Amusement or treasure, these optimistic pleasures
So the let-down about Sufjan Stevens yesterday had a happy ending, but as I was back at my desk, letting Illinois be my soundtrack, I get a phone call telling me that my landlord is kicking me out because his nephew got into GW and so he's going to take the apartment. Which means I get to do the rental and moving dance again. Which is not my idea of summer fun.
To take my mind of my brand new worries, I finally got around to seeing the new Star Wars last night. Overall...I guess I liked it. Some of the action was exciting, but that was tempered by scenes that I was purely bored during. Still, that's a dramatic improvement from one of the worst movies ever made (Episode I) and one of the most unintentionally hilarious movies ever made (II).
Some thoughts about the movie. Possible spoilers ahead, so if you haven't seen it and don't want to know that Rosie the robot maid from the Jetsons makes a cameo as a midwife, then don't read on any further.
- Yoda drove me freaking nuts. Apparently, Lucas and co. forgot that, in Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, he didn't say EVERY sentence in his backward Yoda way. They actually had the sense to let him say some of the more dramatic lines (ex, "No, there is another") normally. But it was laughable in this movie. Seriously: every...single...line (ex, "Allow this appointment lightly, the council does not"). It's like when some little kid hits on something he thinks is funny and then repeats until you're about ready to chop him up like the newly-minted Darth Vader does on those little kids.
- Speaking of which, that scene was really gratuitous. Cute little kid with an English accent looks up scared at Annakin/Vader, who turns on his light saber, scaring the crap out of them and then chops them to pieces (not shown). Sure, it's effectively shocking, but otherwise, it's just George Lucas desperately reminding you that this movie IS NOT FOR KIDS. As a matter of fact, in this movie, KIDS ARE KILLED!
- Like episodes I and II, this one felt like a giant toy commercial. New robots and battle gear and landscapes showed up for 25 seconds of movie time so they could spend 25 years on toy shelves and Ebay auctions.
- And speaking of all that stuff, there's still some serious disconnect between the hundreds of different kinds of spaceships in episode III and episode IV. Does anyone care to propose a theory of the de-evolution of technology in those years? I'd love it if Lucas Films did a fake documentary on why that particular galaxy decided to simplify.
- It really bugs me that Padme (Natalie Portman) is such a weak character. Leia was always extremely brave, and her one moment of weakness when her entire home planet is destroyed is just that much more heartbreaking. Meanwhile, Padme is whining and crying out like a Bond girl. It's a shame that Lucas forgot how to write a strong female character.
- The Jedi extermination scene, while a cool possible-nod to The Godfather, just seemed like another way to remind people that they're watching a film for grownups (see point 2) and to get in another half-dozen new robots and sets (see point 4). Still...like the movie, easy to pick at, but mostly enjoyable.
- I can't for the life of me imagine that George Lucas is deliberately taking a stab at George W., but there seemed to be a whole lot of relevant political references ("So this is how liberty dies - to thunderous applause"). Still, there were enough times in the movie where I was making parallels to our modern American life that I wonder...
12 comments:
so your lease has a clause that says "for 12 months or until my son displaces you, whichever comes first" ?
I wonder if that can be legal. Or is it even worth worrying about?
(paul here. can't remember my gddmnd pswd. sry.)
i actually have an explanation for the ship thing and i have been waiting for the appropriate forum to reveal it. thank you for the opportunity.
basically, it all comes down to democratic republic vs. fascist empire. where there is democracy, there is much diversity. in highly centralized societies, where power is consolidated into the hands of very few people (a la the empire), you'll have a much more standardized culture. obviously, diversity of culture equals diversity of technology.
also, the "universe" of the original trilogy is much smaller (maybe 6 worlds all together?), while the prequels not only take place on more worlds, they also take place primarily on corusant, which is pretty much the center of the galaxy.
finally, i'm sure budget had something to do with it.
So you're saying that budgets had to be slashed as the Empire took more control of the galaxy? That would make sense...obviously, they had to simplify to build more ships and...
...well, yeah. Seriously, we all know the disconnect: Lucas had a lot more special effects and a lot more money to play with. They also know that every ship that's in the movie can be sold as a $40 toy. Which is all fine and well, but it just screws up the continuity of the movies. Then again, Lucas is obviously not too concerned about continuity seeing as how he didn't see the problem with the fact that, by episode IV, R2D2 has somehow lost the ability to SET THINGS ON FIRE!!!
Interested cultural side note: in Spanish-speaking countries (or Puerto Rico at least), they called R2D2, "Arturito", or "little Arthur". That cracked me up...works perfectly.
Oh, and Dave, my lease had actually expired. My landlord is only breaking a verbal agreement to extend my lease. There's really nothing I can do.
dag, first off, that sucks you gotta move - stupid sons.
As for the R2D2 losing his ability to create fire - maybe that was disabled in some accident that occured b/w the end of episode III and IV - which is why I think there is going to be an episode III.b - to explain how C3PO and R2D2 and Princess Leia ended up on that ship, what Luke did in his spare time, how the rebels were able to organize and raise enough money to build a pretty decent little army, and how yoda ended up in a swamp. I actually really enjoyed episode III, but totally agree with you on all points - especially the ridiculous killing kids thing - we get it, Darth Vader is evil.
dang. you must have gone to the can during the scene where R2D2 transferred his firestarter powers to little Drew Barrymore.
Episode III.b will obviously be the wireless episode.
I actually didn't have any problem with the slaughtering of the children bit. Didn't seem over the top to me. Sure it was cheap, but I think the story needed that kind of development to really illustrate how evil and complete Anakin's tranformation to the dark side was simply. At least Lucas had the good sense to not actually *show* it. And otherwise, the movie just plays like a series of scenes where Hayden Christensen just goes from petulent to cranky. Seriously...think back to the original movie and how matter of factly the bad guys just disposed of Princess Lea's entire planet, as she watched in horror. These are some bad mofo's we're talking about here.
Oh, and I kinda got the impression that Lucas most definitely WAS drawing a parallel to his story and today's administration. That seemed pretty clear cut to me. Ham-fisted though it was...
Yeah, I got the impression that the administration references were deliberate. And I was impressed. But at the same time, it just seems hard to believe that he would do something like that. Considering the fact that the Madagascar The Movie people were worried that people would think that the public would think that the film has a conservation agenda, no film is too big to worry about offending people and losing audience (read: money).
On the kids-slaughtering sequence: on the surface, I actually thought it was kind of amazing. It has the potential to be one of those "classic" film moments that gets referenced all over the place. But I don't really feel that it showed how evil he had become (really, he was just following orders: exterminate ALL Jedis), and it just felt a little gratuituous; not because of its violence, but in the fact that it was the needling director that I hate: "Get it? It's dark!"
I see where you're coming from with this...but story wise, I thought it was a necessary step in showing the transformation to evil. In other words, it took a truly evil action to show how Anakin had lost his way. Short tempered brat, yeah. Cranky, distrusting husband, definitely. But the most evil man in the galaxy (next to the Emperor himself)?
As much as I enjoyed this one, I think that the disappointment of the last two really set this one up to be received better. The bar had been set so low this time around, I guess.
My biggest criticism concerning the first three vs. the last three is that as the technology improved and enable Lucas to do more, he actually ended creating a less impressionable universe. He crams every centimeter with so much detail that you don't even know what to focus on. Sure it looks amazing, but try drawing one of those spaceships on your trapper keeper. You can't do it. But we all can still draw Tie-Fighters and X-Wings, right?!
Couldn't agree with you more on the yodaspeak. It was only an occasional thing before, now it's way too forced (no pun intended).
I guess once you're labeled as lawbreaking rebels and are forced to hide in the outskirts of the galaxy, getting access to the good spaceship technology can be kinda tough. That's why they don't have the fancy stuff anymore.
I do wish they would have provided more explanation as to why neither obi-wan or darth vader seem to remember c3po and r2d2 later on.
Sorry to hear about your apartment. Stupid freshmen...shouldn't they be living on campus anyway?!
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