So Much Potential

Rating: 6/10 (21 May 2005)

This movie blew away the first two, no question about that. I also greatly enjoyed it.
However, this movie had SOOOOO much potential. Yet it failed in several categories.
Special FX: Simply amazing, nothing to say about this, most likely the best star wars movie in this category (which is logical since it's the most recent) Plot Line: The basic plot line of this movie is amazing, any star wars fan would agree. I even have to go as far as saying that the plot line makes it a pretty foolproof movie. It was almost impossible to make this movie completely flop because the story line is so good.
Acting: OMG!!!!!! Why was the acting sooooo bad!?! Was there only one take per scene or something???? Hayden Christensen was horrible....it was disgusting! Several "dramatic" dialogs btw he and Natalie Portman actually made me laugh......I mean did they prepare for this movie by watching soap operas? This movie had such dramatic potential..... Anakin Skywalker becoming "evil" because he wanted to do "good." The total destruction of the Jedis. Ewan McGregor had so much more charisma than Christensen, yet some of his character was ruined by plain bad lines.
I feel like two main things stopped this movie from perfection. The first is the acting. The second is the directing. The most important part of the movie, Skywalker turning bad and killing off the Jedis, and the clones killing the Jedis, felt really compressed. It happened in like ten minutes. It's like, he's good, oh there he goes murdering children. What???? I think the main problem goes further back, to the first two movies. Why was the phantom menace so bad? The phantom menace and the aotc could have been compressed. I even remember talking to a friend about a month ago and saying...it's gonna be tough for them to go from AOTC to a new hope in just one movie. Or they could have made the movie three hours long. I think if Lucas had really cared about his movies, he would have done that. Honestly I think he is just a money making machine without a soul.
Also many of the references to the original movies and some of the tie ins felt a little forced. Like Lucas knew that he had to put them in but he didn't want to think about it too much so he just randomly threw them in. A few scenes mimicked scenes from the original three, a few lines were references, that remained subtle and was OK. But some of the stuff was just bam in you face! I also thought giving R2-D2 all these new powers was a bit overkill! And the part about erasing C3PO's memory bank, such a cheap way out.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this movie. But as I was exiting the theaters, I reflected back on the new trilogy as a whole. When it comes down to it, Lucas had, in practice, an infinite budget for these films. He could have done anything he wanted to, could have taken all the time he needed, gotten pretty much any actor he wanted. He basically had total creative control of the project. Considering those things, I think he really blew it. This greatly angers the Star Wars fan inside me. I feel like I've been used, milked for my money and not given something in return. There are so many loyal star wars fans out there that have made Lucas both a Legend and an extremely rich man. And this is how he repays them.
When I see Peter Jackson, I see a genius. What he was able to do with LOTR is simply amazing, and is born from a passion to really translate Tolkein's work in the best way possible. When I look at Lucas I see an imbecile, only out there to make money. Not really caring about either his fan base or the artistic values of his film. Thanks George!