On The Precipice of Mediocrity, Teetering
|
|
|
| I Am John's Stomach Pains. On The Precipice of Mediocrity, Teetering |
|
|
|
|
Thursday, May 19, 2005 Star Wars Thoughts: Devoted. Apologist. Empty. Before I get to my thoughts on Star Wars Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith, let me make it clear how much Star Wars means to me. Aside from E.T. and Time Bandits, it's the one clear movie-going experience I remember from childhood. Episodes 4-6 are the foundation of my geek-hood personality. I absolutely love them. I love the characters. I love power converters. I love frickin' Ewoks. Move on to the release of Episode I, and I remember waiting in line at midnight with my boys, my double-edged lightsaber in hand. I caught it three times in the theater, and absolutely loved it every time. Hell, I wasn't even turned off by Jar Jar. Episode II, I liked even more, mostly for the subtlety throughout, the believable transition of Anakin to the dark side. So yes, I was one of the "deluded apologists" many people called people who didn't hate the flicks. So now, we come to Episode III. My expectations were a bit higher than my excitement for the flick... I think it may've been the realization that this was my last midnight outing to a Star Wars movie. I will say though, my emotional state was probably even more hampered by recent events. Because of last weekend, I ended up going to the flick alone, already a strike against me. It was raining the entire time I waited in line (got there about 2 hours early, let in an hour later). My softball game had just been cancelled. Hell, even the 10-minute preview of Batman Begins that aired after Smallville last night didn't get me too jazzed. I will admit that this combination might've impacted the experience. I'll try and keep this kinda spoiler-lite. Most of you will be seeing it this weekend, so no reason to go into the big events just yet... Apologies on the scattershot-ness of this, I'm sure to forget stuff... In the words of Buffy Anne Summers, the entire time I was watching the flick, I just felt like I was going through the motions. I was hootin' and hollerin' with the crowd during the title sequences (hell, even during the THX blipvert). The opening space battle was meant to marvel the audience with the effects and direction, and I went along. I tried to soak in everything that was going on, leaning in my seat with the fun camera movements. R2-D2 gets to shine in very funny ways in the opening battle, and yeah, that was awesome. I cheered along with the rest, because hey, that's what's expected. But, in the back of my mind, I'm thinking that there's a bunch of people dying out there, why are we making jokes? Then, the ultimate geek-sorespot: I begin questioning the space-physics of scenes. A space-ship tilts down in space and a bunch of people begin slipping down? Maybe I'm a bit rusty on what inertial dampeners are supposed to do, but... nevermind, that's just really geeky... but I was already finding problems with a universe I always took for granted. Still, fun beginning. The Count Dooku fight was a bit annoying, except for the fact I love seeing the Jedi/Sith use their Force powers on opponents. I think what annoyed me, though, was how ineffectual Obi-Wan appears. Also, we see the first hint that any subtlety that was in Ian McDiarmid's performance in Ep. II has completely vanished. More on his hamming later. When we get to Coruscant, I begin getting even more frazzled. Throughout the movie, the weakest scenes (IMHO) are whenever Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman are together. While I happen to like their interaction in Clones, here their love holds nothing for me, no chemistry, no believability. We're told of events in their past that were all about their love for eachother, but we don't see anything between them, aside from jealousy and blindness. This also has bearing on another part of the movie that I hated, and that's Anakin's transition to the dark side. The genius of Ep. II was that it appeared there wasn't going to have to be a catalyst; Anakin always had Vader inside of him. But here, it's almost like Lucas thought his message wasn't dumbed down enough for the audience (which is saying alot), and he needed a sympathetic excuse. This catalyst was not needed: Anakin always wanted power and respect and control. That should have been enough. I'll stick with the transition for a moment, because it also deals with another facet that I found grating, and that was The Emperor. At no point am I scared of him. Hell, I don't even respect him. The first two movies dealt with the careful machinations of Palpatine, the genius that went into everything he did... but here he comes off as the worst Bond villain of all time. I know McDiarmid went with an acting choice to duplicate the raspiness of RotJ, but his repetition of lines form that flick didn't make me smile... it made me feel this guy doesn't have much material. Still, on a positive note, the fight scene between Yoda and The Emperor was fantastic, and how imagine most Jedi/Sith battles should be. Lightsaber duels are all good, but these guys have the ability to control objects (theoretically of any size, but as in Clones, Yoda seems to struggle with big objects here razzum-frazzum), so you'd imagine they'd be throwing shit around everywhere. Yoda on a whole impressed me, the effects were flawless... alot of the time, you just see him as any other actor... even better than Gollum for me. The Order 66 scene, the scene everyone's been waiting for since the Clone War began, did not live up to my expectations. Aside from the fact that the greatest warriors in the universe could be picked off my a few stormtroopers, let alone taken by surprise, disappointed me. I was expecting a Scorched Earth approach, raze the entire area, take out a few dozen clones to get at the Jedi. Also, the Jedi Temple scene ended at the wrong place. I understand that children are watching this movie, but when we are talking about one of the greatest villains of all time committing the ultimate atrocity... we, as an audience, need to see that. Speaking of scenes we've waited for, is The Duel. Props to Christensen and McGregor for putting on a stunningly awesome fights, easily one of my favorite match-ups. However, the fight was hampered by being set in a completely CGI environment. Also, Obi-Wan's speechifying did nothing for me, aside from his screeching of "you were the Chosen One!" In fact, I personally think this was Ewan McGregor's weakest performance of the prequels. Sure, he didn't have great dialogue to work with, but even Hayden was able to bring his stilted words to life. Before I wrap this up, I do want to say one think about the score, and say that this is the first time John Williams didn't blow me away at least once with the music. Both of the prequels had that one definitive scene that showcased his skills (the Darth Maul duel in I, and the Anakin vs. The Sand People in II), but here, I can't say I remember the score doing anything for me... not even the occasional Imperial March. If I could pick out my favorite part of the movie, though, it would be the final 15 minutes. George Lucas actually creates an impressive intercutting finale centering on death and rebirth, and bridges prequels to the originals very well (although the "mindwipe the protocol droid" line was kinda ham-fisted to please the true geeks). I will give the movie this compliment: it definitely makes me want to rewatch Episodes 4-6 again to get a new appreciation for the Empire and Vader. Plenty more to discuss... yes, I will be seeing it again, no self-respecting geek can see these flicks only once in the theater. But for now, I can only say I was very disappointed. 2 out of 5 stars. Oh, and how do I rate the others. Off the top of my head: Ep. I: The Phantom Menace - 3 stars Ep. II: Attack of the Clones - 3 and a half stars Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith - 2 Stars (1 and a half if not for the ending) Ep. IV: A New Hope - 4 and Half Stars Ep. V: Empire Strikes Back - 5 Stars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi - 4 Stars (what can I say, I like Ewoks) posted by Holz | 11:45 AM | Rant & Rave, Bitches! (4) 4 Comments:
In hind sight I agree with you almost completely... I definitly have the obligatory geek sentament of it was awesome but I did have the same problems you did. Anakin/Padme relationship was a sham never had any feeling, acting on both parties was horrid.
By Agree. I liked the display of emotional power, but I would've even accepted an "AAAGGGGHHH!!!" over the "Nooooo!"
By Huzzah, my first blog spam!!!
By
Of all the prequels, I liked this one the best--it was fast paced, and dark, and there was some real emotion to it. Much better than Episodes I and II. The dialogue was still clunky, but that's always been a problem with Lucas. The battles all worked for me, which is rare. The hammy Emperor was good, too. He's like Superman…or someone as iconic as Superman, but evil. I don't want someone on that level to dial it down. I want to watch him and think, "Oh no, it's HIM."
By |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||||
|
"Let a man get away with fuckin' you once, you stay bent over so's he can fuck you again whenever he damn well pleases. An' if one man can do it? Another will too. An' another, an' another still. So's being fucked, that's yer life. 'Til who you were, you ain't. 'Cause all you are is an asshole." 100 Bullets #42 | |||||
