Revenge Is Sweet, Indeed
Well, now that it's all over I feel that I should probably have an opinion on what has transpired. Fortunately, I do! And not only that, the folks over at TheForce.net have kindly written down my review for me. Their sentiments are mine, basically.
Overall (to get it out of the way), Revenge Of The Sith was awesome. Then again that's what I thought the first time I saw Attack Of The Clone and that opinion has changed. But I'm optimistic that my view of Episode III will stick. In fact I'll go so far as to say that this is one of the better movies of the saga.
It would be hard for me to rank the films, but:
Episodes IV (New Hope), V (Empire), and III (Revenge) are awesome.
Episode VI (Jedi) and I (Phantom Menace) are good/okay.
Episode II (Clones) is... watchable.
How darest I put Phantom Menace above Clones? Well... because frankly I think (despite what a lot of Lucas bashers would have you believe) that it works as a movie. As one reviewer put it, it just suffered from an out-of-place, cartoony vibe and some irrelevant plot elements (midichlorians, prophecy of the chosen one). They're not bad elements, just... not touched on at all in the original trilogy. And interestingly, doesn't the chosen one prophecy kind of add to the fantastical side to the story, where midichlorians kind of take away from it? Overall, I rate Ep. I as an okay movie with some sweet moments (podrace, Obi-Wan vs Darth Maul).
Attack of the Clones was really awesome the first time I saw it it, but suffered with each rewatching. It really has to do with Anakin and Padme's romance. It just... doesn't feel right. First off, I just can't feel that it's a healthy romance. It seems to me that she's a woman in a vulnerable situation who grabbed onto a supporting person (probly didn't hurt that he was a hunka-hunka-hotness, either... I guess). Anakin had an infatuation with a fantasy (built from a similar situation, with the feelings of attachment changing in nature as he grew up) that just happened to work out. My guess is that they never really got far enough in life to really let the problems in that relationship make themselves readily apparent (what with them getting married right as interstellar war was breaking out, forcing them to be apart often). But I dunno... I've never taken any sort of education in actual psychology, but this is how I view things right now. In the end, though, I just skipp through all of Anakin's parts. And the movie suffered from anything like a proper lightsaber duel. Well, there was Yoda vs Dooku... but that felt more like.. the dessert duel. Where's the meat-n-spuds?
THE AWESOME
- General Grievous. Cool design, cool voice, sweet name. He was actually the primary reason I wanted to see this film. I saw him when he made his original debut in Clone Wars on Cartoon Network and that had me psyched. Unfortunately this had me anticipating his windmill-lightsaber move rather than be surprised by it. And, I can't remember, did he ever hold a lightsaber with his foot in the film?
- General Grievous' getaway in the beginning. Finally, someone notices that all of those windows are a rather hazardous barrier between a person and the open vacuum of space. - The opening long panning shot and ensuing space battle.
- I saw the Millenium Falcon.
- The newly appointed Lord Vader striding into the Jedi Temple with his army of stormtroopers, er, clonetroopers following in rank.
- The immolation scene, with Obi-Wan screaming at Anakin. At first I thought, "Well... help him!", but I realized why he couldn't.
- The Jedi Purge montage.
- The Blockade Runner from Ep. IV. I was like "Hey, it's the Blockade Runner," when I first saw it. But then, when it cut to the interior, with that luminous white, I was jazzed. We have arrived.
- Padme giving birth and dying while Vader receives his armor. There was just more art in the way this film was handled than in the other two (especially in Ep. II). I like it so much that I'm not even going to make that Mastercard joke I thought of for that scene.
- General Grievous. Again. He is one bad mammajamma.
THE GOOD
- When Obi-Wan and Anakin duel on Mt. Doom, uh, I mean Mustafar, over the One Ring, um, I mean the fate of the galaxy.
- Obi-Wan's noble steed. It's call grew on me.
- "Code 66." Obvious symbolism, but still nice.
- Hayden Christenson's acting was a bit better this time around. I hate to say it, but there's just something about his voice that takes away from his performance.
- I like the simple drumbeat score used in the very beginning.
- Ewan McGregor acting.
- The real feel of being in transition between the prequels and the original trilogy.
- That scene where Padme and Anakin look across the city at each other with the female vocalist singing in the soundtrack.
- Minimal Jar Jar. I, for one, don't hate Mr. Binks. It's just, again, that he's out of place.
- Death Star and Grand Moff Tarkin at the end.
- Bruce Spence's cameo (he was the vampirey guy). I could totally tell it was him. But in a good way.
- I actually kinda liked the Wookiee Tarzan-yell ala Jedi. In fact, I liked it better here than there.
- Padme's funeral.
THE BAD
- Natalie Portman's acting. I blame Lucas.
- Is it just me or did everything happen too fast? Or maybe that has something to do with how the pressure built up on Anakin so that he had to do something.
- I don't know if this is actually bad plot or not, but it just seems to me that Anakin went full-blown evil right away and that he should have had more of a progression. I mean, you have "I shouldn't do this!" *decapitate* "I shouldn't have done that..." in the beginning, but what I'm really thinking of is when Anakin officially turns to the dark side and kills the "younglings." "Hey! Padme got so huggy-lovey-dovey the last time I murdered-not-just-the-men-but-the-women-and-children-too, I wonder if it works twice in a row? Well, heck, then it's 'women and children first,' as they say..." This is why I think there actually needed to be four prequels (or for Ep. I to be handled differently). Anakin just needed more time to turn dark side.
THE UGLY
- Darth Vader's "Nnnoooo-o-o-o-o...!!"
- This never actually happened, but was anyone else fearing in the dark places of their heart that Chewbacca would have a little boy with him going, "Get 'em, Chewie! Get 'em! I'm Han Solo! Get those Separatists! Fire!"
THE DISAPPOINTING
- I was kind of looking forward to a shot of Grievous without his armor on, but ol' Obi-Wan just toasted him. In fact, we needed more Grievous, period.
- I (and everyone else) wanted a longer battle with the Wookies on Kashyyyk, darn it! I mean, that looked really cool, with the fog and the forest and the stuff. I mean, it's that classic disappointment of "what you see in the trailers is basically all you get."
- I kind of wanted to see more of Bail Organa, but what we got was okay.
- The ending shot. I don't want the ol' iris-out to just feature the Lars'! Yeah, Luke was sort of there, but still...
- Yeah, yeah, I wanted Boba Fett to come back and disintegrate Mace Windu, like every other fan it seems like. While some people might think it to be a tad dark for a thirteen year old to off someone in such a manner, it would fall right in line with the mood of this film. And I guess we didn't really have any other important jedi to do the attempted execution of Palpatine with that would have had such an emotional impact. (Hey, I like Samuel L. Jackson as a jedi).
- Grievous really does lose his two extra hands way too early in his Obi-Wan duel.
- John Williams' score. It does work well as a transition between the two trilogies, but still, there's no grand theme, like "Duel of the Fates" for Ep. I or "The Imperial March" for Ep. V. General Grievous had a cool theme, though. A dynamic piece that reinforces that he isn't the cold, brooding type of bad guy, he really is the kind who "revels in villainy." I bet he has a twirl-able mustache behind that mask.
- Yoda: "Guess what, Obi-Wan? Back, your old buddy Qui-Gon in glowy-force-ghost form is! *turns to the audience* Not see him or learn any more of this will you. Heck, still wondering why some of us disappear when we die am I."
- I'll probly never get my Gonk-Droid jedi... Against an Astromech sith? Come on...
Anyway... Two thumbs up. Way up. Feel free to disagree with me on absoultely anything here. Probly lots of stuff I missed, too.
And, hey, wanna know why General Grievous was wheezing when he first showed up? Show you, this cartoon will. I had to mess around a little to get it to work (try hitting the "settings" button). It'll take a little while to watch.
And who else is waiting with many hopes and dreams for that Star Wars TV series that's been talked about?
Overall (to get it out of the way), Revenge Of The Sith was awesome. Then again that's what I thought the first time I saw Attack Of The Clone and that opinion has changed. But I'm optimistic that my view of Episode III will stick. In fact I'll go so far as to say that this is one of the better movies of the saga.
It would be hard for me to rank the films, but:
Episodes IV (New Hope), V (Empire), and III (Revenge) are awesome.
Episode VI (Jedi) and I (Phantom Menace) are good/okay.
Episode II (Clones) is... watchable.
How darest I put Phantom Menace above Clones? Well... because frankly I think (despite what a lot of Lucas bashers would have you believe) that it works as a movie. As one reviewer put it, it just suffered from an out-of-place, cartoony vibe and some irrelevant plot elements (midichlorians, prophecy of the chosen one). They're not bad elements, just... not touched on at all in the original trilogy. And interestingly, doesn't the chosen one prophecy kind of add to the fantastical side to the story, where midichlorians kind of take away from it? Overall, I rate Ep. I as an okay movie with some sweet moments (podrace, Obi-Wan vs Darth Maul).
Attack of the Clones was really awesome the first time I saw it it, but suffered with each rewatching. It really has to do with Anakin and Padme's romance. It just... doesn't feel right. First off, I just can't feel that it's a healthy romance. It seems to me that she's a woman in a vulnerable situation who grabbed onto a supporting person (probly didn't hurt that he was a hunka-hunka-hotness, either... I guess). Anakin had an infatuation with a fantasy (built from a similar situation, with the feelings of attachment changing in nature as he grew up) that just happened to work out. My guess is that they never really got far enough in life to really let the problems in that relationship make themselves readily apparent (what with them getting married right as interstellar war was breaking out, forcing them to be apart often). But I dunno... I've never taken any sort of education in actual psychology, but this is how I view things right now. In the end, though, I just skipp through all of Anakin's parts. And the movie suffered from anything like a proper lightsaber duel. Well, there was Yoda vs Dooku... but that felt more like.. the dessert duel. Where's the meat-n-spuds?
THE AWESOME
- General Grievous. Cool design, cool voice, sweet name. He was actually the primary reason I wanted to see this film. I saw him when he made his original debut in Clone Wars on Cartoon Network and that had me psyched. Unfortunately this had me anticipating his windmill-lightsaber move rather than be surprised by it. And, I can't remember, did he ever hold a lightsaber with his foot in the film?
- General Grievous' getaway in the beginning. Finally, someone notices that all of those windows are a rather hazardous barrier between a person and the open vacuum of space. - The opening long panning shot and ensuing space battle.
- I saw the Millenium Falcon.
- The newly appointed Lord Vader striding into the Jedi Temple with his army of stormtroopers, er, clonetroopers following in rank.
- The immolation scene, with Obi-Wan screaming at Anakin. At first I thought, "Well... help him!", but I realized why he couldn't.
- The Jedi Purge montage.
- The Blockade Runner from Ep. IV. I was like "Hey, it's the Blockade Runner," when I first saw it. But then, when it cut to the interior, with that luminous white, I was jazzed. We have arrived.
- Padme giving birth and dying while Vader receives his armor. There was just more art in the way this film was handled than in the other two (especially in Ep. II). I like it so much that I'm not even going to make that Mastercard joke I thought of for that scene.
- General Grievous. Again. He is one bad mammajamma.
THE GOOD
- When Obi-Wan and Anakin duel on Mt. Doom, uh, I mean Mustafar, over the One Ring, um, I mean the fate of the galaxy.
- Obi-Wan's noble steed. It's call grew on me.
- "Code 66." Obvious symbolism, but still nice.
- Hayden Christenson's acting was a bit better this time around. I hate to say it, but there's just something about his voice that takes away from his performance.
- I like the simple drumbeat score used in the very beginning.
- Ewan McGregor acting.
- The real feel of being in transition between the prequels and the original trilogy.
- That scene where Padme and Anakin look across the city at each other with the female vocalist singing in the soundtrack.
- Minimal Jar Jar. I, for one, don't hate Mr. Binks. It's just, again, that he's out of place.
- Death Star and Grand Moff Tarkin at the end.
- Bruce Spence's cameo (he was the vampirey guy). I could totally tell it was him. But in a good way.
- I actually kinda liked the Wookiee Tarzan-yell ala Jedi. In fact, I liked it better here than there.
- Padme's funeral.
THE BAD
- Natalie Portman's acting. I blame Lucas.
- Is it just me or did everything happen too fast? Or maybe that has something to do with how the pressure built up on Anakin so that he had to do something.
- I don't know if this is actually bad plot or not, but it just seems to me that Anakin went full-blown evil right away and that he should have had more of a progression. I mean, you have "I shouldn't do this!" *decapitate* "I shouldn't have done that..." in the beginning, but what I'm really thinking of is when Anakin officially turns to the dark side and kills the "younglings." "Hey! Padme got so huggy-lovey-dovey the last time I murdered-not-just-the-men-but-the-women-and-children-too, I wonder if it works twice in a row? Well, heck, then it's 'women and children first,' as they say..." This is why I think there actually needed to be four prequels (or for Ep. I to be handled differently). Anakin just needed more time to turn dark side.
THE UGLY
- Darth Vader's "Nnnoooo-o-o-o-o...!!"
- This never actually happened, but was anyone else fearing in the dark places of their heart that Chewbacca would have a little boy with him going, "Get 'em, Chewie! Get 'em! I'm Han Solo! Get those Separatists! Fire!"
THE DISAPPOINTING
- I was kind of looking forward to a shot of Grievous without his armor on, but ol' Obi-Wan just toasted him. In fact, we needed more Grievous, period.
- I (and everyone else) wanted a longer battle with the Wookies on Kashyyyk, darn it! I mean, that looked really cool, with the fog and the forest and the stuff. I mean, it's that classic disappointment of "what you see in the trailers is basically all you get."
- I kind of wanted to see more of Bail Organa, but what we got was okay.
- The ending shot. I don't want the ol' iris-out to just feature the Lars'! Yeah, Luke was sort of there, but still...
- Yeah, yeah, I wanted Boba Fett to come back and disintegrate Mace Windu, like every other fan it seems like. While some people might think it to be a tad dark for a thirteen year old to off someone in such a manner, it would fall right in line with the mood of this film. And I guess we didn't really have any other important jedi to do the attempted execution of Palpatine with that would have had such an emotional impact. (Hey, I like Samuel L. Jackson as a jedi).
- Grievous really does lose his two extra hands way too early in his Obi-Wan duel.
- John Williams' score. It does work well as a transition between the two trilogies, but still, there's no grand theme, like "Duel of the Fates" for Ep. I or "The Imperial March" for Ep. V. General Grievous had a cool theme, though. A dynamic piece that reinforces that he isn't the cold, brooding type of bad guy, he really is the kind who "revels in villainy." I bet he has a twirl-able mustache behind that mask.
- Yoda: "Guess what, Obi-Wan? Back, your old buddy Qui-Gon in glowy-force-ghost form is! *turns to the audience* Not see him or learn any more of this will you. Heck, still wondering why some of us disappear when we die am I."
- I'll probly never get my Gonk-Droid jedi... Against an Astromech sith? Come on...
Anyway... Two thumbs up. Way up. Feel free to disagree with me on absoultely anything here. Probly lots of stuff I missed, too.
And, hey, wanna know why General Grievous was wheezing when he first showed up? Show you, this cartoon will. I had to mess around a little to get it to work (try hitting the "settings" button). It'll take a little while to watch.
And who else is waiting with many hopes and dreams for that Star Wars TV series that's been talked about?
posted by Jeff at 11:19 PM
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