I recently thought about my piece on The Mandalorian. More-specifically, and I apologize for spoilers, I thought about that scene where Luke Skywalker defeats an army of Darktroopers on his way to Grogu, and how it was thematically empty despite being really cool. In some ways, the scene echoes the Darth Vader moment from Star Wars: Rogue One, where he plows through rebel soldiers to retrieve the stolen Death Star plans. The parallels are so obvious that there are YouTube videos showing them back-to-back. Which makes sense, as they’re both laden with tension and look awesome.
I feel conflicted about knocking these scenes down. On one hand, they’re cool to witness firsthand. These are Darth Vader, Star Wars’ biggest baddie, and Luke Skywalker, Star Wars’ biggest hero, at their peak, reminding the audience why we loved them. They also have clear objectives, as Vader’s is about retrieving the Death Star plans and Luke’s is about saving Grogu for the Darktroopers. I happen to like them too, if we’re being honest.
On the other hand, they don’t add much to these characters. We don’t need to witness Vader plow through rebels, we’ve already seen his intimidating presence in other films. We also don’t need to witness Luke plow through Darktroopers, we’ve already witnessed how capable a fighter he is. These might give fans what they “want”, but I don’t think they give them what they “need”.
Let me explain.
There’s been a growing trend in action entertainment to rely on bigger, flashier action set-pieces to keep audiences entertained. To be fair, it’s not a new phenomenon-there’ve always been action spectacles like this in the history of action spectacles. There’s a certain dopamine rush that comes from seeing them, and moviemakers are aware of this. It’s to be expected.
The difference is that whereas the tendency to be loud and vapid would’ve been kept to the sidelines for decades, especially given limited technology, modern filmmaking has made this increasingly possible on a grand scale. And it’s exciting, honestly. For the longest time, if you wanted a big set-piece, you had to settle for a few minutes only. The bigger fights ate into the budget, so they were usually saved for the climax. Nowadays, though, it’s easy to film a big action scene and sculpt the story around it, such that there are people who specialize in them.
Unfortunately, this comes with a downside. It might even be two downsides. The first is that the action scene might drag on and lose the audience’s attention. Like any dopamine rush to the brain, the high is temporary and doesn’t last forever. And like any moment where there’s an initial high and then a crash, you crave more. Eventually you become numb to the highs in your quest to obtain bigger ones, forcing the highs to lose their meaning. This is actually how addictions work, but I’d rather not delve into that.
There’s been a growing trend in action entertainment to rely on bigger, flashier action set-pieces to keep audiences entertained. To be fair, it’s not a new phenomenon-there’ve always been action spectacles like this in the history of action spectacles. There’s a certain dopamine rush that comes from seeing them, and moviemakers are aware of this. It’s to be expected.
The difference is that whereas the tendency to be loud and vapid would’ve been kept to the sidelines for decades, especially given limited technology, modern filmmaking has made this increasingly possible on a grand scale. And it’s exciting, honestly. For the longest time, if you wanted a big set-piece, you had to settle for a few minutes only. The bigger fights ate into the budget, so they were usually saved for the climax. Nowadays, though, it’s easy to film a big action scene and sculpt the story around it, such that there are people who specialize in them.
Unfortunately, this comes with a downside. It might even be two downsides. The first is that the action scene might drag on and lose the audience’s attention. Like any dopamine rush to the brain, the high is temporary and doesn’t last forever. And like any moment where there’s an initial high and then a crash, you crave more. Eventually you become numb to the highs in your quest to obtain bigger ones, forcing the highs to lose their meaning. This is actually how addictions work, but I’d rather not delve into that.
The second issue is losing the intent of the scene. I remember watching a video essay (which I can’t find anymore) that expanded on this, but the best action scenes progress the story in addition to being flashy. An action scene’s still a scene, and it should reflect that. By making the spectacle too lengthy, you risk the story being drowned out by the bang and boom. And that’s a problem.
I bring this up because the Vader and Luke fights tread the tightrope of issue number 2. They’re not long, they’re both a little over 2 minutes, but they don’t add to their respective stories all that much. The main events of Star Wars: Rogue One are practically wrapped up after the Death Star’s fired in the third-act, so this fight’s an excuse to add to the body count before awkward-looking Leia CGI says the final line. The battle with Luke’s cool, and it also ends on awkward CGI, but while it feels more in-line with everything than the Vader fight, it also only adds to the carnage count.
Basically, neither moment is “necessary”. It’s cool seeing Darth Vader being awesome, but that end-shot of him staring at the Rebel Cruiser could’ve sold us on the tension in less time. And with Luke’s fight, I can think of several possibilities that’d be equally as fitting. But I guess that wasn’t the intent, so…
I bring this up because the Vader and Luke fights tread the tightrope of issue number 2. They’re not long, they’re both a little over 2 minutes, but they don’t add to their respective stories all that much. The main events of Star Wars: Rogue One are practically wrapped up after the Death Star’s fired in the third-act, so this fight’s an excuse to add to the body count before awkward-looking Leia CGI says the final line. The battle with Luke’s cool, and it also ends on awkward CGI, but while it feels more in-line with everything than the Vader fight, it also only adds to the carnage count.
Basically, neither moment is “necessary”. It’s cool seeing Darth Vader being awesome, but that end-shot of him staring at the Rebel Cruiser could’ve sold us on the tension in less time. And with Luke’s fight, I can think of several possibilities that’d be equally as fitting. But I guess that wasn’t the intent, so…
I’m also numb to Star Wars doing fan-service like this because it’s been done already. We’ve even had a trilogy of films dedicated to it with a question that could’ve been answered with one movie. Sure, I liked those films, but what did they really do other than pad content? Especially the first one, which feels so detached from the rest of the franchise? If we were getting empty spectacle in 1999, then why does Star Wars keep doing it?
I’m not against this kind of spectacle. I like The MCU, despite most of it being spectacle. Even the Star Wars franchise has upped the game with Luke facing Kylo Ren, a scene that I thought was brilliant. But that’s exactly it: it had actual moments of character progression. It also came back to an earlier moment in the movie, it tied up Luke’s inner-conflict, it served a purpose in the story, it was unexpected, it wasn’t overly-long and it ended on a cool twist that progressed the franchise’s in a positive direction. I felt that more was accomplished with that one moment than most lightsaber battles in the entire franchise. And I liked most of those lightsaber battles!
A part of me feels like I’m becoming the “cynical, old coot” I hate, so I’ll say this: whatever issues I may have with these moments, I don’t begrudge people for liking them. I also recognize that Star Wars has done these fan-service-heavy spectacles well before, even dedicating an entire movie to fan-service. These moments are no exception, and I’m glad that they resonate with fans. So who am I to detract from that? What kind of person would I be to laugh at the enjoyment, especially when I did too?
I’m not against this kind of spectacle. I like The MCU, despite most of it being spectacle. Even the Star Wars franchise has upped the game with Luke facing Kylo Ren, a scene that I thought was brilliant. But that’s exactly it: it had actual moments of character progression. It also came back to an earlier moment in the movie, it tied up Luke’s inner-conflict, it served a purpose in the story, it was unexpected, it wasn’t overly-long and it ended on a cool twist that progressed the franchise’s in a positive direction. I felt that more was accomplished with that one moment than most lightsaber battles in the entire franchise. And I liked most of those lightsaber battles!
A part of me feels like I’m becoming the “cynical, old coot” I hate, so I’ll say this: whatever issues I may have with these moments, I don’t begrudge people for liking them. I also recognize that Star Wars has done these fan-service-heavy spectacles well before, even dedicating an entire movie to fan-service. These moments are no exception, and I’m glad that they resonate with fans. So who am I to detract from that? What kind of person would I be to laugh at the enjoyment, especially when I did too?
Nevertheless, I wish this wasn’t the only kind of spectacle that gets praised nowadays. Because I want more innovative and weighty action scenes. And I want these scenes to generate discussion beyond “This is cool!”. While the cool sequences might hit an immediate dopamine rush, the thematically-weighty ones stick with me more long-term. That’s what I desperately crave these days.
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