Ewan McGregor's acting?

I personally felt Ewan McGregor's acting was decent, and could've been much better had he been given better lines. The real embarrassment of the prequel trilogy is Hayden Christensen.

 

Hayden captures the moody teenager of Attack Of The Clones perfectly. He's easily as annoying as any teenager I've known (and I include myself in that).

Good dialogue doesn't improve an actor's performance. Look, if you will, to A New Hope. Harrison Ford's lines were awful but his peformance means you overlook that.

 

Some RLM house boy signs up JUST to tell us that .

--MissPadme

 

I guess I have to ask: ^?

 

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. an in....huh?

 

I always find it hard to be "convinced" by any performance if the dialogue is poor. If the actor has an awkward/stupid/pointless/cliche line to recite, most likely the it will be delivered poorly. Not because the actor is bad but because they're not given anything to work with.
The difference between the prequels and A New Hope to me is the direction. It's miles above the prequels, in my opinion. And it doesn't hurt that Harrison Ford was born to play Han Solo.

 

Star Wars dialogue has always been very campy and unrealistic. But some actors (particularly British ones) can make it work while others are always struggling (SLJ).

 

SW dialogue being campy? I know what you mean, in both the old and new movies there have always been lines I've cringed at...even a few of Ewan's. But the few campy lines he had was more than made up for by his overall performance, (and those dazzling eyes and overall look didn't hurt either..)..

 

Ohhh - ok.

Yeah, loved most of Ewan's lines in the movies. I agree on that line: the sarcasm in "Good Job" with that annoyed look at Anakin...classic.

I also loved how he was so torn about Anakin going on that solo mission (AOTC)- of which he turned out to be right about, but he had to be so careful in expressing his concern to Yoda and Mace without expressing outright lack of trust in Anakin - he was walking a fine line there, and Ewan played that so well.

 

I actually think Ewan doesn't get enough credit for his work in the PT. Presumably because PT only has bad acting (as every fanboy on the Interwebs knows), so there's no way we're going to acknowledge that someone - be it Ewan or Ian - was actually good in it.

Ewan shows the development the young, idealistic apprentice into the world-weary, wise Master who hasn't lost his sense of humor and is genuinely devastated by his "brother"'s betrayal, and he does it very convincingly.

 

I just watched ROTS and my word Ewan is good in it. You can actually see the pain in his eyes. He was so convincing in his distress, and his speech to Anakin is heartbreaking stuff.

 

I actually like his acting on the scene he has with Padmé in RotS, more than in any other.

 

His eyes are wonderful, aren't they? And I'm not just talking about the changing colors (which are gorgeous), but how expressive they are when he's acting. You can see what he's feeling and thinking in them. The director in the Island made a comment about his eyes on a commentary on the movie once.

I know what you mean about ROTS - you could really see the pain and the heartbreak in his eyes during that scene on Mustafar with Anakin. It's like Obi-Wan doesn't show a lot of outward emotion, but just look at his eyes..you can see it there.

 

Agreed!

 

Absolutely! And his performance is outstanding in the scene with Anakin after he's accepted to the Council and asked to spy on Palpatine. Anakin's upset and wonders why Obi-Wan is asking this of him. I love Ewan's delivery of the line: "The Council is asking you."