Star Wars

Star Wars
Originally uploaded by powerfulpierre.

Well, what a surprise, the new Star Wars film isn’t pants. It turns out to be a hugely entertaining and engrossing film.

Okay, there is still the clunky dialogue, but it didn’t seem to grate quite as much this time. The parallels to Bush and the war in Iraq are clumsy but still fun – perhaps Lucas is trying to wrestle his baby back from the Right in the US after suffering Reagan using ‘Star Wars’ and the ‘Evil Empire’ in the 80s.

Leaving that aside, the film rattles along to the conclusion we all know is coming – Anakin Skywalker becoming Darth Vader. This is pretty gruesome (12A?) but extremely compelling, and when Vader awakes to discover that his wife has died, the very thing he was trying to avoid, is it (almost!) moving.

I say this of course as a lifelong Star Wars fan with fond memories of the original films and of playing with my Star Wars toys as a kid. Little did I know I’d still be excited by it in my early 30s!