PT Hayden Christensen's Performance As Darth Vader (not Anakin)

Once he's in the suit, it's all about the physical acting. And while we don't get to see much of it, there is one part that doesn't quite gel with how David Prowse used to do it. And it's the part where Vader crosses his arms; Vader in the OT used to put his hands on his belt and I don't think he ever crossed them. It's not a big deal, and I didn't even notice it until I read about it long after I saw the movie. But I guess it's a fun piece of trivia.

 

Removed/spam.

/heels

 

I know. I said I understood why George had him do it.

 

I think your onto it, but the dark side is a lot more subtle.

I remember watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and one of Xanders friends got turned, and when Xander appealed to him that he was still his friend. The friend told him that he looked like a shadow to him.

The Dark Side of the Force is a trap, it promises you power in exchange for everything and everyone that's important to you being sacrificed as a price. That's the basis of attachment leads to greed. So when Anakin who's now feeling his power growing beyond what he was, when he looked at Padme, she was no longer his wife and his love, she looked a lot smaller to him, and was more of a possession then an equal. So when she betrayed him, it was part anger and part the sacrifice of his love for her and his morality in search of greater power that lead to him reaching out and chocking her like she was a bad possession. The only thing that stopped him was that he was still in that between world of dark and light, something that was later purged as he gained more power and gained separation from what he was, to what he could be. Anakin Skywalker was weak and I killed him, Vader's own words. But they are the lie of the Dark Side, Vader was Anakin, Anakin was vader, stripped of all of his morality and love and attachment to anything but the pursuit of power which would bring him the ability to possess and control those that meant anything to him.

I liked that he choked her, later Vader fully immersed in the dark side probably would have run her through with a saber if she got between him and his path to greater power.

 

Well was the following line in the novelization as well or am I just imagining it? It's after he's killed all the separatists and he looks around at his carnage and says "I don't think Padme will like how I've redecorated this room".

 

He didn't say it, in fact he thought it when he went out to meet her on the landing pad as he in his thoughts put on his Anakin face. He didn't want her going in there and seeing his "Good Works"

 

NO LAUGHING IN MY THREAD! IT'S FORBIDDEN LIKE JEDI LOVE!

 

I found a line in the ROTS novel very moving. Right before Anakin and Obi Wan fight, he says "I'll give you one chance, for old times sake. Just walk away." But he was so angry by that point in the film "you will not take her from me!" that it would not have fit properly. The book is filled with many such moments and makes a more convincing case for Anakin's fall.

 

This is a line that should have been used in the movie, Anakin basically tells Obi-Wan to go off and meditate, that basically he can take care of the galaxy.

It would have at least made Anakin make a little more sense, that at that point he still had some mercy and compassion which could then be burned out of him.

 

I have always seen the Dark side stuff as quite a conflicting thing that i think alot of people are always trying to figure out in what way it affects people.

I mean Kylo is a dark side loony who has loud hissy fits which is kinda close to what Anakin was by the end of ROTS, and ROTJ seemed to assume that if Luke actually cracked and killed Vader he would turn to the Dark Side automatically.

 

I think Kylo Ren is what Rowan Freemaker would have been like if he turned to the dark side of the force.

 

His performance as Darth Vader is just fine. As with anything Hayden did, I think he got a bad break. I don't believe that Hayden is a bad actor. I believe he was trying to do his best to perform Lucas's script. The character of Anakin is not intended to be as likable as Luke, and why should he? Christensen made the choice to go for a monotone because it would go with the later machine that Jones' voice performs. At any rate, Chistensen's take on pre-suit Vader is appropriate. I actually think it's more realistic than Kylo Ren. Adam Driver makes Ren a bit too subtle sometimes, if ya know what I mean. Heh. Vader before the suit is immature. Suited Vader is seasoned. Pre-suit Vader may have had the intrinsic potential to become the most powerful Force-wielder, but he never got close to this end goal. He was not disciplined enough. He was able to kill most Jedi in the Temple, save Shaak Tii, but that's because it's Shaak. Suited Vader was more powerful, even if he was only 80% as powerful as Palpatine. So, Hayden Christensen did a good job. He was measured in his body language despite how enraged and power-hungry he was. He also shed a tear for two reasons: He was concerned about what Padme would think about his actions, and, two, it's like an addictive narcotic to him. I've heard that people addicted to it will cry sometimes on a high. The dark side was affecting his mind and body, and he didn't know how to take it. Ironically, the dark side, as much as the machines, would keep his body alive after his fall into the fire. Suited Vader believes that the dark side is all he needs, and he thrives on it. Pre-suit Vader is like a talented basketball player who never practices, and yet is very adept. The suited Vader would be more disciplined. It's like comparing young Magneto to seasoned Magneto.



So, yeah. I never had any problem with Hayden's acting. I just felt Lucas's dialogue was poor at times, but that's the director. I still think Lucas made a consistent character whose greed and fear of loss define him. He's frightening and unstable, but at least he's more realistic than Ren. I still have no idea who Kylo Ren is. He comes off like a petty child, but Anakin comes off like an unstable, codependent adult. Not someone you want to date, but definitely a good lesson for kids to avoid your addictions, greed, etc.

You don't know the power of the dark side.

 

Since he is newly into the suit, I just viewed it as habit. In his Jedi robes he was constantly crossing his arms. It looks awkward in the suit because he isn't used to being in it and the suit doesn't give much leeway for movement like the wide open sleeves on his robes.

 

I didn't mind the awkwardness of Hayden being in the suit. It was okay. He's getting used to it. The only thing I didn't like was James Earl Jones being asked to use the word Padme awkwardly. But otherwise, it's okay. We all like Vader for his performance in TESB and ROTJ, anyway.

 

I like him in Sith (Pre-Suit) and Empire. Didn't like him in ROTJ but then again, there's a lot I don't like about ROTJ

 

Lol. That's okay. We all have different opinions. Pre-Suit Vader would have been interesting for fan-fics and more. He's terrifying in the video game, certainly. I felt bad for all those people he turned into corpses at the Temple.

I think a lot of guys like to imagine themselves as pre-suit Vader or suited Vader to get their aggression out. As Eva Green once said, imagining or acting as villains helps one get their emotions out.

Then there's this. I agree with Antoine vis-a-vis this verdict.

 

Vader is my favorite movie character ever. Vader in ESB was incredible.

 

Lol definitely true. I do wish pre suit Vader lasted longer than he did, but the game is so much fun. I love how they had an alternate ending for Anakin/Vader beating Obi-Wan on Mustafar.

 

The ROTS game? I am currently playing the Force Unleashed. The first level you play as Vader on Kasheek.

 

To be fair hands on the belt seems more of a relaxed way of standing, while Anakin was pretty much moping at that time. (and he had good reason to mope)

 

The ROTS game was indeed dark, from what I played of it.
Unsuited Vader shooting lightning at padawans in the Jedi Temple

My favourite moment of Hayden as Vader I think was after Palpatine congratulates him on his "work" and tells Vader the droids will shut down.
Hayden's "Very good, my Lord." is spot on, then he notices Padme's ship arriving on the monitor, a reminder of a connection to his past, and initiating the film's grand finale.

 

Yes, and when he goes to meet Padme, he immediately reverts back to his Anakin persona, albeit a markedly manic version of it. One thing people don't talk about nearly as much as they perhaps should is the fact that pre-suit Vader isn't really Darth Vader as we soon come to know him. He's more of a proto-Vader, or an Anakin-in-transition. He shifts back and forth between personas and there's still some conflict within him. It isn't until the last bit of good is burned away from him on the lava bank and he's placed into that metal suit that the transformation is completed. His final "NOOOO" in the surgical chamber is the very last we see of Anakin until arguably the end of The Empire Strikes Back, when Vader is so preoccupied with his thoughts about his son that he forgets to punish Piett for his failure. That's the first chink in the armor.

 

Well said. I was trying to express similar on the other thread.

Yes, I find it odd that people complain about the disparity between PT and OT Vader's personalities when he is not yet fully the same character in ROTS.
Anakin/Vader in Ep3 is unstable and volatile, he is still transitioning. It is only after he is scarred and put in the suit, and learns he did it all for nothing, that he is basically the Vader of the OT.

The calm and calculated Vader of the OT is basically a different person.

 

As if they forget 19 years have gone by.....