Spoilers contained within, there may be.
Star Wars. The name is well known in both fantasy and science fiction worlds. For almost 30 years, we have lived with Star Wars in all its many different forms: merchandizing, movies, books, comics, magazine articles, internet discussion groups, and yes…even blogs. Well, it would almost be nice to say that this is the end of an era for those of us that were born within the later half of the 70’s through the early part of the 80’s, but I don’t think we’ve seen the end of anything yet.
I saw the new Star Wars movie last night, and I have to tell you – Compared to Episodes I and II, this movie really is much better and much more in tune with the original 3 shows. However, I wouldn’t be so foolish to state that it was any better than any of the original 3. There are several key areas that make this movie one of the best, but there are several reasons that make it not THE best.
**Spoilers may be contained from here on until the Spoiler End section, so if you don’t want to know about the movie, skip this part**
Good things about the movie:
1) The musical score is definitely one of the better of the 6. That could be, of course, because it ties in all the thematic elements for the various characters (some familiar, some not), but I think it’s also because this time, you really feel the intensity of the scenes…and this is brought about because of the music.
2) CGI…outstanding. There are MANY different CGI characters, sets, events (heck, the first part of the movie would have been completely impossible using models and a black screen…trust me…) that were in this movie. Some, you could tell…others, you only knew they were because of the impossibility of the movements.
3) Darth Vader is born. Now, we all know that he was “born” long before this movie - heck, he was born before Episode I even – but, he is finally BORN. The first time he takes the signature breath…well, you know it’s him. I wanted to cheer at this point as Vader was always the stronger of the actors (except for Harrison Ford) and one of my favorites.
4) Character tie-ins. This is the part that I wasn’t really expecting, but now that I think about it, I really should have. You get to see quite a few of the original characters (albeit slightly younger!) in the roles that you expect them to be in. You get to see how Darth Sidious gets the wrinkled and rough appearance. You see Chewbacca. You see Uncle Owen. The list goes on and on.
Bad things about the movie:
1) Hayden Christensen – The guy can’t act. His lines were delivered with the choppy effectiveness of a food processor. I don’t know what it is about him that drew Lucas to pick him…but it surely wasn’t his acting abilities.
2) CGI…outstanding. Yes, I know. But it’s a strength and a weakness. Some of the CGI characters were so unbelievable as to make them seem almost “cartoon”ish. I don’t know how else to explain it other than that. Some of the characters rocked…others, well, they didn’t.
3) Some of the sound editing was off. You could see characters lips move in a different way than what they were saying. I realize that’s very nit-picky, but I’m a very particular type person and I would think that Lucas would be so to considering this is the LAST of the movies in this series, and he knows that bigger fans than I will be even more nit-picky.
4) General Grevious. What’s up with the coughing and wheezing?! I mean, this guy is a droid with a human heart, brain and eyes…not lungs!
If I had to rate this movie out of 5 stars, I would give it a 4 simply because of these things. Good movie, but flawed in several important areas.
**End Spoilers**
Anyway, I’ll probably end up making another post or two before I move. Oh yes, I forgot – Today makes the beginning of the last week of work for me. Yes, that’s right…in exactly 1 week, I will officially be leaving work here for the last time. In all honesty, I can’t wait.
I saw the new Star Wars movie last night, and I have to tell you – Compared to Episodes I and II, this movie really is much better and much more in tune with the original 3 shows. However, I wouldn’t be so foolish to state that it was any better than any of the original 3. There are several key areas that make this movie one of the best, but there are several reasons that make it not THE best.
**Spoilers may be contained from here on until the Spoiler End section, so if you don’t want to know about the movie, skip this part**
Good things about the movie:
1) The musical score is definitely one of the better of the 6. That could be, of course, because it ties in all the thematic elements for the various characters (some familiar, some not), but I think it’s also because this time, you really feel the intensity of the scenes…and this is brought about because of the music.
2) CGI…outstanding. There are MANY different CGI characters, sets, events (heck, the first part of the movie would have been completely impossible using models and a black screen…trust me…) that were in this movie. Some, you could tell…others, you only knew they were because of the impossibility of the movements.
3) Darth Vader is born. Now, we all know that he was “born” long before this movie - heck, he was born before Episode I even – but, he is finally BORN. The first time he takes the signature breath…well, you know it’s him. I wanted to cheer at this point as Vader was always the stronger of the actors (except for Harrison Ford) and one of my favorites.
4) Character tie-ins. This is the part that I wasn’t really expecting, but now that I think about it, I really should have. You get to see quite a few of the original characters (albeit slightly younger!) in the roles that you expect them to be in. You get to see how Darth Sidious gets the wrinkled and rough appearance. You see Chewbacca. You see Uncle Owen. The list goes on and on.
Bad things about the movie:
1) Hayden Christensen – The guy can’t act. His lines were delivered with the choppy effectiveness of a food processor. I don’t know what it is about him that drew Lucas to pick him…but it surely wasn’t his acting abilities.
2) CGI…outstanding. Yes, I know. But it’s a strength and a weakness. Some of the CGI characters were so unbelievable as to make them seem almost “cartoon”ish. I don’t know how else to explain it other than that. Some of the characters rocked…others, well, they didn’t.
3) Some of the sound editing was off. You could see characters lips move in a different way than what they were saying. I realize that’s very nit-picky, but I’m a very particular type person and I would think that Lucas would be so to considering this is the LAST of the movies in this series, and he knows that bigger fans than I will be even more nit-picky.
4) General Grevious. What’s up with the coughing and wheezing?! I mean, this guy is a droid with a human heart, brain and eyes…not lungs!
If I had to rate this movie out of 5 stars, I would give it a 4 simply because of these things. Good movie, but flawed in several important areas.
**End Spoilers**
Anyway, I’ll probably end up making another post or two before I move. Oh yes, I forgot – Today makes the beginning of the last week of work for me. Yes, that’s right…in exactly 1 week, I will officially be leaving work here for the last time. In all honesty, I can’t wait.
posted by LaTech at 5:40 AM
5 Comments:
bah I didn't see any spoilers in there. anyways lucas did say that he put more passion into 3 more than the 1,2 episodes. I still havn't seen it some im not sure if that is true or not. im planning on waiting for a bit before seeing it I don't wanna have to deal with teens pissin me off in the movie while I try and watch it...kinda like me and u did sometimes at the movies back in high school..anyways hope u have a fun lst week at work and all
all hte love from the pinky toe
Will
This was the movie I have been waiting for since the day I walked out of Episode II. Thought...
Later, Episode V, O-B One says to Yoda "That boy is out last hope.." Yoda says, "No, there is another." Reference Leah? Wouldn't OBOne have known that since he was at the birth?
This was the best. I am going to give 5+ stars. One bad ass mofo.
our last hope...sorry, didn't proof the post.
Well, you have to remember that Yoda was almost 1000 years old, and OB was probably near 70 or so...old people don't remember thigns that well. ;-)
In regards to OB's comment in Episode V, he knows about Leah, but he doesn't know that she has the same volume of the Force inside of her that Luke has. If she doesn't have the Force, then she's not much hope. However, Yoda senses that she *does* have as much potential as Luke does, she just hasn't been trained.
We actually had that conversation after we saw the movie.
As far as Christensen goes, I totally agree. The guy would make Shakespeare sound like a cat chewing on cardboard. The only reason I can see that Lucas picked him, was his gift in scowling. Seriously, every time I thought he couldn't get his eyebrows any lower, he'd deepen his scowl. I bet he was one moody teenager.
I didn't notice any non-synced dialogue. Are you sure the projectionist didn't just screw up at your theater?
And THANK YOU for noticing that the hacking bot storyline never EVER developed! What is the point of the hacking droid? When you have a characteristic that sets a character apart from others you have to explain it or else people like me spend the whole movie going "Why is the droid coughing? Is he sick? Does he have seasonal allergies? Is his exercise induced asthma kicking in? Are they going to show him having to stop in a battle scene to take a puff on his inhalor and that's how they kill him? TELL ME!!!"
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