Treebeard
Ranger of the North
Well I just got back and I have to say that I had a lot of fun watching Episode 2. Don't read on if you haven't seen it as it may spoil it a bit.
TPM must have been an extremely off year for Lucas. AOTC is not perfect, it has some really annoying continuity errors and some of the dialogue and acting are a bit naff but overall it felt a lot better. It felt a lot less "Disney" than TPM and the actors were given much more of a chance to develop a bit of character and personality. The whole feel was much darker.
The effects were hyped up a lot and they were great. You got to see a lot more of the Star Wars universe and some of the planets and sets were amazing, different class completely compared to TPM. The war towards the end was jaw dropping.
Dialogue went from inspired to pretty awful with some real hold head in hands moments but hey, its meant to be cheesy, its Star Wars.
Acting ranged from great to poor. Ewan McGregor was great as Obi-Wan, my favourite character by a mile. He definately gave it that edge that Han Solo gave the original films. The guy playing Anakin was ok, sometimes good when you could see the anger that will lead to him being the big V but other times he was quite awful although a lot of this was probably the dialogue. I never thought I would say this, ever, but Christopher Lee (or God to me and you) was a bit off. I kept getting the impression that he was saying to himself, I can't believe I am saying this ****. Samuel L Jackson was much better in this one. I thought he was pretty poor in TPM but he was much better here. It was a "I'm **** hot and take no nonsense" performance that he's excellent at. Natalie Portman was pretty good as well.
The story also was good and bad. It started off well with the boys chasing a bounty hunter which was a great bit and Obi-Wan doing his detective work I also really enjoyed but it did drag a bit in the middle. The love story was done quite well (although this was where some of the more naff acting and dialogue was) and it didn't intrude upon the film too much. The battle at the end was amazing. If anyone had a boyhood (or girlhood) dream of wanting to see loads of Jedi just kicking everyone's arse then we got it here. There were Jedi everywhere pulling all of the moves and then some. There were parts where the story didn't seem to gel together. When Anakin and Padme go to Geowhatsitsname they arrive, get into a fight, get captured and suddenly they are about to be executed and it just wasn't explained enough. There were a few parts like this. There were also some parts where people never acted as you thought they should, Anakin tells Padme he has just slaughtered a load of women and children and she just gives him a hug for example. He was upset though bless.
I went in expecting to be disappointed but was really suprised. I think overall it was the more darker (adult?) feel to it that made it better. And the fact that Jar Jar Binks is barely in it.
Best bits:
Obi Wan Kenobi!!!! Makes it ok to want to be a Jedi again.
Jango Fett. Great character although maybe not enough screen time ala Darth Maul. He's in it quite a bit though.
For the boys some nice outfits modelled by the lovely Miss Portman.
Yoda fighting Christopher Lee. This was brilliant and down right daft at the same time. There's no way Christopher Lee could have seen where his career was heading.
The Jedi fighting, nice.
TPM must have been an extremely off year for Lucas. AOTC is not perfect, it has some really annoying continuity errors and some of the dialogue and acting are a bit naff but overall it felt a lot better. It felt a lot less "Disney" than TPM and the actors were given much more of a chance to develop a bit of character and personality. The whole feel was much darker.
The effects were hyped up a lot and they were great. You got to see a lot more of the Star Wars universe and some of the planets and sets were amazing, different class completely compared to TPM. The war towards the end was jaw dropping.
Dialogue went from inspired to pretty awful with some real hold head in hands moments but hey, its meant to be cheesy, its Star Wars.
Acting ranged from great to poor. Ewan McGregor was great as Obi-Wan, my favourite character by a mile. He definately gave it that edge that Han Solo gave the original films. The guy playing Anakin was ok, sometimes good when you could see the anger that will lead to him being the big V but other times he was quite awful although a lot of this was probably the dialogue. I never thought I would say this, ever, but Christopher Lee (or God to me and you) was a bit off. I kept getting the impression that he was saying to himself, I can't believe I am saying this ****. Samuel L Jackson was much better in this one. I thought he was pretty poor in TPM but he was much better here. It was a "I'm **** hot and take no nonsense" performance that he's excellent at. Natalie Portman was pretty good as well.
The story also was good and bad. It started off well with the boys chasing a bounty hunter which was a great bit and Obi-Wan doing his detective work I also really enjoyed but it did drag a bit in the middle. The love story was done quite well (although this was where some of the more naff acting and dialogue was) and it didn't intrude upon the film too much. The battle at the end was amazing. If anyone had a boyhood (or girlhood) dream of wanting to see loads of Jedi just kicking everyone's arse then we got it here. There were Jedi everywhere pulling all of the moves and then some. There were parts where the story didn't seem to gel together. When Anakin and Padme go to Geowhatsitsname they arrive, get into a fight, get captured and suddenly they are about to be executed and it just wasn't explained enough. There were a few parts like this. There were also some parts where people never acted as you thought they should, Anakin tells Padme he has just slaughtered a load of women and children and she just gives him a hug for example. He was upset though bless.
I went in expecting to be disappointed but was really suprised. I think overall it was the more darker (adult?) feel to it that made it better. And the fact that Jar Jar Binks is barely in it.
Best bits:
Obi Wan Kenobi!!!! Makes it ok to want to be a Jedi again.
Jango Fett. Great character although maybe not enough screen time ala Darth Maul. He's in it quite a bit though.
For the boys some nice outfits modelled by the lovely Miss Portman.
Yoda fighting Christopher Lee. This was brilliant and down right daft at the same time. There's no way Christopher Lee could have seen where his career was heading.
The Jedi fighting, nice.
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