2. Bombshells
Maybe its time for the brassy Teutonic blonde,
à la Alice Eve, to make her debut in the Star Wars universe. But I digress: the heading refers to the emotional varietysomething Trilogy I knew how to set off with tactical deftness, but which was largely absent from its follow-up. The sight of Uncle Owen and Aunt Berus burnt corpses. The first appearance of the Death Star. The death of Obi-Wan. Yodas rancour in response to Luke telling him that hes not afraid of his destiny. Leias declaration of her feelings for Han. Lukes insight into his lineage and subsequent suicide attempt. There is another Sky walk er The young Ewok sobbing over the body of his fallen comrade. Its a trap! Now, young Skywalker: you will die. Vaders redemption. There are so many genuinely
funny moments in Trilogy I. From Threepios whining, to the slapstick debacle that Hans rescue from Jabba the Hutt degenerates into. There are a number of convincingly heartrending scenes: a dejected Luke gazing into the binary sunset of Tatooine as a tentative version of John Williams beautiful Force Theme rises. There are sublime moments: the enormity of the Jawas Sandcrawler ; Yoda raising the sunken X-wing from the swamp. But the Trilogys basic architecture supports the essentially tragic story of a man who starts with nothing, is provided with his freedom in exchange for losing his mother and being used towards the end of a strange monastic order, is corrupted by the power they foster, and who goes on to lose his maternal substitute, becoming a brutal tyrant in the process, and whose redemption necessitates his demise. Trilogy Is willingness to portray moments of genuine emotional intensity is the reason it transcended the ranks of popcorn fantasy films to become a cultural phenomenon. By the same token, Trilogy IIs tendency to sugar-coat, intellectualise, or outright avoid its emotional basis was the reason it was universally considered to be a mere shadow of the original. The implication is clear: to pack a punch, the sequel trilogy must bear its soul. Its only a bombshell if theres something precious in the vicinity. Otherwise, it's just a thud.