Gary Varner

Gary Varner is a Science Fiction and Fantasy enthusiast with a bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts, and he spends his time working and raising his daughter who he suspects will one day be president of the United States. For more reviews as well as serial novels, go to www.garypaulvarner.com to read more.

Archives

Star Wars: The Force Awakens — Science Lessons vs. Story Rules

_{In Part 14 of my extended review of The Force Awakens, we look at the problem that unanswered practical questions creates for the audience}_{Gary Varner
September 26, 2026}

Special effects are not worthless but they are second-tier when it comes to storytelling.

The Force Awakens Review Part 13

_{When she touches the lightsaber, she receives a vision}_{Gary Varner
September 19, 2026}

The particulars of this vision aren’t really important because they are just a bunch of teases that are disappointing but what is important is the number of questions raised around it.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 12

_{It’s a philosophical position to assume that a story’s goal should be to portray events as realistic}_{Gary Varner
September 12, 2026}

The fact is genres carry a philosophical worldview; they can’t help it

Star Wars – The Force Awakens: Review Part 11

_{Maz is basically saying that the light and the darkness are always rising up in different forms}_{Gary Varner
September 5, 2026}

The Force offers power, and, to maintain that power in a non-destructive manner, one must learn virtues and not give in to temptation.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 10

_{Flying a ship and fixing a ship are two different skills}_{Gary Varner
August 29, 2026}

Flying a ship and fixing a ship are two different skills. They were able to patch the ship up well enough, but they couldn’t take care of the problem with the hyperdrive by themselves, which is why they went to Lando in the first place.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review, Part 9

_{Three films’ worth of character development has been undone}_{Gary Varner
August 22, 2026}

Han tells Leia directly that he is in this for the money, not the revolution, which is not something a typical sleazy character would say.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Part 8

_{The coincidences here are huge and glaring}_{Gary Varner
August 15, 2026}

Rey’s piloting skills start out rough, but before long she’s weaving through a downed star destroyer with ease.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 7

_{Rey offers Finn her hand, and he takes it}_{Gary Varner
August 8, 2026}

The TIE fighters would make sense if the pilots knew someone was going to fly off the planet, but they have no way of knowing that.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 6

_{Star Wars isn’t science fiction, it's science fantasy}_{Gary Varner
August 1, 2026}

The point behind the “boy on a farm” trope is that the character must grow into the role of hero.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 5

_{Science fiction often has various characters describing different social or philosophical positions}_{Gary Varner
July 25, 2026}

There are plenty of flawless or powerful characters in storytelling. Sherlock Holmes has flaws, but he is powerful in the respect that his intellect is unparalleled, and his character has defined a genre of storytelling.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 4

_{Finn finds himself alone, so he begins stripping off his armor as he wanders the desert}_{Gary Varner
July 18, 2026}

I can’t recall a single time where an entire movie, let alone a trilogy, is completely driven by such choices and coincidences.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 3: Meeting Poe

_{Once someone watches this film multiple times, questions stack up remarkably fast}_{Gary Varner
July 11, 2026}

Several ships are descending to this planet, and inside them are stormtroopers waiting to attack.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 2

_{During the title crawl, the writers’ entire goal was to reset the board so they could essentially tell the same story all over again}_{Gary Varner
July 4, 2026}

The whole reason the sixth movie was called Return of the Jedi was because it was assumed that Luke would train more Jedi, and this is an audience expectation, and the title crawl is surgically destroying such expectations.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review Part 1

_{Gary Varner
June 27, 2026}

The main problem with The Force Awakens is that it’s the most strategic—and by that, I mean cynical—films I’ve ever seen.

Disclosure Day Destined to Disappoint

_{The idea that Spielberg was attempting to destroy Christians’ faith using aliens was overstated}_{Gary Varner
June 20, 2026}

God would be the God of them too, but of course, this statement begs the question of what could be considered human-like, and that is a conversation unto itself.

YouTubers V The Mandalorian

_{I can’t remember the last time there have only been two or three seats remaining in a theater}_{Gary Varner
June 13, 2026}

YouTubers are quickly replacing the A-list celebrities, and while I’m surprised to see the studios going along with this trend, I’m not at all disappointed, and, for the first time in a long time, I’m hopeful for the future of entertainment.

AI: Artificial Intelligence Review Part 13: What is Value?

_{Ducks do not debate the existence of God, nor do they build skyscrapers}_{Gary Varner
June 6, 2026}

Let’s say robots were to become sentient, humans would still be the cause of that consciousness, even when they began to self-replicate, their understanding of the world would still come from humanity.

AI: Artificial Intelligence Review Part 12

_{The story is not talking about how to determine reality as a whole, it’s really attacking human exceptionalism}_{Gary Varner
May 30, 2026}

Ideas like love, beauty, and so on are part of the human experience because humans sense them; they don’t always agree on the particulars, but they intuitively know that these ideas exist.

AI: Artificial Intelligence Review Part 11: Along Came the Glitter Bots

_{It’s boring and pretentious to the point of being obnoxious}_{Gary Varner
May 23, 2026}

Spielberg fails to understand that obsession is not love, and if David were really human, he would know that.

AI Artificial Intelligence Part 10: Mocking Descartes

_{The philosopher was trying to establish how a man can know whether or not he exists}_{Gary Varner
May 16, 2026}

Whenever David talks about Monica loving him, he’s always bringing up the things she’ll do for him, not what he can do for her.