Episode II
May. 16th, 2002 04:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grinninfooleI saw the 3 am showing at the Tower in South Hadley. Went with Sabbath and FilthyAssistant.
I had a fabulous time. First, there was a preview for the two new Matrix movies coming out next year (ONLY complaint of the night: many people would not shut up, so I couldn't hear Morpheus's voice over for almost all of it. It looked good, but I really wanted to choke those people right then.)
Episode II was really good. I loved their use of Jar Jar Binks. Natalie Portman was fabulous (as well as very easy on the eyes). Many nagging problems from the first film were explained, and the only thing keeping Anakin from tipping over completely into the dark side is Padme, though the good guys as usual don't see it. In fact, the whole problem the Jedi are having with figuring out what's going on right in front of their noses is nicely handled, and while no one comes out and says it, they are clearly paying the price for centuries of reliance upon the Force and its insights to do their thinking for them. Ha!
I also thought Christopher was really cool in his small role as an evil Jedi, especially with the canted hilt of his light saber. Perhaps I should name my snow leopard Count Dooku! (contest is still open, enter now!)
[Actually, one bitch does occur to me: Lucas is STILL using those some racial stereotypes in his character presentations. I didn't see Watto as a slimy Jewish trader in Episode I, but in this film they give him a hat and suddenly it becomes much clearer.]
It's disappointing that I have to wait three years for the final piece of the puzzle. However, I want to get some predictions down, now. If you haven't seen Attack of the Clones yet, you might want to wait to read these. Or not. I'm not sure it will matter.
One of the things I liked best about Episode I, which most people missed completely, was that this light-weight upbeat movie, with obnoxious CGI sidekick Jar Jar and cute little moppet Anakin, was overlaid with a strong sense of tragedy. Because Lucas has made these films out of order, we KNOW what's in store for Anakin, and while many have acknowledged 'hey, that kid becomes Darth Vader', few have really thought about what that means. First, it means that all of those Jedi that we see running around in both Episodes I and II are going to die--violently. Sam Jackson will croak in the next film. Period.
What I didn't quite twig to until a few days ago is that, since Luke and Leia are apparently orphans when Episode IV opens, Natalie Portman has to die, as well.
Three years ago, I predicted that the death Shmi Skywalker would be what sends Anakin over the edge, and that Palpatine would arrange it. Well, she does die, and did send him off into Mr. Kurtz land, but he's not yet given over to his rage, because there's a new woman in his life. New prediction, which requires no imagination: Palpatine has tried to kill Amidala in the first two films and failed, but the third time will be the charm in Episode III. Not being stupid, however, he will arrange to fool everybody, and frame Count Dooku for it.
Many years ago, I heard that the hideous injuries Anakin sustained that put him in the Darth Vader suit were inflicted by Obi Wan Kenobi. I don't know if that's still true--it seems unlikely really. Dooku, on the other hand, could indeed, fuck him up that badly.
So, I predict that Palpatine will try and convince everyone, until it's too late, that Dooku was the Sith Lord behind Darth Maul and Episode I. He will convince Anakin that he is the wise and powerful leader who should, as Anakin puts it in the new film, make everyone get along and obey. And when he reveals that he is, in fact, Darth Sidious of the Sith, he will convince Anakin that he never wanted Amidala dead, because he cared for her and for Anakin, and the Dooku killed her while trying to kill Anakin, because he feared that Darth Sidious would set him, Dooku, aside for Anakin. And Anakin will buy it.ú
I had a fabulous time. First, there was a preview for the two new Matrix movies coming out next year (ONLY complaint of the night: many people would not shut up, so I couldn't hear Morpheus's voice over for almost all of it. It looked good, but I really wanted to choke those people right then.)
Episode II was really good. I loved their use of Jar Jar Binks. Natalie Portman was fabulous (as well as very easy on the eyes). Many nagging problems from the first film were explained, and the only thing keeping Anakin from tipping over completely into the dark side is Padme, though the good guys as usual don't see it. In fact, the whole problem the Jedi are having with figuring out what's going on right in front of their noses is nicely handled, and while no one comes out and says it, they are clearly paying the price for centuries of reliance upon the Force and its insights to do their thinking for them. Ha!
I also thought Christopher was really cool in his small role as an evil Jedi, especially with the canted hilt of his light saber. Perhaps I should name my snow leopard Count Dooku! (contest is still open, enter now!)
[Actually, one bitch does occur to me: Lucas is STILL using those some racial stereotypes in his character presentations. I didn't see Watto as a slimy Jewish trader in Episode I, but in this film they give him a hat and suddenly it becomes much clearer.]
It's disappointing that I have to wait three years for the final piece of the puzzle. However, I want to get some predictions down, now. If you haven't seen Attack of the Clones yet, you might want to wait to read these. Or not. I'm not sure it will matter.
One of the things I liked best about Episode I, which most people missed completely, was that this light-weight upbeat movie, with obnoxious CGI sidekick Jar Jar and cute little moppet Anakin, was overlaid with a strong sense of tragedy. Because Lucas has made these films out of order, we KNOW what's in store for Anakin, and while many have acknowledged 'hey, that kid becomes Darth Vader', few have really thought about what that means. First, it means that all of those Jedi that we see running around in both Episodes I and II are going to die--violently. Sam Jackson will croak in the next film. Period.
What I didn't quite twig to until a few days ago is that, since Luke and Leia are apparently orphans when Episode IV opens, Natalie Portman has to die, as well.
Three years ago, I predicted that the death Shmi Skywalker would be what sends Anakin over the edge, and that Palpatine would arrange it. Well, she does die, and did send him off into Mr. Kurtz land, but he's not yet given over to his rage, because there's a new woman in his life. New prediction, which requires no imagination: Palpatine has tried to kill Amidala in the first two films and failed, but the third time will be the charm in Episode III. Not being stupid, however, he will arrange to fool everybody, and frame Count Dooku for it.
Many years ago, I heard that the hideous injuries Anakin sustained that put him in the Darth Vader suit were inflicted by Obi Wan Kenobi. I don't know if that's still true--it seems unlikely really. Dooku, on the other hand, could indeed, fuck him up that badly.
So, I predict that Palpatine will try and convince everyone, until it's too late, that Dooku was the Sith Lord behind Darth Maul and Episode I. He will convince Anakin that he is the wise and powerful leader who should, as Anakin puts it in the new film, make everyone get along and obey. And when he reveals that he is, in fact, Darth Sidious of the Sith, he will convince Anakin that he never wanted Amidala dead, because he cared for her and for Anakin, and the Dooku killed her while trying to kill Anakin, because he feared that Darth Sidious would set him, Dooku, aside for Anakin. And Anakin will buy it.ú
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Star Wars orphans
Date: 2002-05-16 05:26 pm (UTC)It also occurred to me how odd it is that Luke Skywalker seems to be completely uninterested in the identity or fate of his mother. Why does he only care about his father? (I mean, I know we need the crushing irony of his adored absent father turning out to be Darth Vader, but still, why doesn't he seem to give a damn about his mom? He could have given lip service to wanting to find her, at least).
Am I forgetting some detail revealed long ago?
And for that matter, who the heck is Anakin's father? Does Anakin care? Why not?
Re: Star Wars orphans
Date: 2002-05-16 07:09 pm (UTC)I don't know why Luke doesn't care about his mom. Probably just good old fashioned 70s sexism. Besides, aren't boys supposed to be trying to find their fathers?
Anakin doesn't have a father--he's the product of immaculate conception, which is especially interesting in a story which is so concerned with parentage and other lines of descent. We have, for example, Jaglo Fett and Boba Fett (and all the millions of other clones of Jaglo wearing storm trooper uniforms); we have Yoda, who taught Dooku, who taught Qui-Gon, who taught Obi-Wan, who taught Anakin; we have C-3PO, created by Anakin, who becomes the property of his son, Luke; Amidala is the mother of Leia. These relationships, and others, are often hidden or at least unmentioned, but they powerfully shape these films. It intrigues me to note that almost all of them center around men. There have been, in the five films so far, two important women characters, and they are mother and daughter. That's it. It's a very male-oriented, homosocial story in which male creative powers are celebrated and passed along. It shares a lot with Tolkein's vision in the LOTR books. The films don't completely change it, but they do inject women into the story more, and the view of masculinity and heroism on display there are much less individualistic, much more about brotherhood and working together, than the characters in the Star Wars films.æ
Re:
Date: 2002-05-17 01:55 pm (UTC)As for made up names IN the movie--this is definitely one of the weaknesses of Lucas's imagination, especially now that JRR Tolkein's is on display. With Lucas, it's pretty clear that he just used names that sounded cool and somehow alien (or at least, foreign), without worrying about consistency or how silly they sound. Granted, this how I handle names for my gaming world, but I'm making an ass of myself in front of a few friends, and the inconsistencies are either glossed over or else resolved over time. Star Wars has a lot of folks running around named Baile, Antilles, or both. Where are they all from? No idea. It would appear merely that Lucas likes the sound of these names, and uses them repeatedly.
Making up new languages, as Tolkein did, is farther than one should be expected to have to go, yet Lucas could have used Japanese names that made sense as easily as one's that did not....