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Saturday, May 21, 2005

A few observations on Revenge of the Sith ( a.k.a. ROTS)
Today I indulge my inner geek:

(SPOILER ALERT)
Too much stuff on screen flying around during battles and chase scenes. The teens will be coming back for repeated viewings just for that alone.

The droids look like the skeletons from Jason and the Argonauts, and get mowed down as fast.

What's with the cute names, George?

All that elevator needs is Bruce Willis.

Christiansen's not as tall as I thought. He's shorter than Samuel L. Jackson and Jimmy Smits, so Ewan's short and Padme must be and inch or two taller than Yoda.

I like the videoconferencing with hollograms. Nice to have them occupying their chairs even when they're away.

Padme got to wear Princess Leia's bagel hairdo.

ROTS wasn't as bad as Podhoretz made it out to be. It does have its moments.

Just how long does it take Padme to get ready in the morning?

What's with that negligée trimmed with strings of pearls? You mean she actually sleeps in that?

Leapin'lizards, Obi Wan!

Too bad Christopher Lee gets mowed down faster than the droid big honcho.

Not a movie for young kids.

Palpatine's behaving as if he were Putin.

Two words, Padme: classic simplicity.

Was there ever a Mrs. Yoda?

Lost count of amputations.

Did Samuel L. Jackson's character survive that fall? After all, Yoda got fried, and kept on going.

Hey! Chewy's back! But, in the Planet of the Apes?

At least seven people are taking pictures with their cell phones.

"Younglings", yinglings, whatever.

Lucas must have been watching/reading Lord of the Rings, with that volcanic fight. All very Medieval-knight-like

Jimmy Smits picks up Yoda in what reminded me of a 1960s Mustang convertible. Very cool.

Obi-Wan and Annakin are not prone to dehydration. Maybe the Jedi go for "never let them see you sweat".

Their clothes and shoes must be fire-proof.

Even with all the pathos, couldn't help but think of Monty Python and the Holy Grail when pre-armor Darth is lying on the lava with his legs cut off:
Black Knight: Right, I'll do you for that!
King Arthur: You'll what?
Black Knight: Come here!
King Arthur: What are you gonna do, bleed on me?
Black Knight: I'm invincible!
King Arthur: ...You're a loony
I've watched too much Monty Python.

Jedi ethics leave much to be desired. 2:1 against an old guy (Christopher Lee) is not what one would expect from the lofty-minded.
Note to Obi-Wan: The Samurai and the Klingons woudln't turn their backs and leave their (former) fellow Jedi to die after the injuries Annakin suffered. From that alone the pre-armor Darth had a good case against the Jedi.

All that flying transport and Darth couldn't get some anesthetic. (Or, they could put a clone on the moon, but they couldn't get Darth some analgesia.)

The score, while predictably obtrusive, was good. I particularly liked the chorus singing "Darth Vader" during the vestments scene. Just the thing to bring it waay-over-the-top.

The characters played by Jimmy, Samuel, or Ewan would have been a more interesting Vader. ROTS's Vader was a dissatisfied punk with delusions of grandeur, instead of a Jedi-gone-bad.
As we left, one in our group said, "if that's the reason Annikin got suckered into the dark side, he really wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer".
Lucas had 30 years to work on this, and that's the best he could come up with??

I hope James Earl Jones got paid enough from saying those few words to pay off the mortgage and the kids' med-school tuitions.

The best visual was the simple, classically composed shot of Darth Vader's mask closing shut: An essay in finality, simply expressed.

Yoda and C3PO the best lines got. Lucas a writer hired should have.

3 Comments:

At 11:35 AM, Blogger Jeff Faria said...

Noticed much, you have. Missed, you did, the film's funniest but most (apparently) unintentional jibe: The Emperor's first words to the armored Darth Vader - who is now Verizon's James Earl Jones:

"Can you hear me?"

 
At 11:50 AM, Blogger Fausta said...

"Can you hear me?"
ROFLOL!!!

 
At 2:24 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

After seeing the reason Anakin was seduced by the dark side... I said to my self: Darth Pussy.
Really. When I was a kid, Vader was scary. Now? How can I be afraid of a mental deficient like that?!?
When he woke up from the slab, and asked for Padme, could he sound more patheic?
And the freakout... started cool, with furniture, droids and walls getting crushed.. but when he breaks away from the slab like Frankenstein's monster and scream "Nooooooo"...
Even Wisconsin doesn't have that much cheese.

 

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