Star Wars
May 19, 2005 :: Movies & TV ::
Tonight was a good night. Good friends, good food, good times. I got a little tipsy, and went to watch the last installment of Star Wars. Several thoughts on the movie, so I shall play Star Wars geek wannabe for a moment, and list them.
Likes:
- The Anakin/Vader physical transformation was played off pretty well.
- They used the correct voice for post-mask Vader.
- Padmé’s character was minimal, but played well.
- Chewbacca was snugly fit into the movie.
- Yoda’s character was not as over-the-top as he last movie, but he still kicked booty. Plus, he’s cute and cuddly.
- The crossover at the ending, which would trail into “New Hope” if you were watching it per timeline, would be nearly flawless.
- Palpatine was damned scary.
- Senator Organa was one of my favorite characters in the movie. The acting was flawless, Organa seemed to actually have a personality instead of seeming like a robot (no offense 3P0), and I really like Jimmy Smits as an actor at any rate.
Dislikes:
- Acting was particularly stiff at times, namely for Anakin (more on that later) and Windu.
- Speaking of Windu, I thought that he was as useless in this movie as the last. I see the necessity of having that role, but the way it was played out made him seem entirely pointless, and devoid of the respect that having his power and position should merit. I think they should have either played up his power a bit more, or replayed the entire turning of Anakin to the dark-side.
- Anakin’s turn to the dark-side of the Force was not emotionally cataclysmic enough for my taste. It seemed rushed at best, hollow and nonchalant at first glance. I would have preferred that the decision be a little more gut-wrenching, a little more sad and a little more dramatic. He seemed no more concerned about turning to the dark-side than he would have been if he had stubbed his toe.
- Anakin seemed dense, not all that powerful, and gullible. It was far too easy for Palpatine (What is the deal with these names that sound like something a doctor would do to you?) to convince Anakin to turn. I think Vader-to-be must have done a little rock-paper-scissors with R2 to decide what to do. Maybe not, though, since R2 does not have any hands. Hmmm..
Overall the movie was watchable, and I was actually able to stay awake for it, in spite of it being about 6 hours past my bedtime. Thanks to my boss for buying tickets for all the employees to attend.
Off to bed for a couple hours of sleep!
Cheerio!
PS: I lost 4 more pounds. Yay!
Comments
3 Responses to “Star Wars”
Leave a Reply
I agree about the turn to the Dark Side was being rushed, but Anakin was so drained emotionally that he didn’t have enough in him to resist. You also need to consider that with a movie that is 2.5 hours long, pacing is everything. Now if they could have cut… well I’ll get to that in a minute.
I disagree with you on Windu. He was the enforcer on the Council and was where Anakin’s distrust in the Council starts. Also, he is the best lightsaber wielder that there ever was. Did you notice that he had a much easier time dealing with Palpatine than Yoda did(though the Yoda fight was better)?
Anakin wasn’t dense, he was confused and in a total mind fuck through that whole movie. You throw that much shit at someone and they are going to crash, which is exactly what happened.
2 things I disliked:
Multiple lengthy montages. The Jedi death scene was a bit overdone. Seriously now, do we really need 10 mintues of everyone on the council getting there own death scene!?! If you cut the Jedi and Baby scenes in half then that could have netted 10-15 minutes to add toward Anakin’s fall into the Dark Side.
Inheriant Predictablity. Unfortunately there wasn’t much that could be done since he made 4-6 first. We all knew what was going to happen to a degree. These movies were about the details, and Yoda getting to kick ass! But predictablity does take away the suprise. Watching the movie, for me, was more about wondering “WHEN it would happen” as opposed to “IF it would happen”.
I’ll give the a 6 overall because I will probably always skip the montages. I would recommend seeing it once in the theater, and if you got a 6 or better also then buy it if you have the money. Seriously, this is Star Wars we are talking about. Lucas could have literally shit on some film and named it “Star Wars Episode 26: Temple of the Last Crusade” and people would still buy it for the tag. (Wonder if anyone will get the reference)
Oh, one more thing that pissed me off. How does someone that wields 4 bloody lightsabers get there ass kicking that badly!!
Grevious could have been so much better.
So disappointing….
Thinking beyond what you see on the screen, then yes, I agree that it would screw Anakin up enough that he would be gullible, but I just did not like the way he was portrayed…as if it was all just a walk in the park.
Also, the Yoda vs. Palpatine scene was trying too hard on the mini-monologue that Yoda threw out, don’t ya think? I just wanted to tell Yoda to shut up and fight. :)
I liked the montages.