Was Hayden's lack of charisma the reason for AOTC's downfall?

"Well, what did you expect? This is the man that becomes Vader. Is Vader a character you aspired to be when you were younger? Is he someone you would love to meet in person and hang with?"

i would also add to this list of questions: is Anakin the kind of person you would want to hang with? Is he someone you found charming or likeable? and most importantly: Is he someone you can see the good in and would like to see redeemed?

for me, i would say no.

whether it is HC's performance or Lucas's writing and direction, we never get to like Anakin. He is whiney and petulant and seems to have no redeeming qualities from the start of AOTC.

in order to be saddened or moved by his fall to the dark side or happy about his redemption i think the audience should be given some reason to like the character, flawed or not. i'm not in the habit of feeling sympathy for egotistical, petulant, whiny jerks and my usual reaction to people like that is "they got what they deserved".

 

"You make a good point. Even some of the film's critics grudingly admitted in their articles that Hayden Christenson's performance was a highlight of the film, with some even going so far as to say that Lucas proved that Christenson has real star power."

agreed, the kids definitly going places. He's a nice guy to.

 

Remember, Lucas has a history of picking relatively unknowns for SW movies.

 

I perefer that in fantasy films, because you can just believe they are these strange characters, like admiral piett, I've never seen him in anything else, so to me he is admiral piett.

 

Agreed. It helps you to focus on the characters, rather than the actors.

 

My answer to the title: No, not in the least.

I enjoyed Mr. Hayden's performance very much. I found him and all the actors to give careful, subtle performances. He seemed to be trying on the very persona of darth vader at times, like he was wearing the mask already. He has his own charisma and I like it. I really like Hayden's presence throughout AOTC. He communicates much even when he is not saying lines. Ewan is great at this too. All the acting was lovely in AOTC.

also, watching the kissy scenes made me think that Hayden must be a good kisser. Will Natalie kiss and tell? ooooh those royals!

Yes, Anakin is impatient, petulant - hmmm, name a teenager who has never shown these qualities. He feels like a misfit - that came through clearly. He disagrees with Obi Wan and is impatient to get out from under his master's tutelage. Maybe that sly advice from Palpatine is helping, in just the right ways. Did you notice in that scene with Palpatine and Anakin how Palpatine is holding his hands in a weird way as they stand near the window? I dont' know if it is significant, but it could be.

 

"Duckman is a stout, fervent AOTC gusher, by his own admission. I like the fact that he enjoys AOTC but can openly cite any problems he had with it at the same time."

Thanks JW! When the time comes for me to purge the forum, your life will be spared

 

No, it was not. It was George lucas film making ability that was the downfall of AOTC

 

Some popel say Leo dicaprio would of been better, while i think he's a good actor the only real advantage I see in using him is that he looks like an older Jake llyod, where as Hayden not so much.

But over all I think Hayden was perfect for the role, he seems alot like Luke, but not a clone, I only wish he had been anakin in tpm.

 

"Was Hayden's lack of charisma the reason for AOTC's downfall?"

well i had no idea that aotc was a failure. in my opinion its second best sw film behind tesb. i see nothing wrong in hayden's performance

 

I remember thinking that Hayden could put in a good performance, when I saw some of his screentest for Ep2.

Padme: "Ani..."
Anakin: "Anakin! Ani makes me sound like a little boy..."

I wish that had been in the script. Anyway, I liked HC's reading of the line. It helps a lot if you've heard it, but...he snaps out 'Anakin!', like a little flash of annoyance, then continues with the rest of the line in a quieter but slightly petulant way. It impressed me, anyway

 

I am disappointed with this thread. It has too much negativity and not enough substance. I am new to this website and I was hoping for discussions that entertain and encourage even if they are differing views. This is not needed in a place that is considered for the fans.

 

"I am disappointed with this thread. It has too much negativity and not enough substance. I am new to this website and I was hoping for discussions that entertain and encourage even if they are differing views. This is not needed in a place that is considered for the fans."

These are discussion forums. This topic is being discussed. Everyone is free to have opitions, whether or not they are agreed with, as long as they explain the reasoning behind their opinions. There are quite a few discussions that entertain and encourage around this forum. Just because someone is a "fan" doesn't mean that they have to blindly accept and like everything.

 

If we're talking about AOTC's coming in 2nd place last summer to a certain other movie begining with "S", that could, in a way, be labeled as a downfall.

I don't believe it was because of Hayden's performance. Hayden wasn't 100% perfect, but he was good enough.

I can only speak of my own opinions on Hayden and AOTC. I just got done watching that "S" movie and I can clearly see why AOTC was beat. Kids can relate to Peter's life and his feelings, but not really to Anakin's. "S" has very human feelings and issues firmly grounded in the world that the teen movie crowd inhabit. It even squeezed a tear out of this 32 year-old man. And believe me, I was very reluctant to see this movie until a friend insisted that I borrow her DVD.

You could also argue that marketing (lack of) was the reason for AOTC's "downfall".

Personally, I think the acting, storyline, and editing all contributed in their own ways, to AOTC's "downfall".

I'd like to go on record as saying that AOTC is good, IMO. But there are much better ones.

 

debeautimous, I actually agree with you. Believe it or not there are some topics that are quite worth a look on these forums. You just have to get a bit calloused to the rest and wade through till you find what's worthwhile. For starters, I'd recommend checking out the "Anakin's profoundly human frailty" thread, which has currently been bumped back up to the top.

 

I think the acting, storyline, and editing all contributed in their own ways

Vaders_Leash I agree with you. I think all these elements combined to make AOTC not as good a movie.

Although it was an enjoyable summer pop-corn flick. It was not just one single factor.

 

Agreed. For me a big element is that BB was the only eidtor, where as in the past the've used real industry editors with loads of expirence,a nd often oscars under their bbelts. Heck Lucas' ex edited taxi driver. BB is a genius in sound design, but I feel he is a very poor editor. And since this si the onlys cript John hales worked on of the saga and it is so much weaker and slower thent he other films I'm going to assume that it is largely due to his contributions.

If Hayden had been a big star and this film was just his vehicle then you could say the film fell because of him, but most people still don't know his name, and I don't think its his fault. Then again two idiots beside me in the theatre shouted obsentities and homophobic remarks at the screen every time he spoke. But For me anyway he did a good job.

 

Here's a quote from GL on this FOX news interview (OK, stop snickering).

I asked him whether he cared about the criticism of Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin in Clones. "Not a bit," Lucas said, "this is a talented kid. Years from now people are going to say, was he always so good, and look at Clones, and realize yes."

The link to the original story is here.

GL also slips agian and says he's doing nine films . . . but that's another thread.




.

 

Yeah I saw that and thought "oh no george, you've just opened a can of worms you've fught for years to close"

I swear every GL interview I read he has to explain that its only 6. Why can't people get that straight, they always ask him that instead of interesting questions.

But that interview is good, and I agree about HC.

 

I didn't think Hayden acted without charisma.

 

Neither do I. C'mon, the Tusken slaughter scene would've been the worst scene of the movie if he didn't have charisma. It certainly wasn't Pernilla who carried that scene to it's brilliance.

 

That boy has a beautiful presence.

 

I don't think it was Hayden's fault, imo.

It was the directing, editing and script among other things, imho.

 

What kind of genius associates the word "downfall" with a movie that was only beaten by one other film in 2002? When Spider-man 5 passes the $300 million mark then you can call AOTC a comparative failure. Till then, I'd call it a success.

 

Thanks for the link to the Lucas interview, Mech-E_Jedi. It was a good read. And I agree with him about HC, he's a very talented young actor and I think he was dead on as Anakin.

Although I do think his voice was a little flat and monotone at times, I read somewhere that he did that purposely to mimic Vader's speech pattern. After I read about how much work he put into the role and how much he cared about getting it right, I don't think we could've asked for a better actor to portray Anakin. I can't wait to see what he does with Episode 3!