Obligatory Star Wars III post
This post contains spoilers, but fercrissake, it's Star Wars. Even if you haven't seen it, you more or less know what happens, and in any case, who could possibly CARE? To reiterate, it's Star Wars.
Yeah, okay. Much as it pains me to admit it, Revenge of the Sith wasn't that bad. For the FIRST half it was certainly as horrendous as you'd expect (the dialogue between Anakin and Padme was if anything even more risible than in the last one), but then, against all reason, I started to get drawn into it, when Anakin aligns himself firmly with Palpatine and the anti-Jedi pogrom begins. And there's no point in trying to nitpick: the duel on the lava planet was just damn cool.
I have to admit that Hayden Christensen was good; the actual acting may be merely passable, but towards the end, he's mostly just required to glower ferociously, which he does quite well. And Ewen MacGregor, as ever, was the highlight.
If it had finished on a strong note, I would be forced to concede that the film overall was genuinely, really GOOD, but fortunately(?), that didn't happen. After the climactic battles were over, Lucas demonstrated an unfortunate compulsion to set absolutely EVERYTHING up for the original movies, taking the wind out of whole thing's sails. He doesn't do it well, either; you would hope that seeing Anakin in the Vader suit for the first time would be super-dramatic, but it turns out to be a distinct disappointment. Seeing Dark Samurai Man going "NOOOOOOOO!!!" after being told his wife is dead just looked damn silly. And can I further note that it was obvious in Return of the Jedi that unmasked Vader was so deformed-looking *because* he'd been wearing the suit for so long, not the other way round? Also, if they HAD to have "he was burned" as their explanation, couldn't they at least have had him actually get submerged in the lava instead of just sort of spontaneously combusting due to the heat? That would have been a lot more effectively horrific. Yes, realistically, that would be instantly fatal, but the keyword here is "realistically." As I may have already mentioned, this is Star Wars we're talking about here. Final complaint: what the hell was the deal with Yoda's "oh, by the way, I'll show you how to talk to Dead Jedi Man From Episode I?" That was bizarre.
Still and all, it's a minor miracle that it even had ELEMENTS of goodness. Hurrah.
Yeah, okay. Much as it pains me to admit it, Revenge of the Sith wasn't that bad. For the FIRST half it was certainly as horrendous as you'd expect (the dialogue between Anakin and Padme was if anything even more risible than in the last one), but then, against all reason, I started to get drawn into it, when Anakin aligns himself firmly with Palpatine and the anti-Jedi pogrom begins. And there's no point in trying to nitpick: the duel on the lava planet was just damn cool.
I have to admit that Hayden Christensen was good; the actual acting may be merely passable, but towards the end, he's mostly just required to glower ferociously, which he does quite well. And Ewen MacGregor, as ever, was the highlight.
If it had finished on a strong note, I would be forced to concede that the film overall was genuinely, really GOOD, but fortunately(?), that didn't happen. After the climactic battles were over, Lucas demonstrated an unfortunate compulsion to set absolutely EVERYTHING up for the original movies, taking the wind out of whole thing's sails. He doesn't do it well, either; you would hope that seeing Anakin in the Vader suit for the first time would be super-dramatic, but it turns out to be a distinct disappointment. Seeing Dark Samurai Man going "NOOOOOOOO!!!" after being told his wife is dead just looked damn silly. And can I further note that it was obvious in Return of the Jedi that unmasked Vader was so deformed-looking *because* he'd been wearing the suit for so long, not the other way round? Also, if they HAD to have "he was burned" as their explanation, couldn't they at least have had him actually get submerged in the lava instead of just sort of spontaneously combusting due to the heat? That would have been a lot more effectively horrific. Yes, realistically, that would be instantly fatal, but the keyword here is "realistically." As I may have already mentioned, this is Star Wars we're talking about here. Final complaint: what the hell was the deal with Yoda's "oh, by the way, I'll show you how to talk to Dead Jedi Man From Episode I?" That was bizarre.
Still and all, it's a minor miracle that it even had ELEMENTS of goodness. Hurrah.
posted by GeoX, one of the GeoX boys. at 5:31 PM
