My Saturday Night (The Public Version)
May. 22nd, 2005 05:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brinshannaraSo, C and I went and saw Revenge of the Sith last night.
I preface this opinion with the disclaimer that I have always been, and always will be, a Star Trek fan more than a Star Wars fan. To me, Star Wars consists primarily of COOL lightsabre battles, The Force, The Dark Side and the Jedis. Everything else sort of falls away. I don't really know enough to nitpick. Like, I forget that Tatooine has two suns, I had entirely forgotten that Anakin got his hand cut off in Episode II, I would have forgotten Anakin had given Padme the necklace thingy in Episode I if I hadn't been flipping channels and caught that scene last week. Stuff like that. So I'm a pretty casual Star Wars viewer.
That said, I was both impressed and disappointed with the movie simultaneously. I am not entirely sure how this is possible.
I thought there were two amazing lines:
"So this is how democracy dies: with thunderous applause."
and
"You're with me or you're my enemy."
"Only a Sith deals in absolutes."
I was impressed with a lot, actually. Most of it was "OMGEXCELLENTLIGHTSABRESOMG!" stuff. Some was just awe at Yoda jumping around the Senate chambers. I really liked part of Anakin's uncertainty, and how he points out to Mace Windu that killing "is not the Jedi way", particularly as he'd killed Count Dooku previously and still felt badly about it.
But, oh, where was the huge, monumental, life-changing moment where Anakin goes to the Dark Side? He goes from telling Windu that it's not "the Jedi way" to becoming Palpatine's apprentice in, what, less than five minutes? We could have used so much more time examining Anakin's motivations to become evil. Clearly, saving Padme was his prime motivation, but... uh... WTF. What changed from him turning Palpatine in to the point where he pledges his allegiance to Palpatine? Seriously. That pretty much ruined the movie for me right there. He's going to go on to become the Darth Vader we all know in episodes 4, 5 and 6, and we're supposed to believe that this is how it starts? Fuck that.
Anakin's killing of the "Younglings", as they are called (and couldn't they have called them something else?), was kind of chilling, but again, how could he be so completely evil so quickly?
I did rather like how all the clones suddenly turned on the Jedis. That was pretty darn cool. But... Dude. These are JEDIS. And Jedi MASTERS. Only Yoda survived? Seriously? I mean, REALLY? And I did rather like how, when they were all being killed, Yoda felt the various disturbances in the Force.
Other things that piss me off, which I noticed without all the other people commenting on them, since I was pretty unspoiled going in:
- In Return of the Jedi, Luke asks Leia about her mother.
LUKE: Leia... do you remember your mother? Your real mother?
LEIA: Just a little bit. She died when I was very young.
LUKE: What do you remember?
LEIA: Just...images, really. Feelings.
LUKE: Tell me.
LEIA: She was very beautiful. Kind, but...sad. Why are you asking me all this?
LUKE: I have no memory of my mother. I never knew her.
Her real mother was Padme, n'est-ce pas? :) So, like, WTF, really. Although it's neat to find out that Luke was the first of the twins to be born.
- Anakin's "noooooooooo". Oh my God, I could have hurled. I very nearly did. I mean, SERIOUSLY, Darth Vader, screaming "nooooooo" like that? Ugh, I hope this movie doesn't ruin Darth Vader for me in the future. 'cause I'll be pissed.
- Palpatine! Once he zapped Windu and got all oogly lookin', his delivery, which had been appropriately creepy, went cheesy. I mean, gah. His line "Not from a Jedi." at the show thingy with Anakin? That was cool. EVERYTHING HE SAID, post-Windu, was, IMHO, way overstated and terribly cheesy. Which is sad. I like Palpatine's creepiness. "My little, green friend" may be the sole exception, but at the same time, it felt like he was talking about Kermit the Frog. But that might just be me being unable to separate Yoda from Grover.
- Obi-Wan Kenobi is a bastard who totally deserved to be killed by Vader in Episode IV. Seriously. Who LEAVES someone to DIE like that?! I am SO much less impressed with Obi-Wan, now.
There's more to say, like how I like that R2-D2's memory wasn't wiped, but C-3P0's was. That I like that Obi-Wan was keeping an eye on Luke. That we got a look at the infamous Alderaan before it went kablooie. I'll probably think of more later. OH, like how the midichlorians were capable of creating life itself? Hello, is that not how Anakin was conceived? I rather like the idea that Anakin Skywalker was born of the Dark Side of the Force. Maybe, despite his turning, the way he was "the chosen one" was by fathering Luke and Leia. Certainly one can argue that Luke brought the Sith down and brought peace to the galaxy. Ah, well.
In the end, I liked parts of it a LOT. And I didn't like some other parts. But how I'm still missing the justification for Anakin to go to the Dark Side is really what stands out. This was supposed to be the movie where we see Anakin become Vader. Frankly, I saw Anakin Skywalker and I saw Darth Vader, and I did not see how one became the other. Obi-Wan might have been right, in Episode IV. Maybe Vader did kill Anakin. Too bad we never got to see it.
I'm going to see it again, I think -- I made plans with a friend -- and I'll have more to discuss after that viewing, I think.
What, are you surprised I'm going to see it again despite the issues I have with it? LIGHTSABRES, dude, LIGHTSABRES! :D
(AND I LOVED that Anakin Force-Gripped Padme. LOVED it all day long. Clearly, he got better at it over the years, though.)
I preface this opinion with the disclaimer that I have always been, and always will be, a Star Trek fan more than a Star Wars fan. To me, Star Wars consists primarily of COOL lightsabre battles, The Force, The Dark Side and the Jedis. Everything else sort of falls away. I don't really know enough to nitpick. Like, I forget that Tatooine has two suns, I had entirely forgotten that Anakin got his hand cut off in Episode II, I would have forgotten Anakin had given Padme the necklace thingy in Episode I if I hadn't been flipping channels and caught that scene last week. Stuff like that. So I'm a pretty casual Star Wars viewer.
That said, I was both impressed and disappointed with the movie simultaneously. I am not entirely sure how this is possible.
I thought there were two amazing lines:
"So this is how democracy dies: with thunderous applause."
and
"You're with me or you're my enemy."
"Only a Sith deals in absolutes."
I was impressed with a lot, actually. Most of it was "OMGEXCELLENTLIGHTSABRESOMG!" stuff. Some was just awe at Yoda jumping around the Senate chambers. I really liked part of Anakin's uncertainty, and how he points out to Mace Windu that killing "is not the Jedi way", particularly as he'd killed Count Dooku previously and still felt badly about it.
But, oh, where was the huge, monumental, life-changing moment where Anakin goes to the Dark Side? He goes from telling Windu that it's not "the Jedi way" to becoming Palpatine's apprentice in, what, less than five minutes? We could have used so much more time examining Anakin's motivations to become evil. Clearly, saving Padme was his prime motivation, but... uh... WTF. What changed from him turning Palpatine in to the point where he pledges his allegiance to Palpatine? Seriously. That pretty much ruined the movie for me right there. He's going to go on to become the Darth Vader we all know in episodes 4, 5 and 6, and we're supposed to believe that this is how it starts? Fuck that.
Anakin's killing of the "Younglings", as they are called (and couldn't they have called them something else?), was kind of chilling, but again, how could he be so completely evil so quickly?
I did rather like how all the clones suddenly turned on the Jedis. That was pretty darn cool. But... Dude. These are JEDIS. And Jedi MASTERS. Only Yoda survived? Seriously? I mean, REALLY? And I did rather like how, when they were all being killed, Yoda felt the various disturbances in the Force.
Other things that piss me off, which I noticed without all the other people commenting on them, since I was pretty unspoiled going in:
- In Return of the Jedi, Luke asks Leia about her mother.
LUKE: Leia... do you remember your mother? Your real mother?
LEIA: Just a little bit. She died when I was very young.
LUKE: What do you remember?
LEIA: Just...images, really. Feelings.
LUKE: Tell me.
LEIA: She was very beautiful. Kind, but...sad. Why are you asking me all this?
LUKE: I have no memory of my mother. I never knew her.
Her real mother was Padme, n'est-ce pas? :) So, like, WTF, really. Although it's neat to find out that Luke was the first of the twins to be born.
- Anakin's "noooooooooo". Oh my God, I could have hurled. I very nearly did. I mean, SERIOUSLY, Darth Vader, screaming "nooooooo" like that? Ugh, I hope this movie doesn't ruin Darth Vader for me in the future. 'cause I'll be pissed.
- Palpatine! Once he zapped Windu and got all oogly lookin', his delivery, which had been appropriately creepy, went cheesy. I mean, gah. His line "Not from a Jedi." at the show thingy with Anakin? That was cool. EVERYTHING HE SAID, post-Windu, was, IMHO, way overstated and terribly cheesy. Which is sad. I like Palpatine's creepiness. "My little, green friend" may be the sole exception, but at the same time, it felt like he was talking about Kermit the Frog. But that might just be me being unable to separate Yoda from Grover.
- Obi-Wan Kenobi is a bastard who totally deserved to be killed by Vader in Episode IV. Seriously. Who LEAVES someone to DIE like that?! I am SO much less impressed with Obi-Wan, now.
There's more to say, like how I like that R2-D2's memory wasn't wiped, but C-3P0's was. That I like that Obi-Wan was keeping an eye on Luke. That we got a look at the infamous Alderaan before it went kablooie. I'll probably think of more later. OH, like how the midichlorians were capable of creating life itself? Hello, is that not how Anakin was conceived? I rather like the idea that Anakin Skywalker was born of the Dark Side of the Force. Maybe, despite his turning, the way he was "the chosen one" was by fathering Luke and Leia. Certainly one can argue that Luke brought the Sith down and brought peace to the galaxy. Ah, well.
In the end, I liked parts of it a LOT. And I didn't like some other parts. But how I'm still missing the justification for Anakin to go to the Dark Side is really what stands out. This was supposed to be the movie where we see Anakin become Vader. Frankly, I saw Anakin Skywalker and I saw Darth Vader, and I did not see how one became the other. Obi-Wan might have been right, in Episode IV. Maybe Vader did kill Anakin. Too bad we never got to see it.
I'm going to see it again, I think -- I made plans with a friend -- and I'll have more to discuss after that viewing, I think.
What, are you surprised I'm going to see it again despite the issues I have with it? LIGHTSABRES, dude, LIGHTSABRES! :D
(AND I LOVED that Anakin Force-Gripped Padme. LOVED it all day long. Clearly, he got better at it over the years, though.)
