Star Wars: Episode VII: The Nerd Rage Awakens
- Thread starter cooleddie74
- Start date
I love this franchise and I love being a geek at this moment in pop culture history.
Unfortunately, there were major exceptions, considering the significant characters they had to handle. Portman phoned in her "performance" and never appeared to be anything other than a prop spouting lines. Hayden Christensen was just awful, with his "look how surly and dark I am" business which was not natural, but hitting audiences over the head with it.
Sam Jackson just stomped around, playing on his "I play badasses. Look at my scowl!" routine.
All were major characters in the prequels, all were failed performances, so that left McDiarmid & McGregor to hold it all up--a job far beyond both.
That's the problem with much post-ROTJ SW: either it tried to walk down the same paths of the original films (you cannot go back...), or its littered with people running around with lightsabers. Original trilogy duels were set pieces which meant something to the overall plot--it was not a rush to geek out / pander to fans who think its all about hack and slash and growling with the glow stick thingy.
That was a problem with the direction, not the casting.
I still think that having Anakin Skywalker be a spoiled brat from the very beginning was the wrong choice. He should have been gentle, wise. Perhaps a little unconventional in his approaches. But his fall to the dark side should have been unexpected and tragic.
But speaking of casting, I would love to see Ewan McGregor returning as Obi-Wan Ghost actually.
And Admiral Ackbar. If this movie has Chancellor Ackbar, I can't guarantee for anything.
So from what I gather, at the opening of the movie Rey is living on Jakku which is a desert planet littered with the wreckage of some apocalyptic battle between the Rebels and the Empire and she makes her living salvaging parts from the old wrecks.
I hope they play up the symbolic aspect of this, the way they're scavenging from the corpse of the OT to make money now. (and I say that with love!)
I hope they play up the symbolic aspect of this, the way they're scavenging from the corpse of the OT to make money now. (and I say that with love!)
There really was no way of making Anakin's fall unexpected, but IMO ti was tragic but it had to happen the way it did for Anakin to get close enough to Palpatine to be able to kill him.
There really was. If the prequels had been made as if they really were the first three episodes of the saga, it would have put a different slant on things. We knew where the saga was heading, but future generations looking at these movies from the perspective of the passage of time would conceivably start from Episode I, and the prequels could have been made accordingly. The Phantom Menace could have presented Darth Sidious as a completely mysterious presence, with a modulated voice and his face completely hidden, and then played it as a complete surprise when he and Palpatine turn out to be one and the same.
As it was, the prequels kind of hinge on the foreknowledge of Anakin's fall and the Emperor's identity, with the necessary groundwork about the nature of the Force and its Dark Side being provided in Episodes IV and V.
+1.
Seriously, I can't see how the casting can be blamed over the directing and writing. To be fair, most of the actors in the Original Trilogy weren't going to be contending for any major acting awards and some of them were downright goofy and wooden, but the writing and directing by Lucas, Kershner and Marquand overcame most of the performance limitations of those people.
Portman. McGregor. McDiarmid. Jackson. Christopher Lee. That's the kind of cast most sci-fi and fantasy films wish they could assemble for a sequel or a prequel. They were fine. Even Hayden Christensen was competent enough, but they just weren't given the best material nor the most skilled on-set direction much of the time.
Doctorwhovian
Fleet Captain
Interesting that the Desert planet may not be Tatooine. It actually kind of fits with the canon: That it's sort of beyond the borders of the Republic/Empire and is more or less ruled by Jabba and some other Hutts. Sure we have the Empire searching in the first film but there's no real indication that it's an Imperial world.
The new desert planet might be closer and more strategic, hence all the battle debris.
The new desert planet might be closer and more strategic, hence all the battle debris.
I don't love Star Wars as much as I did when I was younger, but I honestly think that's because I simply watched them too damn much. I haven't actually watched the OT since right before "Revenge of the Sith" came out and I marathoned all of the films.
But I have to say, the idea of new Star Wars is one of the most exciting things my little nerd brain can think of.
This movie. The next Star Trek film. The new Terminator. Spectre. Avengers 2. Other superhero movies. The first standalone Star Wars film. It's gonna be a pretty exciting time for nerds and geeks.
I completely agree. Star Wars, Star Trek, Avengers, Guardians, Superman, Batman, 007, Terminator, Star Wars, Star Wars and Star Wars!!!!!!!
God it's a great time to be a geek!!
Edit: That's funny, I was typing this the same time you wrote yours.
God it's a great time to be a geek!!
Edit: That's funny, I was typing this the same time you wrote yours.
I know, it almost feels like the 80s again, with all the really cool movies being released.
From what that cast has said over the years, I don't think Lucas can be credited with providing too much direction, even then. When Mark Hamill had a question about character motivation, Lucas's common response would be an awkward, "We'll talk about that later," only he never would, and as Hamill has said, it was more a case of him telling them if they had done something he didn't like rather than actually telling them what to do.
...and that was the problem: heavily leaning on a "hey fans! Here's you know who! We all know where this is headed, right?!" The film should have been produced like a story unknown to the public, not endless winks and nods to the original series. In that way, the events and relationships would have played out naturally, instead of the forced, square-in-round-hole nonsense designed to just get to the payoff, no matter the cost to a coherent, developing story.
The greatest story or direction in the world will not make actors deliver believable performances that engage the audience. The original actors brought heart--that they were actually living through the events, and not just standing there just to get the plot from A to B. That brings this to...
What did Portman bring to the films? Trying to act assertive just for Lucas to shout "see? that's where Leia gets it" is not a great or even good performance. Lee did not come off as anything different from his interviews: in other words, Dooku was not anyone who necessarily fit into the SW story. He was just there, and that was a complete misuse of a fine actor with a wealth of experiences.
I've already covered Jackson, but I will add the biggest problem with a series where the audience already knew where characters were going is that bad performances (along with a forced, unnatural story) prevented anyone from caring about the journey. In The Godfather Part 2, we were well aware of the fate of Vito (from the 1st film), but his flashback journey was not only engaging--effectively and naturally showing how and why Vito was...Vito, but it was a relevant parallel to the main story of his son.
The prequels were another matter. From the start, everything was about that piss poor "fallen hero" notion, which never worked because Anakin was somewhere on the meter between a petulance and assholish to the point no one would ever see him as a former hero, and certainly not "a good friend" as explained by Obi Wan in ANH.
Without Anakin being that heroic friend, there's no shock in his so-called fall to the dark side, and OT Vader barely showing any signs of having been anything other than evil, it reinforced the idea that Anakin was just a self-possessed ass who would become a bigger version of that in the years to come. No sympathy possible.
I have the same issue with the Beatles--I haven't listened to them in years and years because I can literally play every note of every song in my head.
I agree on many points. The prequels operated on the idea that "You already know this so we can't be bothered to act like you don't."
The acting is not the best, but the script and the direction really is what drags the prequels down. But, the direction that was decided for the characters, especially Anakin, is so telegraphed to what he will become that he might as well be Vader the whole time.
Also, as much as I would like to see McGregor as Obi-Wan again, within the context of the story and universe, it would not make sense, since Luke did not know Obi-Wan at that age.
Beyond that, there are already a lot of characters in this new film. I really think Luke should take on the role "wise old man" role and be passing along the wisdom in their fight.
Also, I think that Harrison can still act like a phenomenal pilot given that he is a pilot. I don't think that's a stretch for him to do
Not like Han ever jumped on to a tank from a horse.
