Recent News and Rumors

It’s been nearly a week since Star Wars Celebration 2019 delivered unto us trailers for The Rise of Skywalker, Clone Wars Season 7, and a lot of footage from The Mandalorian. It’s that third item I really want to get into as it made me the most excited of anything to come from Celebration.

Three types of footage were shown, one was like a B-Roll or behind the scenes clip, one was a sneak peek at an episode, and after that sneak peek was a teaser trailer. The behind the scenes stuff gave me a lot of hope for this movie. They showed us, as well as told us during the panel, that there are a lot of practical effects in the series as well as a lot of care to show the galaxy for what it is, war-torn. The cinematography doesn’t quite feel like a Star Wars movie, but it does feel like it belongs in the same universe. One of the cool things that I really appreciated form this clip was the sight of familiar aliens and John Favreau saying they intend to use familiar sights. One of my biggest complaints about the Sequel Trilogy has been the near absolute lack of using aliens from the Original Trilogy. I know part of Star Wars is merchandising, but you could throw in some Rodians, Ithorians, Devaronians, and maybe some Quarren! This footage gave me a lot of hope for this show and seeing how happy and excited Pedro Pascal was in his armor was great. You can see that he is blown away by what is happening, and I am sure that will translate into an amazing performance.

The episode sneak peek was very cool. We see the title character talking to Greef Carga, played by Carl Weathers, who gives him information on a job that will pay better than anything the guild is offering at the time. The Mandalorian walks into a room and has a standoff with some Stormtroopers who threaten him with four-to-one odds. Pascal’s character responds quickly with “I like those odds.” It is a very cool scene. The Mandalorian is given a mission to track down an “asset” with very little information to go off, but with the promise of Beskar as payment. Beskar is a Mandalorian metal that is incredibly strong and valuable. It played a big part in the demise of Jacen Solo in the EU book series Legacy of the Force.

That clip was immediately followed by a very cool teaser that shows us some familiar aliens, IG-88, and some cool explosions. There’s also shots of Gina Carano’s Cara Dune fighting The Mandalorian. I honestly do not know why this teaser has not been released to the public.

I’ll be honest, I think the Clone Wars thing is jumping the shark at this point. The animated shows really set me off when they took the Expanded Universe Force power of Flow Walking and turned it into actual time travel and manipulation. Clone Wars has some cool moments, but if you hate messing with continuity then you should hate this show and Rebels… but the Genndy Tartakovsky cartoon was THE S***!!!

Lastly, I have had a week to think about the title for Episode IX… I still hate it.

Last Call: Scene Analysis

It’s been a while since I had a proper Last Call segment. Between the Podcast, Celebration, and a head injury I have been behind and I am sorry. We’re at Rogue One though and I think I have the best scene possible in mind…

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The ending scene is one of the most beautiful and genius in cinema history. The fact they decided to… Okay, I am joking. Let’s talk about that Darth Vader scene!

This scene was one of the best-kept secrets about the movie. I don’t think anyone really expected this, but thank the Maker they put it in. It is complete fan service, of course, and that’s something Jammer holds against this movie, but it was masterfully done. This was the Darth Vader we all deserved to see on the big screen when Revenge of the Sith came out, but instead, we got shots of red eyes, more whining, and a disco dance fight scene with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

This scene follows the death of the entire main cast during the fighting on Scarif and there’s a real sense of urgency as the Rebellion is trying to get the Death Star plans out to their leadership. They really build this feeling with the camera work and the actors desperately waiting on the plans to download to a disc to be carried to the Tantive IV. The hallway scene is dark and the camera work is very similar to the war movie style used on Scarif. The door to the Tantive IV jams and nobody seems to notice the rebel soldiers trying to get through. When we hear the mechanical breathing of Lord Vader the atmosphere switches from desperation to utter fear. We have to think that this is almost two decades after the fall of the Republic and Vader is known throughout the galaxy as the most vicious of the Empire’s enforcers. Vader ignites his red Lightsaber and we get 40 seconds of pure joy. using the Lightsaber as the primary light source really enhances the horror of the situation and the camera work does a good job of showing us the actions of Vader and reactions of the rebels.

I really want to congratulate the filmmakers and fight choreographers on giving Vader a feeling of weight when he hits people with the Lightsaber as well as showing off how powerful his Force abilities are. The scene is an absolute joy to watch and it was great to hear audience reactions in the theater.

That does it for this week folks. Look out next week for the last Call Podcast on Revenge of the Sith. If you have seen The Mandalorian videos, what did you think? Are you more excited about that or The Rise of Skywalker? Let me know in the comments below! May the Force be with you!

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