Topic: The Prequels. In 2012, how bad are they ACTUALLY
I might be off-base with this. I seem to be in a forgiving mood lately, as I didn't mind prometheus. But here it goes...
I had a weird relationship with Star Wars. Revenge of the Sith came out when I was 13, and I saw all six films that following summer. Not enough of a Star Wars fan to have my childhood raped by any of the films, and not old enough really to pick out the "good ones," I just sort of casually enjoyed all six. Years went by, flaws grew apparent, and I tried to distance myself from them.
But last night I did a weird thing. It was the middle of the night, I couldn't fall asleep, and I went over to a pretty sizable DVD/Bluray collection and decided to pop in...Revenge of the Sith. And for the following 2 hours, I laid in bed watching the film for the upteenth time, and was genuinely engaged with it.
This is not the first time this has happened. While never really crossing that threshold into Star Wars geek (I had always been more drawn towards Spidey and Pirates), I can safely say that I have spent much of the past decade watching the prequels. On DVD, and on TV. And I always find myself enjoying them. First out of excitement and curiosity, then out of shame, and lately with a genuine (if glossy, and distant) appreciation.
The transition from shame to appreciation has happened in the last two years, as my own admiration of the movie industry itself has plummeted to an all-time low.
Now, I guess my question is....given all the shit we have to put up with now at the movies, were the prequels really that bad? I mean, they had cringeworthy dialogue, were often incoherent, and clearly valued spectacle over characters. But given that's what seems to be what's in style nowadays, I find there to be a lot of redeeming qualities to them.
1) The spectacle has some form of context.
2) Even given the 30 years of blockbuster cinema, and thousands of years of storytelling, they don't feel nearly as derivative.
3) John Williams score
4) The overall ambition, and (forgive me) artistry behind them. They do not feel cookie-cutter and cranked out by a studio. They all feel like they were made by someone, and are all of a piece. George Lucas is (forgive me, again) an auteur. An incompetent auteur. But an auteur nonetheless.
Is this really a good, and productive, reason to like a movie? Justifying crap with other crap? I guess not, but it is at least interesting. I think there's something to be said about expectations and the state of film in general, when in the dreaded summer of 2011, any given Star Wars prequel might have been my favorite movie (Maybe, save for Super 8. Was unimpressed by X-Men and Planet of the Apes).
So how do the prequels measure up for you in 2012? Are they any better than battleship and snow white, or should they all rot in movie hell just the same?
Last edited by gzarra (2012-06-10 16:20:12)