A Meaningless Title

So I finally caught up on The Mandalorian, and I can't really give an honest review – since so much of it felt like a homage to the Star Wars I grew up with, and by that, I of course mean the 1990s Bantam novels.

( This is the way )

Well, that was certainly... a movie I saw.

Talking about the movie afterwards, my friend asked me if I'd rate it as better or worse than the Last Jedi... and I honestly can't say. The Last Jedi was a thematic mess with a nihilistic attitude towards Star Wars, but at least I ended the film feeling something. That something was kinda depressed and hollow, but it had an emotional impact. Rise of Skywalker, meanwhile, leaps from half-formed plot point to plot point with a manic energy, desperately trying to reach a conclusion that really isn't worth it. It feels like a summary of three movies, and refuses to linger on anything long enough for any of it to have any weight or meaning. It feels disposable on a level that even the much-maligned Solo avoided.

Spoilers follow:

( Young fool. Only now, at the end, do you understand... )

Climbing Temple IV, looking out across Tikal and seeing the other temples poking out from the surrounding jungle, it's hard to envision what this place must have looked like when it was an active city, or to recognise that this isn't primeval jungle but a post-apocalyptic landscape.



“Deep they delved us, high they built us, fair they wrought us, but they are gone.”

Of course, the Mayan people aren't gone; one of the nice things about Guatemala is that, unlike Australia and much of the Americas, the native culture still dominates in most places. Our guide was Mayan, and Mayan art and styles still have a very strong presence in the cities and towns. There are still ceremonies at some of the ancient sites; a syncretic mix of Catholicism and traditional beliefs.



Still, there is something eerie about Tikal and the other once-great cities of the jungle, abandoned in a way few cities are. The fall of the Roman Empire didn't see Rome itself abandoned; Mexico City thrives on the site of Tenochtitlan. But Tikal was left for the jungle to reclaim, a thousand years of history passing it by, the reasons for its fall as much a mystery to the modern Guatemalans as it is to anyone else.



It's hard not to appreciate the skill of the city's architects. The natural cooling and ventilation built into its design still function; a constant cool breeze passes through the plazas, taking the edge off the heat and humidity of the surrounding jungle.

Of course, the greatest mystery of Tikal is this: Why, in 1977, when the Guatemalan Civil War was ongoing, when the site was still largely isolated from the outside world and only partially excavated, why did George Lucas feel the need to go there to film a few establishing shots for a movie otherwise shot entirely in England and Tunisia?

(The interior of the Yavin IV temples were shot entirely on London sound-stages – the real temples are completely solid with no inner chambers...)

I'm not saying I picked Tikal over other sites to visit like Chichen Itza purely so I could pretend I was on Yavin IV visiting the Jedi Academy, but I'm not going to say that wasn't a factor in my choice.



If you plan on visiting Tikal – and it is well worth seeing in person – I'd recommend spending a few nights in the nearby town of Flores and dedicating a full day to the site. It is possible to book a day trip flying in from Guatemala City or Belize, but the flights can be unreliable, and it is going to lead to a rather rushed day. Besides, there are other ancient cities in the area like Uaxactun and Yaxha that are also well worth seeing, so giving yourself an extra day or so to see them too is a good plan.

As mentioned, the city's ancient ventilation system still keeps the city cooler than the surrounding area, but it is a very large area to cover on foot – bring extra water; you'll want it after climbing some of the pyramids. They don't let you actually climb the stone itself – thankfully; the 'staircases' are extremely steep, designed more as seats than as stairs - but several temples have wooden staircases so you can reach the top and take in the views.

It feels very appropriate to me that Solo features so many references to the old EU; from Teras Kasi to the Maw to Caridia. And not just because the old continuty featured two separate series of pre-trilogy Han Solo adventures, but because this feels like the point where Disney Star Wars starts following the path of the old EU.

I started reading the old novels fairly early; when I started on Heir to the Empire, the Jedi Academy trilogy was still new. At the time, there was a lot of hype about these being the official continuation of the story, that these weren't just going to be one-off adventures, but a real attempt at creating a series of books that would be equal to the original films.

And, for all its flaws, the Jedi Academy trilogy did aim big. It's got Luke starting up a new Jedi order, while Leia is appointed head of state of the New Republic. It was flawed in so many ways, but it wasn't forgettable or trivial.

But then... well, things rapidly seemed to go downhill from there. If you wanted to keep up with the big picture, you weren't missing anything if you skipped books like The Crystal Star or The New Rebellion. It very quickly stopped being about big events or epic storytelling, and just became content to have villains of the week with the status quo being restored at the end of each story, and the focus on continuity became less about building an overarching narrative and more about Easter eggs, little references to other books and media existing for no real reason other than to make it seem like everything tied together. It could be a lot of fun, but it very quickly became sort of routine.

And that's what Solo feels like. It's the first time we've had a Star Wars movie that wasn't trying to be An Event. It's content to just be a little story that fills in some gaps in exactly the way you expected them to be filled, with no real ambitions beyond that. Han gets in debt to gangsters. Chewie rips people's arms off. Lando plays a lot of space-poker and wears a lot of capes. The new characters all get little arcs that all get nicely wrapped up by the end of the movie, everything put back in the box the way it was when the film started.

(No, that's not fair; there's a couple of characters with intriguing storylines that could be expanded. Bets on any of them ever appearing again, though?)

There's a quick cameo that serves only to confuse those that didn't watch all the spin-offs and ancillary materials, but doesn't really add anything except to make those that did understand it go “Aha, I know what's going on because I saw the spin-offs!”

I mean, it's fine. It's a fine movie, there's no sign of the behind the scenes problems it suffered through. It's got nice visuals, a nice soundtrack – when it's not cribbing from John Williams directly – some cute moments. But in the end, it's generic Star Wars product. If you want to see Han Solo do Han Solo things, this is the movie for you. If you're fine with having the Kessel Run or how Han won the Falcon remain unexplained, you can skip it. It's a film that's pretty humble in its ambitions, and it shows.

So, seriously, why is Disney so convinced that the Millennium Falcon's dice will evoke such an incredible sense of nostalgia that they want to make them the focal point of entire scenes in multiple films?

I mean, this is a background detail so insignificant that even the old eu never bothered elaborating on its significance. They're barely visible in the one original film they're even in.

Like, is this the next step in nostalgia? That instead of bringing back things we fondly remember, companies are going to bring back things we didn't remember in the first place, and pretend we fondly remember them?

...Who Deserve an Expansive Backstory in a Tales From... Style Anthology:

• Grumpy Dreadnought Captain
• Evil BB8
• The Rebel Trooper Who Apparently Tastes Every Planet He Visits
• The Master Codebreaker and His Distinctive Pin That is So Unique That Giving His Name, Species, or Indeed Any Sort of Description Would Be Superfluous to Identify Him
• Carrie Fisher's Dog

As a long time X-Wing vs TIE Fighter player...

( Spoilers for an early scene )

Minor Rogue One spoiler:

( Read more... )