Talk About a Curveball

No worries.   This is not a post about Clayton Kershaw.   You'll understand today's blog entry title in a little bit.

I finally got around to seeing the latest installment in what will apparently be a film franchise that goes on for eternity.  Truth be told, I have seen everyone of the previous seven or seventy chapters.   Heck, I even saw the very first Star Wars film on its opening weekend at the Central Plaza Cinema in Yonkers, New York.

But I wouldn't consider myself a HUGE Star Wars fan.   I don't go to the first screening at midnight whenever a new one opens.   I don't own plush toys or action figures.   I usually don't give a new chapter more than twenty minutes of thought after I leave the theater.

I do, however, thoroughly enjoy the franchise as long as there is no Jar Jar Binks and other cute animals designed to be collectible dolls.  I mean, they are fun movies as long as you don't pick apart gaping holes in the plot which is generally the same every single movie.

Of course, there's a lot of attention devoted to the latest trilogy because they brought back the legacy characters from the first trilogy.  One departed for the great beyond in "The Force Awakens."   So, in "The Last Jedi," there are now just two.   And, sadly, one of them has left for the great beyond...really.   I'm talking about Carrie Fisher, who died in December of 2016 after filming ended.  And here comes the aforementioned curveball.    I will note now that you might want to cover your ears and eyes as I am issuing a major spoiler alert.

The death of Carrie hovers over "The Last Jedi" like the Hindenburg was flying over New Jersey.  The ending sets up the next film as being her movie in a lot of ways.   She actually will be the only legacy character remaining because the much bally-hooed appearance of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker ends with...well, never mind.   

George Lucas and company didn't react with a lot of negativity when Carrie died in real life but I'm sure there were a lot of "what the fuck do we do now" heard in Northern California at the time.  I'm pretty sure lots of storyboards got erased as a result.

When you see the next to last scene in "The Last Jedi" with what amounts to a cast photo with Carrie in the middle, you just know the next film was going to be all hers.   

Of course, there's a scene right after that which had the look of being tacked on at the last minute.   Being a lukewarm Star Wars fan, I asked one of my true geek friends if she thought the same thing.   Because the scene invites the possibility of a time jump for the next picture that certainly would allow Princess Leia to die offscreen.  She thought I was onto something.

So, indeed, for all the wrong reasons, I did give this Star Wars movie more than twenty minutes of thought after I saw it.   

May the Force be with us.

LEN'S RATING:  Three stars.

Dinner last night:  Valerie Bertinelli's version of Hamburger Helper....so tasty.