Trivial convolution, wooden acting, but the effects!!!

Rating: 7/10 (3 June 2002)

One of the problems of Episode II (and Episode I) is George Lucas struggle to support the simple story of the original trilogy with a history. The weak plot did not bother twenty years ago (the attention was on the effects), since the original Star Wars trilogy was only one step up from other trivial SF movies like Battle Star Galactica. But if you try to give a trivial story a convoluted background, the outcome is trivial convolution. Also, by trying to tie up loose ends, Lucas raises as many questions as he answers.
I just read the synopsis on the history of George Lucas Star Wars World, starting several thousand years before the story of Episode I (Origin of the Sith, famous battles between Sith and Yedis etc). I was surprised how simple, banal and totally repetitive the motives of this so called universe are. Although Lucas had decades of time, his universe reaches but a fraction of other fictitious worlds like Lord of the Rings or Neil Gaiman's Sandman Universe. In fact it is about as original and convincing as the background information you will find on any second class PC game like Heroes of Might and Magic or Diablo. The main motive is the constant fight between the good and the bad Yedis. The second motive is the constant conversion of a famous aspiring Yedi to the dark side of the force. So Anakin Skywalker stands in a long tradition of Yedis, and if Yoda is only half as clever as we are to believe he is, the most important lesson to learn at the Yedi school would be how to avoid the temptations of the dark side.
The present controversy here and elsewhere, where people like me criticise the acting and story telling can be explained. We are the thirty- or forty year old fans of the original trilogy, who forgot about the lousy acting and trivial story of Leia, Han and Luke. Let's face it, Harrison Ford is a good actor now, but was he a good actor in Star Wars? Mark Hamill disappeared entirely from the screen. Surely not because he was such a brilliant actor.
As for G. Lucas, instead of telling a simple story with a good pace (like for instance Kershner in Empire Strikes Back), he indulges in trivial details of his simple universe. I found the first half often boring and repeatedly checked my watch. Can't remember having done that 20 years ago. Did the characters gain any depth by dragging it out? I doubt it. The acting between Portman and Christensen is wooden and poor. Both remind me of early evening soap opera teeny stars. Anakin Skywalker behaving as such a spoiled brat after ten years of Yedi training? Maybe after ten days The guy grew up as a slave. In his present position he should be the happiest adolescent in the galaxy. He does not show a trace of his mentor Obi Wan, nor a trace of the great, dangerous Darth Vader we are to believe he will become in the next episode. Darth Vader is the prototype of efficiency and loyalty (to his emperor). He is focused on what is important and what is not. Skywalker behaves like an American teenage boy with a light sabre, who thinks having fun` is the reason to be a Yedi. The computer generated Yoda has more screen presence than Portman and Christensen together. If it wasn't for Ewan McGregor, who IS the young Obi Wan, down to copying the expression of Alec Guiness, you could replace all the actors in the next Episode III by computer animation. After all, Final Fantasy had a similar convincing plot and in movies like this the actors seem to be more and more redundant.
Episode II is (like the other Star Wars movies) just a brilliant special effects show. Nothing more, but this is still worth while watching (if you are a fan) and you get value for money in the second half of the movie. If you forget all the Lucas hype and concentrate on the special effects you are in for a roller coaster ride. Let us hope Lucas will be more modest in the final episode. He should not try to make a movie with real acting and with differentiated characters (for that you need a proper script and proper actors). Instead tie up the loose ends (like why can't C3PO remember Tatooine? Why doesn't any Yedi sense the presence of the Force in Senator Palpatine?), and get it over and done with. 8/10