Official Episode 2 Reaction and Plot Bunnies (Spoilers!)

My reaction to AotC? I absolutely loved it! I saw it twice on opening day!

There was one certain scene, though, where Natalie's acting, well, how can I say this...stunk. You know, that scene after she fell off of the speeder? She's lying there and you think she's severely injured or something. After a few moments a clonetrooper comes over and asks if she's all right. Then she pops up and says "yes!" like nothing happened. Sheesh. I know she's supposed to be strong and everything, but she should have made an attempt to look slightly injured or something.

 

yea, I know what you mean, that did seem kinda weird.

 

LOL, that scene with Natalie made me crack up when she started to run after the trooper. The sand slowed her down a bit so she looked like she was skipping.

 

No, what was funny on that scene that first she lied there, almost unconscious, then the trooper came and she stood up very slowly, as if she were hurt, but then she recovered so fast and even started running.

 

The only parts in the movie where I was snorting was when they were prancing around in the field. Little House on the Prairie much? Yeesh!

That and how Dooku both downed both Anakin and Obi-Wan rather quickly... But that I don't really have that much of a problem with since he was quite powerful, as we see.

 

LOL! When Nat was running was so funny!

 

What I didn't like was how Obi was cut in the arm and leg then he just collapsed. Come on. Those were not THAT bad. He could have hobbled around a bit. Then he just layed there watching the whole Yoda scene, and as soon as it was done he gets up, helps Anakin up and acts almost as if everything were ok. There wasn't even a limp!!

 

What I didn't like was how Obi was cut in the arm and leg then he just collapsed. Come on. Those were not THAT bad. He could have hobbled around a bit. Then he just layed there watching the whole Yoda scene, and as soon as it was done he gets up, helps Anakin up and acts almost as if everything were ok. There wasn't even a limp!! >>

It probably hurt like heck and then even a small wound is going to negatively affect your ability to fight.

-Tim

 

My parents were sightly laughing when Padme just got right up, but I was too busy enjoying the movie to nice the problem, but know I see it.

 

I agree with Tim, plus, I think he would have been in awe (like all of us in the audience) to see Yoda in action with a bloodthirsty opponent. Perhaps he had made some recovery while Yoda was fighting and regained enough strength to help Anakin afterwards.

 

Yeah, that Jedi healing works pretty fast. I had no problem with Obi. Padme' didn't have the Force and to recover that quickly...well, I just think Nat could've done better.

 

Well I saw it today. I think I need to see it again to make up my mind. The Natalie thing? Yeah she didn't play that right. What I thought was worse though was how after Anakin gets his arm cut off, and then finally wakes up he just sort of pops up and stands like it was nothing, when Natalie comes in. He should have needed more help to move and acted more in pain.

 

I hate to say anything bad about George but... He is the one who left in all that 'bad acting'.

I've seen it a few times and if you look carefully, the gunship hits the sand dune just before she falls out, so she didn't fall as far as you first think.

The only complaint I have about Clones is that the scenes seemed to have been cut short from what was in the book. Other than that I loved it.

 

I've seen it a few times and if you look carefully, the gunship hits the sand dune just before she falls out, so she didn't fall as far as you first think. >>

Yeah, just before it gets hit, you see they are flying over the crest of a giant dune, and are only a few dozen feet or so above it...the sand would have cushioned her fall, as well.

-Tim

 

I was disappointed walking out of the theater, though the more I think about it and read what others here liked, the more the film is growing on me. I think one of the big factors contributing to my feelings of disappointment was that I read the novel before seeing the movie, and therefore knew every bit of the storyline.

Had I not read the book, I would have left wowed by the plot developments, mostly the careful and intricate manipulations Palpatine works on all, and the devious way he is getting the populace to give him the power he desires, all the while appearing heavy-hearted at having to accept the responsibility. The whole set-up for how the Republic crumbles is amazingly well done. The death of Shmi and all Anakin?s actions and emotions both before and after were incredible. Anakin?s obsessive and possessive love of Padme is the perfect foundation for his eventual fall and the later destructive (from the view of the darkside) attachment to his son, which ends up redeeming him.

The one big thing I didn?t like about the plot was how easily the Jedi are being duped. And as someone else mentioned, it seemed very strange for Yoda to (apparently) blindly use a clone army with unknown and (what I think should be obvious) suspicious origins, most especially in a time when the dark side is clouding everything. That does provide an interesting opening for turning public opinion against the Jedi, though. I mean, it?s quite possible for the Separatists to put forth a strong argument that it was the Jedi that started the war, not them, and that the Jedi did it acting pretty much alone, without Palpatine?s prior approval or knowledge.

Saying all that, I think AOTC has a far superior storyline than TPM. However, as a movie I think it was lacking in several areas, making TPM a more enjoyable film to watch for me. The biggest contributor here being that GL tried to cram a three and half hour movie into two. The movie jumped around way too much, both in progression of individual plot lines and jumping back and forth between different plot lines. The opening of the movie was dizzying and difficult for me to follow. This may be because I was expecting to see some of the scenes from the book, most especially the Senate session where Palp announced Padme?s death only to have her show up. From the movie I never got the sense of just how much of a crucial element of the loyalist movement Padme was, though the book did an excellent job of this. And poor Bail Organa. If you didn?t know that was him going in, you never would have learned it from the movie. His name was never even mentioned, that I caught.

The progression of the romance was horrible in the movie. The scenes that were included in the book made Padme?s affection for Anakin seem much more gradual in development and realistic in manifestation. I would have preferred to keep some of those and maybe lose the romp through the meadow in exchange, though that bit was important too as it showed them being able to relax and have fun together. I?m hoping those scenes will be included in the DVD.

Jumping back and forth between Anakin?s and Obi?s plot lines seemed sudden at times and just got plain confusing for me. On at least two occasions it took me more time than it should to realize, ?oh, now we?ve switched to so&so.? It would have been better if the movie stayed with each individual plot line a little longer to keep the development going instead of jerking us back & forth.

Now back to the romance - many of the romance scenes seemed off, somehow. I can?t pin it exactly, ?cause the snippets in the trailers seemed so powerful, but in the full scene seemed lacking. I don?t think it was Hayden?s acting, he did an incredible Anakin. Maybe some of it was Portman?s portrayal of Padme in those scenes, but I?m thinking from some of the comments made here the subtleties in the acting are there, I just need to watch closer to see them. Maybe it was how the scenes were set into the movie or, I hate to even think it, the background music?? Things I did like about the roman

 

Nice review Di-Lee. Your thoughts and mine line up quite a bit. I have to start reading that book.

 

Thanks for the reviews everyone - very amusing.

The Bad...

What someone was saying about missing scenes from the book being taken out - I'm reading the kids' book (because I can't afford the hardcover and I'm not an RA Salvatore fan anyway) and I keep noticing *good* parts they should've kept in... and during the movie I kept seeing parts they should've taken out - like that whole line Anakin says in front of the fire - and the word "intoxicating" being used by a teenager. Anyway, if anyone wants to know, these are the lines I wish were still there:

1) At the beginning when Padmé's packing her clothes and Ani is watching her, when she asks him not to look at her like that - he asks, "Why not?" and she says, "Because I can see what you're thinking," and *then* "It makes me feel uncomfortable." I thought that was a nice touch because it explains subtly why Ami sticks around Ani even though he seems creepy.

2) That pickup line about the sand - they should've left that out and maybe used the one after that. Actually, they might've used it, I might be remembering wrong, but Padme says, "I used to think if you looked too deeply into the glass you would lose yourself," and looks away from Ani - I thought it was sweet, anyway...

3) The scene in the workroom after Ani killed the Raiders. This is from my book.


Quote:
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"I just can't control myself. I don't want to hate them, but I just can't forgive them."

"To be angry is to be human," Padmé said.

"To control your anger is to be a Jedi." Anakin sounded lost, and she could feel him shaking. That's it. They're afraid they'll tell him he can't be a Jedi, she thought. But Jedi aren't superhuman. He knows he shouldn't have done this. They'll understand.

"Shh," she told him, rocking him gently.

"No," Anakin argued, "I'm a Jedi. I know I'm better than this. I'm sorry - so sorry."

"You're human. You're like everyone else. Shh."
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Many people may have guessed that my SW fanfic addiction is Ami/Ani... I was pretty annoyed at GL that he didn't do them justice - I like lots of the fiction I've read much better than some of the scenes in the movie... I guess that's the dangerous byproduct of reading fanfic. Basically, most of the lines Ani said would've been okay if they had been his thoughts - but they're just that, they're not lines. Very unrealistic lines. I wanted to throw popcorn at the screen a few times. (And I did, once...) I think, however, that Hayden and Natalie did a good job with what they were given, and they did have their moments. Also, you can rationalize some of the lines... I just kept having this feeling that I was reading bad, unedited fanfic... but it's growing on me. Really.

Now for The Good - and there was a LOT.

> I loved Yoda - he and Mace Windu were hilariously great at fighting - Yoda just goes to prove that short people are cool.

> Loved that scene where Ami got left behind on the sand and Ani had to make a choice on what to do - makes me think that might be forshadowing of her eventual death.

> The whole part with Shmi was wonderful. I've been against the "Anakin turns because of his mother" thing forever, but the movie did it better than I dreamed.

> Why don't these people see that Dooku doesn't have a motive for doing what he does unless you put in Palpatine? He has no real reason to kill Padmé or separate unless you add the Sidious factor - I'm mad Obi can't see that...

> The whole colusseum scene was awesome - loved Ani riding that bull thing and the "She seems to be on top of things" and the "We came to rescue you" - "thanks" lines were great. And the 3PO situation was hilarious. That's where GL's corny-ness is a good thing.

> I've read too much EU (the Star Wars books) - I kept yelling at Anakin for using the Force too much - it's like screaming when you're trying to hear a whisper - you don't use the Force more than necessary. He

 

Up .

 

Sorry I took so long in replying to this...

My Thoughts:

Well, as a typical teenage girl, I thought AOTC was awesome due to the mere fact that Hayden Christenson and Ewan McGregor are in it. But, once you look past that...

AOTC was good. It had good emotion, a slightly better plot than TPM, and slightly better diolouge than TPM. The casting was great, but I didn't really get to feel that Hayden and Natalie were totally playing the parts. In some scenes, it just felt like they were reading lines and not getting into it. Hayden was okay when he had to act mad. He was really good at that. You could really see the expressions on his face stand out well. They were perfect and clear. Natalie, however... She didn't seem to be totally in the part.

My reasoning for this: as much as a brilliant genius that Lucas is, he makes a bad director. He should have learned from the OT that he was better at writting than directing. ESB and ROTJ were more better quality films than ANH mainly due to the fact that Lucas didn't direct.

Likes:
*Yoda kicked ass
*Hayden's emotion when Anakin was supposed to be pissed
*Threepio got awesome puns! ("This really is a drag!")
*Obi-Wan's line that only SW fans laugh at ("Why do I have a feeling that you'll be the death of me?")
*Less Jar Jar
*More action
*The music. John Williams always does a great job of that!
*The bar scene was awesome only cuz the drinks glowed neon colors!

Dislikes:
*Too much computer animation. That was what I thought was wrong with TPM also. It looks cool, but just doesn't have that realism effect like the OT did.
*CGI Yoda. Sorry, but the puppet looked more real. For the fight, I can understand using CGI, but for Yoda just walking around...
*Like you guys said, Natalie lying in "pain" on the sand, then getting up really quickly and easily to follow the Trooper
*Some bad dialouge. In certain places, it just seemed so... bad I guess is the only way to describe it. ("I'll never join you, Dooku!") Yeah, I know, Luke said the same thing in ESB. But again, it just seemed more real in the OT.
*The hills scene. I'm sorry, but I was just waiting for Natalie to start belting out "The hills are alive with the sound of music."
*Jar Jar didn't die.
(Sorry, but I thought Jar Jar was the worst Lucas creation ever)
*How the Kamino thing just fell into place. Obi-Wan just shows up and everything is exposed to him, he doesn't have to be Sherlock and figure it out. It was just too easy.
*How you can hear Qui-Gon's voice, but you never see him!
*The cut out scenes that were in the trailors but not in the film. (i.e. "I've heard this lesson before," "But you haven't learned anything.") Personally, I would not have minded a 3 hour Star Wars movie!
*They didn't show much of Natalie escaping when she was handcuffed. They showed her putting the thing in her mouth, then you can barely see her trying to get it unlocked, then she's free, that's it.

So, to sum it up, AOTC was better than TPM, but it doesn't compare with the originals. But then again, nothing ever can.