Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back: How to do a Movie Sequel

 

This weeks blog post will be focused on the movie Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), the sequel to the classic Star Wars: A New Hope (1977).  Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is a Sci-Fi/Adventure film that was released in 1980 and is directed by Irvin Kershner.  Coming off the first film, this film had very high expectations to live up to the first film's success.  But how does the sequel capitalize off the first film's success?  By taking the elements of what made the first film good, and improve upon them.  And one of those elements is the characterization.  In the first film, the characterization was one of the strong points as every character had their own unique quirks and personalities.  In this film, many of those characters from the previous film return, and new characters are also added into the mix and further improve that characterization.  Speaking of that, the addition of Yoda in this movie adds a lot of fun and depth into the Star Wars universe.  In the middle of the movie, Luke Skywalker goes to this planet called Dagobah to receive Jedi training from a Jedi Master called Yoda.  And with Yoda's character, the audience can tell he is very wise and that he's been around for a long time after he stops joking around, even though Luke may not recognize this at first.  His character also makes the Jedi and the concept of the Force very mysterious, and yet intriguing and cool.  The character interactions are another strong point of the film, especially the interactions between Han and Leia, as their love for each other begins to develop in this movie, and the audience can feel how close they've gotten by their last conversation in the film, where a couple iconic lines are dropped.  

The score and cinematography are fantastic as well.  John Williams in this film, like the last film, delivers a film score that makes the audience feel like they are on a gigantic space adventure.  This film also has some of the most iconic themes in a movie ever, like The Asteroid Field and Darth Vader's theme, The Imperial March.  The cinematography is very pretty in this film, and the film still looks very good today.  Every planet that the audience goes to has it's own good look and mysterious aura that makes the audience want to find out more about the world in these films.  The action in this film is also improved from the first film, especially the lightsaber battle at the end of the film, which is much more improved from the lightsaber battle in the previous film.  And the plot twist at the end of the film is still one of the most shocking plot twists in cinema history.  Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) not only improves off of its predecessor, but it also keeps the audience on their toes from start to finish, and it establishes itself as a classic film in film-making history.

Jaws: A Thrilling First Blockbuster

                

 This weeks blog post I will be sharing my thoughts on the movie Jaws (1975).  Widely considered to be the first blockbuster, Jaws (1975) is an adventure/thriller film that was released in 1975 and is directed by Steven Spielberg.  Going into the movie, I had high expectations considering that it is the first blockbuster film, making it the first of a long line of movies that is still going today, and it did not disappoint.  One of the strongest parts of this movie is when there is tension/suspense in a scene or when a scene is building tension/suspense.  From the first scene of the shark taking its first victim, the audience is already on the edge of their seats, intimidated by the beast.  Spielberg was also smart not to show the shark too much in the movie either, as it would have devalued the scariness of the shark, as well as not make him as mysterious.  Furthermore, the score in the film is also fantastic, and it further elevates the suspense in the film.  John Williams, the music composer of this film, elevates every scene that features his score whenever music is used.  Without John Williams' score in the film, this is a completely different movie.

The characters in this film are another strong suit.  There are three central characters in this film, but they all get their chance to shine in the 2nd half of this film.  They all complement each other very well with their differing personalities, which helps them work together as a team.  Robert Shaw's character is more of the brave, tough-nosed guy that takes nothing from anybody, Richard Dreyfuss' character is the more of the smart, expert character that knows a lot about sharks and the water, and Roy Scheider's character is more of a leader and negotiator character that brings everybody together, and wants everyone to be safe.  This all culminates for a great 2nd half of a film with iconic scenes, iconic lines, and great character moments.  The only downside of this film is that the pacing of the 1st half of the film can drag a bit after the first scene, but it also makes the climax of the film that much more satisfying.  Jaws lives up to its title as the first blockbuster and is a true classic in the art of film.

Swiss Army Man: A Crude but Sweet Journey

         

 For this week's blog post, I will be giving my thoughts on the film Swiss Army Man (2016).  Swiss Army Man is a Drama/Comedy film that was released in 2016 and is directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.  This is one of those films where when you're watching it, you have to accept what is happening on the screen, because if you don't it won't be as good of a watching experience.  An example of this is a good amount of the comedy bits in the movie.  There's a scene in the movie where Hank, Paul Dano's character, rides Manny, Daniel Radcliffe's character, like a jet ski on the water, and the "jet ski" is powered by Manny's farts.  Not realistic, but you also have to accept from this scene that the movie won't be super realistic.  

The comedy in this movie is mostly crude, and is also inconsistent throughout the film.  In particular, there are a few scenes where Manny and Hank are talking/joking about sex/simulating a conversation between a guy and a girl.  There are words said by Manny that are inappropriate relating to sex that did get a few laughs out of me, but that crude humor also isn't every viewer's type of humor, and it could go by some viewers as unfunny or "cringe".  However, when the comedy lands, it sticks the landing very well.  But when it doesn't, the comedy crashes and burns.  But, the big thing that this film does well is the journey of Hank's character throughout the film.  At the start of the film, the audience can see that Hank is not in a very good state mentally, as he tries to hang himself right when the film starts.  However, when he sees Manny wash up on the island, he stops doing that as he sees life other than himself.  The character of Manny in this film can be interpreted in different ways.  I see Manny's character as a pathway to get Hank back into a good state mentally, and enjoy his life again.  This is conveyed all through the film, with the many interactions and conversations between Hank and Manny about life, and Hank teaching Manny life essentials, like how to speak to people, what people do in their lives, and what certain things are, like food or buses.  The ending of the film not only is a good conclusion for the mental state of Hank, but it also leaves it to the audience's interpretation to if the Manny character is real.  What he an actual moving corpse, or was he a figment of Hank's imagination?  The film overall has some inconsistent comedy, but it follows a coherent and sweet journey that leaves a satisfying feeling for the audience at the end of the journey.