Star Wars: Am I Getting Too Old?
With friends like mine, I count myself truly fortunate. One works at a movie theater. Occasionally, he gets me into movies before they open... the folks at theaters watch the films early to spot any flaws with their print just in case they need a substitute print shipped out ASAP. I saw re-edited version of "The Exorcist", "Spider-Man", "Spider-Man 2", the first Harry Potter film, "Fellowship of the Ring" this way... to name a few. I always try to show a little extra gratitude considering these are typically big-deal films that any number of his friends would want to go see.
This is also how I saw "Attack of the Clones" three years ago... which I disliked. Somehow, I had a bad feeling about it during the opening titles. Last night, I also had a bad feeling... from the very first word of the scroll:
(Updates to follow... as I remember more.)
UPDATE: 12:10 PM, Friday June 10, 2005
Since my initial viewing I've returned twice... once on opening weekend with a friend (we agreed to see it at least a week before) and last Saturday with my nephew (hard to pass up a movie with that kid).
Since that time I've also put James Lileks on The List for his Bleat on Revenge of the Sith. He makes enough comments that seem fair enough... however, he also seemed to like it too much. (Keep in mind, I like it well enough... I just can't love this movie.)
The use of "War!" and the comment that there are "heroes on both sides" in the scroll still jars me. How is that even possible? The Republic fights with the Jedi and a vast clone army... so to say they have heroes doesn't bother me. (The use of clones as disposable soldiers is questionable, but I can easily accept that the Republic has heroes.) In the other corner we have the Seperatists backed by various bankers, trade groups, and apparently some evil CEOs. They also have Count Dooku... and we know he's evil. They also have General Grevious... a half-droid. He must be evil... he wears a cape and coughs. (That's in the rules... those are signs of evil folks.) The Separatists use a vast droid army... no real free-will, they just follow orders. Darth Sideous instructs everyone from Dooku, the banking clan, the strange aliens (who don't fight), and the droids by the chain-of-command. Where are the heroes? They have no people fighting the war... only machines. Point out the heroes, George.
Probably a glib comment to suggest that there are no absolutes, no good and evil, no right and wrong... unless it's George Bush.
Now, the seisure-inducing space battle sequence at the beginning. George, just because you can render all of that movement... doesn't make it helpful to your film. It is too much to look at and watch. Occasionally, he tries to focus your attention... which helps a lot. It should serve to actually tell the audience where the heroes are, and it doesn't really do that enough. George did it well in Star Wars... we saw it very well done in Empire... even Jedi and Phantom Menace has well crafted battle sequences. This was better than the horrible, confusing, and boring battle sequences in Clones... but that's damning with faint praise. ;)
Lileks likes it and even he uses the word "overkill". Of course, I can live with this radical space roller coaster sequence.
The first time I saw the film I really enjoyed the beginning. However, each viewing since has left me less entertained. The spaces between the fun scenes (action sequences and the Chancellor/Anakin scenes) seem longer and longer.
The final battle really doesn't have enough -wow- in it. The choreography might have been great, but you couldn't see it. Earlier, I mentioned it was due to the darkened look (could be the red, too) and the similar lightsabre colors... actually, that might not be as big a factor as I originally thought. Like the lightsabre duels in Attack of the Clones, Lucas uses too many tight shots and close-ups. In Phantom Menace he wasn't afraid to use a long shot, or even a couple of extreme long shots... and you really got a nice look at the graceful sword fighting. The duel in Revenge of the Sith felt more gritty, but we should have seen more of that with more medium and long shots.
Lileks claims this new duel is without peer. He is high. The Qui Gon/Obi Wan/Darth Maul duel is without peer. Anyone who disagrees cannot be taken seriously. My good friend (who I saw Sith with my second time) is quick to remind me that the intensity in the duels from Empire and Jedi still packs an emotional punch... and he is right. They both trump the Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith duels since they provide a great climax for Empire and Jedi... neither Phantom or Clones or Sith have that kind of climax with the duels... but at least Phantom looks good, is exciting, and finally makes you think that the Jedi are the musketeers of sci-fi/fantasy.
Lileks, of course, is right on point when it comes to Anakin's abrupt transition to evil. (Whoops, I don't mean evil... I should say a different point of view. Whatever, George.)
More later. ;)
This is also how I saw "Attack of the Clones" three years ago... which I disliked. Somehow, I had a bad feeling about it during the opening titles. Last night, I also had a bad feeling... from the very first word of the scroll:
"War!..."What? How lame is that? Was George Lucas trying to write bad? I understand his Star Wars films consist of many cliches and archetypes... but they used to be fun, they had flair, they had panache, a twinkle in the eye. You know. "War!" Why not continue with, "Huh! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing. Say it again!" Perhaps in Yoda-speak, "War! Hmmm? What good for is it? Again, say it!"
- R2-D2 doesn't just fly (like in Clones), but he jumps, hops, and gets into a droid brawl.
- As cool as General Grevious is, he's a cyborg... and while the concept of a half-droid provides great potential, none of it is used. He might as well have been an alien monster with four arms. In fact, the character hardly makes any impact, other than a mildly interesting design, in the film at all.
- The story potential for the droids was wasted. In "A New Hope" (that's "Star Wars" to non-geeks), droids appear to be second-class citizens... slaves even. They have no status, they are mere property, and are treated with suspicion. We can now see this is obviously from the wars with the droids, but why not do something with it?
- Anakin sees the Jedi Council as evil... but the clumsy dialogue points out that this is merely his point of view. Obi-Wan also stresses his point of view, but it leads him to believe that the Chancellor is evil. Aw, shucks kids... if this is all a simple misunderstanding then what's all the fighting about? Everyone's okay... no one is wrong, every opinion counts. Utter crap.
- The political ax that Lucas desperately wants to grind against the current Bush administration is also clumsy and annoying. Other blogs mention this gripe, and it's worth noting, but it's merely a minor point for me considering the lack of passion in the entire last half of the film.
- Using the Wookiees was pure pandering merely to satisfy all the geek's who hate the Ewoks and wanted a Wookiee battle in the "Return of the Jedi". If they had been used for more than a short battle scene, I might have been impressed. Instead, I was merely distracted for a minute or two. Gee... thanks, George.
- Obi-Wan's duel with Anakin/Darth Vader... it couldn't live up to the expectations. That's fine, but perhaps there should have been some adjustments to the lightsabre colors. Some of the duel action was so quick it was hard to determine what was going on... and a separate color for each lightsabre might have helped. A small point, I admit. However, the duel's finale was anticlimactic in the extreme... Obi-Wan vents at his evil former pupil, but lets him go. He doesn't just let Anakin die... a Jedi would kill an evil opponent, and at the very least end a former friend's suffering. However, Obi-Wan watches for a little while and then turns away. What an ass. Perhaps Obi-Wan couldn't bring himself to slay the young apprentice who he loved as a brother... but then why could he let him sink back into the lava and get consumed by flame? It didn't even look cool. As I remember, Obi-Wan showed little regret or remorse or guilt in the scenes that follow.
- The terrible homage to Frankenstein and his Creature at the end of the film. I love the Brooks/Wilder film "Young Frankenstein", but Star Wars doesn't need more Peter Boyle... unless the Peter Boyle element involved George Lucas getting an ass-whooping.
- More Crouching Jedi-Hidden Sith acrobatics from Yoda... again George, just because it looks cool and because you can do it doesn't mean it should be done. It doesn't feel like Star Wars. I'm not even sure it's cool to see Yoda fight like this. Less is more. Lucas should have given the cool fight sequences to Mace Windu before he snuffs it.
- Speaking of which, how can you have Samuel Jackson in three of your films and only give him one real fight sequence... and not a particularly great fight sequence? It was not bad... but he never really seemed to get action that was worthy of Sam Jackson. Damn, Lucas... you spell "cool" with the letters S-A-M J-A-C-K-S-O-N. Everyone knows that. Give him the cool stuff!
(Updates to follow... as I remember more.)
UPDATE: 12:10 PM, Friday June 10, 2005
Since my initial viewing I've returned twice... once on opening weekend with a friend (we agreed to see it at least a week before) and last Saturday with my nephew (hard to pass up a movie with that kid).
Since that time I've also put James Lileks on The List for his Bleat on Revenge of the Sith. He makes enough comments that seem fair enough... however, he also seemed to like it too much. (Keep in mind, I like it well enough... I just can't love this movie.)
The use of "War!" and the comment that there are "heroes on both sides" in the scroll still jars me. How is that even possible? The Republic fights with the Jedi and a vast clone army... so to say they have heroes doesn't bother me. (The use of clones as disposable soldiers is questionable, but I can easily accept that the Republic has heroes.) In the other corner we have the Seperatists backed by various bankers, trade groups, and apparently some evil CEOs. They also have Count Dooku... and we know he's evil. They also have General Grevious... a half-droid. He must be evil... he wears a cape and coughs. (That's in the rules... those are signs of evil folks.) The Separatists use a vast droid army... no real free-will, they just follow orders. Darth Sideous instructs everyone from Dooku, the banking clan, the strange aliens (who don't fight), and the droids by the chain-of-command. Where are the heroes? They have no people fighting the war... only machines. Point out the heroes, George.
Probably a glib comment to suggest that there are no absolutes, no good and evil, no right and wrong... unless it's George Bush.
Now, the seisure-inducing space battle sequence at the beginning. George, just because you can render all of that movement... doesn't make it helpful to your film. It is too much to look at and watch. Occasionally, he tries to focus your attention... which helps a lot. It should serve to actually tell the audience where the heroes are, and it doesn't really do that enough. George did it well in Star Wars... we saw it very well done in Empire... even Jedi and Phantom Menace has well crafted battle sequences. This was better than the horrible, confusing, and boring battle sequences in Clones... but that's damning with faint praise. ;)
Lileks likes it and even he uses the word "overkill". Of course, I can live with this radical space roller coaster sequence.
The first time I saw the film I really enjoyed the beginning. However, each viewing since has left me less entertained. The spaces between the fun scenes (action sequences and the Chancellor/Anakin scenes) seem longer and longer.
The final battle really doesn't have enough -wow- in it. The choreography might have been great, but you couldn't see it. Earlier, I mentioned it was due to the darkened look (could be the red, too) and the similar lightsabre colors... actually, that might not be as big a factor as I originally thought. Like the lightsabre duels in Attack of the Clones, Lucas uses too many tight shots and close-ups. In Phantom Menace he wasn't afraid to use a long shot, or even a couple of extreme long shots... and you really got a nice look at the graceful sword fighting. The duel in Revenge of the Sith felt more gritty, but we should have seen more of that with more medium and long shots.
Lileks claims this new duel is without peer. He is high. The Qui Gon/Obi Wan/Darth Maul duel is without peer. Anyone who disagrees cannot be taken seriously. My good friend (who I saw Sith with my second time) is quick to remind me that the intensity in the duels from Empire and Jedi still packs an emotional punch... and he is right. They both trump the Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith duels since they provide a great climax for Empire and Jedi... neither Phantom or Clones or Sith have that kind of climax with the duels... but at least Phantom looks good, is exciting, and finally makes you think that the Jedi are the musketeers of sci-fi/fantasy.
Lileks, of course, is right on point when it comes to Anakin's abrupt transition to evil. (Whoops, I don't mean evil... I should say a different point of view. Whatever, George.)
More later. ;)
Labels: Movies
posted by Badda at
9:45:00 AM
