Spoiler Free!

It was hard but somehow I managed to stay spoiler free for The Force Awakens until I finally got to see it 4 days after its premier. My daughter fell victim to some douche-bag's attention seeking on the Minecraft servers two days earlier but I threatened to leave her at home if she even hinted at what the spoiler was.
The movie was great! J.J. and Disney delivered everything the cast has been promising and even my wife, the tolerant spouse of a Star Wars fan, gave it a "two-thumbs-up" rating. My youngest daughter wants BB-8 for Christmas (finally, real toys!) and both are arguing over who gets Rey for Disney Infinity 3.0. Better late than never for this old man!
So, without spoiling anything or divulging any particulars, I'm only going to mention that I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and the new cast is as energizing as the original cast was. While I appreciate having the gang back for the seventh film I honestly believe Rey's tale would have been strong enough to deliver the same great movie even if none of the original cast had signed on. It's that good and I'm definitely looking forward to the next instalment.

What A Piece Of Junk!

The much anticipated update to the Star Wars Battlefront game has finally been released on a multitude of platforms and after having been mostly underwhelmed by the Beta version I can say that the full release isn't much better.

It is a beautiful looking game. It looks and feels like the scenes we've watched on the big screen and you do get to immerse yourself in the Star Wars universe for some fun Stormtrooper blasting (or Rebel blasting if you join the Dark Side) but the controls and general interface of the game are clunky, cumbersome and downright a pain-in-the-ass to use.

First off, for the main screen interface, you need to be born with Hawkeye's abilities from The Avengers. The fonts and icons are incredibly small and that's me playing on a 47" Flatscreen from nominal viewing distance. I think it was developed for computer platforms rather than gaming systems.

Part of the lack-luster game-play may come from the sense that I have been playing Bungie's Destiny for the past year and a half and its game flow is far superior. It's like driving a Ferrari for a living and then being told you will have to commute to work with a Smart Car.

If you are not a fan of Star Wars I honestly believe you will get absolutely nothing out of Star Wars Battlefront. It is definitely not a game worth owning. I'm extremely glad I passed on the $69 Season Pass.

All that said the game does have one redeeming quality. You do get to do missions with vehicles (although not in space). X-Wings! TIE Fighters! This is something that has been missing from the gaming world for a long while. Is it worth the price tag? I feel a bit ripped off having paid $89 plus tax for the Deluxe Edition but at least I'm having fun behind the cockpit of an X-Wing.

Maybe there will be some upgrades to the gaming engine down the road, but until then this game rates two stars out of five for me. I'd rather be levelling up my Warlock and putting a few new holes in Oryx, The Taken King.

Where's Luke?

There has been a net-wide flurry of chatter over the absence of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) from The Force Awakens trailers. We have yet to see a character specific poster for the aged Jedi either unlike the other prominent Original Trilogy cast members.

So where is Master Luke?

Has he become an old hermit like Obi-Wan was in A New Hope? Has he turned to The Dark Side and is secretly Kylo Ren? Is he dead and just a Jedi Spirit along with Yoda, Ben and Anakin? There is no shortage of theories amongst fans for Luke's well orchestrated absence so I will throw my own hat into the ring.

I believe Luke has exiled himself after failing at trying to rebuild the Jedi Order. His failure comes at a cost that is deeply personal and has put a wedge between him and his sister Leia and the heroes that helped bring down The Empire. The Force is strong in his family and this includes his nephew whom he took it upon himself to train in the ways of the Jedi despite Han and Leia's disapproval. Kylo Ren is Luke's failure. Kylo Ren is Leia's son. Han is the father.

I could be completely wrong but if the trailers aren't laced with "fake" scenes then it makes the most sense to me story-wise. And Rey? Rey could be Luke's daughter or Han and Leia's but the former feels more plausible. She's no one... A young woman without a mother (possibly killed by an angry young Jedi turning against his master) and abandoned by a failure of a father (said Master).

So how do you defeat a rising new order ruled by someone you still love? How do you repair so many relationships entwined with a common thread? After 30 years what will bring everyone back together to save the galaxy and where do you go from there?

What happens when The Force Awakens?

Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things.

Forgive me Master Yoda but the full trailer for The Force Awakens has me at odds with myself. On the one hand I am in awe... struck with complete and utter joy over how awesome this movie is looking and how it appears to be everything us fans could ever ask for. On the other hand I remember the prequels... the dark time... the lost hopes and dreams for a better franchise.
Now the toy isles fill me with dread. Do I buy these cool, new things? I want to... but I remember Darth Maul and even worse, Jar Jar Binks so I keep hesitating and wonder if I will regret putting things back on the shelf.
I didn't even get in on the ticket pre-sales. Have I really become so fearful of the thing I loved most? Was the wound from George Lucas really that deep?
December 17th better get here fast. I need to rip that band-aid off and get back the adventure and excitement I've been craving.

The Emperor will be displeased with your lack of progress

Most of us (true) Star Wars fans have been aware of the seeming contempt between creator George Lucas and the actor who filled Darth Vader's original boots, David Prowse. A while back he was banned by Mr. Lucas from attending any official Star Wars events and the aging Sith Lord was kicked to the curb.
Now that Disney is in control of the franchise fans have turned to the power of the internet to try and have Prowse reinstated as a staple of the Star Wars Weekends and other Star Wars Celebration events.  There is an online petition Invite Vader to at least get his participation sanctioned for the 2016 Star Wars Celebration in London, England but with only 500 supporters so far it seems like the man in black could use a little help. So if you feel so inclined, whether by Jedi Mind Trick or not... give the guy a hand. Like most of the cast he probably won't be doing this forever.

The Force Awakens

I know, I know... You've been wondering where the heck I've been all this time. Yeah, a two year hiatus is a bit much but my enthusiasm for Star Wars has taken a back seat to life in general and for a while there it was beginning to feel like I had grown up.

Pffffffft!

Wow. A lot has happened in the past two years. Disney has dominated the box office with the Marvel movies and they have definitely got me on board with high hopes for the future of Star Wars. The Force Awakens trailer has been shown and it feels good. Two spin-off movies, referred to as Anthology films, have been confirmed with one of them being a Boba Fett origin flick which is awesome. Disney has boldly discarded the Episode Numbers from the franchise titles with general acceptance from the fans and it seems like the right thing to do considering the number of movies they plan on rolling out.

The merchandise machine is gearing up with Midnight Madness events already planned for the mass retail release of new toys in September and it's about bloody time. Hasbro has crashed and burned like Porkins with their handling of the Star Wars line for the last three years. I've barely bought anything... and that's how bad it's been. If it wasn't for their Star Wars 6" Black Series figures (which have been few and far between) I would have been heavily into the plastic withdrawal symptoms by now. The biggest and most exciting merchandise news for me was that Hot Toys had obtained the license to produce 1/6th scale collectible Star Wars figures (or dolls as some would say). That is where my collection is now headed. Go big or go home. Or is it ,"Go big and go broke"? They are damn expensive but worth every nickel.

The Force Awakens is the perfect title for the first instalment of this new generation of movies. The excitement is truly building with every passing week and the almost forgotten love of the franchise I once had is beginning to stir again. It's out there. It's coming. I can feel it. The Force may very well be real and if I may borrow a quote from the latest trailer, "Chewie, we're home".

Uhhhhh... what?

Holy crap! It's been a whole year. The last thing I remember was cleaning out the Carbon Freeze chamber and accidentally leaning on the button that said, "DO NOT PUSH".

So let me get this straight. The mouse now owns Vader's ass and Lucas Arts it toast?

I have a hunch that when Disney saw the Star Wars license had been whored to the Angry Birds franchise they decided to step up to the plate and pull the whole damn thing out of the insane nose-dive it was in.

Thank you Disney.

Yeah, you canned The Clone Wars and gave everyone at Lucas Arts their walking papers but I know you'll turn this ship around and get her back on course.

And J.J. Abrams at the helm of Episode VII sounds too good to be true. His reboot of the Star Trek franchise was beyond all expectations and this summer's sequel Into Darkness is going to be phenomenal. At last Trekkies/Trekkers and Star Wars fans can set aside their age-old grudges and rejoice in the rebirths of their beloved franchises with singular gratitude. We're family now.

It's also reportedly true that  Ford and Fisher are on board for the new trilogy with Hamill not so certain as of yet (but, come on, you know he'll do it).

There is also talk of one-shot Star Wars flicks not anchored to the Trilogies. Details are vague with everyone guessing who the movie(s) will focus on. Fett? Obi Wan? Ahsoka? I'm betting Ahsoka will get her own movie with young Fett being part of the story arc. Why else would Disney put and end to The Clone Wars series so abruptly? Ahsoka has been a staple of the Disney Star Wars Weekends since it's inception and they just can't let her fade into oblivion. Can they?

Thankfully that ass-hat of a director Michael Bay who butchered the Transformers and is now intent on sodomizing the Ninja Turtles has not been mentioned to have any ties thus far. I peed a little when I first hear Zack Snyder was going to helm one of the movies but I believe that was all just early fan-boy chatter that amounted to nothing but a half-used box of tissues.

Some folks are concerned with the whole Disney take-over but I know Star Wars is now in the right hands. I've thoroughly enjoyed the films Disney has been putting out lately and for the most part they've taken off those big puffy white kid-gloves and learned to make movies for adults that remind them how awesome it is to be young.