I never thought....

[Limper]

I saw AotC over the weekend and I've finaly figured out how to say in words what I was feeling while watching.


I like Jar-Jar far more than Jr. Vadar. I never expected to ever say a positive thing about Binks.... but Anakin has driven me to it.

Aside from this the movie was good for matinee price.

 

[A2Z]

Well... you're not supposed to like Anakin. He's evil don't ya know.

 

[bwgwl]

i won't talk about Anakin (whom i thought did a good job), but i really like how they made Jar Jar's gullibility and "low wisdom" an important plot element and not just comic relief.

in Ep.I, Jar Jar felt extraneous. in Ep.II, he's essential to the plot.

 

[Limper]

Anakin did the best job I've ever seen of playing an obnoxious teenager.... I haven't wanted to kick anyone more than him... It scared me how much I loathe the character, I used to think Vader was cool.... the magic has left.

 

[madriel]

i won't talk about Anakin (whom i thought did a good job), but i really like how they made Jar Jar's gullibility and "low wisdom" an important plot element and not just comic relief.

in Ep.I, Jar Jar felt extraneous. in Ep.II, he's essential to the plot.

I agree. In TPM he seemed like an annoying distraction from the main characters. The heroes used him as a guide and otherwise ignored him. Jar Jar is a happy go lucky guy who's not very clever but he wants to help.

In AotC, none of his old friends spare him any time. They leave him out of the loop and he plays right into Palpatine's schemes. Jar Jar's turned into a tragic figure.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

... It scared me how much I loathe the character, I used to think Vader was cool.... the magic has left.

So he was only cool when he was purely evil? And he was supposed to start out that way, skipping over all the stupid crap that both good and evil people go through?

Here comes a borderline insane rant (sorry, coffee shortage)...

Maybe I'm just a boy scout, but I don't understand why only the evil characters ever get labeled as cool. In D&D, everybody loves Drow. In Star Wars, everybody complains about the heroes but loves the villians (even the ones that are more plot device than character) Lucas doesn't want you to like Anakin (but I think he does want you to sympathize with him). He didn't want you to like Vader, either. Nor did he want you to like Boba Fett, Jango Fett, or Darth Maul. They are all either genocidal madmen, vile mercenaries of the lowest form, or self-impressed nasty little men (or some combination thereof). They are supposed to be the BAD GUYS. Lucas is operating from the apparently naive assumption that we will realize that the BAD guys don't deserve veneration. We're supposed to dislike the bad guys, maybe loathe them. We're supposed to see reflections in them of the bad part of ourselves and NOT LIKE IT. The fact that as a culture we'd apparently rather be Darth Maul than Qui-Gon Jinn only proves that our society is in sad, sad shape.

Sorry about that. Random bile spillover...

That aside, teenagers DO whine. Most of them a LOT more than either Luke or Anakin at their worst. Listen to a teenager for an hour. I haven't met more than one in my entire life (including myself at that age) that couldn't make Anakin look happy-go-lucky.

Heck, most of us in our 20's are even worse. Almost my entire generation is still taking every chance we can get to complain about some goofy orange alien from a movie that came out like 3 years ago.

 

[Staffan]

I didn't feel much for Darth Maul - the guy had some cool face-paint and fought like a demon, but he certainly wasn't cool - if he had been cool they would have given him more than five lines in the movie.

Vader is a different story - he is the main symbol of the Empire, he's tall, he's imposing, and most importantly he oozes of charisma (probably mostly due to James Earl Jones' voice - the man has the world's best voice). He also appears to have a semblance of manners, whereas Maul is just a thug. At the same time, I do cheer when Han Solo pops in out of nowhere and shoots him out of the sky.

As for why Vader is considered cooler than Anakin... well, first of all, Anakin doesn't have James Earl Jones' voice. That's a major factor. Second, Vader doesn't whine, something Anakin seems to be pretty good at.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

As for why Vader is considered cooler than Anakin... well, first of all, Anakin doesn't have James Earl Jones' voice. That's a major factor. Second, Vader doesn't whine, something Anakin seems to be pretty good at.

Of course he is. He's a teenager. All teenagers whine. Even the ones that grow up to be imposing symbols of the Empire with James Earl Jones' voice. In fact, there's a case to be made that those kinds of guys are the ones who never grew past their whining stage. They just developed the power to MAKE people do what they want instead of whining. Vader killing people who irritate him in minor ways is really just the action of a petulant kid who suddenly got power enough to satisfy his impatience.

 

[madriel]

Vader's "Now I am the Master" speech to Obi-Wan in ANH has always sounded petulant to me. Think about it. He pokes at Obi-Wan's robes and stomps off. Vader or Anakin, 20 years later he's still an arrogant git who needs a good swift kick in the tush.

 

[Welverin]

Vader's "Now I am the Master" speech to Obi-Wan in ANH has always sounded petulant to me. Think about it. He pokes at Obi-Wan's robes and stomps off. Vader or Anakin, 20 years later he's still an arrogant git who needs a good swift kick in the tush.

How about the gut? He gets one of those in Jedi.