No spoilers here, assuming you’ve seen the trailers.
I think I made a mistake in reading the novel first, it seemed a lot of important development and juicy quotes were cut. So it may not be the most positive review.
The first half drags. Not even the city chase (Pod Racing II) generates that much excitement. The Anakin & Padme romance scenes are almost painful and drawn-out, I’m talking “Pearl Harbor” here. I was sitting through the movie thinking “Phantom Menace was more interesting than this!” Not a good sign.
But, the second half picks up. Boy, does it ever! After a battle on the rain planet, it’s pretty much non-stop. The space battle, monster battle, and especially the battlefield scenes are terrific. The lightsaber battles are cut down from the book and seemed too short, but one in particular had everyone (me included) cheering. You’ll know it when you see it. I was skeptical when I first heard about that battle, but they did indeed pull it off. Wow!
The performances were mixed. I’ve already addressed Anakin & Padme, they really put an asterisk next to my experience. Samuel L Jackson really had his role cut down from the book, and barely registered. Christopher Lee reprised his Saruman role, even using the same “join me” dialogue with Obi-Wan as he did with Gandalf! C-3PO and Obi-Wan make much more effective comic relief than Jar Jar. Yoda’s reverse sentences get really annoying, but he makes up for it in one of the most memorable scenes in the entire saga.
Look for the movie to start off slow (like Pearl Harbor), but the ending battles and scenes (especially with the familiar music at the second to last scene; you’ll know), it nearly makes you forget about the romantic parts. A good time was had by all!
I’ll get the bad stuff out of the way: Georgey boy, hire someone else to write your romantic dialogue. You. Can’t. Do. It. “I’m not afraid to die. I’ve been dying ever since you came back into my life”… WTF? In the love story scenes that were action-centered, it was a lot of fun. Dialogue-centered scenes were groanable, going beyond “Star Wars cheesy, but enjoyable” (e.g. Leia: I love you. Han: I know.)" to just plain grating
That’s all for the bad stuff though. I won’t drone on and on, but will point out some specific nuances I thought were very good.
A nice little assassination attempt/political intrigue subplot there, not a kind seen in the Star Wars movies before. I liked the whole “Obi-Wan as investigator” thing. Had some red herrings and unexpected twists (which are especially hard to implement when the ultimate ending of the story is well-known.)
The relationship between Jango and Boba Fett. That kid had a nice little mischievous streak in him that was SORELY lacking in the Anakin in Epiosode I. Even though they’re bad guys, you can’t help but enjoying the rapport those two had. We also know what Boba Fett looks like now. Cool.
Nice parallel between whiny Episode IV Luke and whiny Episode II Anakin.
Looooved seeing that it was Jar-Jar who sealed the Republic’s fate, becoming one of the biggest goats of the saga… and it was cool that Lucas finally admitted, “Yeah, this guy’s really, really dumb.”
Carried a lot more heft/gravitas/whatever than the last movie. Exactly what I was hoping for: a change in tone.
Those last 45 minutes had me in pure childlike wonder. When Yoda started creeping around the corner to face Dooku (oh yeah, Christopher Lee rocks!) the whole theatre started cheering wildly, and when the lightsaber duel started, my heart was pounding, my jaw was wide open, and I was on the verge of laughter: not “that’s silly” or “that’s funny” laughter, but the laughter of pure enjoyment.
I’ll go see it again, probably. I’m a bit cash-strapped right now, but I think I can swing it.
I basically agree with what most have said…
Looking forward to Ep III, it occurs to me that now that we’ve seen Yoda whip it out and throw down, there’s only one powerful force user who has never held a light sabre on screen… The Emperor. If the final half hour of Ep. III is a 3-on-3 light sabre duel:
Did anyone else notice that the speeder bike that Anakin had looked like a Harley that a Hells Angel might ride while Dooku was forced to ride a small Honda offroad bike.
When I first saw the trailers for this movie, it looked like a chick flick and in actuality it did focus on the romance aspect most of the time.
Well, it’s hard following Larry Mudd and Eternal’s astute observations, but here’s a few thoughts:
I liked that Amidala was a pretty tough cookie when it came to the battle scenes. But it did seem to come from nowhere…where did she learn to shoot, etc after being a politician for so long??
Also liked the part where Anakin was explaining to Obi Wan that they came to rescue him…“Good job!!”
Even though most people didn’t like the “mushy parts” between Anakin and Amidala, I thought they weren’t any more cheesy than between Han and Leia, or even when Luke had a crush on Leia. Plus, they didn’t last that long, anyway, so I don’t think they detracted from the story. They are star-crossed and doomed lovers, after all, they have to have some screen time! Amidala sure made the leap to “I love you” pretty suddenly, though.
I really need to go see it again, the action moves pretty fast, I’m sure there’s lots of parts I missed when I blinked!!
Yeah, the audience I saw the movie with broke out in applause when Yoda walked into the Saber fight (all that was missing was the Magnificent Seven theme music!!), and also at the end of the movie. That surely didn’t happen on TPM.
They reminded me of nothing so much as Big Chris and Little Chris from Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.
Quick question: The prime minister on the rain planet mentioned that Jango had requested an unaltered clone for himself. I then couldn’t help noticing that when Kenobi saw the clones being trained for the first time, all the young men clones looked strikingly like the guy who was guarding Amidala at the beginning. Is there some deliberate connection there, or is it just coincidence?
yoda floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee. (someone had to say it.)
it took the entire movie to get amidala some sensible clothes; then she forgets to put on underwear?
i’m still trying to figure out the lightsaber colour scheme. we have red for the dark side, then there is blue, green, and purple(?) for the light side… hhhmmmm.
One scene that I’ve been wondering about is when Anakin first puts the moves on Padme. You know, the one with the awkward line about how sand is rough, or something…
Was this just hokey dialogue, or a genuine portrayal of a cheesy, awkward come-on by a teenage boy? After all, we know the kid has no experience in dealing with romantic feelings and would have no idea how to flirt. Having it be an awkward flirtation would actually fit in with the movie quite well, and if you treat it as that, the scene works really well.
The reason I doubt this hypothesis is that the music just didn’t suggest such a thing. Was too “love themey” and not playful enough. Thoughts?
Even if that was the intention, there are better, surer ways to communicate the notion of young love.
I’d like to add that young love, like many things left to one’s youth, doesn’t have to be portrayed as stupid or awkward. Some of us have nice memories from that time of life that, while not making us wish we were that age again, let us wax nostalgic over what it was like to get caught up in something like that.
Even if Lucas wanted young love, it didn’t have to involve an infantile stalker.
As a female who’s not too far away from being a teenager, I’ll have to say that those “love scenes” made me cringe. There just didn’t seem to be any chemistry between the two–Amidala always seemed stilted and wooden, and Anakin of course was a whiny little boy. Except when he wigged out on the Tusken Raiders. I’m surprised she didn’t get icked out by him after he described killing women and children. So, did they get married or what at the end? I think it’s gonna be kinda hard to keep that a secret.
Why oh why did they have to hide Ewan’s face behind that beard? Yes, I know Alec Guinness had one, but that’s still a ways in the future.
I kept thinking that Sidious was going to bust Tyrannis for being all “I’m the most powerful Jedi!” I mean, he shouldn’t be more powerful than his master (Sidious), right? So yeah, I think Sidious will sic Anakin on Tyrannis.
I guess Tyrannis et al haven’t learned much from the Bond villians when it comes to offing their enemies.
Jedi battle–way cool. Especially when they first charged ahead.[ Kinda made me think of Braveheart. I liked seeing the Jedi chicks–show more of them! Yoda’s battle–also way cool. I liked seeing him bust some ass. But if Yoda’s so great, don’t you think he’d be picking up some bad vibes from the Chancellor? Or does he, and he’s letting things take their course (Anakin “bringing balance” to the Force and all)?
And I’m so glad that Jar-Jar is as much of a fuck-up in the political arena as he is in all other things.
My predictions for Ep. III–someone (probably Anakin) disposing of Tyrannis. Him and Obi-Wan battling atop that volcano, and Obi-Wan tossing him in. He’s assumed dead. Cut to Amidala having their kids, and Obi-Wan wisking Luke away to Tatooine (to hide him from the Emperor?).
I loved the “collective audience reactions” throughout the movie. This is something I’ll be telling my future children about when we watch Clones for the first time. Cases in point:
-The collective “gasp” when Dooku was given the Death Star plans.
-People gripping their seats during Obi-Wan’s inadvertent flight over Coruscant.
-The audience going nuts when Yoda pulled out his lightsaber.
-Cheers when Mace Windu said “This party’s over.”
-Genuine laughter at Threepio’s antics.
-“Peanut gallery” jokes when Palpatine gave his impassioned “I love democracy” speech.
Count Dooku mentioned that the Dark Side had clouded their vision. But yeah. I mean, c’mon. The Jedi Council can’t tell that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine is a bad guy, but any eight-year-old in the audience is screaming “He’s the emperor! He’s Darth Sidious!”
I think we lucked out in seeing Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine in RotJ, and Lucas casting the EXACT SAME ACTOR (what a coincidence!) as Darth Sidious. It’s a shame the Jedi Council didn’t see that movie – they’d know what’s going on, to be sure!
I felt like the Romance was contrived, as well. I didn’t see any good reason for Amidala to fall for Anakin. Except for: the dick always gets the girl :rolleyes:
I actually liked the love story. I found it strangely believable. At the very least I think it’s more convincing than the typical Hollywood love story.
So what’s up with those couple lines about the Jedis being so weak? Were they just referring to their numbers? It sounded like they meant that the force itself was going wonky on them. (Does this have something to do with the “balance” that is going to be brought to the force?)
Yoda’s battle - one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen on the screen. This could have easily turned into one of the cheesiest battles of all time, but it worked out extremely well.
Comedy? Much better than TPM, but still a groan-worthy at times. I would have prefered that C3PO not have had so many corny lines. The situation he was in was humorous enough. But again, MUCH better than TPM.
Plot? This movie actually had one. Not a bad one either!
The absolute best part of the movie is the tone. There is the explosion at the beginning. Then the assassination attempt. Then Obi-Wan’s search for the truth - which, other than the scene in the diner, was very cool and interesting. I loved the scene on the planet of the cloners. Eerie! True tension between Obi-Wan and Jango Fett!
Speaking of Jango Fett - great character. Charismatic but vicious when he has to be. He cares for his son, and in many ways really is just trying to make a living. On the other hand, he’s working for the bad guys.
Count Dooku was another great character. He’s extremely powerful and menacing. While he was fighting Yoda I kept thinking, “Kill the bastard, Yoda! Kick his ass!” On the other hand, I’m glad they didn’t do what they did with Darth Maul - introduce him, have him do almost nothing, then kill him.
BTW, does anyone remember the color of Yoda’s lightsaber? I’ve completely forgotten.
