What makes TPM suck?

Faqa · Post by **Faqa** » 2004-08-16 01:09pm

Uh, guys? Lloyd's a shitty child actor, has been ever since Unhooking the Stars. Awful through and through. They could've put a robot in his place there and it would've been the same performance. He learned "I'm so CUTE! Wheee!" by TPM. I'm not impressed. My anger, however, is directed to Lucas. WTF can we EXPECT from a 9-year-old?

But Lucas. Man, WHY did he sign off on this? Make Anakin a few years older, or fudge it or something. Anything but throwing in an actor just to physically fit the role.

While I've heard of the idea of just starting off with Annie older and already a Jedi, I enjoyed the basic idea of a kid falling for Padme. Though shouldn't SHE have been a bit more repulsed to kiss someone she'd seen as an 11-year-old? Ah, ranting about the AOTC romance is a dead horse, never mind. Regardless, I liked the idea, just not the execution. Maybe it's because it seems to slightly mirror Anakin Solo's NJO developement: child prodigy(Correllian trilogy) to powerful Jedi(NJO) to war hero(NJO, at least in Balance point). He went, from what I understand, to martyr afterwards, but haven't read that part yet. At any rate, it's not as bad as it seems. Just needs a better man at the wheel.

Basically, TPM had many of AOTC's problems - shitty dialogue, intensity-lacking action, play-to-crowd overall script and Jar-Jar. It actually has, however, MORE good scenes than AOTC - the final ground battle, the lightsaber duel and the opening fight("You were right, Master. The negotiations WERE short". Heh.). The rest... ah... questionable, but then AOTC's only good scene was the Geonisis battle(the lightsaber duel there sucked, aside from Yoda's appearance).

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2004-08-16 04:56pm

Uh, guys? Lloyd's a shitty child actor, has been ever since Unhooking the Stars. Awful through and through. They could've put a robot in his place there and it would've been the same performance.

In all fairness, Jake Lloyd was only about seven years old when that movie hit the theaters. IMHO, his performance in TPM is adequate.

Post by **Gandalf** » 2004-08-16 11:01pm

Mange the Swede wrote:
Uh, guys? Lloyd's a shitty child actor, has been ever since Unhooking the Stars. Awful through and through. They could've put a robot in his place there and it would've been the same performance.
In all fairness, Jake Lloyd was only about seven years old when that movie hit the theaters. IMHO, his performance in TPM is adequate.

He was 10 when it hit theatres. He was born in 1989. Ep1 was released 10 years later.

Enforcer Talen · Post by **Enforcer Talen** » 2004-08-16 11:58pm

on the other hand, in one of my experimental moods, I watched eisode 1 and 6 right in a row.

it flows pretty decently.

Galvatron · Post by **Galvatron** » 2004-08-17 01:32am

I hold Lucas responsible for Jake Lloyd. It was his choice to write Anakin as a little kid, his choice to cast Lloyd, and his direction that was ultimately responsible for Lloyd's poor performance.

No, I don't blame the boy. Like it or not, at the end of the day the success or failure of the prequels rests solely on the shoulders of one man: George Lucas.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2004-08-17 02:29am

Faqa wrote: It actually has, however, MORE good scenes than AOTC - the final ground battle, the lightsaber duel and the opening fight

Oh please, that ground battle was, compared to the other SW groundbattles, lame beyong imagination. And the spacebattle for that matter too short (thanks to Anakin "oops" Skywalker

)

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2004-08-17 12:54pm

Gandalf wrote:
Mange the Swede wrote:
Uh, guys? Lloyd's a shitty child actor, has been ever since Unhooking the Stars. Awful through and through. They could've put a robot in his place there and it would've been the same performance.
In all fairness, Jake Lloyd was only about seven years old when that movie hit the theaters. IMHO, his performance in TPM is adequate.
He was 10 when it hit theatres. He was born in 1989. Ep1 was released 10 years later.

I wasn't refering to TPM, but the other movie that Faqa mentioned (Unhooking the Stars which was released in 1996).

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2004-08-17 04:52pm

What makes TPM suck? Well, to me, TPM didn't totally suck, but it was the "worst" of the Star Wars films released so far. That doesn't mean it's unwatchable, just not as good as the others.

So what then?

Jar Jar. His character didn't have to be played so "stupid" like he was. My impression of Jar Jar was a rip off of the "happy go lucky but clutzy and not very intelligent sidekick" archetype from so many Disney flicks.

Perhaps that's what Lucas was going for, and some have compared him to the character of "Goofy."

But I felt they were trying to make him steal EVERY scene he was in, and since everyone else was played straight, it was just a little too "goofy." It wasn't funny, just depressing. Had the other characters played off his antics to actually make it funny, it might have gone over better, such as cracking jokes at his expense, telling him to shut up, etc. (like with Threepio in the OT). Or they could have just played him straight.. ie: an outcast from his society. Stigmatized because he's not up to snuff, but useful to the plot. Or they could have played him as is, but given him less screen time. I felt like I was being beaten over the head with him... like Lucas was yelling through a mega phone "HEY! LOOK AT THIS FUNNY GUY! HAHA! LAUGH! BUY THE PLUSH DOLL KIDS!!!"

Sort of the reaction others got to the Ewoks (the difference is that the Ewoks could actually fight, and they had far less screen time than Jar Jar, likewise they spoke an alien language rather than an annoying pidgeon (sp?) version english/basic.

What else didn't I like about TPM? Well, other than that, some of the characters could have used more color, but I didn't have a whole lot of problems with the film. The best parts were the political machinations and the saber duels. The SFX were great, etc. Having Anakin as a little kid who builds C3PO wasn't necessary, but I can live with it.

VT-16 · Post by **VT-16** » 2004-08-17 06:52pm

But I felt they were trying to make him steal EVERY scene he was in, and since everyone else was played straight, it was just a little too "goofy." It wasn't funny, just depressing.

Exactly, Jar-Jar was a wasted opportunity. He could have been a nuanced, serious CG character (which would have been different from the visual spectacles of older CG creations), instead we got.... it.

I´m glad they made Watto an alien, and not a human like I thought he would be, gave me quite a surprise to see two human characters being owned by a flying, blue alien. And he was a genuine interesting character, too, which proved my point. Not everything CG needs to be "in-your-face".