What would be your response to someone who says AOTC lacks heart, soul, charm and a sense of wonder?

I just read a review from a critic I usually respect, claiming that AOTC was totally lacking in those four areas. I was tempted to write a letter in response, but I quickly realised that it's quite difficult to actually define what those qualities are in a film. What is heart and soul, and why do so many people think the prequels are lacking in this area compared to the OT? Is this another case of people not being able to look past the CGI, or are the prequels empty beneath the surface?
Anyway, I'll try and explain where I think AOTC succeeds or fails in these categories, and I'd be interested to hear what others think, whether you're a basher or a gusher.

First of all, heart. I assume by this that most people mean the audience's emotional investment in the characters. The make or break element in AOTC seems to be the love story. If you believe in that, than the film obviously does have heart. If not, then the experience may be empty. Personally, I feel the romantic aspect of the film was only about 50% successful (i.e. better than Top Gun and Pearl Harbor, not as good as ESB and Titanic) but I respect Lucas and the actors for trying. But beyond the love story, I think there is still plenty of heart in this film. Obi-Wan is a very likeable character and I think his scenes provide the most warmth in the film. Even when he's acting opposite CG characters such as Dex, he manages to invest his performance with humanity and a genuine feeling of friendship. I also thought that Jango and Boba's relationship had some heart. Sure they're bad guys, but their father/son relationship was actually quite strong in a warped way. Yoda also seemed to have more heart in this film than in TPM, from his first meeting with Padme and his training of the Younglings to his obvious affection for Obi-Wan and Anakin. And let's not forget Anakin watching his mother die and the funeral. I was almost tearing up during those scenes, so I don't see how anyone can say there was no heart there.
But most of all, I felt the emotional connection in the small moments, such as Padme kissing Anakin on the reek and Obi-Wan checking the pulse of a fallen Jedi. These moments may not be much on their own, but I think they all added up to make me care about the characters.

Soul: This is more difficult to define. Do people mean the morality of a film, its underlying message or what? I don't think soul is an essential ingredient to appreciating a film. I enjoyed The Matrix even though I found it somewhat empty and morally questionable in places. If TPM was lacking in heart and soul, the same was true of The Matrix. Did anyone really care about the characters in that film, other than them looking cool?
By comparison, I think AOTC does have a soul beneath its technological surface, albeit a dark one. This isn't a triumphant film by any means. Everything is tainted by the spectre of the dark times to come. That could be one reason that the romance doesn't feel right for some viewers. We know that no good will come of Anakin and Padme's marriage (aside from the birth of Luke and Leia, of course, but that's not resolved until the next trilogy). We also know that the Jedi's arrogance and fading ability to see the dark side will lead to their near-extinction. AOTC has a lot to say about how good people can be led astray by the forces of darkness, and perhaps that message hits too close to home for some. Maybe, in these troubled times, the simple heroics of Spider-Man is what people really want.

Charm: I guess this would be likeable character doing funny and heroic things. Han Solo had a cynical charm that seems to be lacking in the prequels, but that doesn't mean they're totally charmless. As I've said, Obi-Wan is a very appealing character, perhaps the one true hero of the film. He has many great lines ("Good job", etc.) that recapture the witty banter of the OT. I also feel that R2 and 3PO are as charming as they've ever been. Yes, 3PO is annoying at the end, but when has he not being? The point is that 3PO is annoying in an amusing way, unlike most of Jar J

 

I think those people are blind

 

i'd say [edited] him. star wars is for cool folk and geeks, not movie critics, critiquing every little detail.


JT

YJ edit: Swearing is still swearing, even if you misspell it.

 

I would say it doesn't lack it. It just doesn't have enough of it.

 

Looking to others to validate your own feelings and opinions isn't necessary.

 

Meh, I guess I'd say they are entitled to their opinion....who am I kidding I'd be fuming and yelling and annoying my sister abt how much those ppl annoy me!

 

I would say to you: Who cares? Your opinion counts, theirs do not.

 

I'd say: Why don't you go and clutter up the Star Wars message boards with your blind complaints? Oh wait...those people are here already. Oh well.....

(walks away whistling a tune)

 

I would tell those people to watch the scene with Yoda and the younglings. If that scene doesn't hold heart, soul, charm and a sense of wonder, I don't know one that would.

 

Sense of Wonder: The OT had that going for it. Perhaps it masked the corny stuff and the limited acting ability etc. But it did have the Sense of Wonder to take it over the top.

This new movie and TPM don't have that IMO. I can't get into the screen and at no point was I saying WOW!. But that's me. So if you coupld the Sense of Wonder or the lack there of with a dull story and dull acting and dull charachters, well, not much left there is.

Soul: Or the Love Scenes. The only good thing that showed any soul in the whole Movie was when Bobba Fett picked up the severed head/helmet of his father. In TPM it was the Light Sabre fight with the Sith and when Qui Gon goes into a meditative position waiting for the doors to open to resume fighting.

The Love Scenes could have been better sure, or completely forgotten if some of the other characters had some good interaction between them. I saw nothing between Anakin ant Obi-Wan. Sure they had what lucas felt were cute or funny lines, but they didn't seem to bond at all. If it did, well, perhaps the love scenes could have been forgotten.

The Love Scenes: Well love comes in all forms, I'll leave it at that.

 

I would say: Man, what movie did you watch?!

 

**Official** MEDIA reviews of AOTC -- your reactions

 

simply "you're not a fan, and with a closed mind like that there is no way you would understand". i've said that several times to people and other MBs who critique AOTC to no end, and that usually shuts them up.

truthfully i'm glad that the true colors of critics and "fans" are coming out. SW became so popular over the decades that its hard to tell the genuine fan from those who just claim to be to sound cool. i take it that AOTC is doing a kind of "spring cleaning" in the fandom; get rid of the fluff and solidify the fan base.

 

I'd agree to some extent, some parts of the movie were excellent and some were very disappointing.

 

My response is that I know exactly what he or she means. The romantic scenes fail to even remotely resonate as an authentic relationship between two people.
The dialogue is too stylized and stilted (if this was intentional, then it was a terrible mistake in terms of connecting the audience to the characters) to pull the audience into the relationship. Not only that, but the acting leaves us feeling there is little genuine rapport between these two actors. And that is all I could think in those moments, that I was watching two actors trying to act as if they were playing young people in love. Never once was I pulled into the story through the acting and dialogue.

The death of all the Jedi in the arena passed by with so little dramatic comment that it seemed empty emotionally. Compare that to the general's experience of the opening battle in Gladiator. Or Tom Hanks point of view of the beach assault at Normandy in Saving Private Ryan. Those battles managed to have real emotional content without resorting to overt sentimentality or maudlin nonsense.

To fail to make any statement about the death of all those Jedi was unforgiveable from a dramatic point of view, and again enhanced the sense that AOTC is emotionally empty, that it lacks depth, feeling, soul.

Another failing was to give the rapport between Obi-wan and Anakin more emotional depth. It was crucial to lay the foundation for this relationship, so that its collapse in Episode 3 would have even more dramatic impact. Now that opportunity has been lost forever. Episode 2 was emotionally hollow in part because TPM didn't do its introductory work. Episode 3 will be at a similar disadvantage now, and will be forced to do most of the dramatic work of all three movies.

I think it's a shame that so many fans have forgiven AOTC for being so soulless, and it's surprising that GL has forgotten what it is that people love about movies. It was never the special effects or the sound editing. AOTC has half the formula right. It has an engaging story. Where it fails is in making an emotional connection between the characters and the audience.

 

In regard to the Matrix. The Characters were not all that great. But the Sense of Wonder made up for it as well as trying to sit thier and understand the Matirx.

It did have a great bad guy with Agent Smith. Some of the side characters were also pretty good and Morpheus wasn't bad. Did I feel for them? No, but they held my attention.

 

My response is that everyone is entitled to an opinion. For example, most people liked Galdiator which won the Oscar for best picture. However, I disliked this film and have no idea what people saw in this film that was so great. All I saw was a terrible performance by Joaquin Phoenix as the goofy Commodus and an anticlimatic ending.

 

Jabbadabbado, if it's so bad, why do you spend so much time on these boards talking about it? The focus of your reality is mainly negative in every post. You have the right to express yourself, of course, but you're a one note song. It's flat out NOT HEALTHY to dwell this much on something you OBVIOUSLY don't like. It's not as though you're gonna win anyone over to your point of view.

You remind me of people who hate pornography because it is so vile and corrupting and terrible and then spend time watching it and talking about it.

Let it go for God's sake and move on.
Both you and the rest of us will all be a lot better off for it. Move on to something more positive. Go make your own movies and do better than George, and I'll be the first to applaud you for the achievement.

Peace.

 

Most of the PT critics follow this pattern:
1. They saw the OT in the theater as a kid and were blown away by it.
2. For the past 20 years they have been living in the nostalgia of how good the OT is.
3. In the past 20 years, they have been reading SW books and anything SW they could get their hands on.
4. For the past 20 years, they have been imagining exactly how the PT should be, resulting in massive disappointment because it didn't match up to how everything played out in their head.
5. Their age has made them more cynical, lacking an imagination, and unable to suspend disbelief the way they could as a young child.

 

I'd say "you're right, it does lack heart, soul, charm, and a sense of wonder."

 

Foxbatkllr NAILED it!

 

I think what pisses people off who complain about the lack of heart, soul, etc (like myself) is that there was ample oppurtunity for it. It was just edited out or glossed over.

1) Tusken Slaughter. They didn't have to show everything. Just a shot of Anakin walking through a smoldering camp looking over what he had done. Shaking from shock.

2) All the dead Jedi. Somebody mentioned this before.

3) Anakin finding his mother. Could've had a lot more heart.

There's a bunch more. But you get the point. When the scenes that could have addressed the lack of soul complaint were just beginning to build steam, they were cut away from to something else.

 

And now, after having actually read the thread...

I think that AOTC has heart, soul, charm, and a sense of wonder. Personally, it is (so far) my favorite SW movie. I feel for the characters. Each time I see it (five so far) it's harder and harder to watch the sad, painful scenes (Shmi's death and the subsequent funeral; Anakin's confession--which gives me chills every time I see it--and Padme's vow of love to Anakin just before they go into the arena are the big ones for me). I am also one of the very rare (so it seems to me) few who actually loved the love story. I really felt the passion between Anakin and Padme: Anakin's wild, unrestrained passion and Padme's reserved, more mature passion combined to make for some very intense and beautiful moments. The fact that we know their love is doomed lends a tragic sense to those scenes.

As for soul...as DarthHomer said, this is not a triumphant film. It is supposed to be dark, to be leading to darker things, and seen from this perspective AOTC does very well. The downfall of Anakin, the Republic, and the Jedi--the beginning of all of which we can see in AOTC--is hard to watch. Personally, I love tragedies, and AOTC is a tragedy--or, at least, the beginning of one.

For charm: I agree, Obi-Wan does lend charm to the movie. He has some of the best one-liners--"Oh, not good", "Good job!", "Why do I get the feeling you're going to be the death of me?". C-3PO and R2D2 are also great. It's fun to see the beginning of their relationship (they never change, do they? ). I am again in the minority, since I liked 3PO's admittedly poor puns in the arena.

And finally, sense of wonder. There is definitely a sense of wonder in AOTC. Seeing Coruscant is incredible (yes, I know it was in TPM, but I'm talking about AOTC. ). I've read a lot of the EU books, so from that perspective it's especially cool to see Coruscant on the big screen. There's so many other "wow" moments in AOTC, too...the Kaminoans and their world; the chase through Coruscant; the seismic charges that Jango releases in the asteroid field. There's too many to list here, but those are some of my favorites.

Anyway, that's just my thoughts. Thanks for reading. Move along.

 

DarthKarma: Thanks, I'm glad someone appreciates my work.

 

Like it or not, I'm a Star Wars fan. I don't have to apologize to you or anyone else about my opinions. Never once in 3 1/2 years on these boards have I attacked an individual for her opinion. I respond to content. If you have something interesting to say, then I respect your opinion. If I disagree with you, then I'll respond to your opinion, not offer helpful hints about your emotional well-being.

DarthHomer asked a question. I answered it. Attacking me isn't going to make AOTC a better movie.