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So ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) replyhazy and I went to see Revenge of the Sith. "Detailed" analysis and potential spoilers behind the cut.
I can sum up my reaction to Revenge fo the Sith in one word.
Eh.
George Lucas can't write dialogue to save his f***ing life.
They wasted the talents of Natalie Portman and Christopher Lee, and I was disappointed that they didn't actually introduce us to any more of the Jedi. Yeah, it's true, I'm enough of an uber-geek that I already know the cone-heaed Jedi is named Ki-Adi-Mundi, but really that's about the only thing collecting action figures really does for a person. They could've done an entire series just about the various Jedi and their adventures, and that could've been pretty cool. They obviously spent a great deal of time on the various alien Jedi, only to kill them without letting us get to know them, without giving us the opportunity to care what happens to them.
The characters of Darth Tyrannus (Lee) Senator Amidala (Portman) and General Grievous (CGI construct) were simply there as plot devices. Grievous (Really, George, you should be ashamed of yourself. Try using a different naming formula besides title/adjective or name/adverb next time you want to introduce exotic and/or bad-ass characters. At least most of the Jedi had interesting names -- that's probably why they had to die; name envy on the parts of the other characters.) was far more sinister and threatening in the Clone Wars episodes (see below) instead of the comsumptive coward they made him into in Sith. Gack.
Hayden Christiansen was a complete mannequin, with one exception; when in the Chancellor's private box seats at the performance, (whatever it was) his mind being led down the dark path by Palpatine/Sidious, he actually looked conflicted and filled with doubt. Otherwise, his range of emotion seemed to go from angry to smug and back again.
Yoda. Once again with the "flyng muppet hidden Yoda" trick. I would've been more impressed if they had slowed things down in the fight scenes enough so I could actually see what was going on. I know they were going for superhuman levels of skill, but what they actually gave us were spinning light sticks instead. Again, my reaction is "eh."
Over all, I can't honestly say that there's much to recommend in the second trilogy. Like a Thomas Covenant book, we keep following along in disgust, hoping things will get better, until we finally realize that there are far better ways to occupy our time. Gone from the new trilogy was the sense of wonder from the first three films. Gone was time well spent on character development for more than three characters at a time. Gone is the $25 I spent on seeing those three films.
My rating system for a film (and maybe yours, too) is simple; If I felt like I got my money's worth of entertainment from a film, I'm satisfied. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, while a big steaming pile, was also fun and had some moments (Nemo's Nautilus was very cool). While I would be willing to pay exactly zero to see it again, I don't feel horribly cheated, even though Alan Moore has every right to feel that way after what they did to his story. Using this same rating scheme, Only Phantom Menace held my interest enough that I'd consider buying the DVD, and then only for $10 or less. Speaking of waste, what about poor old Darth Maul? And let's not even mention Midichlorians, shall we? The only redeeming quality of Episode Two was the entire sequence with Obi-Wan on Camino. The rest was crap as far as I'm concerned, and the arena scene is so cliched as to be threadbare by now.
Frankly, Clone Wars, the series of animated shorts by Genndy Tartakovsky and friends run on Cartoon Network in five minute blocs was far superior to the Sith film. I recommend checking out the first half (50 minutes long), now available on DVD.
And now for your amusement:
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