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Kirby,
I finally saw SITH as well, and concur with your evaluation overall
(particularly on the thematic musical score). Visually it is stunning (but how
could it have been otherwise?). It was also nice to see many of the elements
from the prequels being dovetailed into the first STAR WARS movie. MacGregor as
Obi Wan rescued the film in many scenes, easily out shinning every
other actor in it except Yoda (who cheats, being digital).
As for the performances of Hayden Christiansen and Natalie Portman --
which were critical to carrying off the film on a very personal character-driven
level -- I too thought they did not make the grade. But to be fair, I
checked out Hayden Christiansen's performance in SHATTERED GLASS and was very
impressed with its depth and conviction. And I've seen several films with
Natalie Portman where she showed the same depth. Therefore, I can only lay the
fault at the feet of George Lucas as writer and director. He clearly had actors
capable of doing the job. He either couldn't get the necessary performances out
of them or -- my guess -- he didn't *want* to.
I mean, let's face it: This is a human tragedy of *galactic* proportions.
Meanwhile, over the past 30 years, STAR WARS has become primarily a
kiddie-film franchise, thanks to all that incessant merchandizing. I think Lucas
had to face this fact squarely and realized that in order to keep the movie
acceptable to young children that he would have to blunt the emotional impact
of his pre-ordained galactic tragedy. He did this in two ways:
1) By keeping the action so over-the-top and almost non-stop the kiddies
are kept engaged and amused and are kind of "distracted" from the seriously
bad things taking place.
2) By reigning in Christiansen's and Portman's performances,
he defuses much of the emotional impact of this very sad,
tragic plot.
I disagree with this decision. I think the action-distraction would have
been enough to placate the kiddies. I would have thought Lucas would
want this final film to cap it off the series with the kind of genuine
emotional and acting punch his detractors have always complained was
lacking in the past and leave himself with a legacy film that really kicked butt
on ALL levels. But that's just me, apparently he felt otherwise. Too bad, it was
the missed opportunity of a lifetime.
So, I thought it was a good film, but not a great film.
-- JR
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