Star Wars Episode 7: 10 Things To Avoid

6. CGI Mascots

Star Wars fans will frequently tell you that Jar Jar Binks is not only the biggest faux pas in the entire franchise, but probably the biggest in the history of cinema. Jar Jar Binks was introduced in the new trilogy as a means of comic relief, to keep the tone light, and of course, to appeal to children (and therefore sell more merchandise). The problem is that he's not charming and funny like, say, a Pixar character, but instead he's more like the Crazy Frog; loud, obnoxious and extremely, extremely annoying. Even ignoring the fact that many believe Jar Jar to be a racially insensitive stereotype, he's simply a useless, annoying flourish, popping up during countless scenes and ruining them, and just when it seemed like Lucas had seen sense and ditched him from Episode 3, he appears right at the very end, smugly walking along, content that he was able to rile up tens of millions of cinemagoers once again. While it might make financial sense, there's the hope that someone with a little more creative integrity might hop aboard Episode 7. Or better yet, have your cake and eat it; design a commercially viable sidekick character who is also likeable and hilarious. Then everybody's happy.
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Contributor

Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.