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robinturnerHey, I finally got round to seeing Episode II. Philip rang up early in the evening and gave me a choice of doing hapkido or watching the DVD of Episode I before dashing down to the cinema for Episode II. Since my jaw was still aching from the previous day's hapkido practice (it had a collision with Philip's foot), I went for the Star Wars option.
Episode II definitely lives up to expectations. I was worried that Lucas might try something he's not good at, like originality, but no, it's the same cliches done even better this time (Umberto Eco once said that the difference between a great film and a mediocre film is that a mediocre film contains cliches, while a great film contains nothing but cliches). Significant plusses:
1. All SW films end with a nice big fight, but in this one the grand bust-up finale lasts for about 40 minutes of non-stop mayhem.
2. Yoda rocks.
3. We get to see Amidala's midriff.
Actually, that scene was a hoot - Lucas was obviously parodying the old Hollywood convention of finding ways to get the heroine tied up and partially undressed without her or anyone else manually removing clothing. I can imagine the conversation:
"You know, Natalie would look really cool in bondage now she's grown some boobs"
"Aw come on man, we need a PG rating for this."
"No, I mean we can do it tastefully, you know, chain her to a pillar or something. Bit like Leia in Return of the Jedi."
"OK, but I can't see Portman in a gold bikini - she's not that kind of girl"
"OK, we'll put her in the normal tight Amidala action outfit, then get her to lose some of it - I know, a monster jumps up the pillar and tears off half of her top."
"Isn't that a bit contrived?"
"Nah. Post-modern irony is what they call it these days."
(for my slightly more sensible comments on earlier SW films, see Star Wars: Myth, Legend and Fairy Tale.
Episode II definitely lives up to expectations. I was worried that Lucas might try something he's not good at, like originality, but no, it's the same cliches done even better this time (Umberto Eco once said that the difference between a great film and a mediocre film is that a mediocre film contains cliches, while a great film contains nothing but cliches). Significant plusses:
1. All SW films end with a nice big fight, but in this one the grand bust-up finale lasts for about 40 minutes of non-stop mayhem.
2. Yoda rocks.
3. We get to see Amidala's midriff.
Actually, that scene was a hoot - Lucas was obviously parodying the old Hollywood convention of finding ways to get the heroine tied up and partially undressed without her or anyone else manually removing clothing. I can imagine the conversation:
"You know, Natalie would look really cool in bondage now she's grown some boobs"
"Aw come on man, we need a PG rating for this."
"No, I mean we can do it tastefully, you know, chain her to a pillar or something. Bit like Leia in Return of the Jedi."
"OK, but I can't see Portman in a gold bikini - she's not that kind of girl"
"OK, we'll put her in the normal tight Amidala action outfit, then get her to lose some of it - I know, a monster jumps up the pillar and tears off half of her top."
"Isn't that a bit contrived?"
"Nah. Post-modern irony is what they call it these days."
(for my slightly more sensible comments on earlier SW films, see Star Wars: Myth, Legend and Fairy Tale.
