So I have to admit I get a kick out of fan theories. Most of them are nonsense but I think they are funny. I find it amusing how the good theorists can weave themes and characters together to create compelling arguments.
Of course most of us know the Pixar Theory. Basically it is a theory that all of the Pixar films are connected from Toy Story all the way to The Good Dinosaur. Here is how The Good Dinosaur fits into the theory
(Warning all of these videos I am posting have spoilers so if you haven’t seen the films beware!):
This Inside Out theory I thought was pretty good. Is Riley adopted?
There are also a lot of fun fan theories for Disney. This one about Elsa and Rapunzel being sisters is very solid and fun.
This one about Beauty and the Beast is great!
Harry Potter has a lot of fun one’s. Here is one that JK Rowling liked and said fits!
There is also a theory that Harry might not be the Chosen One after all
I also liked this one that merges Star Wars and Harry Potter- Is Kilo Ren Snape?
Here’s a fun one that supposes is the Joker in Batman v Superman Jason Todd not the Joker we see in other films?
This was pretty clever about James Bond. Is it just a code name?
In the world of Star Wars we have many fan theories and this one was legendary. Jar Jar is a Sith Lord!
Here is one I love debating who is Rey’s father?
Anyway, there are a ton of fun fan theories. What are some you like? Do you enjoy watching them?
Spoiler warning for Mad Max: Fury Road and Star Wars: The Force Awakens below.
The other day my blogging friend Mark at Fast Film Reviews posted his Best Films of 2015. What stood out to me most is that each of his 10 favorite films had a strong female presence in the film. This is a remarkable feat that wouldn’t have been possible most years. I’m not exaggerating when I say Meryl Streep has gotten as many nominations as she has not only because she is a great actresses but because literally some years there weren’t many strong female roles to pick from. Even studios I love like Pixar have had few female roles. Often you will have the token woman lead in a series dominated by male characters (Star Wars 1-6 definitely fit this camp).
I’m not saying I liked all of the female driven films of 2015. Of course I didn’t. Woman in Gold bored me silly and I hated Suffragette. But I think it is a good thing we have good, bad, in-between movies about women, just like we have them about men! If you will notice in my graphic all of the female performances were white women so that is something that could change but bravo to see half the human population represented in this storytelling device we call movies! We’ve had female driven comedies, dramas, post-apocalyptic stories, classics, animation, teenage movies, science fiction and space opera (and I realized I forgot to include Hunger Games in the graphic!).
Unfortunately, the jury is still out as to whether this is an anomaly or a lasting trend. 2016 is very heavy in superhero movies (8 in one year!) and we will see how they do with Wonder Woman but not very optimistic on that front. Of course, we have the female cast Ghostbusters which will be a very interesting to see how that plays out. I am sure no matter how good it is there will be idiots who complain about the casting gimmick, but I just want to see the movie!
That’s where we get to the bad of this great year for women in film. We unfortunately have gotten the complaining from corners who don’t want to see progression in characters and representation on screen. Yes, if casting a female in a part is just to be politically correct than you have a point. Part of the problem with Princess and the Frog is Disney was too concerned with both representing and placating an African American audience. They made story changes, altered characters and ended up with kind of a muddled movie (not terrible but not as strong as it could have been). Same thing when they tried to not offend the catholic church with Hunchback of Notre Dame. Changing Frollo to a judge actually made the church look worse as the institution, not just a lone bishop, is enabling a mad man raise a child and not doing anything to stop the horrible behavior and manipulation.
So yes, Hollywood is a business and if they can follow a trend of female based movies, they will do it. If it stops being the trend than they will stop doing it. I repeat- it’s a business. They want to make money! So of course after a big hit like Hunger Games we have seen many strong women in the movies.
Here’s the bad side of the trend, all the trolling and moronic comments that have resulted. This is particularly true with Mad Max: Fury Road and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The complaints for both films really irritate me.
First of all, Max Max: Fury Road is criticized because Furiosa is basically the lead of the film rather than Mad Max. I’m no expert on the Mad Max franchise but wasn’t Max always kind of secondary to the environment and world around him? Is he really that much of a dynamic character? Isn’t he pretty much an excuse to have great action set pieces and a fun gritty story? So why does it matter that in this case the world around him is a strong woman? And isn’t every scene Furiosa in Max also in except for the very beginning when she begins her drive?
To me it makes sense in a post-apocalyptic world that women would be both prized for their sex and fertility and also have to be incredibly tough to survive. Furiosa’s character is not only that but she is angry and really a revolutionary with her stealing Joe’s wives. Of course she is a tough woman. She would be slaughtered in the first 15 minutes of the movie if she wasn’t! There is also never a moment of traditional ‘girl power’ in the movie. For instance, she just shoots the giant gun. She doesn’t say something girl powery like ‘that’s how ladies get it done’. She just does it, just like Max does it.
Neither Max or Furiosa have any dialogue so why her character annoys people more than his is beyond me? They are both characters that are fighting a post-apocalyptic battle on cars. It’s as simple as that.
It will be interesting to see where the story goes in the next movie but for the one we got, in the genre it was trying to be in, Furiosa was awesome.
Ok. Let’s tackle Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In the film we get a new lead character Rey played by Daisy Ridley. She is a scavenger who is waiting for her family to come back after they left her on a desert planet named Jakku. As a scavenger she learns about machines and she says she has experience as a pilot. She identifies herself as a pilot from the beginning. Poe Dameron also identifies himself as a pilot. Nobody has any problem with that…
So, Rey flies the Millennium Falcon and she is by no means perfect in the flight. She bounces around a bit and is on the run most of the time. Through some clever thinking, more than brilliant flying she evades the tie-fighters. When it is over Finn asks her ‘how did you do that?’. She says something like “I don’t know. We trained but never left the planet”. She’s clearly a character that operates well on extreme adrenalin and she has force abilities that are awakened through the course of the movie.
If you think about it she makes a poor decision under less adrenalin when changing the fuses in the scenes with the rathgars. Also for someone who has only been trained on blasters Finn adapts to the Tie-Fighter and Falcon pretty easily. He also knows where to go to turn off the shields and is able to make his way to Captain Phasma and capture her without disturbing anyone else on the ship. For a guy in sanitation that was simple for him? Yet I don’t see anyone complaining about his character or that he is a Gary Stu?
She is also different than Luke because Luke was a doubter. It took him forever to believe in the force and its power and be confident in using it. Really not until Return of the Jedi is he confident. Yoda tells him “that is why you fail” because his lack of faith in the force and his own abilities are his biggest problem. I mean if you really think about it Luke had never really piloted much before and yet he does a darn good job in those missions at the end of New Hope. Nobody complains about that. If Luke hadn’t been bogged down by self-doubt than he probably would have been able to do everything that Rey does. People accept things at different rates. Rey is a believer and therefore she uses the force more quickly than Luke did.
Now there is one moment in the film where Rey changes a stormtrooper’s mind and this idea comes to her seemingly out of nowhere. Although humorous, this could have been handled better, but to call into question the entire character and claim she is a Mary Sue because of it, is just ridiculous.
The final battle between her and Kylo is also a point of contention. In this scene Kylo is injured, and injured so badly a significant amount of blood has come through his clothing to drip onto the ground. That’s no small injury. He also shows at the beginning that he can throw her against the tree.
But then her confidence grows as the fight continues. She’s just seen Finn hurt, possibly dead, Han is dead, and she fights with a ferocity we don’t often see in Star Wars. But she is still on the defense for most of the fight. Then we get to the point where he has her on the edge of a ravine and she hears the words of Maz Kanata about the force. This gives her the strength to tackle an INJURED Kylo Renn.
If you think about action scenes in other classic movies things are far easier for the male heroes than they are for Rey in Force Awakens, and yet I don’t hear complaints of Mary Sue or Gary Stu. The Princess Bride for instance- a movie I love by the way. Yes, Wesley is a pirate but does it make sense he would be smarter than a deep thinker, stronger than a giant and a better swordsman than a man who trained all his life to avenge his father’s death? No. Of course it doesn’t but it’s a live action fairytale with a sense of humor to it. I want in my Princess Bride movie for the hero to dominate and have quippy dialogue. (Another movie with the token woman and almost all the rest men).
You can make a similar argument about Indiana Jones finding clues in minutes scores of people are researching and digging for. I have never heard anyone claim he is a bad character. Even if they hate the last movie they still like the character. What about the Goonies? People love that movie but it is about kids finding treasure underneath a major city (all the goonies by the way are nearly all boys!). You going to tell me it makes sense that generations of people weren’t able to find those caverns and treasure when a couple of kids are able too? Indiana Jones and Goonies are great movies because they work within the genres they are given and have good scripts.
Star Wars movies are meant to be exciting, fun, space operas. They aren’t supposed to be gritty depictions of realistic warfare. The character arcs are pretty simple but we love it for that very reason. The problem with the prequels is the characters got muddled and made poor decisions (with dopey dialogue too). The fact is Rey is a character with confidence who acts well under adversity. For the life of me I don’t know what’s wrong with that?
Mad Max is a kinetic crazy battle film. Furiosa is a strong character who is in nearly every scene with Max and they fight the bad guys. It’s as simple as that.
So, to those complaining about Star Wars and Mad Max, I can see having issues with individual scenes in the film, as do I, but to fault the movie for Furiosa and Rey I do not get. Those are terrific characters that fit within the genre of movie they are in. I’m sorry if their presence annoys you but again grow up! If you don’t like the movies. Fine. But stop with the Mary Sue and the feminists are taking over our movies nonsense.
That’s what I have to say about that! Let’s just hope that Wonder Woman is 1/10th the character Furiosa and Rey were. A girl can dream right?
Hi guys! You all know I loved the new Star Wars movie The Force Awakens. It ended up my second favorite movie of the year after Inside Out.
On Sunday my friends Abby and Jeremy and I continued our Star Wars analysis by talking all about the new film. We ended up talking for 2 hours and we could have gone even longer! For a movie that seems simple on the surface there is a surprising amount to it.
I think this would be an entertaining listen for you when you are cleaning or working, maybe on your commute. I would love your feedback.
You can listen to our discussion on the entire series with this playlist.
I loved doing these discussions and feel encouraged to do more of them. Abby and Jeremy also said they had a good time. If you have suggestions you’d like to us to discuss put in the comments section. I was thinking of the Marvel movies or Harry Potter later in the year.
Congrats to JJ Abrams, Kathleen Kennedy, and the team at Disney/Lucasfilm for making a very special movie! And thanks to George Lucas for creating such a wonderful world. I appreciate even his prequels now better after this series and watching them in chronological order. It’s been a great experience so I hope you all enjoy listening to it.
I feel like I am the only one of my blogging friends to not post their Force Awakens review. Well, I wanted to see the movie twice to make sure I wasn’t just gushing over the experience more than the film itself. It was definitely one of the most memorable movie-going experiences I’ve ever had. I even dressed up
Fortunately I’m happy to tell all of you that the movie lived up to the experience. Star Wars is back and the great world Lucas gave us in 1977 will continue on in good form for a whole new generation. I couldn’t be happier!
I’ll give you a few plot points that are basically available on the trailer (I tried to keep it spoiler free but if you are very sensitive stay away).
The focus on Force Awakens is on a young woman named Rey (Daisy Ridley) who is a scavenger on the planet Jakku. One day she meets a droid named BB8 who has a message from his master, a pilot named Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) meant for the resistance. Along the way to deliver the message she meets Finn (John Boyega) a stormtrooper who has deserted his post.
They all take the millennium falcon and meet Hon Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and they face off with a leader in the new empire named Kylo Ren.
I’ll leave the rest for you to uncover. The characters were probably my favorite thing about Force Awakens- both old and new. I thought they did such a good job merging the worlds together. I especially loved Finn and Rey who are very well portrayed by their respective actors. Kylo Ren was also a more complex villain than we have seen in many a Star Wars film (at least at first).
Harrison Ford is really trying here unlike some of his grumbling recent performances. It feels like he and Chewie are back and at home again on the Millennium Falcon. I honestly was prepared to ‘put up’ with his performance but he did a great job.
A few of the characters I could have had more of particularly captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) who I was hoping would be a bit more of an awesome female villain, which Star Wars has never really had. Hopefully in the next film she will be used even more.
I also wasn’t crazy about the main villain played by Andy Serkis named Supreme Leader Snoke. I didn’t love the design and he didn’t seem menacing enough.
But it is a small problem in a very entertaining film. Like I said the characters were wonderful. There was a ton of comedy without it being moronic or annoying like JarJar Binks. I particularly loved the BB8 droid who is my new droid crush (sorry R2D2!). He was beyond adorable. You did get to see R2D2 and C3PO which was a lot of fun as well.
I also enjoyed the action in the film and I never got bored the entire movie! It was great to see practical, earthy feeling special effects and the battle sequences were awesome. I particularly liked the light saber duels which felt more visceral than in previous films. It felt like the light was a knife not just a pretty light you could put your hand through. As we knew Kylo Ren has a special light saber with a hilt on it and he fought like a man possessed at times. It was so mesmerizing to watch.
What’s really interesting about Kylo Ren is he is a villain that is battling not with the darkness but with the light. He wants to be like his idol Vader but he falls woefully short. This is such a contrast to the prequels with the whiny Anakin futilely resisting the dark side. He’s an interesting contrast to Finn who has left the darkness because he had an ‘awakening’ of what was the right thing to do.
Lupita Nyong’o appears in a motion capture performance as Maz Kanata a cantina owner who gives counsel to the crew and I really liked her character. All the characters and actors except for Phasma and Snoke were great.
Director JJ Abrams has crafted a film that is entertaining for non-Star Wars fans and is chuck full of lore and new story for the die hard fans. And like I said the script is sharp, very quickly paced (sometimes too quick!), and drew me in. I cried. I laughed a lot and I think that credit has to go to the return of Lawrence Kasdan to the script. John Williams music is also wonderful as usual (while maybe missing the new standout number it’s a great score).
Overall, there has probably never been a movie more anxiously awaited than Force Awakens and while I had a few issues here and there I was greatly entertained by the film. In the case of this fan my expectations were met.
Congratulations to JJ Abrams and team for the tremendous job you have accomplished. The world has a quality new Star Wars movie! Yippee!
My brother and I did a video starting with our anticipation and then our reaction, and a few spoilers at the end (I also have it divided into smaller portions on the channel if you prefer).
As far as content it does have intense moments but I feel it isn’t more so than the original trilogy. If your kids can handle Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi I think they can watch this.
Overall Grade- A
Let me know what you think of Star Wars: Force Awakens? Did it meet your expectations? I hope so! I can’t wait to see it many more times and am so happy Star Wars is back!
I finally can share with you guys our discussion on Return of the Jedi. Abby, Jeremy and I recorded it on Sunday but there was some kind of glitch with youtube where all the Live Google Hangouts were stuck in processing limbo. People could watch the video but I couldn’t really share them and they didn’t appear on my channel or video feed. I also couldn’t put a thumbnail photo on or promote it in a serious way.
This was very concerning to me as it was a great discussion between the three of us and not always easy to duplicate that and I have no other copy of the broadcast because it goes from the live feed straight to youtube.
Anyway, after waiting nearly 3 days the video is up and I am proud of how this one turned out.
Return of the Jedi is a very different entry into the Star Wars films. It feels more like the serials that first inspired Lucas, or at least the beginning does. The first 40 minutes are focused on rescuing Han from the carbonite at Jabba the Hutt’s palace. This scene involves much action from all the key players except Vader and 2 monsters, the Rancor and Sarlac. For me this section is fun but it goes on a little bit too long. I really like when we see R2D2 serving drinks and Han and Luke fighting everyone and almost dying. That’s great but some of the violence with the slave Oola getting killed, Leia’s gold bikini, and Boba Fett dying the way he does I am not as big a fan of. It feels more like the Mummy movies with Brendan Fraser than Star Wars to me.
Once they are freed from Jabba the movie flips back and forth between 3 storylines- all of which I liked. You have 1. Luke confronting the Emperor and Vader. 2. Lando and the rebels attacking the Death Star. 3. Han, Leia, Chewie, R2D2 and C3PO on Endor with the Ewoks deactivating the Death Star’s shield.
I really like the fact that all of the characters get their moments including Lando who is now fully redeemed from actions in Empire. I also don’t mind the Ewoks and feel they are used just enough.
However, my favorite is the interactions between Vader, Luke and the Emperor. Luke is so convinced there is good in his father and I think that is part of what makes him such a likable character. He’s not only the hero but he believes in people. He see’s the good in villain. That’s very admirable. But these scenes are also great because of the interplay between the Emperor and Luke. He knows just how to stoke Luke into defending himself but then manipulates that into anger and hate. Luke is constantly having to pull himself back and then become passionate again. It’s a very fine line he walks.
Eventually when he will not give into the dark side (I love when he says Never!) the Emperor almost kills him but Vader steps in to save his son. What a great moment!
Return of the Jedi is a very satisfying end to the original trilogy. There are parts I would trim from the beginning but all in all I think it’s a great film.
Thanks so much to Abby and Jeremy for their help on this series. I had such a great time talking Star Wars with them and can’t wait for Force Awakens! 9 days till I see it!!!
Yesterday my friends Abby, Jeremy and I discussed what is widely considered the best of the Star Wars films: Empire Strikes Back.
I watched Empire Strikes Back twice last week and each time I was truly blown away by it. There was a new director for Empire Strikes Back, Irvin Kershner and new writers Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, and you can really feel their influence on the finished film. I am not overstating my feeling when I say every decision they made works. There isn’t anything I would change in the film.
The characters are the first stand-out in Empire Strikes Back. You get some new characters in Yoda who is a tough taskmaster to Luke as he teaches him about the force. You also get to know Lando Calrissian who at one moment betrays the team but there may be more too it than that.
Then of course our core group are all back with Luke learning about his father, facing his demons, and getting training from Yoda. Han Solo has become fiercely loyal to Luke and him and Leia have terrific romantic chemistry. He is asked to sacrifice everything and is frozen in carbonite in an amazingly tense scene.
The Empire led by Vader is more like a Nazi regime in this film and especially in the final confrontation with Luke there is no doubt of Vader’s strength and overwhelming control of the force. When Luke realizes his father is Vader it is such an intense, devastating moment (not to mention the greatest reveal ever in movies).
The action is all better with incredible battle sequences on Hoth and in Cloud City. The special effects are great and the writing is poignant, funny, emotional, everything you could want in a movie.
If it is possible Empire Strikes Back was even better than I remembered it on this recent rewatch. Without a doubt in my mind one of the most perfectly executed films ever made.
I hope you guys enjoy our discussion and would love if give it a thumbs up if you do. Thanks so much!
What is your favorite moment from Empire Strikes Back?
So we have gotten through the prequels and I think had a pretty good time doing it and now on to the cream of the crop! Yesterday my friends Abby and Jeremy and I discussed the original Star Wars movie. This is a film that I think is just about perfect. If I was going on a desert island it would be a film I would take with me. I love the characters, action, pacing, setting, lore, and everything else. Nevertheless, we aren’t just drooling fans but have a good discussion on the film I think you will enjoy.
Just as I have done in the past Star Wars reviews here is my summary of Episode 4.
PLOT:
The original Star Wars ep 4 starts 19 years after the events of Revenge of the Sith. The galaxy has split up into two groups, rebels and the larger Galactic Empire. At the opening a rebel Princess Leia has stolen plans to the Death Star in R2D2. Leia is captured but she sends R2 and C3PO to Tatooine to find Obi-Wan Kinobi.
Next we meet Luke Skywalker who is anxious to get out of his uncle’s simple farm life. Luke purchases the droids and see’s the message from Leia to Obi-Wan. They end up meeting Obi-Wan and Luke learns about the days of the Jedi, the force, and Darth Vader who studied under Obi-Wan and killed Luke’s father. Luke is also given his father’s light saber.
After viewing the message Obi-Wan decides to go to Alderaan and visit with Leia’s father. Luke decides to go with him only after he finds his uncle and aunt have been burned alive by Imperial storm troopers looking for the droids. To get to Alderaan they hire the cynical pilot Han Solo and Chewbacca who fly in the Millennium Falcon.
Meanwhile Grand Moff Tarkin decides to make a show of force to Leia and the other rebels and destroys the entire planet of Alderaan in one massive shot. The Millennium Falcon is caught by the Death Star and Han, Luke, Obi-Wan and the droids stage a rescue for Leia. However, things go wrong as they are caught and end up in a trash compactor where they narrowly escape being crushed alive. Then they escape but not before Obi-Wan and Vader duel with light sabers and Obi-Wan is killed. Luke is devastated but they must leave.
Using the plans for the Death Star the rebels discover a port that connects to the station’s main reactor. They decide if they can shoot a target directly in that port it will cause the entire Death Star to explode. Luke and a squadron join the mission and Vader is hot on their trails. Obi-Wan’s spirit helps counsel Luke to use the force and he is able to successfully get the shots into the port and destroy the Death Star. This kills Tarkin and weakens the Empire for the moment. Han and Luke receive medals for their bravery to end the film.
REVIEW:
This is pretty much how I feel about this movie:
I love Star Wars. I love the characters especially Han and Luke. I love the journey we go on with Luke as he learns about his father and the Jedi. I love Vader as an awesome villain with a strange attachment to his ‘old religion’. I love all the world building and the special effects. I love hyperspace and the droids. I love the humor especially from C3PO. I love what Star Wars did for movies and fandom. I think the music is perfect and by the end I want to cheer.
What George Lucas accomplished is truly remarkable and as much as the prequels aren’t my favorite I give full props to him for all he gave modern movies. I don’t know how it can be argued that Star Wars is not one of the top 10 most influential films of all time. Wizard of Oz, Citizen Kane, Star Wars to me belong in the same discussion as the greatest movies of all time and 99% of people I know agree with me on that. Most of all it is so entertaining for the entire family. That’s why most of us are excited for Force Awakens because it will hopefully be a chance to relive the Star Wars we were introduced to as kids. The Star Wars that made us want to cheer.
That’s all I really have to say about Star Wars. I love it and on to Empire Strikes Back next!
Hi guys! So we just finished the third in our review and discussion of the Star Wars films with our look at Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith. This is definitely the strongest of the prequels and we had a great time talking about it.
PLOT-
Episode 3 starts out with war between the Republic and the Separatists. Obi-won and Anakin lead a rescue of Chancellor Palpatine from General Grevious. They confront Count Dooku who Anakin kills at Palpatine’s urging. Later on Coruscant Padme announces to Anakin that she is pregnant. Anakin is happy over the news but also worried because of the rules against Jedi loving. Anakin also becomes worried when he has dreams of Padme dying while giving birth.
Anakin is angry when the Jedi Council decide against making him a Jedi Master. Palpatine feels he will be able to manipulate Anakin and he goads his ego and tells him about the power of the dark side to possibly overcome death. He then tells Anakin that he is the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Anakin tells Mace Windu this who then confronts Palpatine. The two fight and Palpatine is nearly defeated but Anakin decides he needs to know how to save Padme so he stops Windu who then Palpatine kills. After this Anakin pledges with the dark side and is named Darth Vader.
Obi-won kills Grevious. Then Palpatine changes the orders of the Clone army using order 66 to kill the Jedis and Anakin is sent to the Jedi Temple and he oversee’s all Jedi’s even children in training are killed. The only survivors are Obi-wan and Yoda. Vader then kills the Separatist leaders on the volcanic planet Mustafar while Palpatine convinces the Senate to change from a Republic to a Galactic Empire. Padme hears of Anakin’s betrayal and goes with Obi-wan to Mustafar. Vader feels Padme has betrayed him by continuing to associate with Obi-wan and he force chokes her and she collapses. Obi-won and Vader have a light saber battle over the lava. Obi-wan severs Vader’s limbs and he is burned in the lava.
Meanwhile, Yoda battles Palpatine with the light saber and other methods but ends up escaping. Padme has twins Luke and Leia before dying. Palpatine creates a body and respiratory mask for Vader so that he can go on living creating the iconic Darth Vader we know. Obi-wan and Yoda hide the twins, Leia with Senator Organa in Alderaan and Luke with his uncle Owen in Tatooine.
THOUGHTS-
As I say in the video, my main response to Revenge of the Sith was ‘meh’. It’s not terrible but I didn’t love it either. It was ok but that’s a big improvement over 1 and 2.
There are a couple of reasons this one works better than the other 2. First of all, there is actually a story with a climax that matters and villains that are menacing. Everything in this film is leading up to the creation of Darth Vader so it gives it some momentum and excitement we didn’t get in the others. Second, there is way less dialogue in Revenge of the Sith than the other prequels, which is a good thing because George Lucas isn’t great at writing dialogue. Finally, the special effects are better and more convincing than previous endeavors.
I felt like they tried to remove a lot of the stuff people hated in episode 2. We get way less awkward romantic dialogue. We get way less political talk and we even lose the villain of Episode 2 right away, which really surprised me. Ian McDiarmid also gets to shine as Emperor Palpatine as he becomes the Emperor we know in the original trilogy.
I did think Anakin’s transformation to Darth Vader was somewhat sudden but I didn’t hate it either. I was annoyed by Padme becoming basically a Bella Swan type waiting and adoring needy woman and kind of giving up in the end.
I also found the plot to be very confusing and didn’t like General Grevious as a character. I wish they had just kept Count Dooku who I think was much better than Grevious.
The Order 66 and the change of the Clones to kill the Jedi was very sad and compelling especially having watched Star Wars Rebels and seeing some of that aftermath.
There’s lots of light saber battles in this film and I enjoyed most of them even if they are a little bit cheesy special effects-wise. I’m still not a fan of Yoda using a light saber and that whole section but the Vader/Obi-wan battle lava aside looks pretty cool.
The final creation of Darth Vader is good but I didn’t like the No at the end especially because Lucas put it in Return of the Jedi at the end.
Overall, I still had problems with Revenge of the Sith in acting, a confusing plot and some character jumps that don’t quite make sense. That said, I was entertained and found it much more entertaining than Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones.
I am very excited to get to Episode 4: New Hope which is my personal favorite Star Wars film even though I admit Empire Strikes Back is the better made film. It’s going to be fun to discuss the 3 original trilogy and then Force Awakens!
What do you think about Revenge of the Sith? Put your comments down below. Thanks!
Hey guys! Well, my friends Abby, Jeremy and I have made it through the cinematic masterpiece that is Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones. In truth I really hate the film but on the rewatch I found some things to praise and I had a great time talking about it with my friends (doing these discussions after bad movies would make movie-going so much more pleasant!)
Here is our discussion and even if you hate the movie I think you will really enjoy it. I’m surprised we had so much to talk about it but look at this as more of a podcast style than a review.
As I am doing with all these Star Wars reviews I wrote up a little summary of the film.
PLOT:
Taking place 10 years after events of Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones focuses on mounting threats to the Republic. Padme Amidala is now a senator and she goes to Coruscant to vote on the building up of an army to thwart the threats. However, there is an assassination attempt on her life using killer centipede-like creatures. Obi-won and Anakin are put in charge of protecting her but Obi-won goes after Jango Fett the bounty hunter instead. Anakin then takes Padme to Naboo to hide but a romance develops between the two.
Obi-won finds out an army of clones is being made for the Republic with Jango Fett as the DNA. Anakin and Padme decide to leave Naboo when he has a dream about his mother on Tatooine. When they arrive, he finds his Mother has been taken by Tusken Raiders who then Anakin seeks out. His mother dies in his arms and in his rage he kills all the Tusken Raiders, women and children included. He tells Padme and she is sympathetic.
Meanwhile, Obi-won is on Geonosis and finds Jedi Master Count Dooku is building an army out of droids and that he wanted Padme dead. In fear the Senate gives Palpatine emergency powers and the clones are sent into battle. Anakin and Padme attempt to rescue Obi-won on Geonosis and they are almost killed but a group of warrior Jedis and their clone army fight a battle against the droids and Dooku. Anakin and Obi-won fight Dooku with light saber along with Yoda with Anakin losing his right arm. Dooku flees from Yoda’s power and goes back to Coruscant and presents his plans for the Death Star superweapon. Anakin and Padme marry to end the film
THOUGHTS ON THE FILM
My over all thoughts on the film is that it is a rough one to sit through. I blame George Lucas in his inability to get anyone to help him on the parts that aren’t his strength like working with the actors and writing the script. This is something he was willing to do in the original trilogy.
The core story could have been good or at least has good elements. Like the idea of Palpatine siezing on the chaos of war to get emergency powers from the senate is interesting. Also the backstory of Boba Fett watching his father getting killed by a Jedi has potential. The villain Count Dooku is pretty menacing and had potential especially with Christopher Lee as the actor.
Unfortunately all of that gets lost in a terrible romance between Anakin and Padme with some of the worst romantic dialogue I’ve ever heard. The acting is atrocious but it is hard to fault them for dialogue not even campy enough for a soap opera (and I like my share of cheesy romances). Not only is it groan inducing but it involves characters making nonsensical choices especially Padme.
The Droid Battle is pretty cool with all the Jedis fighting droids but I hate the Yoda light saber duel. Yoda is not a Jedi that needs to use a light saber. He says repeatedly the force is his weapon. At the very least Count Dooku has not been shown or developed in a way to lead us to believe he is even close to a match for Master Yoda. As I said in the video I have no doubt Yoda can use a light saber but to me it doesn’t make sense that he would use one. Plus, the CG Yoda is not my cup of tea and the bouncing around looks lame.
But all of that could be ignored if the lead character was watchable. In recent years we’ve seen examples of compelling anti-hero stories (mostly on television like Mad Men and I’m told Breaking Bad). Anakin’s story could have been done well but Lucas chose to make him a whiny, creepy brat. And to top it all off he murders a whole village of Tuskens Raiders and Padme’s response is “To be angry is to be human,” because that makes sense…
The special effects don’t even look that good (especially in the scenes on Naboo with the weird snail cows)
Sigh… In the end, it is a huge missed opportunity and it basically turned me off movies for a while back in 2002. I went on my mission from 2003-2005 so I actually have never seen Revenge of the Sith. That’s how much I hated Episode 2 (there’s a huge gap in movie knowledge for me between 2003-2005. I’ve seen like 5 movies). So we will see what I think of Episode 3 in 2 weeks (we are taking one week off because of Halloween).
Plus, the title doesn’t even make sense. The droids are attacking not the clones!!
What do you think of Episode 2: Attack of the Clones? I know some people love the prequels, which is cool. I just call it like I see it (it is my blog after all 🙂 ).
I know I can’t wait for Force Awakens and for the series to be redeemed (Please JJ)!
