Aug
18
Seriously Entertainment Weekly? Did this really deserve an F? It’s not as bad as everyone is saying. Is it bad? Yes, of course it is. This is Lucas we’re talking about. But there were definitely some good things too. Here’s a rundown:
The Good:
It really is a beautiful creation with loads of eye candy and whiz bang goodness. The battle scenes and lightsaber battles were great, and some of the shots were completely breath-taking. Remember that scene in Episode III where Obi-Wan and Anakin crash on the droid ship where Palpatine is being held hostage, and while his ship is sliding across the hangar floor, Obi-Wan jumps out of it, high up into the air, twirls around and cuts down a few droids? Well doing the movie in animation allowed the Jedi to be the Jedi that we’ve imagine all along and doing really cool Jedi things.
I actually liked the character designs. I know a lot of people are complaining about them, but Pixar and Robert Zemeckis computer generated humans just creep me the fuck out. Come on people, they never look real and their eyes are completely dead! So I really don’t mind the ultra designed look of the characters.
I thought the clones were pretty interesting this time around. I liked that they showed a bit of personality. Plus, when there was a group shot of some clones with their helmets off, they all had different haircuts, and hair colors, and tattoos. I just thought it was an interesting idea that the clones would seek an individuality by making whatever changes to their looks that they could. I think this point demonstrates a major strength and weakness in the movie and the prequels as a whole. There’s really great thought put into the most minor details, but not that much thought put into the major story. George Lucas = major story. His amazing and talented technical team = minor details. See where I’m going with this?
The Bad:
Just like the prequels, the movie is completely devoid of any good comedic banter whatsoever. How hard is it to write a quick joke? Anakin’s new apprentice Ahsoka calls him “Sky Guy” and he calls her “Snips” because she’s snippy. Really? Is that supposed to be funny? I have a freaking Viagra pill and Vagina who manage to have better banter than these people.
This movie didn’t need to exist. It only exists because they finished the first three episodes of the upcoming television series and thought it tied together nicely and could stand on its own, (and make them bucket-loads of money). Bad idea. The story wasn’t worth of being on the big screen. I think if this were on the small screen and in 30 minute doses as it was meant to be, (and not having to pay $10 to see), people would have been a bit more forgiving.
The Ugly:
Ziro the Hutt, Jabba’s gay, make-up and feather wearing, nightclub owning uncle. Everyone says he sounded like Truman Capote, but I think it was more like Eric Cartman doing an impression of the priest from Princess Bride. “Uh’ll be tha mowst powahful hutt in tha gawaxy!” Yes, he spoke english! It was horrible and totally cringe worthy.
Jabba’s son. Oh I’m sorry. You didn’t know Jabba had a son? Well he did. A little stupid tadpole that wouldn’t shut his mouth, burped (because burp jokes are just hysterical), and was the worst character design of any Star Wars character ever.
While I’m at it, I’d say the Hutt storyline was pretty stupid all around, and demonstrates one of the most major weaknesses of the prequel trilogy. Does everything from the new trilogy have to tie directly to everything from the old trilogy in a nice little bow? Why not introduce a completely new alien gangster, that could compete with Jabba? Was anyone really wondering what Jabba was up to during the prequels? And while I’m on the subject, did Anakin really need to be the creator of C-3PO?
August 18th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Thank you. My best friend is trying to convince me to see this with him under the premise that other people using Lucas’s creations can do amazing things (the books, the comics, etc.). I wasn’t convinced and now have more to support my argument to not see it.
August 18th, 2008 at 8:27 am
I agree, I liked it better than I thought I would. And the stylized look of the characters are cool. Why make them look ‘real’? We can get that from the regular movies. Though I admit that at a certain point, I felt like I was watching action figures rather than people. The action/fight scenes were stunning and the speed of them was dizzying (in a good way).
I also agree with you on Ziro the Hutt. Awful. Bad bad bad. It was ‘comedic’ (supposedly) where comedy wasn’t needed and was just dumb. Ugh.
I like your point about everything having to seem to tie in with something else in some other movie or character or whatever. Hadn’t thought of that angle before, but you’re right – it would’ve been much more interesting to create something new and take it in a different direction – still Star Wars, but Star Wars with a twist. There was no twist here.
But I really did enjoy the film. It wasn’t the F that it got from EW.
August 18th, 2008 at 8:40 am
This just reinforces that there is no way I am paying $10 plus $10 in popcorn and snuck in beer to see this movie. I will be waiting for the netflix version to be coming out…doesn’t sound like it is even worthy of the $5 bootlegs that are out on the street already…
August 18th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Glad you enjoyed it. I’m not a Star Wars fan except for the originals (showing my age). I did found out today that my friend’s cousin wanted their child’s middle name to be Fett after the illustrious Boba but his wife put a halt to that and they called him Blade instead after Wesley Snipes. Oh and their other son’s middle name is LeStat. Ack. Perhaps Fett would have been better, or maybe Jabba. (That’s my vague Star Wars tie-in post of the day.)
August 18th, 2008 at 11:05 am
I caught this for free yesterday through a connection and still was completely bored by it. I will agree that the visuals were very well done and I can live with the character renderings, but it just didn’t work. It should have been held and used as the first 3 episodes of the TV show. My main problems?
1. The opening battle. It was established that the crux of the story was to rescue Jabba’s son (Stinky…really?), but first we had to sit through an opening 30 minute battle sequence before the Jabba story kicked in. The battle sequence had nothing to do with the remainder of the story.
2. Ahsoka. She was just awful. If the brash youngster who wanted to prove herself, but first caused a lot of accidental mayhem was some new idea, I may have gone for it. I hope she got cut down by Order 66.
3. The opening. Where was the crawl? I thought I was watching ‘Starship Troopers’ for a minute. Would you like to know more?
I may have watched ‘Murder by Death’ too much, but I definately heard Truman Capote in the film, I think I even heard Truman Capote rolling over in his grave.
Even the tone was off slightly. On one side, you have the “playful” banter between Anakin and Ahsoka, on the other is the continued discussion of trade and flying routes and a platter of decapitated heads.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:19 am
FDot: I totally forgot about the Starship Troopers intro! I thought the exact same thing! I understand taking the option of a voiceover, but, damn, that voice was so caricaturish that it sounded like he was introducing a parody rather than a real SW movie.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
FDot: I agree with you on your point about the opening battle not having any bearing on the rest of the story. But I actually really enjoyed the battle for what it was. I thought it was pretty well done and fun to watch.
As a matter of fact NOTHING that happens over the course of the series will have any bearing on the saga as a whole. Anakin will still be evil. Obi-Wan will survive. Count Dooku and General Grievious will suvive (until Episode 3). And Ahsoka will most likely kick the bucket because she’d nowhere to be seen in Episode 3. So the battles are pretty much all we’ve got.
August 18th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
That’s one of my main issues with this movie and TV series. The characters can be put into any dangerous situation or dire cliffhanger, but since The Clone Wars takes place before Episode III, it’s all for naught. Only a true obsessive fan who needs to know every nuance of the Clone War would find this interesting. A lightsaber battle between Anakin and Dooku may be fun to watch, but I can’t get invested in it since the outcome is never in doubt.
But bring the Starship Trooper bugs in and I may watch again. Ahsoka vs. the Brain Bug…..that’s entertainment.
August 18th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
But you can have the same problem watching Batman or Superman cartoons. You know they’e always gonna win, so why not just sit back and (try to) enjoy the ride? Just because it’s Star Wars doesn’t mean we need to expect from it any more than we expect from any other Saturday morning cartoon. And that’s the main problem with this movie… it shouldn’t have been a movie.
August 18th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Yes….it should have been the first 4 episodes of the series. Or even a 2 hour tv-movie event start to the series. I don’t know if I can compare it to a Saturday mornig cartoon though, I expect a little bit more from Star Wars than I do from Hammerman or the Snorks.
Not the Gummi Bears though, they rock!
August 18th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Come to think of it, what is your opinion of Star Trek: The Animated Series?
August 18th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
I’ve never seen it. Was it any good?
August 18th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
It’s at LEAST a D-minus though… right??
August 18th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
The animated series is decent. It’s by the company who later did He-Man. Some well-respected Sci-Fi people contributed scripts. It might not quite reach the heights of the live-action versions, but it holds its own. There are only 22 half-hour episodes, so it’s a quick watch. Now, if you had an Amazon Wish List you could put it on that and have someone buy it for you.
August 18th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
cb: At least.
FDot: Wait, so if I just tell people to buy me stuff, they will? Will they pay my student loans too?
August 18th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
didn’t see it. I have no desire to.
But I gotta say ” I have a freaking Viagra pill and Vagina who manage to have better banter than these people. ” is perhaps THE funniest thing I’ve heard in weeks.
HUGS…
August 18th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Craig: You might want to start off with just small material items $49.95 and under and slowly build up to asking for help with student loan payments.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Amen! Someone should have taken control of the prequels from Lucas and given them to capable writers/directors like they did with Episode V and VI.
Guess I’ll ignore this movie and just go back to the many, many Star Wars comics I haven’t read yet.