Star Wars VII: 100 days to go
By Chris Clark
By Chris Clark
A week ago on Friday we – or at least the geeks that care
slightly too much – were lucky enough to experience Force Friday. This was the
unveiling of new Star Wars toys worldwide.
As if the anticipation of the December 17 release weren’t
enough, Disney thought it wouldn’t hurt to give us clues to what will feature
in the upcoming sequel. This includes action figurines for the frightfully
affordable £9.99, toy space ships for the slightly greater £40 and a Sphero
BB-8 Droid with smartphone/tablet app interface for a
‘Christmas-to-be-remembered’ £149.99 (sold out on Amazon US, but Amazon UK
still have a few).
For those more concerned with the big screen than festive
gifts, the focus will be the on-screen chemistry of the new actors and the
excitement their characters will add to the multi-billion dollar franchise.
Chemistry was certainly a key disappointment in the last three Star Wars movies
with Ewan McGregor’s painfully delivered line “I saw him killing younglings”
and Hayden Christensen’s somewhat subpar acting.
Of the new actors, John Boyega is perhaps the most
intriguing. I’ve only come across him once in Attack the Block which, although was superb and Boyega deserved the
praise he got, didn’t catapult him to global fame in the way I expected; I’m
sure Star Wars fame will give him the accolade he deserves.
We’ve got 100 days to go until the big release on December
17 in the UK, which is 24 glorious hours before viewers in the US. Strangely,
France will get their eyes on the film on the 16th because of a law
requiring all new films to be released on Wednesdays.
Nonetheless the unfairness of overseas laws regarding
release dates shouldn’t overshadow the excitement of our seeing it; unless of
course we all read French blogs and reviews the night before our own viewing.
So far, Disney and Lucasfilm have made a gargantuan effort
to quash suspicions that Disney would ruin the franchise. Even I, being fairly
anti-Disney when approaching film reviews, admit that their work on Marvel
films has often been successful.
The Star Wars PR beast has given us a great ride. I still
sometimes watch the England
Rugby Sevens advert featuring Darth Vader. Hopefully we’re in for some more
treats before the big day, until then I’ll be saving to buy myself a Sphero
Droid.