the roads are getting nearer

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

` Wednesday, May 25, 2005

I can't stop raving about the last instalment of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. I managed to drag myself out of the comforts of the plush duvet of my hotel bed to catch the 9.50am show at the UA Pacific Place cinema (thank goodness it was located just downstairs!). And it was well worth the effort, because everything you wanted to know about how the original series came about seemed to be explained in this final instalment of the prequels. The first 2 pre-quels were pretty disappointing in terms of pace and plot, but this one promises more action (Yoda gets as much screen fighting time as Anakin and Obi-Wan. Yay!) and a more intense storyline that ends in a manner which tempts one to start watching the old trilogy again.

In case you think I'm a huge fan of the series, I'm not. I'm just won over by the fact that even though I haven't really caught nor remembered the details of the original or the prequels, it was as entertaining as the LOTR series, if not better. Hayden Christiansen as Anakin seems to have more depth in his portrayal this time as compared to his angst-ridden Romeo-like self in the second instalment. Ewan McGregor always delivers consistently good performances (but I still dig his love-lorn Christian in Moulin Rouge best), Natalie Portman is stunningly beautiful and I was biting my tongue hoping Samuel L. Jackson wouldn't get "light-sabred" by the deviant Anakin (of course he had to be, in the good name of cinema. Sigh.). It was also good to see Chewbacca and R2D2's appearances in the show.

I remembered launching miniature Star Wars figurine battles with my childhood neighbour, with R2D2 as my commander-in-charge of countless non-moving green soldiers (they doubled up as makeshift enemy trajectories rather than actually fighting). And losing the "war" (little boys also had egos then and couldn't accept losing to girls), only to surrender my beloved little robot commander to the enemy. Strange how some memories never seem to fade, especially the ones when you were really young and having lots of fun but never expecting to recall what exactly happened twenty-four years later.

But ask me which Star Wars character left the deepest impression, I'd never hesitate to admit that the little green man with a brown robe wielding a light sabre more expertly than Obi Wan would be it. Yoda never fails to make me feel as though I'm watching Superman or Batman take on the bad guys. His appearance in scenes make me more excited and glued to the screen than the hunky Anakin or storm troopers. I hope the Warped One I'm not only.

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