Head Tale

Not often I get to combine my Throwback Thursday and Friday Fun Link but after making a fairly spontaneous decision to go to a midnight showing of the new Star Wars movie last night, I thought posting this picture was a bit of both categories.

I’ll try to keep it spoiler-free as I give a few random thoughts…

• I was surprised how empty the theatre was – maybe 40 people?  December 18 was widely advertised as opening day so I was pleasantly surprised to find a couple evening showings on Thursday December 17 and that’s probably part of it.  I also went to a non-3D, non-IMAX showing and I bet those ones were a lot busier.
• (Ah, read something online – sounds like December 18 was the US release date but other parts of the world – the UK, Canada – got it a day early!)
• That also meant not many people in costumes, not a lot of excitement in the theatre (a bit of uncertain clapping at the opening crawl then nothing at other high points) which is very different then when I went to the opening day of Episode One.
• Movie was amazing.  Much more in the spirit of the original trilogy than the prequels.  Definitely made me feel like a kid again!
• The “reveals” of the three main characters who were in the originals – Luke, Leia and Han Solo – were all awesomely done although I thought we’d see more of one of them.
• At least one shocking twist mid-movie but I think most people saw it coming if you’ve seen the original trilogy.
• Lots of similar themes to the original trilogy as well – especially relationships between fathers & sons, destiny and the nature of good & evil.
• Minor quibble – the setting is 30 years after the originals but some characters pick up the skills of the Force fairly quickly whereas Luke underwent massive amounts of training, even as strong as he was with the Force.
• No Jar Jar Binks!
• Loved the “new” R2D2, BB8.
• Lots of great humour as well.
• Unfortunately, also typical of Star Wars, the love story that’s included is somewhat forced and unbelievable.
• Here’s a 5-Star Review (also spoiler free) from the Guardian newspaper.
• …and here’s the spoiler-loaded thread for the movie featuring the hardcore nerds of Reddit which I’d recommend that you check out after you’ve seen the movie!