Monday, August 17, 2009

The best action movie ending ever!

Hi everybody!
It was the follow-up to AMERICAN GRAFFITI and was hard-wired into heroic archetypes. The comical sidekicks were transformed from Laurel and Hardy into 2 creaky robots called R2D2 and C3PO. The wise counselor (Sir Alec Guiness) was only a few pints short of Merlin. The earnest hero (Mark Hamill) was orphaned, infatuated and indignant in equal measure. The endangered princess (Carrie Fisher) was more tomboy than Barbie doll. The meta-villain Darth Vader was relegated to the sidelines and revealed almost as an afterthought. The arena of the dogfight was more vast than the summer sky in the dead of night. The music was majestic. The special effects were state of the art for its' time. The leap across the chasm was breathtakingly nostalgic. The leap into hyperspace was audacious. The dashing rogue (Harrison Ford) and his shaggy companion Chewbacca were just menacing enough to make their surrender to heroism meaningful. The pacing was leisurely, the dialogue perfunctory, the budget was small. There was a firefight between the Storm Troopers and our heroes in a trash compactor, for goodness' sake. However, it was that rare movie that got better as it locked into the 3rd act. The first act is to stage the importance of Obiwan Kenobi; which proves to be a MacGuffin; and the plight of the Princess Leia, which proves to be easily solved. The second act is the recruitment of Han Solo and the leap into hyperspace, which is a classic movie moment. But the movie does not realize that Luke Skywalker will never stir the imagination as does Han Solo, it stubbornly keeps its focus on the kid. That proves to be fine, because the 3rd act star war is spectacular, the last minute arrival of Han Solo effective, the last minute escape of Darth Vadar regrettable but acceptable. But it was a clean victory acheived in a trash compactor world.
The reason why the closing scene in STAR WARS is so effective is because it is the first time that we see the princess gussied up, Chewbacca shampooed up, R2D2 and C3PO polished up, and Luke Skywalker and Han Solo dressed up. Our ragtag group of heroes are finally putting on the Ritz and getting their just rewards and, for once, the movie has the good grace to shut up when the getting is good. There is not ironic twist like there was in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, the heroes simply get their reward and the credits start to roll. Yes!
Our WONDER WOMAN movies will end on a high note, just like the first STAR WARS! Why? Because we love you, baby!
Tomorrow, more goodies! Be good!
Brad

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