Compared to the previous one, the narrative of Star Wars 8 is slightly better. Director Ryan Johnson is not as good as his predecessor J. Johnson. Like J. Abrams, he blindly stayed on the overdraft of feelings, but returned to the third generation of Jedi Knight character creation.
In order to achieve the new legend of the third generation of the universe such as Rey, Ryan Johnson is determined to break with the old system and let Skywalker receive a box lunch with a fierce heart. In order to create a reason for Luke Skywalker's departure, the film summons the heroic soul of Master Yoda, not only burning the Jedi Temple and its texts with a thunderbolt, but also enlightening Luke: "Their transcendence over us is the meaning of our existence!" This statement is obviously not only a comfort to Luke, but also a comfort to Luke's fans.
This is undoubtedly a cruel thing for Star Wars fans. Since Star Wars began StarCraft in 1977, Luke has been the protagonist of the canon trilogy and the first hero of the universe representing justice. Even if the prequel trilogy that continues around the turn of the millennium shifts to the blackening history of his father, Anakin Skywalker, Sith Vader, the legacy of justice represented by Luke has never been absent.
Ryan Johnson's idol Luke, who chose to sacrifice a generation, has the bitterness of having to do it, and there is also a chicken thief with a developed cerebellum. It should be known that "Star Wars" was the ticket king of world film history in the 1980s and 1990s, but the prequel trilogy that continued around the millennium was not only thrown away by "Titanic" and "Avatar", but even abused by comic book heroes. The Lucas Empire is clearly aware of this, and the reboot series not only speeds up the pace of filming, but also has a pass-out.
In 2015, "Star Wars Episode 7" was more than two billion US dollars around the world, regaining the box office list in film history, and in 2016, "Rogue One" also passed the billion mark, which was basically the same as "US Team 3". But the crisis did not lift, and J. J's blind consumption of feelings and the lack of shaping of the third generation of Jedi Knights have made the reputation of "Star Wars 7" the target of public criticism. How to reshape the charm of the third generation of characters has become a problem that "Star Wars 8" must solve, the best shaping is to break with the past, and stepping on the corpse of the first hero is a shortcut for the new generation of Jedi To become famous.
However, where the monument of the hero stands, it is not said that it is poured, and in order to dispel the resistance of iron fans, Ryan Johnson first chose to dwarf Luke. As a result, Rey's hard-won Luke is an old man who has become avoidant of the world because of self-blame, and has become more and more withered by fear. He threw away the lightsaber that Rey had handed him, indifferent to Rey's request to free his sister and the Resistance, and he even showed trepidation and cowardice at the dark Force in the receiver and Rey, no longer the fearless Force genius we knew, let alone the Jedi Master we once looked up to.
But it has to be said that Mark Hamill's performance is profound, and it can be seen that he is helpless and cherished for this character. His every wrinkle is filled with the ruthlessness of time, his amber eyes are filled with scars and chaotic crystals, he is not strong or steal, every move and every word and deed is living up to the love of a generation of iron fans, and the result is only to achieve the legend of the next generation of Jedi. In order to protect this legend from completely lying down, the director also moved out the heroic spirit of Master Yoda and burned the temple with his hand, completely breaking with the legend of the old generation of Jedi warriors.
It is no wonder that For Star Wars to maintain its charm in the movie empire and resist the cannibalization and gang fights of comic book adaptation superheroes, it is not enough to rely on the love of the older generation of Star Wars fans, it must make metabolic choices.
In addition to Luke's righteous sacrifice, the theme of this film is also to live to death. Wave's resistance is a suicide attack, Finn's curve is superfluous and deadly, Rey throws herself into the net to awaken Kylo Ren's conscience, Princess Leia's self-righteous escape ship becomes a living target, and the female general finally drives the energy-depleted spaceship to the enemy ship. The Resistance was exhausted and could only be saved by Luke's sacrifice.
In any case, Luke Skywalker's holding of a lightsaber is enough to make a generation of blood boil, and the white blood red of the Salt Lake planet is the best sacrifice for the hero to end. Luke's fantasy of teleporting through the Force to a duel on a mining planet resembles the Sword Saint in our Reign of the Storm, and at the same time has to be reminiscent of Abelos, a descendant of the Sith Empire during the Crisis of the Cosmic Alliance in Star Wars legends. This is a legendary figure with a terrifying Dark Force who can not only split and transform, but also control the mind of the Force Sensitive several light-years apart. Luke had just hung up on the sharp corners of the Doppelganger, showing that the cultivation of the Force was endless, and the new generation of warriors with Dark Force such as Rey and Kylo Ren had great potential.
With the fall of Luke, the souls of a generation of fans have also been taken away. But it doesn't matter, Luke is just like his predecessor Obi-Wan and Master Yoda incarnated as a Force Hero, and will come back from time to time to take a look. Moreover, the series of movies is not subject to the clamp of linear time, and when time will go back and restart Luke's prime story is unknown, after all, in addition to the nine Star Wars that have been filmed, there are also Decades of Luke's blank story to be excavated.
[Published in Beijing Daily on January 18, 2018]