by Alan Rapp on May 18, 2020
in Comics
Set after the events of The Empire Strikes Back, evil archaeologist Chelli Lona Aphra earns a new series opening with her plundering the recently-evacuated Rebel base on Hoth, and running into a bit of Imperial trouble, before accepting a job from Shadow University student Detta Yao. Yao is on the hunt for the mythical Rings of Vaale (which, it turns out, may be real, very valuable, and very dangerous).
The new series’ initial issue is a good mix of action and story with several characters to introduce including Aphra and her team of Just Lucky and Black Krrsantan, Yao, and an old acquaintance of Aphra in archaeologist Eustacia Okka, along with introducing the Rings and the team’s chief rival in their search for them in Ronen Tagge and the Tagge family.
[click to continue…]
With all movies now available on home video, recently I watched the nine core Star Wars films in order from Episode I through Episode IX, ignoring standalone movies like Solo or Rogue One. Here then is my attempt to rank all nine films in the Skywalker Saga.
[click to continue…]
- Title: Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
- IMDb: link
There is unrest in the Galactic Senate. Several thousand solar systems have declared their intentions to leave the Republic.
This separatist movement, under the leadership of the mysterious Count Dooku, has made it difficult for the limited number of Jedi Knights to maintain peace and order in the galaxy.
Senator Amidala, the former Queen of Naboo, is returning to the Galactic Senate to vote on the critical issue of creating an ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC to assist the overwhelmed Jedi….
When ranking the nine movies of the “Skywalker Saga” there is never a question of which film comes in last. 2002’s follow up to Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace jumps forward a decade when a Separatist movement threatens the stability of the Republic. Standing against allowing the rising tensions to turn to war, now Senator Amidala (Natalie Portman) returns to Coruscant. An attack on the Senator’s life will bring her back into contact with Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and his padawan Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), and bring Anakin one step closer to his dark destiny.
Much of the film focuses on Anakin’s two primarily relationships. Though he loves and respects Obi-Wan, Anakin is bristling over not yet earning the rank of Jedi Knight. The seed of Anakin’s contempt for the Jedi Order buried in the first film continue to grow. His obsession for Padme is more simple, but there’s a darker side to it as well. Aside from such a relationship being forbidden by the Jedi, there’s also the manner Anakin peruses Padme, while assigned to protect her, through both guilt and seducing her into a relationship she knows is wrong.
[click to continue…]
- Title: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
- IMDb: link
Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute.
Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy Trade Federation has stopped all shipping to the small planet of Naboo.
While the Congress of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, to settle the conflict…
Now that the “Skywalker Saga” is complete, it seems like a reasonable time to go back and look through the various Star Wars films. Unlike some, I come not to condemn The Phantom Menace. Despite its flaws, the film has genuinely great moments, strong new characters, and vivid new worlds all while doing more world building than any Star Wars property other than the original Star Wars. Does it measure up to Lucas’ original? No, certainly not. But it’s far from the weakest Star Wars film.
Set at the end of the Old Republic, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace introduces us to the young boy who would grow into the most terrifying creature in the galaxy. Jake Lloyd is cast as the boyish slave Anakin Skywalker. Lloyd is your average kid actor and the failures of Anakin here have more to do with the choice to make him far younger than necessary than Lloyd’s performance. We’re also introduced to Queen Padme Amidala (Queen Amidala ) of Naboo, a young ruler struggling with the occupation of her planet by the Trade Federation, and Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) who arrives on Naboo with his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor).
[click to continue…]
