Detailed critique

Rating: Null/10 (17 May 2002)

Okay, here are the real problems with the new SW trilogy:
1) Way too much CGI. CGI characters, strange as this may seem, do *not* look more realistic than the Rick Baker-esque foam latex creatures. CGI characters are way too polished, over-expressive, and (especially during the Yoda/Dooku lightsaber fight) seem to defy gravity - they bounce up and down much more quickly than they would in "real life" (just go with me on this one ;-) - I noticed this in "Spider-Man" also. Think back to Ep. 4 - the creatures in the bar seemed much more sinister because they *didn't* express themselves as much as today's CGI creatures do. They were more mysterious that way, and hence much more believable.
To be fair to George, the places where CGI worked well: the assassin chase at the beginning, the shots of the clone ships flying over the desert...but when a creature needs to give off a certain aura, CGI just doesn't cut it. Let the creatures *be* a little clunky, just like real people are. Remember how mechanical problems with "Bruce" made Jaws a scarier movie? Make the limitations work *for* you.
2) Hayden Christensen. Where to begin, uh...let's see, wooden delivery in some scenes, overacting in others...he just never found the right subtlety and *balance* that the role needed.
But again, let's be fair: most of the problems with the character of Anakin come from George's script. Okay, so there's the whole problem of the douche-commercial romance scenes. 'Nuff said about them. So let me focus on a pivotal scene: Anakin's slaughter of the Tuskin raiders, and his admission of it to Padme. Let's remember that Anakin's descent into the Dark Side has to be a *gradual* occurrence - there wouldn't (and shouldn't) be some Kafka-esque transformation: "Anakin Skywalker awoke one morning to find he had been transformed into a mostly mechanical man with a chronic respiratory ailment and a penchant for crushing other men's windpipes." I can believe Anakin killing a few of the more barbaric of the Tuskins, but to go all-out and slaughter the entire tribe? I think that'd be a bit much. Then to have Padme forgive him for it..."My man...he's genocidal, but I still love him." And that's another thing: *why* does Padme love him, aside from the fact that he has a cute butt and they have to shag in order to advance the plot? We know where the story is going, but we need to know *why* the story goes the way it does.
So George, for next time: less CGI and more *real* creatures (I know it's laborious, but it's worth it), better script, and get an acting coach for Hayden if you're going to use him.