Matt's Movie Blog

Thursday, May 19, 2005

It's Done

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith ---- First Impressions

It's that movie. It's the movie I've been waiting to see for fifteen years. The awakening of Darth Vader. The destruction of the Jedi and the Old Republic. The rise of evil. The birth of the twins. Nearly 15 years after I watched A New Hope for the first time, I was finally staring at the giant silver screen, about to hear the answers to so many questions I only thought I had pushed out of my mind.

So why am I not as satisfied as I thought I'd be?

Something's not sitting right. This is the first movie I really feel like I need a second viewing to get an accurate opinion. I was at a midnight show; I was tired, overhyped, stressed, everything... I need to see the movie under more normal circumstances, I think. Of course, at the back of my mind, I am suspicious of myself... I think that maybe the only reason I feel like I need to see it again is because I'm not ready to accept the fact that maybe I didn't like it.

See, I was much more forgiving with Episodes I & II than most fans. Yes, they had significant flaws, but what movie doesn't at this point? Most fans were holding them to the impossible standard set by their memories of the original trilogy, which had 20 years to sit and expand in their minds. I didn't see Jar Jar as nearly as blasphemous as everyone else. Annoying, sure, but he served a purpose, which was a direct appeal to the 21st-century child. It was a sure-fire way to rope them in, and because of the time gap between I and II, they would be matured and ready for II when it was released, and then eventually for III. It's straight-up marketing, and it worked. Lucas didn't need to dump things in there to hook the fans. He knew damn well that we'd all be there anyway. No, the casting wasn't the best it probably could have been... Hayden Christensen is downright frightening in his woodenness at times. But I didn't mind so much, because this was about the story, the world that Lucas created to share with us.

I feel like his focus fell away from the story, and he began to focus too much on how his world would be perceived. The complete CG takeover of Star Wars had become increasingly unsettling, and last night, Lucas twisted the knife. I had heard rave reviews of the gorgeous special effects, but seeing them in action, they made me want to cry. There are sections that just look bad. And Lucas went so far as to fix things that weren't at all broken. Yoda, I understood. He wanted Yoda to have that mobility, and Yoda looks, moves and feels fantastic in Sith. But why C3PO? Why Chewbacca's face? These worked seamlessly using big, gaudy costumes in 1979, why wouldn't they work now? The lightsaber blades only seemed to fit about half of the time.

I like this story. I like the conflict they gave Anakin. They set Anakin on a path that not even Christensen could mess up. His first malicious act as Darth Vader is seriously disturbing, and obviously arranged to test his commitment to his dark oath. And no one can look at him the same way afterwards. He's not outwardly evil like Palpatine is - one of his primary motivating forces is legitimate love for Padme, despite how disjointed the dialogue has been. At least in this movie it seems sincere, if not convincing. He's driven to power out of fear for her life - obviously the less noble pursuits are a draw, but Palpatine promises Anakin something no one else could offer - Padme's life. The conflict in him as he carries out Palpatine's missions - he knows what he's doing is wrong, flying in the face of everything he's ever been taught by his mentor and brother, but Obi-Wan cannot promise to save the woman he loves. It truly illustrates the path to the dark side Yoda has many time described. "Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering..."

I want to like this. I really, really do. There were moments last night where I was squeezing my girlfriend's hand harder than she probably liked. The coup de grace against the Jedi Order is truly saddening. Anakin post-volcano is the biggest of a number of gruesome yet necessary sections. The brutality in this installment isn't rivaled by anything else in any of the others. At first it didn't seem to fit, but then it became decidedly necessary, showing the real desperation in the faltering Republic's situation. Anakin's first deed as a Sith drew gasps from the audience as soon as they knew what was coming. Darth Vader's first breath inside the suit that terrified me as a child sent chills down my spine. Obi-Wan's last words to his former student were heart-wrenching. There's wonderful stuff here. I just need to know what happened to the presentation.

On a smaller note, Lucas seemed to submit to the Hollywood norms for directing. I really wish he had just pulled the camera back from the saber fights and let us see the battles. This didn't seem to be such a problem in the first two installments. I have to wonder what changed here.

I need to see this again, which I will probably do sometime next week. After that, I may even post a review of it - been awhile since I've done one of those!