Kevin Smith Previews Revenge of the Sith

Eugenia writes "Kevin Smith, the well-known actor/director, was invited by George Lucas to a special advanced screening of the upcoming 'Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith' film and he wrote down his take on the movie. There are some serious spoilers in his article but it's interesting to see his reaction, as a director and Star Wars fan."

Comments

Didn't we see this already

[Anonymous Coward]

Didn't we see this astroturfing "reviews" when the latest episode came out? It was supposed to the best episode ever and when I went to see it, it was fucking crap aimed at 13-year old.

Re:WTF?

[kettleoffish]

"Revenge of the Sith" is, quite simply, fucking awesome." Is the first line of the review really that hard to read?

Biased review

[Anonymous Coward]

I get the gist that kevin loved ROTS...

Isn't he slated in a production role for the upcoming TV series?

I would take the review with a few grains...

Re:Biased review

[Anonymous Coward]

I would take the review with a few grains...

My thoughts exactly. I'd treat this review with as much credit as if Lucas had written it himself.

Hey, I got an idea! Let's get the director of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy to write a review of his movie! I wonder what he'd think of it?

spoilers

[illtron]

Sometimes I wish I hadn't read every spoiler on millenniumfalcon.com. I know way more about this one going in than any of the previous prequels, but I'm still excited.

Personally, I think most of the hate directed at the previous two, Jar-Jar comments aside, was a media invention. Things get repeated enough and people start to believe it. I'm sure the same thing will happen this time around to some degree, but this is seriously the movie that fans have been waiting for. The previous two were sort of procedural. Sure, it's great to see where Anakin comes from, but admit it -- what you really want is to see him kill children.

Bah, Kevin Smith

[realmolo]

I like the guy, but everyone knows he's a raving Star Wars fan-boy.

Plus, Episode I and II were so bad, if this is even halfway-decent, it's going to seem like a fucking masterpiece.

I'm still expecting it to suck. I don't see how it can't.

hate of eps I and II was quite genuine

[gevmage]

Personally, I think most of the hate directed at the previous two, Jar-Jar comments aside, was a media invention. Things get repeated enough and people start to believe it.

True in general, but in this case, it's because those films kind of stank.

I'll list a few specifics

• The podrace sequence that took up the middle half of the first movie. That should have been about 15 minutes.
• Amidahla, who in Ep 1 was "queen", talking in Ep 2 about how wonderful democracy is
• The "evil trade empire" made up of aliens with pronounced asian accents
• The Jedi, who are supposed to be very very smart, attacking into what is completely obviously a trap
• The dialog between Annakin and Amidalhla that left me wanting to puke.

I'm sorry, the Geoge Lucas of the 70's knew about pacing. Episodes IV, V, and VI were very fast and snappy. Episodes I and II just dragged terribly. I'm hoping that III picks up the pace a bit.

Re:hate of eps I and II was quite genuine

[illtron]

I'll take bad acting and dialog as a valid criticism, but most of the other stuff you just listed are personal gripes.

And for what it's worth, the Trade Federation accent is a mix of Japanese and French, but I don't see why that's so awful. Would a subtitled alien language that everybody magically understands have been better? What if they spoke the alien language with an accent?

Re:hate of eps I and II was quite genuine

[digidave]

# Amidahla, who in Ep 1 was "queen", talking in Ep 2 about how wonderful democracy is

She was an elected Queen, just as the Ep 2 Queen was elected. Just because she's not called President or something similar doesn't mean it's not democracy.

# The "evil trade empire" made up of aliens with pronounced asian accents

So, pronounced American accents would have been so much more realistic, because that's how aliens speak?

# The Jedi, who are supposed to be very very smart, attacking into what is completely obviously a trap

The dark side clouds their vision, as is oft repeated. That's how Palpatine and Dooku keep their plans hidden. Besides, the Jedi still had to save Padme, Obi-Wan and Anakin somehow and they knew the clones were on their way.

# The dialog between Annakin and Amidalhla that left me wanting to puke.

Fair enough, but they have to fall in love somehow and without turning the whole movie into a romance it had to be rushed. It's unfortunate that their love is so pivotal to the story, yet not interesting enough to be its own movie so it can be properly told.

Re:hate of eps I and II was quite genuine

[Anonymous Coward]

To hell with that, what about the biggest fucking "drive a semi through it" plot hole of all?

Annakin saves the queen's ass twice (first with the pod racer, then by blowing up the droid control ship). She's a god-damned queen and she never sends anyone back to Tatooine to buy Annakin's mother out of slavery? And Annakin still loves her. WTF?!

Re:hate of eps I and II was quite genuine

[Coryoth]

Fair enough, but they have to fall in love somehow and without turning the whole movie into a romance it had to be rushed. It's unfortunate that their love is so pivotal to the story, yet not interesting enough to be its own movie so it can be properly told.

They had the better part of an hour to tell the love story (half of the film was devoted to that story arc) that's not a small amount of time. The real question is why was it not interesting enough to be the better part of the film? Surely if they bothered to write an interesting love story instead of ther hackneyed and forced one that they did, they could have devoted more time to it without issue.

What you're really saying is: it is a shame that the love story was so badly concieved and written that even the limited time they spent on it seemed like a waste.

Jedidiah.

Re:hate of eps I and II was quite genuine

[SpryGuy]

Would a subtitled alien language that everybody magically understands have been better?

Yes. Emphatically yes.

The main thing I hated about the first episode (and the second) is that it's just so rife with unnecessary anachronisms from OUR world... ones completely lacking from the first trilogy. Phantom was filled with bad Jackie Chan b-movie accents, racist overtones and accents both middle-eastern and carribean, a stupid two-headed pod-race announcer that practically screamed "SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!", and worse.

The original trilogy did nothing of the kind. Alien races were truly alien, speaking alien tongues and having *created* cultures... not lame parodies of racist stereotypes as in the first two episodes.

Phantom Menace would have been vastly improved by putting as much time and effort in creating the new aliens and their languages and cultures, as they put into Padme's gowns.

Additionally it would have been nice to see any sign that Darth Maul was really evil. Oh sure, he LOOKED evil enough, but other than fighting when Obi Wan and Qui Gon attacked him, he really didn't do much that showed us who he was... unlike how the character of Darth Vader was built in the first movie.

Spoilers?

[PeterChenoweth]

Why is everyone so worried about spoilers? What spoilers? Is there someone here who *hasn't* seen Episodes 4-6? Everyone knows what is supposed to happen in Episode 3.

Let's see, what do we know from 4-6. Darth Vader is Luke's father, and Leia is his sister. Obi Wan took Luke to Tatooine to live with Uncle Owen after Darth Vader took out the Jedi. The Emperor is bad, and he's the one who turns Anakin into Darth Vader via the Dark Side.

So that means in Episode 3, that there's going to be a pair of twins born, Obi Wan's going to take one of them to Tatooine, lots of Jedi will be killed, and Anakin's going to be put back together to become Darth Vader by the Emperor.

And that pretty much sums up exactly what the review says. Basically, it would appear to completely connect what has happened in 1 and 2 with 4-6. The review does point out a couple of plot elements to show just how dark Ep3 is going to be, and how much he liked it, but I don't think they'd ruin it for anyone.

Re:READ IT!!!

[Dark Nexus]

Nor were most reviews of Episodes I & II...

I get the feeling the review was more directed at the existing fans that were disappointed by those 2 movies, saying they probably won't be disappointed this time.

Absolutely Right -- Lucas Media created the Hate

[FreeUser]

Personally, I think most of the hate directed at the previous two, Jar-Jar comments aside, was a media invention.

Absolutely right, it is a media invention, invented by none other than Lucas when he created the two abominations that are Star Wars Episodes I and II.

I own the Ep I DVD (stupid me for buying the thing sight-unseen despite the negative comments here and elsewhere). I was spared spending money on the second one by watching the first half hour or so on a friend's box (that person had downloaded it about a week before SW came out in theaters). It was so bad, that by the time we got to the wooden Natilie Portman talks to Annikan scene we quit watching and deleted the file.

Last night, after watching SW Revelations, I tried watching Episode I again just for the FX eye candy. Again, the writing, acting, and storyline were so bad, I couldn't finish it. I'd forgotten how truly awful it is.

I liked Star Wars--but not anymore. This isn't some "Liberal Media Conspiracy" any more than the exposure of Tom Delay's congressional corruption is. The hatred for the new Star Wars movies (Jar Jar included) is derived solely from the absolute feces George Lucas has chosen to foist upon his fans in place of an actual Star Wars movie. It's a shame so many fans are willing to accept such drivel, for that lowers the bar on any future SW creations (and truth be told, even at its best the bar was never THAT high to begin with)...which means we can only expect the same or worse. Fan Fiction films like Revelations excepted--that was truly remarkable: a low budget film with a better storyline, better acting, and better execution than the last two Lucas movies (FX excepted, and even there they did an excellent job).

The Truth of the Matter

[bubba_ry]

The truth of the matter is this:

We're all going to go see the damn movie! Some of us will go because we like Star Wars, no matter what the plot (or lack thereof); we like shit blowing up and sword fights. And FX. Lot's of 'em. Some of us will go to see if the movie is good. Others to see if the movie sucks.

Either way, we're all seeing the movie and Lucas hears the bells of cash registers ringing in his head.

Re:Would he have said it sucked?

[jazman_777]

I'm not going to this one. Lucas keeps putting crappy movies out there, and I keep going. If I go to this one, it's over, and Lucas wins every time. This is my last chance not to fall for the same old con.

I remain skeptical. I was around when Star Wars first came out, a long time ago. The critics ripped it up one side down the other, on plot; they _did_ love the effects. Given Episodes IV, VI, I and II, does anyone really think Lucas has profoundly changed?

Smith sounds like he's channeling George Peppard: "I love it when a plan comes together!" He's thrilled about the tie-ins to Episode IV ("ooh, that's so cool how they used the same corridor!") and the darkness. Darkness as a good thing is the sign of someone who was _seriously_ damaged by Jar-Jar.

Re:Spoiler Free summary?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ok, 2 things WRT to Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back :

1) It's a movie, not real life. Anyone that can't appreciate Jay pausing to take a hit from his double-ended blunt-saber while battling Mark "Luke" Hammill needs to have that pin removed from their ass-crack with a bulldozer.
2) Even if you're not that uptight and still didn't like the movie, I'd suggest you try starting from the ground up. Clerks, MallRats, Chasing Amy, Dogma and then finally go back and re-watch Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

This is why I love Smith (sort of spoilers)

[jayhawk88]

...or he's engaged in a balls-to-the-wall lightsaber duel in the Senate with Yoda, his "Little, green friend" (his words, not mine - which I kinda dug, because, interestingly, I think it's the first time anyone's acknowledged that Yoda is green in any of the "Star Wars" flicks)...

Love his work or hate it, the man is unquestionably a true geek.

Re:So they wipe the minds of C3PO and R2D2...

[geekwithsoul]

He never says that he doesn't remember them, he says something to the effect of "I don't remember ever owning any droids." And that is technically true, as he never owned them (or any others as far as the films show).

I was initially bothered by this as well, but I've decided it was just Ben being coy about what was happening. After all, last he had heard (being on the furthest point from the bright center of the universe) the Jedi Knights were being hunted down and killed. Couldn't be possible that he might have some reservations about whether or not Luke was being used (without him knowing it) to track him down?

As for the home-testing kit, I suspect those were made under the auspices of the Jedi Council, and with the destruction of the Jedi, they weren't available anymore.

Whew . . . that's enough geek for today!

For those who want sarcasm...

[Scrameustache]

Kevin Smith liked it. He said he really liked it. [...] But let me reiterate. Kevin Smith is raving and drooling about this movie. My hopes have been suitably elevated.

So Kevin Smith, known fanboy, and in line to get the TV series writing job from Lucas, reviewed it and liked it? Well, I'm satisfied.

I'm sure if it sucked he would have objectively told us so, without fear of reprisal from his dark master!

Here's where I play Devil's advocate.

[game kid]

I think Lucas really did aim it at said 13-year-olds. The Episodes were childish and mediocre, yes, but now that those 13-year-olds have seen Ep. I (at 10) and Ep. II (at, of course, 13) they are now about 16 and are a bit ready to see what finally happens to the little blond kid just before he went all James Earl Jones on us.

I think Ep. III will profit from a nice convergence of the older fans (of the originals) with the younger guys who haven't seen Eps. IV-VI.

That is why (IMO) Lucas put in Jar Jar and started from Anakin's little-boy days. Not to appease the adults who wanted to know about Vader's past, but to attract new, much younger fans. Now that he's attracted an extra demographic and they have grown, he can tell all of us about the Anakin->Vader metamorphosis. He didn't aim Episode I or even II at you or anyone remotely similar. He wanted an extra fanbase/profit source. This time, I think, us older fans shall be pleased, since we have lower expectations from I and II. He'd better; it's his last decent chance to. That's what I see.

Re:Here's where I play Devil's advocate.

[H0ek]

...and when Anakin whacks Jar Jar's head off with a light saber, not only will all the adults in the room cheer with gusto, all the kids can finally say:

"Lucas! That bastard! He killed my childhood!"

Now that's art.

Re:His biggest problem with the film

[Anonymous Coward]

Episode 4 (or just plain "Star Wars" for you non-geeks)

Why do I have this reversed? Old timer geeks just call Episode 4 "Star Wars".

None Shall Pass...

[fuzznutz]

the jaw-dropping Anakin/Obi Wan fight on Mustafar (where - after cutting his legs and arm off, Ben leaves Skywalker

Did he mention anything about it being merely a flesh wound?

Re:His biggest problem with the film

[sacherjj]

It can't with the milk solids as part of it. Clarified butter is made for this purpose. It contains only the fats and none of the water or milk solids. This is often used in pan frying for flavor and CAN stay at the temperatures required. The reason it isn't used is cost. And the fact that the movie going public doesn't care about quality.

There still are spoilers...

[MixmastaKooz]

But the spoiler is explaining HOW (and WHY) those events you described happens! We know WHAT happens and now we will see a lot of the HOW and WHY in ROTS. And Kevin reveals a lot about the HOW (like command 66 or something) and WHY: in my book, that's a spoiler!

Re:Read his "review" again.

[Steepe]

Oh... My.... Gawd.

That has GOT, without a doubt to be the stupidest thing I have ever read in my entire life, and I feel my IQ temporarily dropped 10 points for having read your comment.

Did any of that ramble make any sense?

You are complaining because he linked 3 with 4? thats what THIS FUCKING MOVIE IS SUPPOSE TO DO YOU MORONIC RETARD.

Why did anakin kill the kids? BECAUSE THEY WERE FREAKING JEDI. why was he personally responsible? HE'S THE VILLAN. and probably the only one with the force at the moment, devinately the only one who could have gotten into the council, (storm troupers couldn't have at that point.)

Please don't watch the movie. Just let it go. I agree the first two were not the greatest movies in the world, but for all the horseshit you are spreading around you would think they were gigli or something. and my kids like them, aged 11 and 12, right at the age when those movies should appeal to them.

Get over yourself.

Your confusing "acting" with "story hole".

[khasim]

He never says that he doesn't remember them, he says something to the effect of "I don't remember ever owning any droids." And that is technically true, as he never owned them (or any others as far as the films show).

And that would be acceptable if the story somehow depended upon him hiding the facts in a technical truth.

But it doesn't.

Ben (Annie's old MENTOR) rescues Annie's SON who is accompanied by the droid that Annie BUILT and another droid from Ben's past when he fought and almost KILLED Annie.

And the only reaction Ben shows is ... none.

No interest in HOW that particular droid got there.

No concern that a droid built by a planet destroying maniac with a personal grudge against him just showed up on his doorstep.

Seeing the kid isn't something new. Ben knew that Luke was there and why.

Seeing C3PO AND R2D2 show up SHOULD have caused a reaction.

EVERY
JEDI
KILLED (except 2)

Yet no reaction. None at all.

Here, let me give you a movie scenario and you can fill in the emotion.

Back in our hero's past, he had fought against the bad guy and the bad guy had killed all of our hero's family. Our hero knows the car the bad guy drives. Our hero rescued the bad guy's kid and hid him away in another city.

Then, one day, the kid shows up at our hero's apartment in the city. Our hero looks outside and sees ... THAT VERY SAME CAR ...

Our hero says ....

==========

Right. The ENTIRE dialogue sequence is wrong in ep#4 when you've seen ep #1-3.

That's just like the old "parsec" non-explanation.

Re:Your confusing "acting" with "story hole".

[Londovir]

I can certainly read and understand what you're thinking about that, but it does fit in quite a bit with the characterization of Obi-Wan from the novelization.

Yes, I read the novelization before seeing the movie. To me, I didn't feel that I was spoiling anything as another poster upthread said because we all know what happens. Plus, I like going in to the movie ahead of time with a rough outline of the story because I can keep an eye out of the artistic differences between the two versions. (Not to mention that, in the inevitable case of having to relieve myself of the Uber-Big Gulp soda, I know exactly when boring conversation will be onscreen that I can dispense with.)

Anyway, the book goes to great lengths illustrating that Obi-Wan's Jedi training and nature allow him to remain emotionally distant from things that occur around him. There are plenty of cases in the book when a "normal" person would be stricken with grief, despair, terror, surprise, etc, and Obi-Wan takes it in stride, confident in the Force and his ability to serve as a channel for the Force. (Chapter 15 comes to mind, particularly)

Given that, I don't think it's so amazing to see Obi-Wan fail to react to the droids presence in Ep4. Obi-Wan's deep faith in the Force is enough that, as Yoda hints in the novel, the Force will bring them all together when the time is right. He probably looked at both droids and thought, "Welp, it's a sign from the Force, let's roll." I mean, seriously, think about the confluence of coincidence that brought the droids to Tatooine in the first place. Shoot, the droids were with Leia (there's more detail there in the book which has been already mentioned elsewhere on here, but I won't repeat, which explains Threepio's memory loss), on the other side of the galaxy practically, and just happened to be flying over Tatooine when the ship was attacked, just happened to crash on Tatooine, just happened to be collected by the Jawas, just happened to be sold to Luke when the original droid he bought just happened to crap out on delivery, etc. If that's not the Force orchestrating everything (in Obi-Wan's mind) I don't know what is.

And, just so you know, the one time that Obi-Wan did have a major emotional reaction was when he discovered how many and how some of the Jedi were killed. And even then, Yoda bitch-slaps him a bit for his reaction, and he recovers.

It's all good. Admittedly to our common sense it seems like crap, but it's covered with a reasonable backstory once you read the novel.

Best,
Londovir

PS All the "This is xxxxx at this moment" in the novel get a little old, though...read it and you'll see what I mean...

Re:READ IT!!!

[jmb-d]

Even Star Wars itself was revised several times during the storyboard phase.

And this is a bad thing why? Are you saying that once something reaches the storyboard phase that the storyline must be set in stone at that point?

What if somebody has A Great Idea that changes something for the better while shooting a scene? According to your logic, the director's obligated to say, "Sorry, but the storyboard says it's gotta be like this. Your suggestion would make it 100% better, but the storyboard..."

*harumph*