Star Wars VII: 5 Things That Could Potentially Ruin It

3. Too Many Celebrity Cameos

Samuel L Jackson played the disciplinarian of the Jedi Council, Mace Windu, with amazing depth and power. Who would dare threaten the authority of such a character? But given the phenomenal success of the original Star Wars trilogy, it is not surprising that celebrities will jump through hoops for a part to play in any forthcoming extension of the franchise. Likewise, Liam Neeson played Qui-Gon Jinn with phenomenal depth, although the character was in some ways needless; the role was played extremely well (even if The Phantom Menace is a weak film). But for every decent celebrity cameo there is an equally unnecessary and embarrassing cameo; look no further than the frankly atrocious character of Boss Rugor Nass by Brian Blessed in Episode 1. He served no real purpose other than to showcase the special effects departments ability to master the cinematic potential of CGI. Christopher Lee played Count Dooku with a sense of power which could rival Mace Windu, but his association as an actor with villainy made his portrayal somewhat lackluster; it is far from shocking to see Christopher Lee playing an evil character. The prequel trilogy had numerous problems; being reliant on CGI was one of the worst, but the lack of unknowns made it equally hard to connect with the characters. In contrast, the original trilogy made household names of the stars (even if Harrison Ford was the only one to really get a 'big' career out of it.) The sequel trilogy should do the same; pick an unknown, harness the power of the blank canvass - Samuel L Jackson has an aura of authority, so Mace Windu automatically had a strong stature, whereas Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher had to earn their power and respect of the audience in the movies.