The Student News Site of Malvern Preparatory School

Friar's Lantern

The Student News Site of Malvern Preparatory School

Friar's Lantern

The Student News Site of Malvern Preparatory School

Friar's Lantern

When you wish upon a Star… Wars

If you define yourself as any kind of nerd, you were certainly emotional when you heard the announcement that the large multimedia company Disney has acquired Lucasfilm and the Star Wars franchise for $4 billion.  The internet was buzzing with talk of a new Star Wars Seven, set after the Return of the Jedi. It is fair to say that my midi-chlorian count was off the charts. Knowing what I know of recent Star Wars movies (i.e. the Prequels), it took me some time to sort out my feelings.  This article is my therapy, my Jedi-training, if you will, on how I feel about this whole thing.

Now, if you are a true Star Wars fan, you know it is fair to say that George Lucas essentially ruined all that he had come up with in Star Wars by making the awful movies known as the “prequels”. If there were ever a tutorial on how to shatter people’s expectations and destroy childhood memories, the three prequels do it justice.

When George Lucas set out to make A New Hope, the first movie in the Star Wars franchise, he was setting out to tell an original story that paid homage and was inspired by old westerns and sci-fi serials he loved as a kid.  By contrast, when he made the prequels, he tried to make a Star Wars-y movie that appealed to every demographic. Case and point: Jar-Jar Binks. Lucas only looked at the business aspect of the project, and as a result, made three movies that were critically panned and hated by fans alike.

The original Star Wars was great because in essence he was the not the sole creator of Star Wars itself. Sure he got the ball rolling, but it was also the editors, the writers, and other directors of the films that made one of the greatest film trilogies of all time.

I’m sorry, this should be about Disney right? Not about my personal disappointment in George Lucas? My fault.

So here we all are; at the crossroads of something that can be great or a horrible disaster or a tremendous success. Disney bought Lucas Film and is planning on a new film with a release date of 2015. We should be happy right?  My answer to this question is an unequivocal… yes.  Surprised?

This could be the start of something great and there are a few reasons why. For one thing, Disney does not mess around when it comes to huge franchises and making a quality production. We all remember that small indie-flick The Avengers, right?  Lest we all forget, in 2009 Disney bought Marvel and gave us the juggernaut superhero movie that everyone loved.  Another reason we should be happy is because someone else besides Lucas will be directing and writing the movie. This leaves some room for some great possibilities for directors and actors in Hollywood to take a crack at the Star Wars universe. All my hatred of the prequels and disappointment with Mr. Lucas aside, there is indeed a new hope, for the Star Wars franchise.

Sure, it could all be bad and Disney could hire Michael Bay to direct the new movies, but I remain resilient to such possibilities. All of the great lines, scenes, and actions will remain, so even some giant corporation like Disney or greedy man like Lucas takes over, they cannot get to me or the people who love Star Wars. The fact of the matter is, the Star Wars franchise is a cultural icon to all of the nerds of my generation.  To quote Yoda, “Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.”  We all have an ally in the force, and hopefully so does Disney in making a movie that will perhaps lift us from the swamps of Degobah to the Cloud City where we can all enjoy another tale in the galaxy far, far away.

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