Why I Love Ewoks + Top 10 Star Wars Performances

Wily little Wicket and his gang

Get a great deal of undue hate

For being mischievous little cuties

In a tale of revenge and hate

And redemption coming round too late

But tonal inconsistencies aside

They're really quite the lovable critters

An established gang of tiny rogues

Who soothe the audience's jitters

For the Luke and Vader plot

'Return of the Jedi' I personally love

For more reasons than most, for I

Am dearly in love with the Ewok darlings

Will defend them till days nigh.

(Note: one per actor/character, so no overlaps)

Hon. Mention: Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor in The Phantom Menace, Ewan McGregor in Revenge of the Sith

Now I hesitate to mention these two actors because, although I don't hate the prequels as much as many seem to, they're certainly films that verge on the terrible in many regards. McGregor and Neeson in their depictions of their respective mentor figures, do their very best to invest the films with soe degree of conviction. Even if they don't wholly succeed, they do have some moments where the strength of their work can be very paltably felt, particularly by McGregor in Revenge of the Sith.

Hon. Mention: Sebastian Shaw, Return of the Jedi

An incredibly short one-scene wonder for sure but I'd like to talk about Shaw's performance as it really is quite the impressive one. Shaw reveals the tender inside, literally, under the Vader costume and brings such poignancy to the final farewell between father and son. It's a limited performance but it succeeds completely in earning the emotional conclusion of the film.

10. Billy Dee Williams, The Empire Strikes Back

I've always loved Lando Calrissian as a character. Dee Williams adds so much charm and energy into this Han Solo fodder that you really get to like his character, and earns his character's very quick redemptive arc through the film by his sympathetic performance. Nothing overly complicated but the fact that with minimal screentime and focus he makes Lando such an interesting figure deserving of a film of his own deserves quite a bit of praise.

9. James Earl Jones, The Empire Strikes Back

The sonorous, beautiful voice of James Earl Jones is one aspect of a great character, but equally important is the direction surrounding it, David Prowse' physical work, the costume, and of course the writing behind it which was simplistic in the first film but gradually developed into one of the most fascinating villains in film history. I don't wish to diminish the greatness of Jones' vocal work. Of course in terms of just 'acting' its restrained by the very nature of the character but nevertheless, Jones' vocal performance as Vader is a fabulous example of using such a grandiose and marvellously eloquent voice to convey such barbarity. His performance in The Empire Strikes Back is notably impressive in how he uses his voice to not only generate menace but also compellingly sell the twist. 

8. Ian McDiarmid, Return of the Jedi

There's a huge build up to his first proper appearance in Return of the Jedi and it's certainly worth the wait. A lot of the atmosphere generated by the character is again done with the whole getup and presentation of the Emperor, but beyond that McDiarmid is very effective in bringing a creepy menace and a knack for manipulation to the character that presents a very worthy foe for the trilogy's conclusion.

7. Carrie Fisher, The Empire Strikes Back

Her slightly off approach in A New Hope (where she was still quite good in ) rectified, Fisher gives a pretty great performance as Princess Leia in the sequel, doing a slight variation on the princess routine to show how years on the Rebel base have changed her as well as developing a very strong, moving chemistry with Harrison Ford's Han Solo that's very impactful.

6. Adam Driver, The Force Awakens

One of the things I was most impressed by The Force Awakens was the talent of young actors on display. I don't mention Oscar Isaac on this list but he's darned impressive in quite a small role as an incredibly badass pilot Poe Dameron, and Domhnall Gleeson is also quite impressive as basically an 21st Century Grand Moff Tarkin. Driver's portrayal of Kylo Ren, like Darth Vader, is also aided by the direction around it, the costume design and the presentation of the character, but that shouldn't take away from Driver giving a fantastic portrayal of the unique mindset of Kylo Renn as a villain. Driver's performance is daringly effective in that he's suitably intimidating, but also manages to convey some very human elements of Kylo through the frustrations and weaknesses of the Ben inside him. He also absolutely nails THAT scene.

5. Daisy Ridley, The Force Awakens

Ridley's Rey, in direct opposition to Kylo, is a more straightforward character, but none less fascinating for it. Her portrayal of Rey's toughness is well handled as you always feel it's not a facade, that would be inappropriate for the character, but merely her way of living. As the film progresses and she meets various characters like BB-8, Finn, and Han Solo who soften her up a bit, she never loses this toughness but rather adds to it with a strong emotional undercurrent.

4. Mark Hamill, Return of the Jedi

I've heard criticisms of Hamill's performance in the original trilogy but really, what is there to criticize? He's a bit whiny and annoying in the first film of course but that's the whole point, he's meant to show a character development over the films and Hamill does just that. Return of the Jedi is easily the highlight of the series for him as he perfectly balances the dark and light side of Luke, and ends up being very moving in the final scenes as he deals with his father's demise. I can't wait to see his performance in Episode VIII.

3. John Boyega, The Force Awakens

The dramatic and comedic core of The Force Awakens and I've heard a lot of criticism of this character, saying he's a 'wimp' and 'does nothing' and is a disgracefully useless character. Well I couldn't disagree more. Finn is a thoroughly engaging lead in The Force Awakens and Boyega goes beyond the call of duty in his approach to the character. He's surprisingly charming for sure - this and Attack the Block showcase such a wide range to his talents as an actor. Beyond that though he's also very good at generating chemistry with his co-stars, whether it be Ridley, Isaac, Ford, even anti-chemistry with the villains, and his ability to switch between his hilarious fast-talking routine and his dramatic moments is incredibly impressive. An unusually brilliant performance for such a character and I must say I can't wait to see the next step in this rogue Stormtrooper's journey.

2. Harrison Ford, The Empire Strikes Back/The Force Awakens

I can't decide which episode has my favourite performance of his as he's great in both in such different ways. In The Empire Strikes Back he's just so good and comfortable with being the ultimate badass hero of the film and helps invest the audience so much in every scene he's in no matter what he's doing, and has some great chemistry with Carrie Fisher. He might actually get a bit more focus in The Force Awakens by his very moving portrayal of an aged Solo who's looking for some sort of redemption and balances his usual endearing Han Solo coolness with a strong emotional core to the performance. For the timebeing I'll go with a tie.

1. Alec Guinness, A New Hope

Controversial to put a performance that could easily be argued as 'phoning it in' as the greatest Star Wars performance of all-time. Well all I can say is I disagree, firstly Guinness could phone in a performance and still give a great one, that's the sort of actor he was, secondly I absolutely love his depiction of Obi Wan/Ben Kenobi and genuinely think he did give investment into the role. He plays the kindly mentor to perfection, gives a strong sense of his character's past without much of it ever being really said onscreen, and in fact I think he's rather underrated in how much work he does and how much he succeeds in eastablishing the power and grandeur of the unseen force and the Jedi order through just the way he mellifluously delivers his lines. I'll admit that like Ian McKellen in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Russell Crowe in Man of Steel I'm a sucker for these sorts of wise old mentor roles, but anyway I'm not hesitatnt in bestowing mantle of top Star Wars performance to Sir Alec.