Kevin Smith on ROTS and Other Reviews

[CMJ]

The prequels...I thought I'd made my point.

[JMK]

I think your point is valid...but I think the prequels (TPM and AotC anyway) are going to be stuck as the bastard children of the Star Wars saga for the rest of time. I really don't think time will be nice to them.

I think that when ANH came out, the world was completely taken by storm...ESB was probably expected to be totally new, but it was simply a continuation of a longer story. It didn't have to reinvent the wheel again, as ANH seemingly did. Time turned the tide in ESB's favor, but opinion changed because the pieces were in place for that change to occur. The prequels are sorely lacking what ANH and ESB have. I don't think that will ever change, but I could be wrong.

[CMJ]

And with the prequels people expected the OT. They were letdown by an absence of a Han Solo type rogue, etc. (as an aside the romance got ripped almost as heavily as Anakin/Padme's did)

I think together ALL the films will be seen as worthy entrants. But I have no way of knowing either. I was more trying to show that it's really hard to know. You can't throw critic reviews up because ESB had decidedly mixed notices and it is widely considered the best of the bunch now. Amazingly ROTJ got overall better reviews if I recall correctly(and its were pretty mixed as well)

[JMK]

Yeah people got way out of control with their expectations. My problem now with TPM and AotC isn't with the characters, or the direction the story takes, as seems to be the beef with that particular review, it's with the plot, the execution, the writing and the acting (I guess you could say directing).

[Rutabaga]

Oh, btw, having watched TPM again over the weekend, it suddenly struck me...the whole midichlorian issue appears to have been dropped. Unless it's going to come up again in ROTS, and if it is, don't say anything in detail yet...I'm trying my best to avoid spoilage of any kind (although thanks to TV Guide, I know a one whopper ).

So, if the midichlorian issue has been dropped, maybe that's one tacit admission on GL's part that something didn't work right. Maybe.

[Shawn]

Even Lucas can't deny what an enormous Faux Pas that was.

[Jedi Master Carr]

85% now at RT, hopefully it will go higher Biggest reviews yet to be posted are from Entertainment weekly, the Washington Post and the Boston Globe.

[CMJ]

I always thought the midichlorian angle was going to unique to TPM. It was supposed to be some sort of parallel between the Naboo and Gungans. The whole symbiant circle stuff.

[Yog]

Soon, we will able to post our own reviews of ROTS. Are you getting excited yet? I am

[Jedieb]

16:55:15

Sorry, can't help myself!

[Jedi Master Carr]

Yeah it is getting very close Two more gushing reviews from the Boston Globe and the Washington Post today. The Boston Globe reviewer argues that it might be the best of the six films now that is something.

[JediBoricua]

WP and Boston Globe, just icing on the cake!

I just returned from line at my local theater. I arrived at 6AM and there were 4 ppl in line already.

I left for work at 9am and there were 20 ppl.

I can't imagine the crowd when I return at 6pm and cut in line....

Luke: "I am not afraid"

Yoda: "You will be, you will be..."

[Jedi Master Carr]

Although EW just gave it a B- which really doesn't surprise me coming from them, they have bashed the prequels from the beginning. At least it won't hurt the RT score.

[Jedi Master Carr]

82% with 118 reviews up. I think it will be north of 80% so somewhere between 81-84 seems likely. I am satisfied with that. Heck cream of the crop is 76% that is higher than any of the prequels (AOTC did like 40%) That alone is a huge improvement.

[JMK]

What awesome news so far.

[Jedi Master Carr]

Yeah I agree if you look at the original reviews for the movies, this is getting the second best reviews (after ANH) If you count the SE the third best but still.

[Rutabaga]

Originally posted by Jedi Master Carr
Although EW just gave it a B- which really doesn't surprise me coming from them, they have bashed the prequels from the beginning. At least it won't hurt the RT score.

I used to subscribe to EW but cancelled my subscription in a huff 2 or 3 years ago over their SW-bashing...they never hesitated to rag on the prequels over and over again, but they also never hesitated to put anything from the movies on the covers knowing they would sell issues. To me, that was nothing but hypocrisy, and I was so sick of it, I took myself off their subscriber list.

I now bid SWFans adieu for a few days...for a variety of reasons, I won't be seeing ROTS for the first time until Sunday afternoon, so outside of email, I'll pretty much be offline between now and after I've seen the movie so that I can avoid spoilers.

Everyone have fun, post post post, and I'll see you all on Sunday afternoon!

[Figrin D'an]

Having finally seen the film, I've been now able to read some of the reviews on RT and other sources. The negative ones are... confusing. Most of them seem to be either knocking the film down for tiny, tiny things that are little more than idiosyncracies, or are just rants about the prequels in general. Some of them, it's difficult for me to believe that they are reviews of the same film I saw.

Ultimately, the excellent word-of-mouth that Episode III will get is going to push the naysayers into a less vocal corner. There will still be those who are never satisfied, but they will be fewer this time around.