Star Wars the spoiler-y review

[trinityvixen]

The Revenge of the Sith is easily the best of the three prequels, which isn't saying much but is no less true. I don't know why everyone puts this on a level with The Return of the Jedi though it could be close. In terms of annoyance, I've never had any problem with the Ewoks or the yub-yub song, whereas with Sith I definitely hated all the love scenes and basically anything having to do with Padme Amidala.

The things I loved:
--It's all about Obi-Wan, bay-bee. I'd like to think I'm not biased just because it's Ewan, though I probably am. Still, I was appreciating his Kenobi for reasons other than aesthetics (Ryan Reynolds' recent films aside, I like my men shaved). I think his story is the most absorbing and unfulfilled, not Vader's. Vader is ultimately redeemed and purged of his sins. Obi-Wan, though negligent and perhaps not the best teacher in the world, had his heart always in the right place and still lost much he held dear. The scene with Anakin apologizing to him for his brashness was one of the best Hayden Christiansen had--you could almost feel how much it must hurt Anakin's pride to be able to humble himself thusly. Obi-Wan's reception of it was a tad formal, an innocent mistake of too low enthusiasm and encouragement that probably haunts him for the next twenty years as he watches Luke mature.

--On the heels of that last bit, I like that Obi-Wan doesn't set out to kill Vader. It bothered the crap out of me that Mace Windu decided to execute Sidious, something which Anakin tells us point-blank is NOT the way of the Jedi after he kills Dooku (though he is less upset by the murder than he is with himself for breaking another rule on impulse). Obi-Wan goes to find Anakin and rescue him, even after he's seen what he did to all the Jedi, even the younglings (this term alternately cracks me up and makes me want to cry in light of the tragedy). That Anakin jumps to the conclusion that Obi-Wan has manipulated him and turned his wife against him is utterly believable because Obi-Wan is so heart-breakingly calm, the opposite of the impassioned Sith Anakin has become.

--The final scene in the movie. One of the most visually and aurally iconic scenes in all of sci-fi, let alone Star Wars is that of Luke standing in the twin sunset of Tatooine. Right then, the music crescendoed beautifully, the lighting was brilliant, and it was perfect for being only a slight reminder of the extra-terrestrial nature of this opera. For Sith to end with Owen and Beru Lars holding up Luke to the sunset was genius. It may seem like a derivative allusion to the first trilogy, like the constant repetition of "I've got a bad feeling about this," but this is not the case. I see it as a deep and involved hint of what's to come for Luke and why he does not end up like his father. Obi-Wan and Yoda both have been shown to be not the best teachers when it comes to passionate, impulsive, gifted students (given their respective failures with Dooku and Anakin). The Lars' influence is part of a tripartite father figure that forms the male role model for Luke. Anakin is the biological father that provides the raw skill and talent; Owen Lars is the caring, down-to-earth parent who imparts morals and sense of duty; Obi-Wan Kenobi is the educator and teacher who shapes the pupil into the man. The retrospective Owen and his wife, staring at the sunset unsure of the dawn, is a metaphor for their struggles to come and a sad reminder their fates.

--The reconstruction of Anakin as Vader. At last, it makes sense. I never understood or tried to find any explanation for Vader's particular problem, though given the thickness of his suit, it should have been obvious that he was basically wearing a burn victim's protective stocking. The mask as a breathing mask, and its alterations to Vader's senses, this is all brilliant.

--Yoda. Y-O-D-A. Yo-yo-yo-yoda. However you want to say it, Yoda is amazing and fun and you can see some of the crazy old creature that shows up in Empire. Love you, Yoda.


Things I Didn't Like: (I could make this 'things I hated,' but I wasn't really in hate with much except the aforementioned love-affair nonsense)

--That Obi-Wan not only let Anakin be burned but cut off his limbs was a bit more of a surprise and an unnecessary one at that. To his credit, Obi-Wan warned Anakin against his final move, though his warning was probably indecipherable in battle language. When he told Anakin not to press the attack, it seemed more like a plea for Anakin not to force Obi-Wan to kill him, and a weak plea it was at that, since Anakin seemed to have various advantages over Obi-Wan as a warrior (youth, passion, innate skill, and fierce desire to win). The maiming wasn't as awful as it might have been because the various limbs being hacked off at every opportunity dulled the effect. The burning was awful, and that Obi-Wan did not prevent it was horrid. He could easily have force-pulled Anakin up and left him, mutilated but otherwise unimpaired, and left him to his fate. It seemed like it was a selfish desire of Obi-Wan's to see the man he knew literally burned away--so if they ever met again, remembering that Anakin was foe would be easier.

--The resolution of Padme's fate. She dies like a Victorian heroine--complications from childbirth (perhaps the reason the Jedi aren't allowed to breed? Somebody tell Han and Leia...). It's fucking ridiculous, a far-too-easy out for a character who'd become useless except as a barometer of shock to judge Anakin's obviously outrageous, unacceptable behavior. In my head, I believed that Lucas would find a way to reconcile Padme with the line from Jedi where Leia says she remembers her mother being sad. It seemed like it would add to the believability of Anakin's swap for the dark side if Padme abandoned him for another man, saying that Leia was actually Bail Organa's. There were hints that something like this was influencing Anakin, particularly in his jealousy/mistrust of Obi-Wan. (not that I blame him--I wouldn't want my wife getting cozy with Ewan McGregor either if I were a fugly man-boy slut like Hayden Christiansen). I think it would add to Vader's ability to stop caring about anyone if Padme were around as a living reminder of the fact that all had turned against him first and that even someone he would never betray had turned on him. As it stands, Padme gets wiped out for the sake of convenience and Leia's bittersweet memory is rendered less potent for being related about a character who has no lines and is only ever seen once (contrast Mrs. Organa's non-entity as a parental figure, and Bail Organa's too for that matter, with the care and attention given Luke's patronage, and you start to understand that Lucas, like Tolkien really just has no idea how to effectively use women).

--The throw-away mention of Qui-Gonn. If he's not appearing, don't mention him. If it's essential for some never-to-be-made movie that explains Obi-Wan's time in the deep desert of Tatooine, save it for the eventual novelization. If there's anything worse than a deus ex machina, it's one that's mentioned and not even ever used.

--Dooku's death. Why even bother getting poor Christopher Lee out of bed for third movies any more? He got bupkis in the theatrical version of The Return of the King and he gets to look upset about possibly losing his head to a kid whose father wasn't even born when he was in his hey-day...before he does lose it.

--Obi-Wan being knocked out but otherwise uninjured by Dooku. A floor practically falls on his legs, but he's just got a bump on the noggin and he's fine...? WTF?

I think that's it.

The first three movies have led people to say that Star Wars is Anakin's story. I disagree. I still say it's Luke's story. The prequels show the innate personality problems that Luke is born to combat, the gap between the prequels and the originals contain the formative years, and the originals track Luke's final maturation. If anything, Star Wars is a study of history. The sins of the father and all that are a bit overwraught but still very effective. If the prequels contributed anything, I'd say they made Mark Hamill's Luke much more stomachable. Just think: he could have been Hayden Christiansen. Imagine the awkward performances they could get if they filmed the Mara/Luke courtship...sooooo glad Luke and Leia ended up siblings. Harrison Ford does romantic lead sooooooo much better.

Other than the excessive commentary above, I think I'm more or less resolved to this. The best that can be said of Episode III is that I have an absolutely burning itch to watch the originals again. In mood, it matched to Empire which was then the one I wanted to watch most, but I'd watch Star Wars: A New Hope with new eyes. That's never been my favorite (I will watch Jedi if given a choice), but if I could see the interaction between Vader and Obi-Wan again, especially Obi-Wan's death in front of Luke, I bet I'd just cry. Their interaction was probably the best thing going about Sith, and to see how the new movie infuses the old, reserved confrontation will be just heart-breaking. Must get my hands on the old VHS...

Comments

[infosatyr.livejournal.com]

*meekly* well...i liked it *blush*

...but i think the best was that the last thing that you got to see what right before the mask closes you see the most impressive thing. You see fear and uncertianty in his eyes. thus trying in beautifully with the whole "father you still have some good in you" comment....but it also explains why it was kind of a i am trying to be good i am trying to be good i am trying to good...look ma! I am a sith transition. I dont think he ever went all the way over to the dark side. But rather you get the impression that he did it all for Padme, only to realize he more or less killed her (no good deed goes unpunished is a good summary for all 6 movies). I mean seriously, if my best friend/father figure/mentor cut off my legs and left me burning alive and I killed the only person i truely loved thinking it was going to save her I think i might end up having some issues as well. Wouldnt you?

And let me say this....mad props to R2D2....i just wanted to bring him home with me and attach him to my car :)
and also props to the 4 lightsaber weilding, like i told darryl who thought it was WRONG that one guy with shiney pointy could beat a machine with four shiney pointies...and all i can say it was a beautiful show of what one man with the force can do against somebody who was trained who did not have the force in him. At least it was for me, and anybody who says anything like that is implausable, let me say this, so is the rest of the movies...lets not get picky

*disclaimer: this post is made by hands down the most ignorant person when it comes to starwars, i have only seen EACH movie once...*

[droidguy1119.livejournal.com]

About your opening comment regarding Return of the Jedi -- I have always disliked it not for the Ewoks, but for the fact that it just plain feels like a 95-minute movie stretched to fit a 120-minute timeframe. Everything in the movie feels so dragged out...

Those who think Jedi are the best are scary. The Empire Strikes Back is definitely the best...

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

Just a note - Leia's line in RotJ is a screaming incontinuity. It can't possibly refer to Mrs. Organa. Luke asks her if she remember her "mother, [her] real mother," ie Padme Amidala. So this means that Leia has memories of Amidala from the first minute and a half of her life. Damn, those Jedi abilities really enhance the memory.

[arcane-the-sage.livejournal.com]

...I like my men shaved

LOL, that just sounds so much like an American Pie statement =-þ


As for the Anakin getting torched scene, part of me believes that it may have been Obi-Wan's intervention that caused him to get burned in the first place. Assuming it wasn't just bad film making; did you notice in both the before and after scenes that Anakin was a few feet away from the lava flow? It was only just before he was set ablaze that he was really close to it. One could make the argument that it was Obi-Wan's use of the force that brought Anakin in contact with the lava. Of course this line of thinking comes with it's own can of worms, however if it was a sub-conscious expression of Obi-Wan's inner turmoil (after all Jedi are suppose to keep there emotions in check to prevent the force from getting wonky).

[viridian.livejournal.com]

So, I thought that Hayden Christensen very nearly didn't suck, except for in scenes with Padme. He was fairly decent everywhere else. I think I've said to a few people that I like the idea of these movies more than the execution of them, and that goes for the characters, too - Anikin could have been ten times as interesting with better writing and a better actor, but the same general plot. I also think that they could have picked someone a little more attractive - Hayden Christensen looks too dorky in 90% of his scenes, and manages to look hot pretty much only when he's got the hood of his Jedi cape up and you can imagine him as someone better-looking. But I guess they had to pick someone who could have conceivably fathered the whiny, dorky Luke. Meh.

I also remember feeling this awful sense of dread during the lava fight - you know they both have to survive to be in later episodes, but as soon as they started fighting over the lava, I knew that something awful was going to happen to Anikin, because it finally occurred to me that his Vader costume served a purpose other than badassedness, and I was still shocked by how extreme the mutilation was. I didn't even realize that Obi-Wan had cut his limbs off until the camera pulled way back out of the scene.

[kent-allard-jr.livejournal.com]

When Star Wars first came out, we were told that Vader was severely burned in a volcano. I don't think it was ever mentioned in the movies.

I, too, remembered that line from Jedi and couldn't square it with Padme dying in childbirth. Your alternative -- Padme taking Leia to live with another man -- would've made more sense and added another dimension to the drama. Oh well.

[wellgull.livejournal.com]

I agree that the whole motivation-for-Anakin-going-to-dark-side was very weak. But frankly I don't think having Padme sleep around would be enough to do it, because their relationship read as so false that I have a hard time with it... they say the right words and pause in the right places, but they don't really seem like they love each other. Oh, on that subject, isn't it funny how Anakin's been away so long that he "thought he'd never see her again" and yet she surprises him with the news that, even though she isn't even showing, she's pregnant? She's clearly still in first trimester, and yet Anakin's been gone for a long time already? Baby's clearly not his. (ahem.)

Incidentally -- why is it that the only things we ever see the Force doing throughout the entire six-movie cycle are:
1. Pushing things
2. Serving as an ersatz cell phone
3. shrink-wrapped-foreboding and convenient plot-advancing in the form of Hints About The Future
4. manipulating the minds of dumb people
5. that one guy who can shoot lightning bolts out of his fingers.
...I was hoping for something more impressive. Shouldn't they be able to, you know, *do* something cool? Aside from Zen and telekinesis? As is, the Jedi are basically just a bunch of space samurai, and frankly as that they've got nothin' on Kenshin...