookies on screen and thought “That was Chewbacca.” Sure enough, he is later revealed as Chewie. Nice to know I can recognize fake fictional characters after not seeing them for 15 years.

Speaking of geeks, here’s a nice fan collection. By “nice’ I really mean “somewhat disturbing”. Take special note of the stormtroopers with boobies. I was troubled, and I’m a fan of both stormtroopers and boobies. Some things just shouldn’t be mixed.