(OT) Hmmm Star Wars II Seen I Have!

[Desdichado]

Wow, Doc Midnight. I didn't even come close to noticing that. You've really reached new heights of gunganophilia...

 

[Zappo]

I found everything Yoda did surprising. In the classic movies he looked a bit like some sort of Ghandi, and now we find out that he is a master general and a devil with the lightsaber, too. I guess you learn a lot of things in 800 years.

I wonder if the kids in the scene where he is teaching ever accidentally lop off another kid's head.

I've noticed that droid heads are plug'n'play

 

[Psion]

a good point about the whining. i myself thought that christianson acquitted himself just fine. there were moments when i thought "man, that sounded awkward" and then i had to nudge myself and remember that this kid is just a teenager. teenagers are not supposed to be polished or smooth. even jedi's!

That's really not the issue. Sure, he's a teenagers. But teenagers have emotions. When Luke despondant when his family was wiped out, when vader was taunting him, and so on, I actually believed the emotion.

But when Ani was filled with rage over the loss of his mother, or buckling against the control of the council, or yearning for Padme's affection, I just didn't see the supposed emotion being portrayed in his face or in his voice. I wasn't convinced. It's like I knew that they were in a studio somewhere.

Awkwardness had little to do with it. You don't have to be suave to have emotions.

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

If Yoda can move like that how come he hobbles with a cane and uses a floating wheel-chair?

Yeah, I know this quote is from 4 pages back......

Anyway, Yoda fights-like-a-demon-but-walks-like-a-grandpa-with-bunions because that's a long established shtick of the "old master" archetype. There are variations of it in countless martial arts legends and movies. I thought that was just THE crowning touch of an already excellent movie.

Patrick Y.

 

[fenzer]

MINOR SPOILERS

Here's how I see this playing out...

The folks who saw midnite shows of this are predisposed to love it, give it 9 or 10.

Then the second crowd of folks, the "non-boycott, just a movie crowd" will find it so-so-- 6 or 7.

The third crowd of folks, the boycotters, who nevertheless are SW fans, will like it just a bit more than the second crowd, 6.5-7.5.

For myself, and this is key, I find that once the elation of Yoda kicking ass wears off, it occurs to me just how much annoying Anakin/Padme crap I had to sit through to get any kind of action-movie payoff.

So, first reactions will continue to be good, it's definitely better than Ep1, but I certainly wouldn't say that "as an action film it is unmatched." (Preposterous claim, actually. Aliens. Die Hard. etc.) There are loooooong stretches of tedious poorly acted teen-filled angst cluttering up the movie to remind the audience that Lucas has all the subtelty of a sledgehammer to the forehead.


Wulf

I agree.

I saw it last Wednesday at a sneak preview and I came away sad. I liked the show for all the reasons I thought I wouldn't and hated it for all the things I thought would and should work. The love scene, I didn't mind it. The dialog, I didn't mind it. Jar Jar, I didn't mind him. The CGI, it looked great. It was the pacing, the flow, the lack of Star Wars feel. This show had not depth. It was hollow. George would spend only a few minutes on one theme and then hurry to the next. It was further flawed by leaving out the scenes with Padme's family. Not showing what happened to Shmi was a mistake. And most of all, the treatment of the most pivital scene of the whole movie, the tuskin camp, was given a lack-luster pass over that left the whole thing feeling insignificant.

I am a die-hard Star Wars fan. One who saw it early and one who is dissapointed. I give it a 6/10.

 

[Desdichado]

You thought that pacing was bad?! How about The Phantom Menace? How about The Empire Strikes Back with all that Yoda philosophizing? How about Return of the Jedi with all that picnic in the woods crap in the middle of the movie? This movie was the best-paced Star Wars movie since the original Star Wars movie!

Sure, that doesn't mean it was perfect. I agree that the Tuskan Raider scene, which should have been so pivotal, was underplayed. But, if you complain about not adding in the Padme family stuff and then call the pacing bad, I don't really know what your complaint is. It almost sounds as if you hoped the pacing would be worse. Padme's family couldn't possibly have added anything other than a slowing down of the movie.

 

[fenzer]

Nope.

Padme's family couldn't possibly have added anything other than a slowing down of the movie. [/B]

I couldn't dissagree more. These scenes helped define Padme's struggle between here duty and the feelings in her heart. Instead of rushing through scenes that take her from being uncomfortable to kissing to marriage, what, in about a weeks time, we would have greater insight into her feelings for Anakin. She sees, through her family, that she wants and in fact longs for a life with a family of her own. So, instead of thinking that Padme's reaction to Anakins confession of murder is off, we understand that she looks beyond this realizing that Anakin, despite his own torement, is who she wants to be with. Despite his horrible acts, she loves him and we have the insight as to why she does.

If you have not read the novelization, I recommend it. It clears up alot of these issues and besides, it's a good read.

 

[Tsyr]

I'm a bit late posting, I was one of the midnight watchers though, stood in line for 14 bloody hours to get a ticket... (no advance sales here).

Overall, a very good movie. I groaned at a few parts (Some of C3PO's one-liners, and the some of the awkard love scenes, but overall, very good.

And for the whole "How can yoda move like that and still hobble on a cane", there are two answers (I loved the Yoda scene, btw).

1) He just pretends most of the time to be a cripple. If your oponents don't consider you a threat, you have an advantage. He certainly pretended to be very helpless at first to Luke in Empire.

or, 2, and this is the one I take...

When yoda was fighting, it was sorta like he was a mage with Bull's Strength, True Strike, Haste, Cat's Grace, etc cast on him. He can be a monster in combat, but it's probably very draining on him, as he has to tap the force heavily. He seemed to be very exausted afterwords, you'll note.

 

[EricNoah]

He can be a monster in combat, but it's probably very draining on him, as he has to tap the force heavily. He seemed to be very exausted afterwords, you'll note.

Ah, so Yoda is a Barbarian!

 

[Mistwell]

I just want to point out that the Salon.com article does NOT diss Star Wars fans. It just points out that they are such devout fans of the series that they will ignore many flaws of the films--an observation I think it right on target. Isn't that true of any group of fans?

Anyway, the "mind-numbed lucas robots" comment that King Stannis quotes is nowhere to be found in the Salon review, so it is probably an overgeneralization of his own creation (and thus somewhat misleading when it's quoted in the context of his post).

Wold, what she says is "It's an event, a juggernaut, with a preprogrammed audience ready to like it whether it's any good or not." "Attack of the Clones" could be the worst movie ever made and still it would have the faithful rallying around the Lucas franchise, brandishing their light sabers like bayonets." Preprogrammed audience = mind-numbed robots. Her whole perspective is that Lucas fans are robots.

Mind you, look who we are talking about. Here are all her reviews, review the reviewer, and you decide for yourself if her tastes are similar to yours: http://ofcs.rottentomatoes.com/author-228/