Posted on 06/06/2005 11:32:51 AM PDT by quidnunc
What can you say about a movie whose most engaging character is a two-foot tall, pointy-eared, green alien? "Star War III: The Revenge of the Sith" is heavy on special effects but sparse on drama, romance, and emotion.
It’s also filled with director George Lucas’s muddled thinking. And, yes, it’s science fiction in the service of Michael Moore’s worldview.
Despite its record-breaking opening, the last Star Wars installment is bad cinema, because it is a poor narrative. The light-saber duels are fun. The alien creations are cool. The attempts to portray passion or the corruption of the human spirit (how a man loses his soul) are pathetic.
In Christensen and Portman, Lucas has found a romantic duo who belong in a remake of "Beach Blanket Bingo." As Anakin Skywalker, Hayden Christensen is a sulking, pretty boy who scowls a lot and attempts to project angst. His transformation from the basically-decent-but-flawed Jedi Knight to the evil Darth Vader is Faust Light.
As former Princess, now Senator, Padme (Anakin’s secret wife), Natalie Portman seems perpetually bewildered. (A condition that probably results from reading too much Jedi philosophy — "Thus Spake Yoda.") Her expressions span the spectrum from looking moonstruck to being perplexed over her husband’s increasingly erratic behavior.
Then there’s Anakin’s less-than-credible conversion to the Dark Side of the Force. The sinister Chancellor Palpatine seduces our young Jedi by promising to give him the power to save his beloved wife from death (of which Skywalker has graphic premonitions). Then, in the climatic scene — believing Padame has betrayed him — Skywalker/Vader tries to strangle his pregnant spouse. "Luke, I’m your father — and I’m confused as hell!"
That’s about all the space the plot deserves.
-snip-
I loved Star Wars 4,5,6 --- have them, and watch them over and over.
When #1 came out, I went to see it - decided it way too childish.
I still haven't seen it a second time.
Haven't seen #2, or #3, and have pretty much decided I won't bother unless someone lends a DVD to me.
"Give up, Annikan, I have the high ground -- AND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FIVE MOVIES, it actually matters for something!"
It was fun like a roller coaster but way too poorly written. Anikan's fate actually made me laugh because it reminded me of the Black Knight from Monty Pyton and the Holy Grail. The simultaneous brith/reconstruction scenes were good, until Darth lumbered like Frankenstein's monster from the operating table. I know it must have been intentional, but it was very silly.
Sets and costumes were outstanding, but Al Pacino's Shylock needed a lot of work. But the DVD definitely warrants renting.
I agree with your post in every respect. It's a shame, really.
To me, it sounded like typical, star-struck, "I am so in love I can't straight and can't make a complete sentence" kind of love. It sounds hokey to everyone else but the couple themselves.
Anakin wasn't trained since birth. The Jedi didn't discover him until he was 9 or 10 years old (episode 1). If I remember correctly, the Jedi counsel thought he was already too old to be trained as a Jedi.
I think that's why they made Anakin a bit whiny, especially in Episode II. They wanted to explain where Luke got it from.
They are great entertainment and integrate nicely with 4, 5, and 6.
Unlike the rest of the movie ...
I'm going again tonight to see it!
I think I'll see it again (and again). Episode One is my least favorite and I was hoping Jaw Jaw Binks would be killed off in Episode Three. It is only the hubris of George Lucas that forced that detestable character on millions of viewers ...
So it took 20 years to build the first one, but only a year or so to almost finish the second?
Pray for W and Our Troops
Return of the Jedi is 4 "movie years" after A New Hope. So the reasoning could be that since the Republic's resources were exhausted after the clone wars, it took longer to build the first Death Star. When you build something a second time, you always get done faster and especially if you have more resources and technology.
It also looked like the new Death Star was only about half to 3/4 done too. So you could estimate it taking 3-4 more years to really complete it, raising the total to around 8-10 years for a complete rebuild. I think the continuity is fine regarding the Death Star.
"When you go from a mythical viewpoint to a merchandising one, it shows. "
The oddest thing is that clearly his reasons for not releasing the original trilogy on dvd are ego, since he is quite happy to merchandise-promote just about anything for money.
I agree totally! In fact, some of the best lines from that movie are from his improvements :
Princess Leia : "I love you!" Han Solo : "I know!"
He did that because Fisher kept flubbing up the moment/line (because of her drug addiction) and he just asked Kirshner if they could just simplify the whole dialogue that had been previously written. It was a brilliant move in my opinion.
Ford really should be a writer/director, rather than an actor though. He, too, has gone off the deep end in recent years.
Ahem.
what does adoption have to do with not being able to formulate a decent relationship????
a happily adopted child,
Alkhin
Other than that, everything else you said is right on the money!!
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