Star Wars

News, Reviews & Features

Review: Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker is good, but conflicted

Movie Review | Matt Looker | 19th December 2019

There’s no denying that Star Wars: The Last Jedi created a massive disturbance in the force, as if a million voices suddenly cried out in entitled outrage and were suddenly empowered to act like total asshats on Twitter. All Rian Johnson really did was evolve his film beyond the tropes, cliches and traditions that have become the hallmarks of every episode in the saga until that point. Bury the past - or literally burn it down - and move on. Forget the old and make way for the new, otherwise how can there be any progress? After all, "we are," muses Yoda, "what they grow beyond". But if that proved a divisive move, then what JJ Abrams does with this final instalment is equally controversial: ignore that new approach entirely and return to the safe familiarity of the old template. There’s important plot development, of course, but it is housed within a return to the brand adherence and fan service that The Force Awakens originally offered. Skywalker rises, but Episode 9 of 9 simply stays on target.

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The crushingly inevitable Star Wars group chat email thing: Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Movie Feature | Ali Gray, Matthew Looker, Rebecca Suter, Luke Whiston | 28th November 2019

It’s a year with a 2 in it so you know what that means: it’s time to talk about Star Wars again! With Episode IX of the Skywalker Saga on the horizon, we thought it was the perfect time to engage in the ‘group chat’ style communal analysis that has served us so well in the past (that one guy on Twitter seems to like it, and heck, it’s easier than actually writing a proper feature). Over ten movies we will engage in the kind of witty banter and strict discipline that saw us complete 65% of our Marvel rewatch. Now, let’s... ‘Make it so!’.

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Solo: A Star Wars Story

Movie Review | Matt Looker | 24th May 2018

Four films in four years of this newly rebooted output from a galaxy far, far away, and it’s safe to say that Star Wars fatigue might be setting in for some. While, in that time, there’s been plenty of new reasons to love and embrace and cheer on the franchise, does anyone still get the same goosebump thrill from yet another momentous money-shot moment for the Millennium Falcon? Does anyone still audibly chuckle as loudly as they used to at the mention of an obscure character thrown in the script just because? It’s ok to admit it. We’re all still fans. No one's turning to the Dark Side and there’s no hate or anger here. But is anyone else getting the sense that their enthusiasm for Star Wars is being a little... diluted?

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Movie Review | Matt Looker | 12th December 2017

If I could have had a small, green, wise mentor teach me the ways of online film criticism, he probably would have instilled in me a respect for the balance between objectivity and subjectivity. He would have told me that uninformed criticism is what binds the entire internet and that I should always try to be mindful of hype. But, halfway through my training, I would have still no doubt run off unprepared to face what is easily my greatest weakness: Star Wars.

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The real reasons why Lord and Miller got fired from the Han Solo movie

Movie Feature | Ali Gray | 27th June 2017

If I was Kathy Kennedy, I would spin you a line about 'creative differences'. If I were Slashfilm, I would use 1,500 words to find a way of saying 'I don't know'. I am neither of those things. I am an honest man, and I have uncovered the truth about exactly why directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were removed from the Han Solo movie and replaced with the guy out of Happy Days. These are all true. Even the ones that contradict the other ones.

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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Movie Review | Matt Looker | 14th December 2016

For all the criticism aimed at Marvel, the thought of a 1-star or 2-star MCU movie these days just seems like an impossibility, and you'd like to think that we could expect the same for all forthcoming Star Wars instalments. Surely there are just too many talented stakeholders invested in the process to allow for any major misfires? And yet, there are valid reasons to fear for Rogue One: it's the first standalone spin-off, consisting of almost entirely new characters; director Gareth Edwards still has much to prove; rumours around the reshoots weren't kind; and of course the recent memory of the prequels is still hanging around like a clingy, irritating Gungan. So does Rogue One give us reason to believe that Star Wars will now always be in safe hands? Or is it just another hollow, unmemorable blockbuster facsimile? Is it a new hope, or just the latest attack of a clone?

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Star Wars spin-off posters that should... OMG, LOOK AT ROGUE ONE!

Movie Feature | Becky Suter | 7th April 2016

The new trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is finally here, but how many other 'Star Wars stories' are on the way? What if there were a host of other TV-related spin-offs in the pipeline? Ever wondered what those posters might look like? I think you know where I'm going with this...

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Star Wars IX to be filmed "a long time ago" and "in a galaxy far, far away"

Movie News | Matt Looker | 1st February 2016

Following on from director Colin Trevorrow's recent revelation that he wants to film Star Wars Episode IX "in space", he has also just announced that he plans to make the film "a long time ago" and "in a galaxy far, far away" making it unclear at the moment whether or not he can tell the difference between reality and fiction.

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Star Wars is dead, long live Star Wars

Movie Feature | Ali Gray | 24th December 2015

The Force awoke a few days later than most for me, but on Monday 21st December, I sat in a small cinema in Hammersmith and readied my body for Star Wars. Sweaty palms? Check. Slightly elevated heartbeat? Check. Stupid grin plastered on face despite nearby proximity of colleagues who consider me an otherwise professional and functional human being? Check. There are have been few cinematic experiences in my career where I have legitimately broken out in goosebumps, but Episode VII was one of them: if a new Star Wars trilogy can no longer be considered a once in a lifetime event, then it's still a rare treat to savour. Excitement, thy name is The Force Awakens.

But then a funny thing happened when the movie started rolling.

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This article has Star Wars in the title

Movie Feature | Matt Looker | 17th December 2015

Yes, this is the Star Wars feature you are looking for. Hahahaha. That’s a Star Wars reference.

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