PT Rian Johnson on Star Wars: ‘There was something really beautiful about the prequels’

Hayden did a decent job with the dialogue he was given and the stylized approach GL was going for in the PT.
Hayden has many good scenes and facial expressions in RotS and from what I have heard, he worked tirelessly with Ewan to get the fights down perfectly and spent countless hours working out and preparing for the role.
Is he a wonderful actor? Probably not, but he worked hard and did a decent job and imo, many, many people have been way too hard on him personally and on his performances.
If it augments the story and isn't contrived, I think it would be cool to see him back for Episode VIII.

 

Mostly agree with the above. Although IMO Hayden's performance had some weaker moments, he also had some really good ones (Shmi's death in AOTC and quite a bit in ROTS) and overall, I'd rate Portman's performance as weaker than his (with the exception of her Mustafar scene and some of her Queen moments in TPM).

More on topic: it's great to hear that RJ has an appreciation of all the films (at least to some extent).

 

sonnyleesmith

JT!


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Cardale is like the "prequels" of OSU quarterbacks.

I kid, I kid.

 

Yep, a perfect record. Never lost.

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It is great that RJ appreciates the PT.
Maybe he will refer to the PT and/or Anakin's story in Episode VIII, if necessary and in support of the story.
The SW saga includes the PT which examines a young slave boy's grief over the loss of his mother and later, the loss of his wife. Losses forshadowed in horrible, recurring nightmares.
This adolescent uses his powers to slaughter an entire settlement of Tusken Raiders. Later, as a young man, he murders innocent Younglings at the Jedi temple.
However, in RotJ, he is redeemed, or so the story wishes us to believe.
So, any potential references, homages or allusions to the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker in Episode VIII could be enlightening.
Found here, more story material is.

 

This is good news. Now I'm looking forward to Ep VIII

 

This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but I admired Christensen's performance in the PT. Whether that makes me a purveyor of bad acting or someone who finds technique where others do not is a matter I leave for you to decide.

With that said, given the fan outrage surrounding Christensen's inclusion as a force ghost in ROTJ, would it really be a wise decision to put him into Episode VIII? It could be incredibly distracting - I can imagine a small uproar in the theater the moment he appears on screen.

 

Cool! This makes me really excited for VIII. I hope Coruscant makes a comeback. It should've had an appearance in VII. Perhaps we'll even see Hayden, Ewan, and Frank Oz return as Force Ghosts. The first two chatacters were in all the episodes before this one---you can't just forget them now!

If RJ's episodes stay closer to Lucas' script, the VII may turn out to be the most out of place of the saga.

 

Frank Oz as a Force ghost! Awesome

 

I can think of weak moments in the performances of all of the major characters . . . in both trilogies. That is what happens when you have to work with cheesy dialogue, which the STAR WARS saga is famous for. But I've also encountered such dialogue in many of Peter Jackson's productions - especially the "LORD OF THE RINGS" trilogy. I don't see why Hayden Christensen has to be the only SW cast member criticized for weak moments in his performance. And the not-so wonderful actor is a Golden Globe nominee.

 

I somewhat agree and disagree with that last sentiment

There's little doubt GL's treatment was modified a fair bit for TFA, but the interesting part is Michael Arndt is still credited on the poster, meaning a substantial amount of his work (and therefore GL's ideas) are still in there

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Fun fact: Hayden hadn't even known that George had replaced Sebastian Shaw's head with his, someone had to tell him! The "outrage" of fans just comes from older fans like me who've gotten used to Sebastian Shaw's head being there at the end of ROTJ, the younger fans don't really care about Sebastian Shaw's head being replaced in ROTJ.

 

That's generalising

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Honestly, I don't think it's as unpopular an opinion as it may seem. Hayden is to the PT what Mark was to the OT - the heart and soul of it.

 

GuardianSoulBlade doesn't appear to be corrupt.

 

Should I be worried or flattered?

 

I was quoting AOTC


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I agree with Rian Johnson and he agrees with me. There is something beautiful about the prequels. Namely the costume design, set design, creature effects, model work, miniatures, cinematography, digital animation, color grading, music, thematic correspondences with the OT, the depths of tragedy to which it must descend and thereby subvert the cheerful adventure narrative, and about a thousand million little details throughout all three films.

 

OMG don't get me started... MIddle-earth is my favorite universe (along with GFFA) and I'm still wondering who told PJ & co they can write better than Tolkien (who, incidentally, was a philologist and actually picked his words and styles very carefully). They took a thoughtful, subtle, intricately plotted book and turned into a bombastic Hollywood blockbuster with cliches galore. At least Star Wars is supposed to be campy and over the top. I hope at some point someone will do a proper TV adaptation Tolkien's work deserves so these atrocities will go into oblivion where they belong (I really liked Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell on BBC and that was not an easy book to adapt).

There're other (more critically acclaimed franchises) where I feel the casting/writing is hit or miss. For example, I've felt Jennifer Lawrence is miscast as Katniss in Hunger Games and her performance is rather weak at times (everyone else is very good though). Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter wasn't very good as a kid (but improved as he got more experience). Heck, even Christian Bale could have been better in Nolan's Batman movies (granted, it had something to do with the writing, too).

 

Yep, and all of those others got a pass on their performances except for Hayden.

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"But I was going to go to Tosche Station to pick up some power converrrterrrrrs!!!!"

^The only thing I think of when people say the acting was better in the OT


Hopefully Johnson brings a breath of fresh air to ep 8 and really tries to get the story where GL was planning all these years ago. Not to say Abrams is straying away from Lucas' story, but it feels that way to me. Lucas always described a potential ST as ethereal and more focused on the ways of the force and the legacy of Anakin. I see some of that potential in the little i've seen of TFA so far. The name itself suggests that the force may be a strong theme of the movie. I just get the sense that Abrams is trying to make it more of a western rather than the mystical mythology that I imagine the ST to be.

So if Abrams makes a fun adventurous western that maybe touches on the force, and Johnson really gets into the nitty gritty of the ways of the force (with maybe a potential cameo of force ghost Anakin) that would be ideal. Atleast in my eyes.

 

Spoiler: Potential TFA spoilers

Well it's clear it's focused quite a bit on Anakin's legacy. I know very little of the story, but from what I understand, Kylo Ren is sort of a "Vader fanboy" or something and I assume he'll be a driving force (no pun intended) in the story's development

 

I've never had much of a problem with that. The acting in Star Wars isn't entirely realistic--it's more of an exaggeration for the silver screen, but it still feels naturalistic enough.

I was pretty whiny when I was 19. I certainly didn't want to do chores. I had the privilege of going to college, but if I had been stuck on a farm, I probably would have done anything to escape, even for a few moments.

There's really nothing about Luke's line or behavior that's at odds with my expectation for 19-year-olds.

Having read Lord of the Rings, I was perfectly satisfied with the films and felt that they treated the story with the seriousness it deserved. This is not to say the adaptations were perfect--The Two Towers in particular suffered--but most of the characters survived the transition and the world was fairly close to what I imagined.

I do think Fellowship was the strongest of the films by far, partly because they changed the least. Then again, it's also my favorite Lord of the Rings book. Jackson's style bled into both of the sequels, and yes, Return of the King had moments that were absolutely too over-the-top. But by that point, the movies had sold me on their universe.

 

Just like there is nothing wrong with Hayden's acting in the PT.