My good friend and colleague Jeff Michael Vice (who is a sometime contributer to Big Shiny Robot! as Jerkbot) now writes for MSN’s Parallel Universe site.  His first article for MSN was “10 Stupid Ways to Kill Evil Aliens” and for the most part it’s a well-written, tongue-in-cheek look at the idiotic ways aliens have been killed in films.

Sadly, though, my friend misses the mark with his sixth entry on his list with the death of Boba Fett and then uses the occasion to insult the prequels:

The helmeted, armored Fett already barely got to see any action in “Empire” (all he does is collect the vacuum-packed Han Solo for Jabba the Hutt). Here, he’s accidentally bumped by the temporarily blinded Han (Harrison Ford). This bumbling somehow activates Fett’s jet pack, and he’s propelled into the Pit of Carkoon, and into the mouth-like aperture of some giant beastie called the Sarlacc. As he’s pulled into the Sarlacc’s maw, we’re told he’ll be slowly digested. A worse fate than having to watch the prequels again.

I have a few sizable complaints about this entry being on the list.

First, Boba Fett isn’t an alien.  At best, he’s a clone.  Sure, he’s Mandalorian, but he’s still essentially human.  He’s not exactly evil, either.  There’s a difference between being a mercenary working for the highest bidder and being evil.

Secondly, as any overzealous follower of the expanded entries in Star Wars knows, Boba Fett didn’t meet his demise in the belly of the Sarlacc.  Mr. Vice knows enough of his geek history to have gotten these right.

My last complaint is the subtle jab at the prequels.  Sure, anything is better than being slowly digested over a thousand years, but to insinuate that it’s only marginally better than the prequels?  For shame, Mr. Vice.  For shame.  Especially since during your tenure as a film critic, you gave each of the prequels positive reviews (3 out of 4 stars).

Having said that, this entry does highlight why Boba Fett isn’t as cool of a character as people make him out to be.  He does very little and is foiled by a blind guy with a stick.  Not a very badass villain in my opinion.  We have much cooler villains in the Star Wars universe who we can admire for their coolness, but Boba Fett isn’t one of them.  Cool armour does not a bad ass make.

Having said that, you should regularly read the work of Jeff Vice on MSNs Parallel Universe, and watch his movie reviews with The Big Movie Mouth-Off. He’s a great guy and deserves your support, despite his amateur understanding of Star Wars.