wake up, Lucas

Rating: 8/10 (21 June 2002)

I eagerly waited in line, like many others, to see Episode 2. I hoped it would be a return to the action and humor of the original trilogy, and not the kid-based marketing scheme of Episode 1. I was disappointed to find that Lucas has now constructed a high-tech teen movie. Every scene, and every character's dialogue, is forced, trying too hard to live up to the expectations of an increasingly cynical audience, and failing miserably.
Star Wars (Ep. 4) was funny, without ever telling a joke; it was exciting, without excess blood and violence; it was real, without disrupting our suspension of disbelief. It was also made in a very different world from today's. There is a quality of innocence in Lucas's first trilogy. Today, every kid has seen video games that are far more sophisticated in appearance than the original Star Wars trilogy. This is why Lucas felt the need to "fix" them for the 1997 re-release. He lost sight of (if he ever really saw) the fact that the story and the wonderful characters were the reason for the long-term success of the first three films.
Lucas' approach to "Clones" seems to be one step closer to his ultimate goal--- a computer generated world where he can live all the time and rule in splendor. Lucas has commented in the past that the Imperials were portrayed in black-and-white to show that they have lost their humanity. Lucas is fading to b&w before our eyes. He would, no doubt, have preferred to digitally scan each actor's form and voice, creating each performance in the computer lab, instead of allowing live actors to tamper with his brainchild. This is likely his vision of the future of film making.
Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, and Ewan McGregor are very talented actors, but they are not allowed to give interpretations of their roles. They are mostly reduced to stiff line reading, so that they don't get in the way of the CGI elements that will be added later. Lucas has created a beautiful world, but without fleshed-out characters, no one really cares to look at it.
Lucas says he disregards the critical reviews of his work-- he makes movies for the fans, not the critics. Think again, George. You are making movies to please yourself, and the fans might wake up one day and forget about you.