I know all the "real" Star Wars people have already posted their reviews, but here I go, late as usual. I promised myself I was not going to see the new Star Wars as I had been so deeply offended by the previous two episodes (Gotta love the Buffy where Andrew says "I'm bored. Episode 1 bored"). However I kept hearing how this last installment was much better so I decided to break my promise to myself (which was obviously broken along with the "I will spend less time watching Buffy" promise). So here's my take on what was hopefully last movie that Lucas will ever direct.
Star Wars: Episode III
- I could, in all honesty and without my usual tendency towards hyperbole, crap better dialogue.
- The special effects were nifty - fun to watch.
- I was not quite as offended by the characterization of Yoda as I was during the other two movies.
- It does wrap up the series nicely and fills the info gaps we had about the first trilogy.
- The main problem with the movies that I identified from the beginning was still there: Lucas had the opportunity to make a great tragedy, a tragedy of Shakespearean and Greek proportions: the fall of a hero. It would have rendered these episodes as classic and as essential as the previous trilogy of the epic battle between good and evil. Lucas had the opportunity to yet again use a genre film to explore huge and mythic issues. However, in order for a tragedy to actually be a tragedy, you have to care what happens to the hero, you have to feel for him, you have to be upset by his fall into darkness. Because of the way this movie was written and directed, no one gives a shit about Anakin - you care a small amount about what his fall does to his wife (but not much because the dialogue between the two is always just laughable) and somewhat more about what it does to Yoda and Obi Wan, but no one gives a shit about Anakin, he's a totally unsympathetic character. The whole baby scene, it was dark, but people were upset by it because the thought of the action itself was disturbing and not so much by the fact that it was beloved Anakin doing it.
Should you pay theatre money to see it? I guess so, as it's still (like the other two) pretty much just a special effects movie and has no real depth to it, so the big screen is the only way you'll be able to see past the worst dialogue in the world and the poorly directed acting. And despite my ranting - which occurs because I cared so much about what he did with this - it's actually a fun movie to see, unlike the other two, so in that sense it is an improvement.
Star Wars: Episode III
- I could, in all honesty and without my usual tendency towards hyperbole, crap better dialogue.
- The special effects were nifty - fun to watch.
- I was not quite as offended by the characterization of Yoda as I was during the other two movies.
- It does wrap up the series nicely and fills the info gaps we had about the first trilogy.
- The main problem with the movies that I identified from the beginning was still there: Lucas had the opportunity to make a great tragedy, a tragedy of Shakespearean and Greek proportions: the fall of a hero. It would have rendered these episodes as classic and as essential as the previous trilogy of the epic battle between good and evil. Lucas had the opportunity to yet again use a genre film to explore huge and mythic issues. However, in order for a tragedy to actually be a tragedy, you have to care what happens to the hero, you have to feel for him, you have to be upset by his fall into darkness. Because of the way this movie was written and directed, no one gives a shit about Anakin - you care a small amount about what his fall does to his wife (but not much because the dialogue between the two is always just laughable) and somewhat more about what it does to Yoda and Obi Wan, but no one gives a shit about Anakin, he's a totally unsympathetic character. The whole baby scene, it was dark, but people were upset by it because the thought of the action itself was disturbing and not so much by the fact that it was beloved Anakin doing it.
Should you pay theatre money to see it? I guess so, as it's still (like the other two) pretty much just a special effects movie and has no real depth to it, so the big screen is the only way you'll be able to see past the worst dialogue in the world and the poorly directed acting. And despite my ranting - which occurs because I cared so much about what he did with this - it's actually a fun movie to see, unlike the other two, so in that sense it is an improvement.
1 Comments:
i agree with what you say. This part of a review made me laugh out loud:
"In boringness he [McGregor] is matched by that Jedi master of woodenness: Hayden Christensen, the flatliner to end all flatliners. As an actor Christensen must show the terrible embryo of future wickedness within himself. And how does he do this? By tilting his head down, looking up through lowered brows and giving the unmistakable impression that he is very, very cross. If Princess Diana had gone to the Dark Side, she would have looked a lot like this."
you can read the whole review here, which is a fun read: http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_Film_of_the_week/0,4267,1482359,00.html
k-lo
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