Star Wars belongs in Middle Earth
They need to get the excitement back.
And right now, everyone – fanboys, fangirls, cool kids, critics, arty types, mums, hip dads, kids, tweens, prime ministers, other film-makers – everyone reckons ‘‘the excitement’’ is an awkwardly cool, 80s-obsessed, irreverent-withoutbeing-nasty, pineapple-shirt-wearing guy from the backend of nowhere.
He’s the guy who dived into a Marvel franchise no-one was excited about (Thor) and turned in one of the most anticipated films in the entire cinematic universe (Ragnarok), prompting a fourth instalment (Love and Thunder).
He’s the guy who played Hitler for laughs and still won an Oscar for it.
He’s Taika Waititi!
When The Guardian asked if he could ‘‘revive the cosmic sweep of classic Star Wars’’, the universal answer was ‘‘duh, we already know he can’’.
His directing turn on Disney+’s The Mandalorian, was a great episode in a show made of great episodes.
A ‘‘gunslingers last stand’’, it matched for excitement and pathos the season’s other great episode, directed by Deborah Chow (Better Call
Saul, American Gods) and she got a whole series of her own to direct.
Waititi being right for Star Wars was never in question. The real question is, is New Zealand right for Star Wars?
My answer to that is ‘‘hell, yes’’.
It wouldn’t even be the first time it’s stood in for an alien world in a galaxy far, far away, either.
In 2016, Ridley Scott turned Fiordland into a chilling alien planet where terrifying xenomorphs lay in wait to chow down on an intrepid crew of space-fearing humans for Alien: Covenant.
With Mitre Peak looming above spaceships resting in the shallows of the sounds bellow, the sky glowering and some classic slate grey Kiwi rain falling, it looks deeply, deeply cool.
Star Billy Crudup (Watchmen) was so stunned by Milford Sound he said, ‘‘you couldn’t actually believe your own senses’’.
Notorious gruffster Scott called it ‘‘a beautiful, wonderful place’’.
‘‘When it rains, hundreds of waterfalls appear. The only thing is at twilight, you get midges. It’s a pain in the ass.’’
Speaking of wildlife, DOC was chuffed to bits with Scott’s production, proving it is possible to film responsibly in one of the country’s most fragile landscapes, even when you’re blowing the hell out of the sets.
While steel-coloured rock, green moss and a glowering sky might not be a look you automatically associate with Star Wars (it’s sand. You’re thinking sand, right?) it’s where director Gareth Edwards went with his standalone Star Wars instalment Rogue One.
Shot in Iceland, the dark, broody planet Lah’mu, where a young Jyn Urso watches her family being torn apart by the Empire, has the same desolate feel of Scott’s alien Fiordland.
Maybe Waititi could tap that vibe too?
After his Oscar win, Waititi told the world he owed his career to New Zealand audiences. ‘‘They’ve been my biggest supporters.’’
It’s true, we’ve always felt connected to Waititi’s work. We come out in droves to see anything he makes. The biggest Kiwi film of all time is his – in fact Hunt for the Wilderpeople holds Kiwi box office records. It’s almost impossible to imagine another homegrown film beating it.
We love his films because they love us, the messy, awkward, stupid parts of Aotearoa-New Zealand, as much as the beautiful, soulful parts.
That’s a pretty cool gift. I reckon that makes us even. He doesn’t really owe us anything.
But if Waititi did want to give us something back, I can’t think of a better gift than bringing a galaxy far, far away to us.