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

[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.