I’m talking about the new Star Wars movie, of course.
I bought a pair of tickets, one for me, one for my dad, and off we went! I had to drive down to Phoenix and pick him up, then we went to a local theater.
He was waiting for me, inside the house, down at the end of a dark hallway. I couldn’t quite see what he was up to until he lit up his lightsaber.
He was dressed like a Sith Lord! Keep in mind, this is a man who turns 70 next year! He had gone to the trouble of buying a toy lightsaber and renting Jedi robes from a local costume shop, just to surprise me. That’s my dad!
I had been planning for months to take him to see Star Wars, totally excited to be doing it, as he was excited way back when he took me and my brother to see the original Star Wars in 1977. I was 9 years old and my brother was 8. We were hooked from that moment on to the Star Wars universe. He had seen the movie before he took us and was absolutely stoked to be taking us to see it. He knew we would love it.
I was so excited to take my dad to see this new one. And it turned out to be such a great movie. I plan to write a more detailed review about it later. I had two hours driving back home to chew it over thoroughly, and my (limited) experience in film-making as well as my more robust experience in story telling may offer some insight into the story and how I think it will progress as the next two movies come out.
So, watch for that, but beware! It will be fairly spoiler-y, but nothing huge. I will discuss some of the revealed relationships and speculate on a few that weren’t revealed but expect will be true and how I think J.J. Abrams has a better handle on this than everyone thinks. Some of the reviews I’ve seen have been brutal, and I think a fair number of them miss the mark completely on just what Abrams was trying to do with this first installment of the new trilogy.
Anyhow, when we got back, I was talking with my dad about our experience together (he told me how misty-eyed he got at several scenes) and I remarked, “Since I’ve taken you to see a new Star Wars movie, the circle is now complete.”
I think he got misty-eyed again.
Singing Meat 