Relating to Characters: Part I
11th December 2019The premiere of The Rise of Skywalker (2019) nears. Scuttlebutt around plot leaks are discouraging. One of the scariest is that test audiences laughed at how easily Rey disposed of the Emperor. Sigh. Even if that’s not true, or it is true but has been corrected, I’m not expecting much. Disney’s Star Wars movies have featured an array of unrelatable one-dimensional characters. They have no depth and take no real journey (unless, like Rey, it’s to discover who they are). They’re flash and style with little substance. Just because these characters belong to an extraordinary sci-fantasy premise doesn’t mean they…
Respecting Quality
Note: The following contains spoilers for the entire Terminator franchise. There are six Terminator movies. In the first movie, The Terminator (1984), a Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) – a cyborg – is sent back from the future to kill a…
Respecting Property
Two of my favourite recent movies placed in long-running franchises are Logan (2017) and Joker (2019). Logan tells the story of an older Wolverine, now struggling with health, and trying to take care of Professor Xavier, who’s suffering from dementia.…