And, of course, I've been thinking about it a lot ever since (even drove right past my husband's work when I went to pick him up.... and he thought I was *joking* when I said I was thinkin' about SW!)
First, I agree with those who say that the acting and the dialogue are much improved in this film. It was one of my first comments when it was all over with, and it’s what I’ve told all the mundanes or muggles or whatever you want to call them who’ve asked me about the movie (heck, two people at my work, who are acting all excited about “Sith” said they never even saw Ep2 because they didn’t like Ep1). I have also defended the acting and dialogue in Episodes 4-6; it’s just amazing to me that people are suddenly criticizing the original trilogy. I didn’t have a problem with anything (well, a couple of scenes in “Jedi”, but hardly enough to say that all the SW films lack quality acting and writing).
I liked the opening sequence visually, but a lot of the time, Anakin & Obi-Wan's ships seemed to be flying a routine; I didn't feel like they were actually dodging other ships and blaster bolts "on the fly." (no pun intended) And speaking of puns, I had to hold back a laugh after Anakin cut off Dooku’s hands and killed him, then said he shouldn’t have killed an unarmed prisoner.
I was near tears throughout the movie, every time someone said or did something that we, the audience *knew* would push Anakin closer to the Dark Side. I wanted to should "Noooo" when Mace told Ani, basically, that he still wasn't sure he could trust him.
I wanted to see more of Padmé as a senator, and in reviewing the script on SuperShadow.com, I see that several scenes that involved her, Bail, and Mon Mothma were cut, perhaps because of complaints that Episodes 1 & 2 were “too political.” Other
Deleted scenes would have set up Anakin’s jealousy over Obi-Wan, which as it is, seemed to come out of nowhere.
I noticed the Falcon (or another similar stock light freighter) in the lower right part of the screen as Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Palpatine were returning to the Senate after the rescue from Grievous. In a way, though, seeing it kind of pulled me out of the movie for a moment.
Tim's been saying from the beginning that Palpy was going to turn out to be Anakin's "father" and apparently Palpy did create him. I almost wish he'd come right out and said it, though -- or that Anakin put two-and-two together (but does Ani know that he was an immaculate conception?).
I was surprised when Ani told Padmé he could defeat Palpy and they could rule the Empire together. Later, when I thought about it, it makes perfect sense -- Ani's been a slave his whole life, always having to call someone else Master -- and he just wants to run his own life for a change.
Another thing that isn’t clear in the film, I don’t think, is that Grievous is the Vader prototype. We only get a few close-up shots of the General’s eyes, showing they’re not droid eyes. I don’t get the cough, either; I don’t have access to television right now, so I missed Clone Wars 2 (I’ll get the DVD). I had thought maybe it was George’s attempt to show it’s a living being, not a droid. And maybe he likes a death stick after a good fight.
Bob Crane: I, too, hated to see Obi-Wan leave Anakin there to die in pain. If only Anakin had landed somewhere that Obi-Wan couldn’t get to, perhaps across a river of lava. Or if Obi-Wan had thought Anakin was dead and didn’t see him trying to pull himself up the lavabank. It just seems so cruel to leave him suffering.
Cine and I agree -- the "birth" of Vader was too rushed. Here's what I would've preferred -- the physical transformation takes at least a few months. During that time, he can sense that Padmé is alive. Padmé and Leia are in hiding with Bail; Obi-Wan has already taken Luke to Tatooine. During the time, as Vader gains strength, Padmé weakens and she dies of a broken heart. Leia has some time to "remember" her mother (though I don't have any memories from my first three or four *years*, we'll say it's The Force), so the line in ROTJ makes sense. And just as Vader's about to get mobility again -- he senses Padmé's death and does the freak out thing (which Tim said immediately should have been longer).
It disappoints me that Padmé lost the will to live when she had just given birth to two children; she should have wanted to live to take care of them. If she's going to die right away, it should have been from the injuries from Vader. It would have been the ultimate irony that in doing anything to save her, he ended up being the cause of her death. And how would killing Padmé have made him any more of a bad person than slaughtering the younglings?
Tim's major criticism goes back to the whole "midi-chlorian" explanation of the Force. In the second trilogy, Lucas created a religion and the Force was mystical. In the first trilogy, it's biological, and becoming an "angel" (as Ben did after ANH) is something you learn, not something you earn. And yeah, why didn’t we see Qui-Gon there at the end?
Jokabofe, I think R2 and 3PO have always been Abbott and Costello. I was just pleased they didn’t have the one-liners in this one that 3PO had in AOTC. I just wonder how Bail knew he could trust R2 not to say anything to anyone – obviously he wasn’t concerned with wiping R2’s memory banks. As for the banter during battles, I’ve never been in a war situation, but I work in the news business and when we have breaking stories, even tragedies, people make all kinds of joking comments. It helps relieve the stress.
Valin Kenobi, a lot of cineplexes use the same projector for multiple theatres, which would explain why the meltdown happened everywhere. Good thing they had an extra print lying around, or perhaps they just cut out the burned part and patched it. I heard about a problem with the 12:30 screening in Pensacola; thank goodness our screening went off without a hitch.
Herbert, I can see Anakin in the Vader suit in Episodes 4-6. The crying (mourning) will end soon, and he’ll simply be left with numbness, pain, and anger. To me, Ep3 explains why Vader was running around killing so many Imperial officers in ESB; he’s found out that his son is alive and he’s frustrated and angry because if he’d known that 20 years earlier, perhaps he could have changed his life. He feels more manipulated than he has in a long time. Or maybe I’m just reading too much into it. <G> (My husband said, too much is left to us fans to figure out or create our own explanations for.) I agree that the lightsaber fights are too fast – but that’s a complaint we have about many movie fight scenes these days. The fast-paced action that began with Ep4 has gotten more intense – every film wants to outdo its predecessors – to the point where you can’t tell what’s going on or appreciate the training and choreography that goes into a good movie fight.
Overall, I was very, very pleased with the film. I think it’s tied with “Empire” for second place (Ep4 will always be my favorite), and I might even like it a little better than ESB. I need to see it again. And again.
Show Posts