Lost Faith

Rating: 3/10 (2 July 2002)

There is a polarity in the views of Star Wars fans these days. There are those that hold we all were just younger when the original trilogy was released and, as adults, are looking to feelings that cannot be achieved within the heart of an adult. Thus we view the new, prequel, trilogy as less substantial than the first. The other half of us says that, no, Lucas has lost sight of his original vision and has lost direction with the entire film making process.
I, for one, am among the latter. But I arrived there after a personal struggle of epic proportions. I could not let myself believe that what was tantamount to my religion was becoming what Episodes I & II had become.
What have they become? I will definitely say that they are unique films with amazing visual effects just in sheer amount. If films are like their auteur then they can be seen as a near perfect reflection of where George Lucas is in his life. A man who really doesn't understand the rest of the world. A man who has cut himself off from many sides of reality and can't seem to get back into touch with it. A man who doesn't know what young love feels like anymore. Most importantly a man who is obsessed with the technology of film making over the emotional psychology.
Not that these things are necessarily wrong. People are who they are and the man is more comfortable than I could ever hope to be. But for the makings of a film this sets up a bad precedence. Lucas' films are now devoid of life. They are windows to his soul. A soul that lives cut off from the realities of the world. As I've already reviewed The Phantom Menace I'll skip that and just move on to Attack of the Clones.
I don't really know where to begin. Ewan Macgregor is charming as usual and I feel sorry for him in some ways. But in other ways I know his career is not in danger so hey Ewan, just sit back and have fun with it. Hayden Christensen is another story. It's impossible to tell anything about his acting in the film because the dialogue is so horribly static and emotionless. But overall he's not who I pictured as Anakin, and the writing of his character has gotten out of hand. Darth Vader was a character we respected out of fear, Anakin Skywalker... we don't respect... we don't feel sorry for... really, we just don't care. He's a screw up and a jerk at that.

Which brings us to Natalie Portman. Natalie, I think you're beautiful and a wonderful actress but these films don't show that. Amidala is cut out of an oak stump but at least she seems stable and in control... which is another problem. There is nothing in the script or film, which gives us any clue as to why this beautiful, strong, and smart woman would want to have anything to do with Anakin. She seems to fall in love with him simply because the script said so.
Which brings me to the overall plot. There wasn't any. At least not as far as I could tell. Something about someone trying to unite some people against some other people for no real reason that I could see. If there is a reason I'm missing I think it could have been worked in a little better. I also didn't quite understand the battle at the end. Who were we fighting... who are "we" for that matter. There seemed to be no real reason for the battle other than George though there should be a battle. It was visually impressive but, since I didn't know what was really going on, I didn't really care and it was one big special effect. And about the special effects.
Allot has been said about the overall effects of the film and I do have to agree that they are staggering and plentiful. My problem is that nearly every second of screen time that computer-generated creatures and people had, was very painfully obvious. It may have had something to do with the digital film but it looked bad to me. Now just because a visual effect isn't convincing doesn't mean that the movie is a failure. What happened is that since the story had gone away from anything resembling coherent we then rely on special effects to dazzle us. They didn't. They just sort of stood there and looked pretty.
It's a difficult thing to loose one's faith. But I have lost it. Star Wars was my religion much until I reached about 21. Now I have no faith in the franchise. I have to desire to watch any of them any more. Harry Knowles once wrote that Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones was the make or break of the series. Star Wars is now, to my dismay, broken.