Help us Joanne, You're our only hope

2005-05-20 03:06:14
I'll catch up on the last couple day's activities tomorrow when I get a chance, but I'd like to comment on Revenge of the Sith, while it is fresh in my mind.

I hate to suggest I have the right to critique someone like Lucas, and I want to respect the right of the auteur to produce to his/her satisfaction. Still, it kills me that such a terrific universe doesn't meet its full potential. Much like the Matrix sequels, it pulls down the proud beginnings of the whole franchise. Though this was much better than the 2nd and 3rd Matrices, and the best of the new episodes. The following will give away parts of episode III.

I think the new star wars are like the later matrices in that they put too much emphasis in CG. Bullet-time didn't sell the Matrix by itself. Visually, CG may have allowed Lucas what he wanted originally, but it moved the new movies away from what made the first movies so great. I felt jaded of massive fight scenes, and skies full of ships. The camera was constantly on the move. It's not the impressiveness of the fight, but how much the viewer cares about the outcome. And for that the audience needs to be fighting with the character. The first time I felt anything in the movie was Sammy J's battle against the Darth Sidius, because I had at least some attachment to that Jedi and some fear of the Emperor. I didn't feel General Grievous to be a threat at all, he was knew and unknown. Think of meeting Vader for the first time. The fast pace (and the last two movies) didn't let me connect to Obi Wan. So I was indifferent to his battle with Grievous.

The anticipation was almost intolerable as the Death Star ever so slowly came around the planet into firing range.

One very important quality of the first three for me was nostalgia. You came to love the worlds created. Even average fans like myself remember Hoth, Tatooine, and Endor. We have an affinity for the X-wing, the Millenium Falcon, and a fear of the death star, star destroyers, and TIE fighters. The technology in these worlds was more advanced than ours, but at the same time it was older and less advanced. It was not high tech. Who can name a world from these three episodes? (well i know who, but i mean the average movie goer). There is a barrage of new planets, creatures, and ships. We don't get attached to any of them, no matter how well they are modeled, textured, and lit. We got a slice of that life living in Tatooine bar, and Jabba's Palace. What locations had that same pull? Nostalgic machines gave way to high tech.

It is a formidable challenge, asking an audience to get involved when they know the outcome, let alone follow a man they know will be evil. But even if the camera gave us a chance to meet them, would we love the new characters? How much more devastating would the fall from Anakin to Vader be if we loved Anakin? Leia was a self-empowered woman, Luke a brash but lovable boy. The characters of Anakin and Padame arn't memorable in and of themselves. Han, Chewie, C3PO, R2D2, and the old Obi are all fantastic characters. Jar-jar, the flying guy Anakin worked for, the sith from the last episode, and Sammy J don't give us anything of the sort. The banter between Han and Leia is sorely missed. Yoda is the only memorable character that joins us, and the audience reactions are all around him and Vader.

I wanted the feeling at certain moments that I was witnessing a decisive moment in history. Vaders ascent was better emphasized in the trailer. The birth of Luke.Leia for example had no slow in pace, no contemplation of the meaningfulness of that moment. The midwife was a never seen before droid. The connection between Vader/Padame on the tables and new birth of good/evil was terrific, but like the series as a whole not done to its potential.

Having said all that it is a very enjoyable movie. After the first hour I began to get into it. Even when I knew Yoda, Sidius, Vader, and Obi Wan survived I was engaged in their battles because I cared for the good guys, and feared the bad guys. But it was thanks to the 4th, 5th, and 6th episodes that I did so. I didn't know how they would get out of their fights and it kept me in the action. I wish the themes of destiny had been layed more throughout, and more connections to the old episodes had been sprinkled throughout. Much like Sirius black is mentioned in the first chapter of the first book. It was a fun movie, but that it doesn't realize its utterly fantastic possibilities and therefore lowers the founding installments to some degree, causes me distress. I had a similar feeling with the Matrix franchise, and it leaves me with a bitter disposition towards sequels in general. It has the faintest hints of a story far, far away from today's screens about a few pigs and a mouse from long, long ago. I only hope that destiny has in store the achievements of a young be-speckled, magical boy who will help realize the possibilities in another fantastic world.