Anakin's path to darkness too steep! (SPOILERS)

[Plane Sailing]

Just seen it this afternoon and I agree with Phaedrus to the extent that he in the confrontation between Windu and Sideous everything seemed reasonable, including his "what have I DONE" angst when he turned against Windu... but then within a few heartbeats he was professing devotion to Sideous as his apprentice.

I have no complaints over the pacing of his journey to the Dark side - in fact in the opening of Ep III he had largely overcome the temperamental teen-ager he was in Ep II, and seemed a very credible knight.

It was just that the final act of turning to the dark side seemed too... precipitous, compared to the way the rest of it went.

Cheers

 

[KenM]

Well, he slaughtered the jedi at the temple after he pledged himself to the Emperor. Right after he had a hand in killing Mace Windu. after that, the only path he had was to go to the dark side.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

You don't know the POWER of the Dark Side!

 

[Jdvn1]

I didn't even realize he talked about stopping people from dying back in Episode II. I think Episode III actually improved I and II a good bit.

Synergy bonus! I guess that makes III better than I thought.

 

[Mallus]

Sometimes the only way to eliminate --or at least stave off- guilt and paralyzing doubt is to relentlessly pursue the course of action you've began. I imagine this is true for many real-life acts of staggering brutality.

Anakin just cut off Windu's arm... no going back after that. And certainly no time to wonder if that was the smartest thing to do.

 

[Menexenus]

I wrestled with the same misgivings.

I was also concerned about Anakin's rapid decent into evil brutality in the movie. But after watching it a few times, here's what I came up with.

Palpatine told him that in order to find the way to defeat death, he'd have to be stronger with the dark side of the force. Indiscriminant killing is a good way to "rack up dark side points" really fast. And he had some (misguided) reason to think that the Jedi were traitors. So he went to the Jedi temple to a) deal with the insurrection, b) gain power with the dark side, c) obey his master.

But (you might say) that doesn't explain why he slaughtered the defenseless kids that were there. I agree. So my explanation for this is that, by the time he got to the kids, he was literally "intoxicated" by the dark side. Much like a drug user, he found that he was unable to stop.

Now, I have not read the book or the comic, so all this is pure speculation on my part. But it is the best explanation I was able to come up with. It put my misgivings to rest. I hope it will do the same for someone else out there.

 

[Phaedrus]

I understand the constraints of 2.5 hours to get the story told.
I know I oversimplified the progression, and I know there were foreshadowings in the early movies.

Perhaps I just choked on the truly DREADFUL dialogue. Or maybe his acting ability.

But it left a very bad taste in my mouth.

I wanted so much for episodes I - III to be good. I grew up with Star Wars. The figures, the lunch box--it was a definitional part of my childhood. Maybe that's my problem. Perhaps my deep love for the first 3 movies prevents me from liking the last 3. But to me the difference between them is night and day and I can't get past my disappointment.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Sometimes the only way to eliminate --or at least stave off- guilt and paralyzing doubt is to relentlessly pursue the course of action you've began. I imagine this is true for many real-life acts of staggering brutality.

Anakin just cut off Windu's arm... no going back after that. And certainly no time to wonder if that was the smartest thing to do.

Ironically, I think it would have made more sense for Anakin to have NOT shown any remorse at disarming )) Windu - if Anakin had instead had dialog that went something like "You were right all along Chancellor! Their power, their greed, their disrespect for the jedi code! I had been blind to it but now I see it so clearly! What must I do?" Then Palpatine closes the loop and finally draws Anakin over to the dark side and the relationship is formed.

THAT would have made more narrative sense to me. Without Anakins regret at disarming Windu there is a less abrubt flip over to the dark side.

Cheers

 

[Desdichado]

I understand the constraints of 2.5 hours to get the story told.
I know I oversimplified the progression, and I know there were foreshadowings in the early movies.

Perhaps I just choked on the truly DREADFUL dialogue. Or maybe his acting ability.

But it left a very bad taste in my mouth.

I wanted so much for episodes I - III to be good. I grew up with Star Wars. The figures, the lunch box--it was a definitional part of my childhood. Maybe that's my problem. Perhaps my deep love for the first 3 movies prevents me from liking the last 3. But to me the difference between them is night and day and I can't get past my disappointment.

Yeah, 'coz, y'know, Darth Vader had this huge build-up in the original trilogy. He didn't abandon the dark side and switch sides again in a heartbeat or anything like that.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Other than some scenes in Empire I don't think any SW flick had great dialogue. I'm more of a plot/overall story type guy so that doesn't bother me in the least though.