Genres: Sci-Fi...Super Heroes...Fantasy...Horror. To me they are all...fantastic! And worthy of discussion.
Tuesday, December 28, 2021
What if Qui-Gon had switched roles with Obi-Wan in Episode 1? (A Rosie's Revision Essay)
Friday, August 13, 2021
Star Wars Titles are Mixed Up
Monday, June 14, 2021
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in Order of Release
Wednesday, May 26, 2021
The "Novel" Order of Star Wars (movies only)
- Episode 4 (ANH), then
- Episode 1 (TPM), then
- Episode 2 (AOTC), then
- Rogue One, then
- Episode 5 (ESB), then
- Episode 3 (ROTS), then
- Episode 6 (ROTJ), then
- Episode 7 (TFA), then
- Solo, then
- Episode 8 (TLJ), and finally
- Episode 9 (TROS)
Episode 4 (A New Hope):
We jump right into the action. We immediately get the sense of the state of this Galaxy far, far away with the opening shots of the cool looking spaceships...one that is small and plucky being chased (picked on) by one that is massive and imposing. We meet Vader. Boo!!! We meet Leia...quite the fiery leader! We meet Luke...will this headstrong idealist get caught up in some damn-fool crusade? We meet Obi-wan...hero of The Clone Wars and comrade of Leia's father, Bail Organa. We meet Han...can he escape his past and do the right thing? We learn that Luke's father was a hero killed by Vader. We learn there is a galactic empire that emerged after the Jedi were destroyed.
We already know that the Jedi were wiped out by the Dark Side, so, the first thing we see are Jedi in action. And not just Jedi, but a young Obi-wan and his master. Obi-wan...the only Jedi to survive the Dark Times, as far as we know. This Padme sure is a brave leader, despite being so young. And we meet Anakin Skywalker. Luke's father! Cool! We see him use The Force to help his friends and to escape from slavery. What a great kid. I can totally see why he'll grow up to be a great hero, just like Obi-wan said. Anakin being separated from his mother sure was a touching moment. I sure hope he learns to cope with that loss. We get to see Jedi being Jedi...just keeping the peace throughout the Old Republic. That reminds me...I wonder what Old Ben could have been talking about when he talked about Darth Vader wiping out all the Jedi. I wonder if Darth Vader is connected to this Darth Maul and Darth Sidious. That'll be a tragedy! And that Yoda guy is pretty cool. I wonder who that guy in the dark robe pulling all the strings is. Wonder why that red faced guy is so upset. He was pretty awesome. Maybe Vader will take the place as Darth Sidious' apprentice in the next movie.
The Old Republic shows a bit a tarnish. Whoa...Anakin seems to have gone through a lot. Wow...killing those sandpeople seems pretty dark. Anakin must feel pretty awful knowing that if he had used his power in the first place his mother would be alive. Hmmm. That Yoda guy teaching the younglings was pretty neat. I wonder if he taught Obi-wan when he was that age? We meet Jango Fett and his son Boba. Cool armor. We meet Bail Organa. Isn't he the guy whose planet got demolished in Episode 4? Hmm. The Clone Wars erupt. Wow...Vader must be coming soon. The Seperatists have the Death Star plans. And we know Vader is connected to the Death Star. So, Vader will probably be a Seperatist General. Maybe even the guy who takes over after Dooku. This Clone War must be when all of the other Jedi get killed leaving Obi-Wan as the only surviving Jedi.
We're ready for the next chapter with Luke and friends. Hokie smokes! Yoda survived the Jedi purge!!! Wow...what happened to him? Sure is neat to see him training Luke. Yoda seems so dark and jaded. I wonder how bad it got for him to end up marooned on swampy planet. Oh...we see Boba Fett grown up now working with Vader. Hmm...that Emperor in the hologram looks a lot like Darth Sidious...could it be that they are one and the same? Aww...Han and Leia seem to fallen in love. Luke will be so sad that he'll have to ignore his romantic feelings for her...but clearly there is still quite the strong connection...she can "feel him" when he calls out for help. Vader reveals he's Luke's father! That's not true. That's impossible. Noooo. No. No.(Spoiler Alert)
Vader MUST be introduced in this one.. it's got Sith right in the title. But why would Vader lie and say that he IS Luke's father. We can see from the first shot how close he is with Obi-wan. Uh, oh... Anakin sure is being asked to make lots of compromises. That's could lead to the Dark Side. Oh, no!! Anakin IS Darth Vader! Ben lied! And we get to see the Jedi wiped out. Oh...that's what happened to Yoda! And we FINALLY learn that LEIA is Luke's sister...and has been the whole time! Oh, THAT is why Bail Organa is connected to Obi-wan and how he knows where he is.
Now we know the whole backstory of it all! Time to wrap it all up in a neat bow for an AWESOME CLIMAX!! Yub nub!! Celebrate the Light!!
Episode 7 (The Force Awakens):
And now we're ready for the final chapters. There has been an awakening. Have you felt it? The dark side and the light. The Force...it's calling to you. Just let it in. So good to see old friends long gone. The past...the future. Through the ages, I've seen evil take many forms. The Sith. The Empire. Today, it is the First Order. Their shadow is spreading across the galaxy. We must face them. Fight them. All of us. Oh, no...Solo! You sacrificed yourself to let your son know how much you love your son. No!!!! And Luke...we finally found you. We know you'll be able to help us get out of this mess.
Episode 8 (The Last Jedi):
Oh, Luke...you can't give up hope. We need you. The galaxy needs you. But a new generation needs to step up to save themselves and their loved ones, too. Interesting lessons. You don't win by killing what you hate, but by saving what you love...that's a very Star Warsy lesson, too. And Rey has no past, but a bright future...what a great ending.
Friday, October 30, 2020
What if Palpatine entered Ben's body in the final fight against Rey? (A Rosie's Revisions Essay)
What if the climax of Rise of The Skywalker ended with Rey and Ben killing Cloned Palpatine, but then his spirit enters Ben?
All of the Jedi have joined Rey to summon the power of the Light Side to vanquish Palpatine...destroying his last cloned body in the process. But Palpatine's spirit latches onto Ben in a desperate attempt to cling to consciousness.
Rey and Ben-patine fight...as Ben's internal struggle continues. But this is the struggle he's been preparing himself for a lifetime. He momentarily regains control of his body. He tells her she must kill him while he is in control so his spirit will be bound with Palpatine's in The Force...and once his life of crude matter ends, he will bind Palpatine with him in the the madness and choas of the Dark Force spiritual maelstrom...forever vanquished. He realizes this may be an eternity of anguish for him, too, but it is a sacrifice he's willing to make.
Rey says she can't do it. He says she must hurry...it is taking all of his Light to hold Palpatine at bay. The spirits of Luke, Leia and Anakin appear and enter Ben's body to give him enough strength to hold Palpatine within. Ben's body begins to struggle a bit less as a calmness starts to fill him. But the strain is still clear.
Rey cries out that still can't do it. Ben says she must. He tells her it is the only way to bring balance to the Force.
He says, I'm being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain. With tears, pouring down her face, she tells Ben, "I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?"
Ben composes himself solidly, stands up proudly, leans forward and gently kisses her. "Anything."
Rey presses Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber to his chest and he wraps his trembling hands over hers. He says, "I love you." She says, "I know, and I love you, too."
They both breathe deeply...both begin glowing with the Light...and together ignite the blade. His eyes go wide and then his face is flooded with peace as his body slumps to the ground, Rey holding him in her arms as they both collapse to the ground. The pulsing glow rises from his body. Rey holds him as she gazes at the spectacle. It begins to separate into five distinct focii of energy.
As the energy takes more familiar shapes, at the center, two glowing forms begin to circle one another...a red form and blue form swirling entity becomes recognizable as the writhing spirit of Palpatine wrapped in a struggle with Ben.
Surrounding them is a triangle with Anakin floating above and Luke and Leia forming the base below. All three reach out towards the center, pulling them apart. Palpatine flails with rage and anguish. Anakin pulls Palpatine upwards and the two merge into one until they dissolve into nothingness...balance finally restored to The Force.
Luke and Leia pull Ben's spirit down towards his body with Rey, still in tears holding him. As his spirit re-enters his body, Luke and Leia surround the body with the glowing warmth of The Light Side and Ben awakens with a gasp of breath.
Luke and Leia start to fade peacefully into The Light, both looking content. He says to them, "Pass on what you have learned. The Force will be with you." And as Leia fades, she tells them, "We will always be a part of you as long as you have hope."
And then, together, Rey and Ben Solo rise to begin their destiny...together.
**********************************
(A critical acknowledgement...
...this was inspired from key events in the legendary 1995 Empire's End comic, written by Tom Veitch and Mike Beidler produced by Dark Horse comics. In Veitch's saga starting with the 1991 Dark Empire series (set 6 years after the destruction of the 2nd Death Star), he and Cam Kennedy introduced to the Star Wars narrative that while Luke was recruiting Force sensitive survivors of The Dark Times, the Emperor's dark spirit, which had been ripped from its decaying form by Anakin Skywalker on the second Death Star, re-animated itself in one of the many waiting clones of himself.
Eventually, Luke confronts Palpatine and destroys the other clone bodies. Palpatine is shot and killed by Han Solo. As his final clone body dies, he declares his intention to embody Anakin Solo, Leia and Han's youngest child. But before he can transfer his evil essence one more time, one of Luke's apprentices who was mortally wounded in the fight uses the Force to bind Palpatine's spirit with his own. He forces Palpatine to spend eternity swirling in the madness and choas of The Dark Side even though he would share that same fate...a sacrifice he's willing to make to rid the Galaxy of Emperor Palpatine once and for all.)
Monday, September 28, 2020
For those of you who do not know me, I am General Leia Organa Solo. Years ago I served your parents in the fight to restore freedom to our Galaxy. Now I beg of you to help us now in our struggle against the First Order's vile obsession with returning us to those Dark Times. I regret that I am unable to present my request to you in person, but the Resistance has fallen under attack, and I’m afraid my mission to keep our Republic is at it's breaking point. I have embedded information vital to the survival of the Resitance into this transmission. You, my fellow Rebels and Resistors will know how to retrieve it. And for those of you who are new to our cause, never forget that you are not alone. Fear will only win if we stay divided. I have faith in you all. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, citizens of our Galaxy. You’re our only hope. The Force will be with us...always.
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Phasma Fleshed Out in Ep. 7 & 8 and more (A Rosie's Revision Essay)
Don't get me wrong...when Phasma was on screen, she was just fine. No major complaints. I just wanted more of her. And I don't just mean a more epic and longer fight scene (which would have been nice). I wanted her story to be more substantial, especially, as it relates to her being a foil and motivator in Finn's Hero's Journey
So, I figured out how Phasma’s story could have been fleshed out a bit more with a small tweak to the story in The Last Jedi which would change her entire character in very interesting ways.
{I know it sounds completely random, but, trust me...this is just a part of the epic villainous journey that I think she deserves.}
But how would she have ended up in a dingy jail cell on Canto Bight? It all starts in a trash compactor on the doomed Starkiller Base. What if instead of covering her tracks and returning to her position of prestige, she was forced to flee, in disgrace, out of self-preservation before her cowardly betrayal was, inevitably, discovered by The First Order?
First, we need to go back even further to think about how she was introduced in the film, The Force Awakens. She is presented as a ruthless leader shrouded in mystery and discipline. She submits to orders from her superiors, even massacring defenseless prisoners, adheres to strict procedures, demands unwavering loyalty and inspires her underlings to constantly be striving for superior skills. And she appears to be completely devoted to The First Order.
After she lowers the defenses on Starkiller Base, the greatest weapon the galaxy has ever known, she states that she does not see this as a threat to The First Order, since she is so confident in the skills and loyalty of her troops that she knows that they’ll be able to restore the shields before the pathetic Resistance fighters can do any harm.
Or so she claims. But what if there was another explanation for her actions? What if she was willfully acting against the First Order, as I said...out a simple self-preservation. In the novel Phasma by Delilah Dawson, by exploring her past, we learn of an even darker side than even the sinister faceless evil. We meet a survivor who will stop at nothing if it means improving her chances of survival.
If after The Force Awakens, Phasma had fled Starkiller Base, she could have gone into hiding, starting a new life incognito without her chrome mask. Remember...no one, except possibly Hux, knows her face.
And where would she end up? No one that she knows from her home planet survived, not that she’d go back to that desolate existence regardless. And she knows no one in the Galaxy outside of The First Order. So, she seeks out the only people in the galaxy she has any contact with...the weapon suppliers...the war profiteers. She knows that with their financial influence, they are even more powerful than the First Order...which leads her to Canto Bight. Out a desperation, she hopes to leverage her inner knowledge of The First Order and it’s inner dealings into a position of power. But with no social skills and no real direct contacts, she finds herself unable to make any meaningful connections and ends up discarded on the streets. Poor, alone and seemingly defenseless, she gets caught fighting and ends up in jail, perhaps after killing an attempted mugger or worse.
She ends in a cell thinking herself truly lost and helpless...until who gets thrown in but FN-2187 and some naive Resistance Scum. With a new purpose, she intends to win back favor with The First Order, the only family she’s ever thrived in, by helping to bring their greatest traitor back for vengeance. Perhaps she has visions of falsely claiming it was he who was responsible for their defeat at Starkiller Base.
Finn, of course, has no idea who she is, so, after he and Rose free the faziers, they gladly accept her offer of a ride off Canto Bight with BB-8. Phasma, knowing the codes to enter Snoke’s ship, will lead them both to their doom. But on the journey back, Finn and the unmasked Phasma debate which side is good, which is evil and what lies in the self-preserving gray in the middle. This would be a similar discussion to what was in the film between Finn and DJ. The possibilities of this alternate scene between Boyega and Christie seem to be a fountain of dramatic potential.
It is only after she gets them back into her clutches on Snoke’s Star Destroyer does she call him FN-2147 as she alerts the guards to their presence. The next time we see her she has donned her chrome.
The rest of the movie pretty much goes the same. I just think that there was a really interesting missed opportunity if they had given Phasma a more substantial story arc plus a chance to interact with Finn in a fresh new ways. More importantly, the amazing Gwendolyn Christie would have a chance to act in really dramatic scenes who would no longer just give the sense of her talent, but would demonstrate her brilliance.
