Thursday, November 12, 2015 15

R2-D2 Master Yoda hat is it that prompted the aster Yoda remains species United States Postal Service, indeterminate and looks like Win honour of Star Wars’ 30th Msomething the cat might drag in, but anniversary, to dot the country his lustre as the lovable font of all with an army of mailboxes Jedi wisdom is undimmable. He’s lived dressed as R2-D2? Well, 900 years, he must know something. obviously, he fits the (Although surely he was mortified that part from a physical so many of his former proteges went standpoint. over to the Dark Side, no?) But more than that, Artoo remains the most universally cherished character in the Star Wars pantheon and, Han Solo with the possible exception of Vader’s mask, its most hile not wanting to stir up the whole originals-versus- potent emblem, doing duty prequels debate, there is one simple factor that will in innumerable universes Wforever set them lightyears apart. Every kid in every playground far, far away from his own, from 1977 to this day could tell you the answer. He remains appearing in everything the difference between Star Wars and every other sci-fi from Sesame Street to mythos going. Raiders Of The Lost Ark to Every kid wanted to play him, not Luke . He The Simpsons. just made it all work. Surly, wisecracking, dismissive, a dab hand with a blaster, the best pilot-smuggler in the galaxy, and best friends with a Wookiee. Jedis can go hang - we’re with the cool cat in the Boba Fett waistcoat. t’s ironic, really. If it hadn’t been for Boba IFett’s remarkable rise from minor villain (11 scenes in original trilogy) to cult fan-favourite (1,180,000 Google results), then it’s arguable that we’d never have seen him reverse- engineered into a Kiwi kid (Daniel Logan) whose corruption was so conveniently sealed by his father’s decapitation in the prequels. Darth Vader he heroes of Star Wars spend the whole film squabbling, but Vader gets on with the job. TWith the weightlifter shoulders of Bristol’s Dave Prowse holding up the long black cape, the rich tones of Mississippi’s James Earl Jones making evil lines sound better than they are (“The plans you refer to will soon be back in our hands”) and costumier John Mollo providing that glossy black stormtrooper/samurai-helmet-cum-gas mask, Darth Vader is the visual and dramatic lynch-pin of Star Wars, the perfect balance for Alec Guinness’ tweedy, elderly goodie.