<Rainbow Heron>

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Star Wars 3- Revenge of the Sith

Been a while hasn't it? Well, I've missed the old internet- real life's been keeping me busy. But there was no way I could not blog this one! Here's my hodge-podge of thoughts on the final new Star Wars film:

SW 3 deserves to be seen on the bigscreen! It was fuzzy and out of focus the whole time but when I go back again (and I do plan to) I know that I will NOT be disappointed. Enough carried thru.

The opening scene of battle is one of the most visually wonderful scenes I've ever seen on the bigscreen. It's up there VISUALLY amougnst the best Star Wars space battles of all time. Familliar phrases (this is where the fun begins, I have a bad feeling about this) were all throughout and started here. Not as bad or corny as it could've been (like in say, Eps 1 & 2).

Elevator scenes going up and down had a feel of Speed to them but it was a good one. R2 was a bit *too* animated. It's inconsistent with previous films and feels out of place, but yes it was very funny. I like how I McD gets some very good stunt work in this film. The opening will not make sense (as will a good bit of the film) unless you've seen the entire Clone Wars series. I saw it a couple days ago in full for the first time. Reminded me of Animatrix and was a bit too violent in my point of view, but like the beginning of the opening crawl "War!" and we know war is hell.

Back to film- the final fight was Count Dooku was a slight disappointment considering the last film. It was over all too soon, and the death was a bit of anticlimax. At least it wasn't gruesome. You could tell that Palpatine = Sidious by the way he acted. The controlled crash into the planet was a bold move for a Star Wars film but a well-welcomed one, even if you did already know they would all survive. The next few sequences were mostly mushy scenes with Padme and I'm sure many fans will gripe about the dialogue being cheesy. I don't remember much of it, but I do recall that the Chancellor has several more rooms to himself. They go from that bright crimson, to a darker crimson, to grey, and ultimately a dark grey purple. Nice visual there. :-)

The whole thing about Anakin being inducted to the Jedi Council seemed a bit forced at first, as was both sides wanting him to spy, but a conversation (2 actually) proved their point: Anakin was being put in an extraordinarily difficult position, esp considering he has a wife. The bit about Anakin being the only non-Master on the Council is not true: Ki-Adi-Mundi was first on the Council as a Knight and then later promoted. They sprung the news of the pregnancy early in the film, so Anakin knows there's one for sure. The time elapse of the pregnancy however, seems off. The whole film appears to take place over a few days, whereas Padme's pregnancy seems to span at least the latter 6 months. Novalee Nation came out several times; Padme seemed more childish in this film then the other two! Nice to see 3P0 in gold again and actually doing political-type stuff. Found it odd how R2 was present on planets for VERY important scenes but missed all of the vital stuff. (more on this later)

The sinkhole planet is visually nice, but the guy telling Obi-Wan that they're being held hostage comes a bit too quick it feels. The sneaking up to Grievous is interesting (I was reminded of Buckbeak when seeing this lizard thing Obi-Wan was riding). But the duel is again anti-climactic. Reason being that if you've seen Clone Wars, you've seen Grievous do better. It also explains the wheezing. Grevious being a cyborg rather than droid is explained in other sources (Star Wars Insider I think) but not on film until you see his beating heart for a fleeting moment. His death is foretelling twice over for Anakin and seems a bit gruesome considering past Star Wars presedence. Obi-Wan is still on the planet when the Purge begins, so everything happens EXTREMELY fast.

Mace Windu's telling Anakin to stay in the temple and then he'll have his trust is an easy setup for Anakin leaving. FACKTRACK: Anakin discovering Palpatine to be a Sith comes about in 2 conversations. You can guess that the Darth ? Palpatine speaks of was his own Sith Master. When Anakin discovers Sidious, he mannerisms don't seem completely appropriate- who's side is he on and how confused is he? It doesn't translate quite as well to the audience from the screen, but with hindsight about the double-spying it seems to make sense then, but you don't really *see* it (the
conflict) in the actor. I'm VERY happy to see that Anakin DID tell the Jedi about Palpatine = Sidious! Not so happy that Anakin fell so quickly onscreen, it felt a bit too forced (npi). Palpatine's transformation sequence was the only "weird" moment in the whole film. The mask McD was wearing at that camera angle looked like he'd melted. Sort of an anime feel to that sequence for weirdness. Mace did indeed die a badass muthaf****'s death.

Anakin turning to save Padme is a twist I did not expect. I thought it would be a different and far more complex reason- seemed a bit *too* simplified. And something else strange: forthe first time we (the audience) actually get to SEE the Jedi premonitions! Seemed VERY out of place but very interesting- gets the point across better I think.

Anakin receiving his Sith name so early seems odd. His being SO willing to commit to the DS and slaughter Jedi so quickly into the film is a bit off. If you've seen Clone Wars, you'll know how tied he is to the Jedi so it seems strange he'd kill them so quick. Killing the kids (knowing he's an expectant father) in the Council chamber is eerie and a bit upsetting but thankfully it wasn't shown. Obi-Wan's watching it on a holocam recording afterwards seemed too convenient but it was for time constraints.

Yoda on Kashyyyk. We now know how to pronounce it and it's the second Timothy Zahn planet name kept for canon. GL finally gets his planet of Wookiees to fight, but we didn't get to see anywhere NEAR enough of that battle! We don't even really know why they're being attacked. It was nice to see Chewie, but it feels more like another unnecessary cameo appearance. I can't see the Chewie of the OT having helped rescue Yoda. Yoda's escape sequence, had ET's departure written ALL over it- including the music: half ET, half Dagobah.

You really do get the sense that Obi-Wan and Yoda are the only two high-rankking Jedi left. Obi-Wan is on the Council in the film, and we see the other members getting killed. The Purge happens too quickly in too short a period of time for me, but because we are told there are more unseen survivors, the old sense that the Purge goes on for a time is kept. It's nice to see how Organa's involvement came about, but there's NO hint of Mon Mothma or how Organa and Mothma start the Rebellion. The name is mentioned in connection with the Jedi so there is a foundation there, indeed some of the Jedi's war rooms are very reminiscent of Yavin IV. Seeing the Blockade Runner was cool! Hint Hint Hint! Wish we coulda seen them picking up Yoda, but we got to see them picking up Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan stowing away on Padme's ship was good strategy, but seeing Anakin/Vader talking to her and saying her name as Vader (both in and out of mask) was a wee bit weird. It was satisfying to see her acknowledge his change and that it hit her that he had killed children- we didn't get that in the last film. Anakin's reaction of strangling her (while it knocked her out) was an understandibly twisted reaction.

Anakin/Obi-Wan duel: the stuff of 30 years of Star Wars folklore. Take it how you wish: too much or not enough? Parts reminded me of LOTR: ROTK and Terminator 2. The lava is one of the other 2 reasons (the opening battle being the first, Courscant fly-bys being the third) to see it on the bigscreen. It's a deserved treat! Only problem is, according to legend, Anakin was supposed to fall *into* the lava, not slide down the hill partway and have the lava catch his clothes on fire. We do see him on fire burning and we do see him badly burnt still lying there. Obi-Wan picks up the infamous "Your Father's Lightaber" but the bit about "wanted you to have this when you were old enough" was never there. It would have been nice if he'd said goodbye to Padme and said it as a sort of will, but Obi-Wan just picked it up and walked off while breaking off the friendship and even saying he had loved him (as a brother of course).

Sidous actually followed Anakin to the planet because he sensed him in danger. He got there FAR too quickly in my opinion. Time lapse for hyperspace just wasn't there; he seemed to have narrowly missed Obi-Wan and Padme. The shock of Anakin's turn probably is what sent her into labor. Anakin's premonition had been that she would die in childbirth. The novel says Leia remembered her. We have another contradiction- she did die. We see the babies and her naming them. We have another surprise lost. The twin part was left until the last moment: only Yoda and Obi-Wan knew and they told Organa. That was good. We saw them talking about splitting them up and we saw it taking place. WE SEE ALDERAAN AT LAST and we have a semi-hokey thing for Luke on Tatooine. The twin sunset (how symbolic) was
repeated. Much music of the OT was replicated here in appropriate places: Leia's theme, Luke's theme, Imperial March, Vader's music, Emperor's music. Some vehicles too, mainly during the Purge. The redux of Duel of the Fates during the interspersed Yoda/Sidious Anakin/Obi-Wan fight was most appropriate. Ever since the TPM I've felt that the title of that piece of music was misplaced because the duel of Maul/Jinn/Kenobi duel just didn't seem to fit the name in the overall scheme of things.

There was also a duel between Yoda and Palpatine. This was Palpatine's third duel for the film (Anakin, Mace etc, and Yoda). The biggest laugh of the film was when Yoda came in and disposed of the guards. Their duel which took them into the Senate chamber is the 4th reason the see the film on the bigscreen. Slight reminder of Matrix, but a very appropriate scene for these two characters. Yoda crawlign thrut he ductwork was one of two scenes which were very obviously physical set constructions with digital characters rather than the all-digitalness of the first two prequels. It made for a VERY nice special effects transition from the all-digital back to the old school Star Wars. The motions of the cameras, the lighting and some of the sets & vehicles helped with that as well. SO happy to see McD get his juciest part yet! From AAI, I know that he's very animated on teh stage, but to see that carry over to the film in this case was WONDERFUL!

Sidous helping Vader as he was burnt was a very visually powerful scene. Vader's coming back to Coruscant and being fitted for his Vader suit was a bit graphic, but it made the point. I expected far less skin than he had. The 2 visuals of Palpatine becoming the wrinkled version we see in ROTJ and then putting on the hood and then Anakin's burnt face and having the Vader mask lowered onto him were appropriate. Many people expected to see Palpatine pulling the hood *back* to reveal himself rather than the other way around, which was interesting. His blaming his new looks on the Jedi and Padme's comment about the end coming in a roar of applause were interesting touches.

Sidous telling Vader of Padme's death was a partial lie/partial truth that made sense storywise and characterwise. Padme lost the will to live, but to Anakin, he *did* strangle her some. Vader's cliche "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"I could have done without.The droids being introduced to Captain Antilles helped tie the two trilogies and Organa's order to have 3P0's memory wiped was a hot debate now resolved. Very noticeably, R2's memory was left intact, but seeing as he wasn't actually *present* for the hard stuff, it's both not surprising and at the same time, gratifying considering the OT (6 films, Order 66 for the Purge, and the hint that gives about Palpatine...I don't think I really need to comment there).

Padme had a funeral on Naboo, Jar Jar was seen twice but had no lines, the Senate seemed too easily convinced, but the Jedi were right to be suspicious but they didn't put the pieces together quickly enough. It did make sense in the end however. The scandal of the marriage was hinted at, but when the only 2 people onscreen who said they'd found out, said so, there didn't appear to be much scandal. Padme wearing the buns was kinda fun and funny. :-) To understand the bit about Qui-Gon Jinn, go online or sit and think about it for a bit. It's not obvious to the casual viewer and I was right confused about it at first. The bita bout the previous Darth manipulating midi-chlorians to extend life is only important in that it help seduce Anakin into believeing that the Dark Side can keep Padme alive and in reality actually does help keep Anakin alive along with his Vader suit. Anakin finally learns that he is considered to be the Chosen One; that plus his speech to Padme about being able to take power away from Palpatine both set up ROTJ and the OT novels well. In the novels, and in ESB, Vader *does* mention overthrowing Palpatine and in ROTJ finally does.

It was nice seeing the Death Star under construction, but the early Star Destroyers and their all-human crews seemed out of place when all we've been seeing for the past few films are droid armies and clone armies where all of the combatants look exactly alike. You wonder "where did these people, this *normal* looking crew come from?" Starting with the first appearance of the Blockade Runner, the film does a sort of mad-dash to make the film look as much as possible like the OT as it possibly can while still staying in the clean-cut digitally done prequel film it is. The grittiness of the OT comes from what you now see, evolving into having parts being cut off and slimed over with oil. Speaking of which, R2 did just that earlier. The hints of the X-wing and TIE fighters made more sense than the hints of AOTC.

Overall, the pace of the film was the fastest of them all and if you haven't seen Clone Wars, you might find yourself a bit cheated on background information and at the same time, the anti-climatics of the two deaths early in the film become more apparent. I think the fast pace of the film gave it a feel that "we need to hurry up and tie these two things togehter or else it won't look right". Clone Wars is a good Episode 2.5 that helps fill the story gaps. Unfortunately, not everyone will see Clone Wars and take it as canon and it could easily be argued that the story had too much action and too little sensible plot. But then again, we got to see far MORE sh*t blowing up in a single film so what's to complain about? :-)

This film is more graphic than the others, but makes sense- it's not gratuitous. It's a good visual tie between trilogies. The hints and easter eggs may seem out of line at first, but they're actually kind of appropriate (most of
them at any rate, I still have problems with Chewbacca and the ET-like rescue). You have to watch this film as if you've been just dumped into the middle of the big battle sequence of a long 4-hour war epic (which of course it kinda is). Sorta like being dumped into LOTR:Return of the King right at the part *just* after where the Gandalf knocks the Steward out and says "prepare for battle". That's how fast-paced the whole thing is: very quick.

Overall, the best of the prequel films and it does its job of solving the hexology (as it now is) quite well. Recommended viewing order for first-time Star Wars fans is: 4-5-6 (original release), 4-5-6 (special edition), and then finally 1-2-3. I say this because all of the really good surprises of the OT that had people talking are of absolutely NO shock value if you go in numerical (aka "Revisionist George's") order (1-2-3-4 SE-5 SE-6 SE). I still have not seen the SSE (Archival) dvd editions yet (I plan to soon) so I can't attest to that, but my feeling is that the reason I didn't watch them earilier is because I wanted to see the completed PT first.

Final recommended viewing order is: 4-5-6 (original releases), 4-5-6 (special editions), 1-2-3*-4-5-6 (archivals). So basically you get the OT evolution first and then George's order in full.

*Also see Clone Wars before Episode 3 for the first time if you're interested.

Hoping to see ROTS twice more! Maybe this time it won't be so fuzzy a showing. It was apparent during the last bit of trailers, but if I'd left, I'd've missed the film. I told them afterwards.

posted @ 7:21 PM  |   0 comments  |