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James Riswick
Associate Editor
I’m not a huge “Star Wars” fan. Although I certainly enjoy the movies, I’m nowhere near the point of standing in line for three days dressed like Chewbacca.
OK, now that the declaration of non-dorkdom has been noted, let me say that George Lucas needs to apologize to the world. The first three “Star Wars” films have finally made it to DVD, and we can all be awed once again by how truly excellent these films are. At the same time, their release also makes it blatantly obvious how shameful Episodes I and II are – we, the viewers, demand better for the final film.
Let’s begin with the point where all films begin: the writing. To be perfectly fair, Lucas is an incredible story teller and creator. The stories created for the first three films were interesting and epic, and the prequel-based stories of the new ones are designed to fill in the pieces left unfilled in Episodes IV through VI. For the most part, the first two episodes accomplished their missions – they let us know how the “Star Wars” universe began. “Where did Darth Vader come from?” is obviously the question being answered and it is an interesting story. Same goes for all the political intrigue and blatant foreshadowing (although is it really foreshadowing when you already know what happens?).
I would venture that this is why we will still be excited to see “Episode III,” despite a great majority of people’s disappointment with the first two prequels. We want to see how everything got to the point where the first three films begin – we are interested in the basic plot points of the new films. Unfortunately, a good story and interesting plot will only take a movie so far, and this is where the new “Star Wars” films have faltered.
The screenplays Lucas has written for these films are just awful. Just listen to the dialogue — it sounds like it was lifted right from a dubbed Kung-Fu movie. Lines such as “You won’t get away with this, Duku!” manage to make an excellent actor like Samuel L. Jackson sound like Jackie Chan. And Jackson’s not the only one being victimized by Lucas’ incompetence when it comes to dialogue writing: Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christiansen and heck, even Frank Oz as Yoda, are all critically acclaimed actors who have been reduced to high-school play standards. They deserve better, and so does the audience.
Secondly, computer generated effects sure are incredible, but sometimes all we need is some dude dressed in a fury costume. All vocal annoyances aside, I would take Chewbacca over Jar Jar Binks or any of the other computer-generated characters any day. As good as CGI has gotten over the years, these characters still don’t look real. Sure, they’re slightly more realistic than having, say, Shrek interact with Obi-Wan Kenobi, but you get the feeling that if he could, Lucas would replace his living cast with cartoons.
Also in the realm of CGI, it doesn’t seem like Lucas is paying much attention to continuity. For instance, how come all these ships in the past look so sleek and incredible compared to the physical-model-based designs of the “future” three films? The answer is obvious (computers), but it is a consistency that should have been acknowledged. For example, it would have been much better to follow a “Star Trek”-like gradual evolution – they too now use computers exclusively, but it is very hard to tell the difference between CGI and the old models. Not so with “Star Wars”; put Queen Amidala’s slinky chrome ship next to anything in the later movies and people wouldn’t even think they belong to the same franchise. The same goes for everything else from set decorations to battle scenes.
Essentially, Lucas should realize that just because he is technologically able to do something, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is wise to do it. I would just urge Lucas to take this into account (and back himself with a good screenwriter) while making Episode III, which certainly stands to be the best prequel since everything of importance (the creation of Darth Vader, the fall of the Jedi) will most definitely happen.
The only thing I have to specifically say is this: if C-3PO and R2-D2 don’t have their memories erased at some point, I’m walking out of the theater. Think about it, they go through all three original movies as if they entered the saga right at the beginning of Episode IV. Yet, we find out C-3PO was created by Darth Vader as a boy, and that both droids were present at the wedding of Luke and Leia’s parents. You’d think the droids would fill in the pieces for their future masters, so they’d better get their brains drained or I’m outta there. Also, I suppose it turns out I’m more of a dork than I thought.
10-07-2004