Friday, May 20, 2005

Revenge of the Sith

As I mentioned in an earlier post I went to see Revenge of the Sith last night. It is alot better than the other 2 prequels. The special effects are amazing, there is actually a plot and a bit of emotion.

Firstly I'll get my complaint out of the way. The only problem with the movie is Hayden Christensen Anakin. Basically he is a still a spoiled sulky teenager who leaves you wondering why the Jedi Council gave him a lightsaber and a starfighter instead of packing him off to his little garage on Tatooine with "I am a Prat" engraved on his forehead by Mace Windus lightsaber. His scenes with Padme lack any chemistry and they seem to have to keep repeating "I love you. No I love you. But I love you more" in order to convince the audience that he would actually have had the chance to father Luke and Leia.

Now that aside the rest of the movie is brilliant. Yoda gets alot more screen time! Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine is truely evil while keeping an outward image of a really nice guy. His "Emperor" scenes could have been filmed 20 years ago straight after he finished Return of the Jedi . Jimmy Smits as Bail Organa is great, I wish he was a larger character in the first two. Natalie Portman is under used, spending most of her time struggling through the awkward love scenes or staring out windows.

The real star is Ewan McGregor. Obi Wan rocks. He has taken a young Obi Wan Kenobi and turned him into a young Alec Guinness while at the same time making the character his own. Several times the other Jedi make you wonder how they protected the Galaxy for 1000 years, but when Obi Wan appears in a room full of enemies, throws out a couple of one liners and then hacks everyone to bits you see exactly how it could be done.

Star Wars fans already know the general plot to this movie, the questions that need to be answered, and the things that need to be done before the prequels can link in with the original trilogy. But knowing what will happen doesnt weaken the movie, if anything those are some of the best scenes. George Lucas has been planning them for 30 years.

Something tells me the force is still strong with the Star Wars franchise.

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