Episode III!
Well, I'm coming back from watching Episode III. It was amusing in the sense that you know exactly what's going to happen. Therefore Lucas doesn't even need to bother with providing a reasonable but unforseen plot twist like he did in Episode V. But of course, when watching the movie in a theater of Rebellion sympathizers, one must take care not to cheer the Emperor too much. But then, often it's easy to cheer for the Emperor since both the clone army & the droids work for him.
In other respects, it's mediocre filmmaking. Christansen is, as always, not in touch with his emoting. McGregor & Portman lack good enough dialogue to properly bring out their skills, but McDiarmid obviously had lots of fun bringing his megalomaniac self. Even then the incessant scene changes with constantly changing wipes annoys the hell out of me. Many things don't make sense, from the abilities of the Jedi to the speed of the vehicles (if they can cross galaxies in minutes, why spend that much time in atmosphere?). However, as far as Lucas's final (?) outing into the Star Wars universe (in movie form, before the special editions), this one was no where nearly as nauseating as the plot areas of Episode II or the cutesy Anakin in Epsiode I.
But not to say it's not entertaining. For one thing it provides closure (until Lucas starts Episodes VII, VIII, and IX) to the saga. For another there are some fun lightsaber fight scenes, although for truly great scenes one should try the Knights of the Old Republic series of RPGs from BioWare. The movie also adds elements of moral ambiguity by questioning the Jedi's rule. Of course, they are brought up by the Emperor, but if you treat them with an open mind they don't seem very unreasonable.
On an unrelated note, I will be out of the country for both Batman Begins and Fantastic Four. Darn.
And on an even more unrelated note, on my way out I saw a friend waiting in line for the next showing. He was playing Munchkin by Steve Jackson Games with a few friends, a game I tried and completely didn't understand. So apparently some people do.
In other respects, it's mediocre filmmaking. Christansen is, as always, not in touch with his emoting. McGregor & Portman lack good enough dialogue to properly bring out their skills, but McDiarmid obviously had lots of fun bringing his megalomaniac self. Even then the incessant scene changes with constantly changing wipes annoys the hell out of me. Many things don't make sense, from the abilities of the Jedi to the speed of the vehicles (if they can cross galaxies in minutes, why spend that much time in atmosphere?). However, as far as Lucas's final (?) outing into the Star Wars universe (in movie form, before the special editions), this one was no where nearly as nauseating as the plot areas of Episode II or the cutesy Anakin in Epsiode I.
But not to say it's not entertaining. For one thing it provides closure (until Lucas starts Episodes VII, VIII, and IX) to the saga. For another there are some fun lightsaber fight scenes, although for truly great scenes one should try the Knights of the Old Republic series of RPGs from BioWare. The movie also adds elements of moral ambiguity by questioning the Jedi's rule. Of course, they are brought up by the Emperor, but if you treat them with an open mind they don't seem very unreasonable.
On an unrelated note, I will be out of the country for both Batman Begins and Fantastic Four. Darn.
And on an even more unrelated note, on my way out I saw a friend waiting in line for the next showing. He was playing Munchkin by Steve Jackson Games with a few friends, a game I tried and completely didn't understand. So apparently some people do.