Kevin Smith's Review

[erbenz]

Sure, the last thing he gave us was Jersey Girl, but he's seen ROTS and loved it.

http://viewaskew.com/news/sith/

[bronsonseven]

If I'm not mistaken, he also thought Episode II was better than I. Anyone who thinks that is just plain stupid.

And Jersey Girl? I'd rather watch that movie 289423489732489 times than have to sit through Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back again.

[Mark Bell]

Episode II was WAY better than Episode I. No talk of trade blockades or Midi-Chlorians. Sure, there was a creepy Anakin-Padme romance in Episode II, but the last ten minutes ROCKS...

[bronsonseven]

Last ten minutes? Shit. At least Ep I had a fucking climax. And I'll watch 3209854 hours of Jar-Jar than Hayden any fucking day.

"Oh dude, Jar-Jar is the worst thing ever about Star Wars..."

No you fuck, Hayden is. You see, Jar-Jar only pops up in Episode I every once in a while and says stupid shit. Hayden says something stupid every five fucking minutes in Episode II. "I hate sand...." God. And at least Yoda was still a fucking puppet in Episode I and he didn't have a Pokemon-style fight at the end.

The pod race scene was horrible, but that Looney Toons shit in the factory in Episdoe II was worse.

And Death Sticks. "You'll go home and rethink your life." Wow, genius. Episode II is the only Star Wars movie I find myself watching in fast forward.

And Darth Maul, even though his death scene was lame (it seems Lucas doesn't have bad ass ways to kill bad ass characters, see Boba Fett), was way better than the so-called "Attack of the Clones" (you know, the 3 minute battle).

But hey, what do I know. To each his own. I just think that every one likes II better than I because it has less Jar-Jar. I hate that digital bitch too, with his stupid floppy ears and his bouncy walk. At least he isn't Hayden. Show the mother fucker some love.

Edit: It's sad about Hayden actually. Ever see Shattered Glass? That guy has some skill. It's too bad Lucas doesn't let him use it.

[iEatBrainMatter]

I blame Lucas the parent for Jar Jar.

Best part of Episode I is the Maul fight scene. Rest of the flick was weak.

Best part of Episode II is finally seeing the Clone Troopers in combat. Screw the main characters, the clones are the beginning of the end of the Jedi and they dont even know it. There was less wrong with this one than in the first.

I'd make a list of all I disliked, but why bother. It's been done countless times since the both of them came out.

Anyway I'm going to see Episode III expecting it to have some craptastic stuff thrown in. I wonder if Kevin Smith ever asked for his 9 bucks back for seeing episode I and II while he was at the Ranch.(Ever seen Clerks the animated series?)

[Bongwater]

Episode III still won't get my theatre dollars. It'll get whatever percentage from Netflix though. :)

Smith does bring up something that I think is important, and may be at the heart of the problems of the first two prequels. Maybe even more than lack of character development and script.

Episode I had Darth Maul as the primary antagonist who, besides looking cool and swinging a mean double saber, was nothing more than an uninteresting hired goon. Episode II ratched up the action, but it was a little too much environmental danger, faceless hordes at war and Dune for Shitheads political wrangling. The villainous aspect was nebulous, at best.

Episode III has villains. REAL villains this time. It's Darth Vader. It's the Emperor in all his glory. There appears to be potential for real consequences and real jeopardy for our protagonists. Star Wars seems to get it right when they're just keeping things simple like that.

So, I haven't upgraded Revenge of the Sith to "I will go see this in a theatre" status, but it definitely appears to contain the most potential of making a case that any prequel was worth attempting.

[Kingmaker]

Edit: It's sad about Hayden actually. Ever see Shattered Glass? That guy has some skill. It's too bad Lucas doesn't let him use it.

He was great in Shattered Glass. Charismatic, relaxed, not at all the wooden, annoying mannequin we get in Star Wars. I think he was out to prove a point.

For my money, the whole prequel idea is terrible. Does it ever work? Butch and Sundance: The Early Years? Dumb and Dumberer? Infernal Affairs 2? Enterprise????

Okay: Godfather 2, but then that character was old in the first film, so there was scope to show his glory years.

[Schmidty]

Bronsonseven, You can have your precious Jar Jar and the rest of us will gladly watch Hayden. These are written lines not something Hayden made up.

If you can come up with a better way to make Yoda look badass without him jumping around and going nuts then perhaps you should be in movies. The jokes in Episode 2 were obviously trying to recapture the comedy of R2 and 3PO in the originals. I'm not even sure what you're trying to say. You prefer Episode 1?

Sure, telling a smoker to "Rethink his life" was a bit much but it's no ,"Are you an Angel?" That, my friend, was pathetic.

I agree that Darth Maul was damn cool and it would have been nice to make his death the highlight of the whole movie, but let's be honest, he was just a character and sometimes people just die. It doesn't always have to be over the top.

It would definitely be ridiculous to blame all the faults of Episode 1 solely on Jar Jar. I believe that Jake Loyd was horrible as well. His Mom sucked balls and the writing was not very good but each movie has it's moments.

But, I digress, It is JUST a series of movies.

PS. Episode 3 was over-all a better movie that the first 2. The least flaws and better acting.

[truepictures]

Flick was great. Acting was poor. Details on my review (http://www.truepicturesinc.com/reviews.html).

[Reverend Ned]

Flick was great. Acting was poor.

All I could think of was that the best actor in the entire film was a CGI Muppet.

[iEatBrainMatter]

Im tired of CGI. give me hand puppets matte paintings and model ships bursting into flame any day really.

[Mr B Natural]

Man, what a waste. My expectations were so low, though, that I didn't mind as much and I was entertained in the most shallow way possible.

So there's this one shot of Anakin racing up this stairs about 2/3 of the way through...but before you see that he's even in the shot, the camera follows this alien chick with a huge rack for about six seconds. My kind of Star Wars.

Anyone else wonder why a Master like Yoda can make himself levitate with the Force, but he falls to the Senate floor in his fight with Palpatine? For that matter, why would Anakin let himself have his legs cut in the air like he did if he could semi-fly/float? And once he's legless, can't he harness his force powers and lift himself to safety?

I also like Obi Wan trying to punch and kick Grievous. Yeah, that'll work.

[Mr B Natural]

Smith's fanboyism has nothing for me. I'm glad he's happy, but I can't relate to his review at all. This one's closer for me:

Peter Travers in Rolling Stone (http://http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/_/id/6140458?pageid=rs.ReviewsMovieArchive&pageregion=mainRegion&afl=imdb)

[iEatBrainMatter]

The Jedi were powerful but not smart.

[Mr B Natural]

The Jedi were powerful but not smart.

Hmmm, maybe their philosophy was influenced too much by the Matrix films.

So I just realized that the acronym for Ep 3 is ROTS. How appropriate.

[bronsonseven]

Hmmm, maybe their philosophy was influenced too much by the Matrix films.

So I just realized that the acronym for Ep 3 is ROTS. How appropriate.

The Jedi in this film seemed more like Keystone Kops. No direction, no skill. How did these guys help keep peace in the galaxy, again? No wonder why Sidious wanted them wiped out. After this film, I almost feel for the darkside.

[Mr B Natural]

The Jedi in this film seemed more like Keystone Kops. No direction, no skill. How did these guys help keep peace in the galaxy, again? No wonder why Sidious wanted them wiped out. After this film, I almost feel for the darkside.

Even Inspector Gadget would've figured out that Palpatine was behind the whole thing (and he's a pretty crappy detective. Cool guy, crappy detective). The genius Jedi were clueless, although they seemed very good at sitting in meetings and talking about things. And getting shot in the back...and not sensing the clones' evil intentions before they were killed...oh man, don't get me started again....

[bronsonseven]

Even Inspector Gadget would've figured out that Palpatine was behind the whole thing (and he's a pretty crappy detective. Cool guy, crappy detective). The genius Jedi were clueless, although they seemed very good at sitting in meetings and talking about things. And getting shot in the back...and not sensing the clones' evil intentions before they were killed...oh man, don't get me started again....

No shit man. Fuck the Jedis. The more and more I talk about this movie, the more and more worse it is becoming. Stupid Lucas.

The old VHS, un-special trilogy is the only thing Star Wars I care about. And even now when I watch it, some of the magic is gone. Star Wars is a dead horse that I think I am going to stop beating.

Why is this movie getting such good press?

[Mr B Natural]

No shit man. Fuck the Jedis. The more and more I talk about this movie, the more and more worse it is becoming. Stupid Lucas.

The old VHS, un-special trilogy is the only thing Star Wars I care about. And even now when I watch it, some of the magic is gone. Star Wars is a dead horse that I think I am going to stop beating.

Why is this movie getting such good press?

I'm with ya Bronson...I was just saying to a buddy the other day that I've spent a lot of energy discussing the prequels...an inordinate amount of energy, considering how much I dislike them. And yet discussing them is like watching a train wreck; I just can't stop exploring their crappiness.

I've been wondering about the good press, too. Ebert & Ty Burr (Boston Globe) both had problems with the dramatic/love scenes, some plot holes, etc (basically a lot of the problems people have discussed on these boards, although not in as much detail). And yet after pointing out all these flaws they each gave the film 3 1/2 stars out of four. What gives? Were their expectations lowered so much by Ep 1 & 2 that they enjoyed it that much more? If Jerry Bruckhiemer had transplanted the film out of the Star Wars universe and cast Ice Cube as Anakin, I think Ebert & Burr would have given the film one star.

Never in the history of pop fandom have I seen such a large group of fans willing to settle for less.