**** NOTE: This post has been pulled back out of the mists of time. Originally posted Friday, May 27, 2005. ****
Way back in May of 1977 some friends of my dad were going to a movie and asked if I wanted to tag along.
I think maybe I'd seen a preview or two for this "Star Wars" thing on TV, but there wasn't a lot of hype about it. For the next several years, 'Star Wars' was constantly in my life. No...I wasn't anywhere near as big of a geek as some people, but I saw them all (by all, I mean the original trilogy, of course) multiple times in the theater. Living on an Air Force base had some advantages. Star Wars didn't hit the base theaters until Empire did, which was probably a year or two after Empire's release. They brought them both in together and ran double-bills for several days, maybe a week. I pretty much lived at the theater then, spending all my allowance to see these films over and over again.
That was then.
Now, nearly 30 years later the 'last' film has come out and, much like with the previous two of this modern trilogy, I'm wondering what the heck happened to my Star Wars.
Once upon a time, George Lucas stated that special effects shouldn't be the story, but rather just one more tool to use to tell a story. That Lucas doesn't exist anymore. 'Sith' continues the lifelessness of the modern trilogy, under-powered by actors who are obviously more concerned with hitting their marks so the special effects crew can do their thing than they are with bringing any sort of personality to their characters. It's so dead that those rare instances when acting or character sneak out, it's jarring to watch.
Sure, they've had some nice lightsaber battles, and 'Sith' takes that and amps it up even more. And after three decades of wondering about the 'final battle' between Obi-Wan and Darth it was nice to see it. But beyond admiring the moves (those that weren't enhanced or faked with CGI) I just didn't care about the outcome. Ewan MacGregor delivers probably the single best bit of acting in the entire prequel trilogy here, and it's one of those jarring moments I mentioned earlier. It not only made me feel what Obi-Wan was feeling, it made me wish I'd felt something during the rest of the movies.
It looked great. The effects team are really gettting it right by now. But Lucas fills the screen with so much junk during the film that I wonder if he's doing it on purpose to distract from the lack of anything of substance in the movies.
So...it was pretty, but dull.
Pretty dull.
(for what it's worth, I saw it several times with three delightful young ladies and despite my lack of enthusiasm for the film I enjoyed their company immensely so if they're reading this - I had fun being with you regardless of my thoughts on the film itself. and they seemed to like it.)
Original post URL: http://www.worldwatchonline.com/blog/2005/05/sith-happens-or-sith-hits-fans-or-what.htm
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