STAR WARS’ FINAL FRONTIER
《星球大戰》最終章
IT’S A TOUGH JOB to land a plane. It’s why the pilots sitting in the cockpit ahead of you train extensively to do just that – to get this borderline magical craft you’re travelling in down on the ground reliably, every time.
Now imagine that plane wasn’t a plane, but a fourdecade, multi, multi, multi-billion-dollar film, TV, game and toy franchise. Now imagine trying to land that.
This is what director J.J. Abrams had to do with
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the final film in the ‘Skywalker Saga’, as it’s come to be known. He was the force behind 2015’s The Force Awakens, a successful continuation of the series that banished memories of 1999’s woeful Phantom Menace to the distant past. The major criticism of Abrams’ film – that it played it a little safe, retreading the themes of 1977’s A New Hope – was valid. But the visual tapestry and bombast of the movie, hitting just the right notes of nostalgia with a hint of novelty, allowed it to get away with it. Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi (2017) fixed most of those issues, introducing far more interesting themes and some truly innovative visuals into the mix.
In The Rise of Skywalker Abrams is back at the helm to land his behemoth of a craft, and land it he does. The story wraps up the tale of scavenger-turned-jedi Rey (Daisy Ridley), stormtrooper-turned-rebel Finn (John Boyega) and hotshot-fighter-pilot-turned-marginallymore-mature-fighter pilot Poe (Oscar Isaac), who race through a last-ditch effort to save the universe from emo-Vader Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and a mysteriously revived Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid).
Rise lacks a little of the thematic and visual ingenuity of its predecessor, but it’s still an effective ending to the saga, falling back as it does on stock Star Wars themes of family, loss and redemption. And a few visuals – massive waves churning over a downed space station; a spectacularly angular, inarguably evil throne room – still thrill the heart.
Abrams has landed his plane, and is taxiing to the gate – a safe, if not the most exciting, flight. But with at least three more Star Wars films scheduled over the next six years, I’m holding out hope that we can swap that lumbering Star Destroyer for a nimble X-Wing: a new, thrilling, exciting, amazing Star Wars once again.
ABRAMS IS BACK AT THE HELM TO LAND HIS BEHEMOTH OF A CRAFT, AND LAND IT HE DOES由Abrams重掌帥印，為這部史詩式鉅作系列劃上完美句號
要令飛機安全著陸絕非易事，因此，能夠坐進前面駕駛艙的機師都是訓練有素的精英，為求令複雜精密的龐大鐵鳥每次均能分毫不差、安全可靠地回到地面。
試想像現在要駕馭的不是飛機，而是40年來耗資數十億天價累積所建構的影視、遊戲和玩具神話，又該從何入手，在粉絲心中穩佔一席位？
《星球大戰：天行者崛起》號稱「天行者傳奇」系列的終
章，手執導筒的J.J. Abrams，正是肩負如此重任的領航者。這位導演於2015年的超強「力」作《星球大戰：原力覺醒》，成功洗脫1999年《星球大戰前傳魅影危機》劣評四起的污
名，再次擦亮《星戰》系列招牌。戲迷主要批評Abrams這部作品過於四平八穩，翻炒1977年《星球大戰：新的希望》的舊橋，這點的確成立，但戲中連場震撼的視覺效果和浩大場面，
向舊作致敬之餘不乏新意，終究不辱使命。Rian Johnson在2017年接棒的《星球大戰：最後絕地武士》，成功把上述大部分詬病根除，情節更引人入勝，嶄新的視覺特效同樣帶來驚喜。
接下來的《星球大戰：天行者崛起》則由Abrams重掌帥印，為這部史詩式鉅作系列劃上完美句號。片中講述孤兒
出身的絕地武士Rey (Daisy Ridley飾)、叛變白兵Finn (John Boyega飾) 和起初魯莽自負、後來略長一智的反抗軍飛行員
Poe (Oscar Isaac飾) 不惜代價拯救宇宙，迎戰角色設定
恍如Vader的Kylo Ren (Adam Driver飾) 和離奇地再崛起的
Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid飾)。
這集《星戰》的橋段和視覺效果略較前作遜色，但仍為「天行者傳奇」系列圓滿收結，而且延續《星戰》一貫的親情、迷失和贖罪主題。至於一幕幕震撼場面，包括滔天巨浪席捲廢棄太空站，及作為大反派巢穴的宏偉建築，仍然教人驚心動魄。
Abrams最終安全地把這艘舉足輕重的航機著陸，有驚無險地滑行至閘口。雖然未來六年還有至少三部《星戰》電影有待面世，但我仍有信心，長江後浪推前浪，江河日下的
滅星艦最終會由靈活矯捷的X翼戰機取代，《星戰》系列將繼續推陳出新，帶來更高潮迭起的新戲碼。