*OFFICIAL THREAD* Acting in Revenge of the Sith

The acting was great. I was pleasantly surprised.

 

Honestly, I thought Silas Carson did a wonderful job in this movie. He did great with Ki-Adi-Mundi and Nute Gunray. Yes, I know Nute is animatronic, but right when he's begging for his life there's something more to it than just electronics. Silas's movements there were great. I actually felt bad for Nute.

 

You are free to disagree with me but you should know that if you do... you're wrong.

Check out the NYT's review (which praised and recommended the movie):


...To be sure, some of the shortcomings of "Phantom Menace" (1999) and "Attack of the Clones" (2002) are still in evidence, and Mr. Lucas's indifference to two fairly important aspects of moviemaking - acting and writing - is remarkable. Hayden Christensen plays Anakin Skywalker's descent into evil as a series of petulant bad moods. Natalie Portman, as Senator (formerly Queen) Padmé Amidala, to whom Anakin is secretly married, does not have the range to reconcile the complicated and conflicting demands of love and political leadership. Even the more assured performers - Samuel L. Jackson as the Jedi master Mace Windu, Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jimmy Smits as Senator Bail Organa (note the surname) - are constrained by their obligation to speechify. Mr. Lucas, who wrote the script (reportedly with the uncredited assistance of Tom Stoppard), is not one to imply a theme if he can stuff it into a character's mouth. Ian McDiarmid, as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who transforms from a rancid political hack into a ruthless totalitarian before our eyes, gives the most powerful performance; Yoda, the spry green Jedi master voiced by Frank Oz, some of his finest work in this film does. (R2-D2 is also in fine form).

Anyway, nobody ever went to a "Star Wars" picture for the acting. Even as he has pushed back into the Jedi past, Mr. Lucas has been inventing the cinematic future, and the sheer beauty, energy and visual coherence of "Revenge of the Sith" is nothing short of breathtaking...

 

Hayden finally won me over. He really stepped up to the plate here. In may ways, he outshined Ewan, which I never thought I would say.

 

I disagree with the nyt also than. The acting was better than any of the other films. From your perspective I am wrong, but from my perspective you are completly wrong.

 

If you think otherwise you need to pull yourself away from the tragic made-for-Sci-Fi-channel dreck that you've grown accustomed to.

You are free to disagree with me but you should know that if you do... you're wrong.

I disagree with you.

The acting was extremely well done. Extremely enjoyable. It's definitely STAR WARS and it definitely feels like STAR WARS.

 

And from Rolling Stone's review. (This critic hated the movie but he was right to ridicule the acting and the script).

...the film follows Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen -- to merely call him wooden is an affront to puppets everywhere) as he loses his limbs and his conscience and takes on the evil mantle of Darth Vader. But thematic darkness is no excuse for dimness in all other departments, except the visual.

In this heretic's opinion, Sith is a stiff, brought down by that special knack Lucas has of turning flesh-and-blood actors into cardboard cutouts. To hear Anakin and his pregnant wife, Senator Padme (the vivacious Natalie Portman rendered vacant), discuss their marriage -- a secret that could get Anakin defrocked as a Jedi -- is to redefine stilted for a new millennium. The minute any character -- human or droid -- opens a mouth to speak, your eyes glaze over.

I kept thinking how much better Sith would play as a silent film, with only Chewbacca allowed to do his Wookiee growl and John Williams to trumpet his recycled score.

 

It was all good acting to me.
Ewan was the best.
The battle droids was a little over the top but it made
my 9 year old laugh
He loved R2.....I think R2 brings warm feelings to all
are hearts.

 

I also disagree with Rolling Stones, and don't get me started on the weasal Travis.

 

need to download revenge help your fellow star ewars fan please

 

The battle droids was a little over the top but it made
my 9 year old laugh

That's great that the Battle Droids made your 9 year old laugh. I also enjoyed the Battle Droids.

He loved R2.....I think R2 brings warm feelings to all
are hearts.

R2-D2

 

You know, I don't know where all this flak for "wooden" acting or "motonous" dialogue came from for THIS movie. Sure, in the past Lucas films, I'll concede some moments. Heck, I'll even point to Hayden's ackward delivery on Mustafar platform. That's it.

Ewan McG, Ian McD, Samuel L., Natalie, and Hayden all hit their marks beautifully IMO. Especially Ewan and Ian. Good greif, they took their craft to whole other level.

And, I know he's a just a pixel, but Yoda made me want to help the poor guy get his jacket back. Great performance [Oz/Coleman]

 

Out of the 3 prequels this by far Revenge of the Sith has the best acting. A couple of stand outs for me were:

Hayden: not every scene but when it really counted I bought it.

Ian: Wow he is AWESOME in evry one of the prequels but particular this one. I see alot of complaints that he is over the top once he becomes emperor but I look at it this way, he has been planning and scheming for decades to do this and now it Happens and he doesnt have to hide anymore so he lets loose...in my eyes it was kewl to see

Natalie: Still weakest in my opinion but still LEAPS and BOUNDS over TPM and AOTC

Anyway not any oscar worthy performances although I would love to see Ian at least get a nomination. But still far far better then any of the other prequels!

 

You are free to disagree with me but you should know that if you do... you're wrong.

No. My opinion is different from your opinion. Comprende?

 

"...I would love to see Ian at least get a nomination."

OSCAR NOMINATION ?!?!?!?!?!

I understand that most of us loved the movie and for whatever reason some Star Wars fans want to cheer for the actors who play their favorite characters as they might if their two nephews got parts as two of the wise men in the church Christmas play. But c'mon, "Star Wars" actors won't ever have Oscar Night in their future unless they start dating someone at CGI.

 

I agree about Nute Gunray and his body language. I found myself amazed at feeling sad and almost sick when Nute was killed. The way he is begging and the betrayal - it was pretty intense!

I have NO idea why people are saying Natalie was wooden - and I have NOT been a fan of hers in TPM and AotC. She was exactly what was called for in RotS. I would like to know one specific scene where she was "wooden" and what she should have done to be "less wooden."

Hayden was extremely good in the scenes where it mattered - where he was falling under the spell, and then being angsty and bad. He was a little off in the friendly banter of the opening scenes. It seemed he didn't do happy and light too well. But perhaps that is exactly what RotS is conveying - that Anakin was fundamentally not a happy, satisfied, well-adjusted person.

And Ewan should have emoted more when he saw the hologram? Like what? Burst into sobs and collapsed in a faint? This is a Jedi master, for crying out loud! His face shows his horror and then he can't watch any more. IMHO, Ewan showed termendous range in this movie, right from happy, sunny self in the beginning to A level angst during the duel, and then hope finally - his expression when he hears Padme is carrying twins, when he says "Qui-Gon".

 

Yes, your opinon is different from mine.

Mine is right.

Yours is wrong.

"Opinions" and "perspectives" and "tastes" can differ but ultimately there is "the truth" and the truth is only Alec Guiness ever turned a good acting performance in a Star Wars movie. (Harrison Ford was passable.)

Please understand that I am not hoping to frustrate you or emabarrass you. I am just trying to share with you that just because your eighth grade civics teacher told you "Free country, voice your opinon, blah blah blah..." doesn't mean that 50,000,000 Elvis fans can't be wrong.

There are in fact true undeniable standards of excellence in most of the liberal arts and my friends, Hayden Christensen ain't getting a passing grade this Summer.

 

The most surprisingly well performances in this movie were from Hayden Christensen and Samuel L. Jackson.

Sammy nailed his role on the head and showed us a whole new Mace Windu that now I respect a lot more that in the previous films. His lines, "A SITH LORD?!" and "In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic, you're under arrest chancellor!" made me go WOW each time. Sammy really outdid himself in this movie and should be commended. I think this compensates for his less-than-stellar acting in the previous two films, especially AOTC which I felt was his alltime low. I give him 9.5/10, and he lost the 0.5 where he said "He's the traitor!"

Hayden-he was the star, period. His acting in this movie was at least 10 times better than in AOTC, and I think he was THE best actor in ROTS. I was totally convinced, and blown away, by his acting in this one. He did great, and I have a newfound respect for him, which I had almost none of after watching AOTC. He deserves nothing but 10/10.

Ian was pretty good. Actually, before he got his deformities, he was superb. Totally convincing, damn, he could have turned ME to the dark side with acting like that! After the encounter with Mace, I don't know if it was his character or Ian himself, but something didn't feel right. He laughed like a hyena througout the whole movie and he made weird noised when he talked. Palpatine with the mask felt totally different than the old Palpatine. I don't know, it's weird, maybe it just needs some time to sink in. Anyways I give him 10/10 pre-defromities, and 7/10 post-deformities.

Ewan was a disappoinment for me. I think he got too cocky from all the praise he received in TPM and especially AOTC, that it got to his head and he did't give it his best in ROTS. His acting was...not as good as it should've been. The occasional misplaced smiles, the strange delivery of some lines like, "Another happy landing," and "That doesn't, doesn't count," as well as some others just didn't feel like the Ewan we know. I think he could have done MUCH better. I give him 6/10. Sorry buddy.

Natalie did a good job. I'm impressed with her performance in general. There were things that felt weird, like when the temple was buring and she started to cry, it looked really forced, not natural. But as for her performance on Mustafar, WOW. That was superb. 10 times better than AOTC! Overall, I give her 9/10. She deserved it in this one.

Jimmy, he was cool. I can't say he had a big enough role to be throroughly analyzed, but with what I've seen he played Bail pretty good. I think 8/10, maybe 9 is good for him. Again a super improvement in comparison to AOTC.

The last big disappointment was Amy Allen-Aayla Secura. WHAT was that?? I mean the way she died was pathetic, she just went down on the floor with no pain expression on her face. She gets 3/10 from me, even if she is the hottest babe to grace Star Wars. But she should have had a line during the hologram scene.

That's it, hope you enjoy my acting analysis!

 

Honestly, the acting is faultless in ROTS. I can't think of one actor who let the side down. I would go so far as to say this is the best acted Episode of the Saga. All those critics going on about "poor acting" must have watched a differant film to me.

Natalie gave the performance of her life, though. As did Ian. Ewan, Hayden, Sam and Jimmy were all very good. Yoda was great. 3PO was the best he's been since ROTJ.

Bravo all round.

 

I also think the acting is very good in this movie. Natalie really did a good job. I actually felt for Padme, unlike in AOTC. Hayden did a good job as well. He was a bit stiff at the beginning, but did a really good job on showing the conflict in Anakin and fall to the dark side. Ewan and Ian were good as usual. It was so great to see the ROTJ Palpatine again, but show just how truly powerful he was. Sam's acting during the duel scene with palpatine was just amazing. I so wanted Anakin to let him kill Palpatine.

 

Yes, your opinon is different from mine.

Mine is right.

Yours is wrong.

"Opinions" and "perspectives" and "tastes" can differ but ultimately there is "the truth" and the truth is only Alec Guiness ever turned a good acting performance in a Star Wars movie. (Harrison Ford was passable.)

Please understand that I am not hoping to frustrate you or emabarrass you. I am just trying to share with you that just because your eighth grade civics teacher told you "Free country, voice your opinon, blah blah blah..." doesn't mean that 50,000,000 Elvis fans can't be wrong.

There are in fact true undeniable standards of excellence in most of the liberal arts and my friends, Hayden Christensen ain't getting a passing grade this Summer.


You are so full of ****

 

(moving this here - sorry)

For me, the only major problem I had with the movie (and believe me, I absolutely loved it overall) was that a lot of lines, which I thought could have been quite memorable, at least to SW fans, ended up with sloppy execution.

We've all talked about Vader's "No!" at the end, so I won't reopen that, but I think Anakin's "I hate you!" before he's set on fire is the biggest offender.

On paper, an incredibly well-placed line that excellently sets up Obi-wan's speech and the subsequent events. However, the way it was delivered sounded more like some form of strange screeching rather than any sort of real angry yell, echoing the whiny teenager Anakin more than the dark villain Anakin.

Did anybody else find that line didn't have the effect that it should've? Or was that perhaps the purpose?

(and a later intended post)

lol I think I saw him spit when he said that

Heck, no complaints there, that certainly adds to the quality of the whole thing, but it just seems more like a small child hating their father for not buying them something, than actual rage in any way.

Perhaps it's because of how fast he said it, and didn't pronounce the "h" - that seemed to make it sound a lot more childish.

 

It was one of the best lines of the whole series. He nailed it.

 

After seeing it again I feel everyone did a great
job, especially Ewan, Ian and Hayden.
The first time I saw it some of Padme's lines
made me cringe, but on the second viewing I didn't
feel that as much and her/Ani's moments seemed more
fluid and real. Even my husband, who thought Natalie's
acting was "abismal" said he found it much improved the
second time around.

 

Cringe, clunky...everyone is feeding off one another...interesting.