A Review: The Mandalorian
I’m still unsure about The Mandalorian (2019 – ). The best thing people are saying about it is, ‘It’s not offensive!’ This is important to understand. People are judging it against the curve of Disney’s Star Wars movies, the way they judged The Force Awakens (2015) against the sour taste that the Prequels had left. But what if that curve wasn’t there? How would it stand up? I just don’t know. Well, it’s not offensive. The Galaxy I like the feeling of the setting. Set five years after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983) – you know, that movie where we thought the Empire was overthrown and the…
Shallow Foundations
Note: Although this blog references The Rise of Skywalker, at this point I still haven’t seen it. When you sit down to write a story, you create characters who’ll serve that story. They each have a unique function. Once that function is complete, the character is done. They exit the story. James Bond movies illustrate how characters function in self-contained stories. Bond’s boss, M, briefs Bond about his mission. Q will provide Bond with weapons and gadgets. Once M and Q have fulfilled their roles, their jobs are complete. In a few Bonds, M and Q might reappear, but usually never with any great depth, necessity, or regularity. There’ll be…