Violently Relaxed

May 23rd, 2005 by ironsoap

Nik and I basically spent the rest of the weekend taking a break from doing anything else; the coming week promises to provide plenty of stress and we decided it would be better to enjoy some relaxation time now than race through lists of chores and cry later for our weeks without any rest. This coming weekend we have a wedding, a convention, at least two trips to the Bay Area and possibly a party to attend so there will be enjoyment if not much relaxation and in the meantime we have to attend the responsibilities we purposely delayed, a dinner, preparations for the weekend and a continuation of an arduous task which I cannot speak of in a public forum. Plus I for one have a lot of painting to do before the con so as summer finally seems to try and settle in for a few months (Sunday was particularly beautiful), the days are just packed.

I, for one, am certainly not complaining.

Episode the Third

Yes, I mentioned above that I had seen Episode III. The general consensus as I hear it is that it is the best of the prequels and while not perfect, it doesn’t completely suck which is better than nothing.

I mostly agree with this assessment. As someone who was disappointed with the other prequels but not outright hostile toward them, my perhaps surprising take on Lucas’ supposed rape of our childhoods has been less than hyperbolic. My experience has been that most of the stuff I saw as a kid and thought was just awesome does not stand the test of time. I’ve seen Star Wars again recently and it is still a good movie, it just isn’t some kind of definitive SF masterpiece. It’s a solid flick with memorable characters and a happily detailed plot and backstory. As an introduction to a fantastic world, it works great. Empire focuses more on the plot at hand and does so magnificently. Return of the Jedi brings a satisfying conclusion to the original trilogy but stumbles at times along the way. Episode I on the other hand stumbles more often and ultimately doesn’t work because it feels like a technology test based on a sketchy outline of a plot; which it ultimately was. Episode II was better but still had problems with plot partly because that world that was introduced in the original trilogy is given a greater focus than the story trying to be told. Pivotal scenes that are supposed to develop key relationships seem like they were shot in one take while prolonged action sequences (which feel ripped from any of six dozen video games) are obviously given loving attention.

Episode III manages to find some of what has been missing since Empire. Namely, a focus on story. What Lucas seemed to forget for a while is that there is a really intriguing story that is, sometimes painfully, begging to be told here. In between all the Darth Mauls and bad casting and crummy acting and CGI-only characters, the redemption of Anakin Skywalker is a fascinating tale. Why it took so long to get to the point of it all is hard sometimes to understand, unless you cynically point to the merchandising tie-ins and endorsement deals.

Like the Matrix Trilogy, I feel that there is enough material in all three movies to make two really solid ones. Some sillier bits and less important subplots can be axed to make way for a better, snappier tale. If I ever had a chance to get my hands on the footage and developed a semblance of editing skill, I wouldn’t mind trying it myself, just to see what the result might be. Unfortunately we’re consumers and fanboys and we live at the mercy of creators who send us our drug of choice in measured doses. This dose is still not the jolt we got back in the early days, but it’s better than we’ve had in a long time.