Yes, I've seen Revenge of the Sith

[winter]

And yes, I'm too blown away to comment coherently. Psychologically and visually, this leaves the other SW movies in the dust.

I also got a nifty Vader-in-flames poster with my tickets, so I finally have something to hang on my door.


What was brilliant:

• The extermination of the Jedi. Masterful, especially with the camaraderie shown just seconds before between Commander Cody and Obi-Wan.
  
• Yoda. Not only is he extremely realistically animated, but gods, he kicks so much ass. Spontaneous applause broke out twice. And stereotypical fighting dialogue in Yoda-speak - I thought this stuff only happened in fanfiction.
  
• Grievous. The cough, the mania, the crouching, spidery walk. A great concept and great execution.
  
• That lizard thing. It was so cute, eager, proud of itself. It reminded me of my Tonio a lot :D
  
• R2D2. He remembers! I knew it. And C3PO was pretty nice too, very human there.
  
• Anakin's relations with the droids in general. They're his pets, and he's definitely been modifying R2 there. Even when he's Dark, he still talks to them; this is part of the reason my fic!Vader is actually good at leading people unless they really get on his nerves.
  
• The Fight. Lucas is evidently enamoured of the concept of showing two similar battles side by side, but unlike TPM, where things got confusing at times, here he times the segments well. And dark!Anakin, in the flames... Not to mention how tragic he is at the end there. And still he wants to live.
  
• Speaking of dark!Anakin, when he gave the "join me and together we will rule the Galaxy" speech to Padmé? That was the point where I felt like crying. For both of them.
  
• Oh, right. Why didn't I get the memo that Hayden Christensen turned so yummy? His voice might be a shade too high for me, but gods, if all guys my age looked like that. And could act like that, too. I foresee many Mary Sue fics :P
  
• The ending: Obi's going to be a desert madman, Beru's grateful for a child, Owen Does Not Like This, but likes the baby. And everything without a word being said.
  

Now, to the downsides and random comments.

My main beef with ROTS is the scene of Anakin's turning to the Dark Side. I get that he went a long way when he slew Dooku, and even longer when he hesitated and did not kill Sidious. And I do get that Sidious was putting a major Dark Side whammy on him around Windu's death, but we didn't see it. If there was indication of it - Anakin faltering, being angrier, maybe some closeups of Sidious' eyes flashing, more dramatic music - I'd be much happier. It's still the scene that'll spawn a thousand fanfics.

Speaking of which, OUCH. I don't even like Qui/Obi! Stop hitting me over the head with it!

Which brings me to my next point: Obi-Wan, stone-cold bastard and moron (which also goes to some extent for Mace Windu and his powertrip). I'll grant him that his own training was not properly finished, and he got immediately in over his head with mentoring Anakin, so I'm willing to give his manipulative ass some leeway when it comes to mis-managing Ani over the Council matter. Even though any manager worth his salt would see that to heal the rift between them, Obi-Wan should have asked Anakin to go with him to get Grievous. But watching Anakin burn and then walking away? Without either helping him or putting him out of his misery? That was cold.

(Though, come to think of it, the picture of Sidious kneeling by Anakin was very tragic.)

Next, Padmé. I still liked her, though the situation really outgrows her here. In a very female way, in times of danger she concentrates on the things most important to her - her children and her husband, IMHO in that order. Also, either I'm mistaken or Natalie Portman spoke with a higher voice than in previous movies; it took away some of her seriousness and toughness, which may have been the intention.

And a minor nitpick indeed: Why. The. Fuck. Does. Jar-Jar. Survive? :P


And there's something even more important today: applegnat's birthday :D Hope it's a good one, and a good year altogether.

Comments

[bandonbanshee.livejournal.com]

Dude. At least Jar-Jar didn't have any lines.

And I really liked Obi-Wan; it was neatly ironic that, after all his "be mindful of your thoughts/feelings, Anakin" in the previous films, his own affection for Anakin fundamentally blinded him to what was really going on. Even Yoda told Obi-Wan to use his feelings to find Anakin.

[winter]

Oh, yeah. If anything, Obi-Wan's a bridge between the old Jedi (repressed, deluded, think they have monopoly on truth) and the new ones started by Luke (trusting their emotions, drawing strength from love). Now if Obi-Wan was just a leetle bit less manipulative both here and in the original trilogy, I'd be happy.

(Though Yoda? Mindfuck. Where does he get off on that "be happy your loved ones die" thing?)

[ariss-tenoh.livejournal.com]

Speaking of which, OUCH. I don't even like Qui/Obi! Stop hitting me over the head with it!

So even a non-fan of that noticed it, eh?^_~

[winter]

I'm a Maul/Qui fan of the Sith Academy kind, so of course I was open to the possibility ;) But still, that was blatant. One True Wuv and all.

[ariss-tenoh.livejournal.com]

I like Maul/Qui too. That duel scene of theirs was so slashy^_^
Though I admit that I've yet to read one decent fic with them together.

[winter]

I'm partial to Siubhan's work and the Sith Academy series hosted by her, though the latter shades from parody to seriously AU in terms of characterization at times (but so well!).

[ariss-tenoh.livejournal.com]

Is there a fic there you'd particularly recommend?

[winter]

Of the serious stuff, Requiescat, which has some views on the Force that have become part of my personal fanon.

From the Academy, it's hard to read the stories outside the whole thing - for anything with Maul's cat you have to read #3 and #45, Obi-Wan's hamsters (Darth Fluffy, Fluffi-Wan and Cuddles) are a saga in themselves, and the boys' relationship likewise develops. It's like a soap opera with multiple writers but stable plot arcs. The most relationshippy stories would be #29, #36, #43, #44, #46, #47, and almost everything from #57 on, since by then Maul and Obi were an item. My personal favorite is #83, Kenobispotting, which draws heavily on Trainspotting.

[ariss-tenoh.livejournal.com]

And Jar-Jar survives? Funny, I didn't even see him. Shows you how much I loathe the character^^

[winter]

Heh, you're the third person I see who didn't notice Jar-Jar >:) I think he appears once on Coruscant in the background, but the close-up comes in the funeral scene - IIRC the camera pans from the current Queen to Jar-Jar to the Naberrie family. (Which makes little sense since the Naberries got cut out of AOTC so we don't have any idea who they are, but still.)

[ariss-tenoh.livejournal.com]

I think the Naberrie were on a deleted scene on the AOTC dvd. Lucas must think all the hardcore have watched it^_^

[padfootpink.livejournal.com]

It didn't suck?

Lucas didn't destroy all the awesome canon history that AUTHORIZED authors have written?

Will I be proud once more to be a Star Wars geek?

[winter]

I can't speak for Extended Universe, since I don't read it, but all the foreshadowed points (lava, the twins' birth, why Yoda and Obi-Wan fly the coop) are handled well. Between my Vader figurine, the poster on my door and Imperial March as my cellphone's ringtone to signal Mom's calling, I can say I'm in full geek mode right now, and proud of it.

[applegnat.livejournal.com]

Thank you, thank you! I did have a great time. :)

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

I agree on all points, but especially on the Obi-Wan aspects. It has astounded me how many people on my flist have been complimenting Ewan McGregor's performance. What performance? He showed no emotion whatsoever, in my opinion and never was this more apparent than the scene with Padme, when he said "I'm so sorry". He sounded so horribly flat and careless.

I was terribly please by Anakin, though. It's the simple fact that his one flaw is continued throughout the series: his fear of loss. I love that it's the thing that finally saves him in RotJ as well, when he thinks Luke is going to die.

[winter]

You're right on the fear of loss. He's extremely possessive, which I think can be easily traced to his slave upbringing - he's got post-traumatic stress disorder even then, and it worsens when no-one takes care of it. I think that despite his non-talent for dialogue, Lucas does have one for believable psychology :)

And I've come to the conclusion that Ewan just played Obi-Wan as the proper Jedi bastard he is. No emotion but serenity, no death but the force. Possibly as a reverse reaction to the severing of his bond with Qui-Gon, because in TPM he definitely wasn't that way...

(Damn. Gotta stop analyzing silly movies so much.)

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

A lot of people do seem to have missed the point of the turning. I'm very much a character-orientated person, so I loved the way he used the character traits and personality flaws as the reason for turning. I know a lot of people have being saying "Anakin was just dumb" but it's not the case.

I do also love the fact that Anakin trusts Palpatine more than the council. People also seem to have missed the fact that Palpatine has been... well, for want of a better word, coaching Anakin for 12 years, when Obi-Wan wasn't around. Palpatine treats him with respect and dignity and seems so nice, it's no wonder Anakin can't bring himself to kill one of the few people he trusts and respects. He couldn't bear to lose that dominant patriarchal figure. If Obi-Wan was like his 'brother', then Palpatine was the doting father, something I adored. How better to ensure your safety from the only Jedi to be a threat than to make him trust you entirely?


Ooh and I do like that analysis of Obi-Wan. It makes sense, especially the way Obi-Wan finally only loses it when he does come face to face with Anakin. The one thing I did dislike and that I know was only done so Vader survived to the next film, was Obi-Wan watching him bursting into flames, then turning and walking away, leaving him screaming. If he cared so much for his friend, why not kill him mercifully, than leaving him to bake?

[winter]

I think one of Obi-Wan's faults was that he was not ready to be a father to Anakin, who desperately needed a parent figure. Obi-Wan saw their relationship as two orphans bonding as brothers and couldn't understand why Anakin was so reliant on him, while Anakin kept looking for validation from Obi-Wan and defined him more as a father (compare the AOTC "It's all Obi-Wan's fault"). On the other hand, the Sith are in touch with their emotions and therefore much better at manipulating other people's ;)

That walking away, where you can see the way cogs start whirling in Obi-Wan's head to concoct half-truths and explanations to salvage the situation and justify his actions to himself, was the one moment that made me dislike him intensely. And there, too, we have that juxtaposition with Palpatine, who kneels by Anakin and touches his head in a position that references the Pieta.

re: Obi-wan...

[seferin.livejournal.com]

Obi-Wan admitted that he could not kill Anakin, and there were several points when he could have but didn't (an example is when Anakin is teetering on the raft). In the end, Obi-Wan still gives Anakin a chance, as had Anakin not jumped, he Obi-Wan would not have taken him out the way he did. He left Anakin there because he could not bear to kill him.

If anything, Obi-Wan's sin was trusting Anakin too much.