Somebody help George!

Rating: Null/10 (9 August 2002)

Like many of you who are Star Wars fans, I was eagerly anticipating Episode II and had hoped that it would be as good, if not better, than Episode I. The trailers looked awesome and the story line sounded great. Romance, action, suspense, thrills, lightsabers, Sam Jackson kickin' major butt! What's not to like about it. Well, I'll tell you. The action was plentiful, but contrived since it all looked animated. In fact, most of the movie was animated and it really gave the film a fake look. Even the best CGI in the world couldn't make this film look realistic. The romance seemed kind of silly and forced. This is a minor flaw because if those two love birds didn't get together, then the whole Star Wars thing wouldn't exist anyway. But, maybe George should have noticed how badly Hayden handled the romantic subplot and could have found somebody better. I will say Mr. Christensen could look pretty pissed off when he wanted to and I believed he could be the future Darth. I guess if he had better dialogue to work with, then the romance would have clicked. The suspense in the film diminished pretty close to the beginning of the film after I realized there really wasn't anyone I cared about in this movie. The thrilling parts of the movie were not really thrilling because I could not believe anything that anyone did. Why do Jedi's stop jumping high and flying in the later episodes? Oh, yeah, no CGI. The lightsaber battles in this film were simply a disapointment. Yeah, I know about Yoda and that was funny to watch, but much of the lightsaber battles in the film were camera closeups of the actors face's and I don't want to see actor's faces in a lightsaber battle, I want to see the fight. Darth Maul and Obi-Wan in Ep. I had a pretty good battle with stunts and acrobatics which this movie just lacked. Sam Jackson seemed wasted in this film as he was in Ep. I. At least he looked like he was having a good time, because I know I wasn't.
I think for the next installment to work, George needs someone else to write the screenplay and someone else to direct. I think those two criteria are why the originals were as good as they were. A different perspective but the same basic idea are important for a series' chance of creating and breaking new and fresh ground. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is lighten up on the CGI, write a screenplay that is fun and interesting and doesn't have an over abundance of cliches and give the direction responsibilities to someone else. The third Episode is supposed to be dark, so give it to a director who specializes in dark. No, Lynch is not the right choice, but check out Frank Darabont as a possible director. Please George, don't let a good thing like Star Wars go to waste.