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Random commentary and senseless acts of blogging.
The first Republican president once said, "While the people retain their virtue and their vigilance, no administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can seriously injure the government in the short space of four years." If Mr. Lincoln could see what's happened in these last three-and-a-half years, he might hedge a little on that statement. Blog critics Gryffindor House Slytherin House Ravenclaw House House Elves Beth Jacob Prisoners of Azkaban Muggles
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Monday, May 20, 2002
Pain. Death. Apocalyse. Much of it fun. The latest installment of Star Wars has impressive effects and fits snugly into the developing story arc of the franchise. The good news is that there is very little Jar Jar. Unfortunately, there is far too much Hayden Christensen, who as Anakin is generally far less lifelike and expressive than Yoda. But blaming Christensen is not really fair. No actor can fail to look and presumably feel embarassed when delivering lines like (quoted from memory and probably inaccurately):
"I cannot forget the kiss you should not have given me."
"I am not afraid to die. I have died a little bit every day since you came back into my life."
And those really aren't low points, most of the lines and all the romantic parts are like that. All you need is a few misspellings and this dialogue could fit right into The Eye of Argon. Both of the love scenes are downright embarassing. If Lucas can't write dialogue, and he pretty plainly can't, he should take a few thou out of his hundred million budget and hire someone who can. Or hire actors with the wit to improvise, as Harrison Ford did - Ford reportedly changed the pedestrian and boring "I love you too" after Leia admitted she loved him to the rakish, more fitting, and unexpected "I know".
Natalie Portman survives the dreadful lines better than Christensen, although I'm not sure if my favoritism for her is due to actual acting chops, her amazing looks, or her epistolary talents.
As quite a few bloggers have pointed out before me, Yoda is the strongest character in the film, and his light saber duel - far too brief - is the highlight.
Overall, this installment is certainly better than Phantom Menace, reasonably enjoyable but short of memorable. Spiderman was considerably better. |
