We’ll concede that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker wasn’t perfect. But let’s be honest: with what J.J. Abrams had to work with, he still made a satisfying and enjoyable film. After the recent leak of the supposed “Trevorrow script” however, fans are now wondering which version would have been better. The truth is that no one will ever know, since Colin Trevorrow never made his film. What we do know, though, is that had he made the film, we would have been deprived of the pint-sized perfection that is Babu Frik.
“Who are you hanging out with that speaks Sith?” Zorii Bliss asks of Poe Dameron incredulously as we’re introduced to the droid expert on Kijimi. Once again Star Wars introduces another tiny, endearing, alien species of unknown origin with The Rise of Skywalker. We don’t know what Babu Frik is other than amusing and adorable. Poor Threepio; knowing he’d lose his memory was bad enough. But…. We couldn’t help but chuckle at Babu’s comical presentation of the fact:
“Droid, eh, memory go Bleh. Bleh bleh.”
Babu Frik: alien comic relief done right
With Babu Frik, J.J. Abrams got right what even the father of Star Wars got so terribly wrong. Throughout the Star Wars franchise aliens and droids have often served as vehicles of comic relief. But as the name of the story-telling device states, that comedy is meant as a relief from heavier, more dramatic scenes. Instances of comic relief should generally be subtle, and only as frequent as necessary. Lucas threw that notion out the window with Jar Jar Binks, and it failed miserably. Jar Jar to this day remains one of if not the most hated character in all of Star Wars.
Babu Frik, on the other hand, was spot-on when it came to comic delivery and, well, cuteness. How popular the little fella will ultimately be remains to be seen. Right now The Child (a/k/a Baby Yoda) from The Mandalorian seems to hold the title as cutest thing in Star Wars. We’ll see what happens when The Rise of Skywalker makes its way to home video. In the meantime, enjoy the video above, over and over.
For more information on Babu Frik and The Rise of Skywalker, head on over to starwars.com.
