I Was Entertained

As often happens, I’d heard good things about a new movie.  “You must take the girls to see the new Star Wars.”  Like most people my age I adored the original when I first saw it at the age of ten, and grew progressively disenchanted with each successive release.  The final three, by order of when they were released, not by their proper sequence, I never saw except as a completest obligation with my kids.  None of them were entertaining. 

I saw “The Martian” on sound recommendation last month and I sat there groaning, under the weight of the poor writing.  “It’s for the kids.  Shut up.”  So while I’d glanced at a positive review or two for “The Force Awakens”, and noted that it was smashing box office records back home, I went into this with decidedly modest expectations. 

The movie’s release was delayed by a few weeks in China.  My younger daughter had been tracking the release date.  “The first one is tonight at midnight.  Can we go?”  “No.  We’re not going to that.  What’s the first one tomorrow?  “11:30AM and then every hour.”  It will probably be a mob scene. 

We were unable to get anyone else interested so my younger one and I made our way over to the local mall for the 12:30PM show.  I was expecting the worst but we managed to get two reasonable seats, with only a few minutes to spare.  “No salt and butter popcorn.  Only sugared.”

And . . . I was entertained.  I successfully suspended disbelief for a while.  I liked the hook of the storm trooper-as dissenter.  (No one ever cares about the henchman.)   I didn’t mind the new roly-poly robot, glorified USB stick.  I was content to watch Han Solo and Princess Leah play at being Kathryn Hepburn and Peter O’Toole in “The Lion in Winter.”  The next generation of Force-laden off-spring were both worthy of consideration.  And, as I did when I was ten, I was willing to grip the seat for another five-minute countdown that lasts for twenty Hollywood minutes, and consider another bombing run of a (this time supersized) death planet, (I know, I know, it's a 'Starkiller Base') and watch it blow, with seconds to spare.

I’ll have to check on line but those cliffs where Rey finds Luke at the end must be the Skelligs off the coast of Ireland.  (Correct) The universe only has so many hiding places.  It won’t be long before they have me back again to find out if Luke has anything to say for himself out there beyond the Ring of Kerry.