Posted by NJStatuteSection2A170/51 at spider-wi043.proxy.aol.com on May 21, 2002 at 21:19:10:
In Reply to: And now, something completely different! posted by superduperman on May 21, 2002 at 21:14:26:
would find the big ass being beaten is ATOC and not J-lo's. In fact, i like J-lo . .hubba hubba . . .If you ever see this Kevin Smith or et al .. . make her do that dance move with her hips she does in her first video with Ja Rule where she is in that pink out fit. . .smokin lol
: Hey, long time member here, but I post very rarely. I find I get a kick just reading everyone else's post. Today, I couldn't resist the urge to write what's on my mind. But, not about J-lo.
: I think everyone's pretty much beaten that large ass to the ground.
: I'm here to compare the Spiderman movie with AOTC. What I loved and didn't love about them, and which one is a better movie. Keep in mind, this is my "opinion" so don't flip out. I don't have a problem with opposing view points, in fact, I love them. The more passionate the better. But, please, try to stay away from words like "crap" and "sucks" if at all possible.
: Now I'm a fan of both Star Wars and Spider man, so for me, the fact that these two movies came out so close together was worth major celebration. Unfortunately, I wish I could say that I loved both movies.
: First off, I am the first to say that both movies had many flaws. Now, when I say flaws I don't mean the nitpicky kind of flaws, like the power rangers Goblin or Jar Jar. I mean the flaws that disrupted the "suspension of disbelief" needed to be drawn into the movie. You know those moments when you go, "Oh, come one! That's (insert colorful metaphor)
: What surprises me is that both movies have "almost" the same flaws.
: First, both movies had love stories that didn't work. In both cases, it wasn't really the actors fault. They were just saddled with bad dialogue and insecure directing. Let's face it, neither George Lucas nor Sam Raimi are experts in Romance movies.
: Second, the CGI. As much as it being a great Effects tool, it is obvious that CGI has it's drawbacks. Of the two movies, Star Wars had the better CGI effects.(Not much surprise there)The last 30 minutes or so of the movie where visually phenomenal. The Joda Dooky scene is something I will watch over and over when I get the dvd. Unfortunately, I did feel at times like I was watching a video game instead of a movie. Lucas just went CGI crazy. It was too much!
: Unlike Spiderman, where the CGI in too many parts of the movie where of low quality, but they where essential to the story being shown. They nailed Spidey's web slinging. The balletic grace, the speed, the free fall poses. Bad CGI or not, that looked damm cool, and there was no way you could have achieved spidey web slinging without CGI, Not wire work, not anything. IN the end, Lucas better awesome effects, but overwhelmingly too much of it. Raimi, inferior effects, but strategically placed, and cool spider web slinging.
: But in the end, I was willing to overlook such flaws if the story was good.
: George Lucas himself, once said, a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, that all of the FX in the world doesn't mean anything without a good story.
: Now,both movies, although very different, had a similar story. The story of a teenage boy struggling to find his place in the world, yet destined for greatness. Both boy's suffer a terrible loss, due in part to their own failings, and struggling to rectify their perceived mistake. In my opinion, That is the heart of both movies, but only one succeeds in telling this story succesfully, Spider Man.
: AOTC does not, and it is this major failure that I cannot ignore. Raimi, in Spider Man, got me to "sympathize" with Peter. He got me to see through his eyes. He made me feel excited when Peter started to explore his power, I felt Peter's sadness when he realized the consequence of his inactions, and I felt Peter's determination when he decides to become Spiderman out of a sense of responsiblity. THAT IS THE HEART OF SPIDERMAN, and Raimi showed this perfectly, so I was able to forgive the movies many flaws.
: Unlike AOTC, it amazes me that we are all ready 2/3 into this trilogy, and Lucas has still failed to make me care one iota about Anakin. I mean that's a problem, isn't it! The heart of this pre-trilogy story is about Anakin's fall from grace and eventual transformation into Darth Vader. That should have been Lucas main focus, to get the audience to sympathize with Anakin so that we actually felt the impact of his eventual turn to the dark side. Instead, he focused on the eye candy special effects, and forgot his own previous belief that story should comes first. In Episode 1, Anakin was this two dimensional kid, that proceeded to act cute, even at the climactic ending when he destroys an entire ship, thereby killing everyone inside he still acted "cute."
: What's more Lucas showed no hint of Anakin's dark side. He was a kid who was polite, smart, cute, and willing to risk his life to help strangers, and, of course, loves his mom.
: And here we are in AOTC, and Anakin's character has done a complete turn around. Now, he's angry, selfish, arrogant, rude and unapreciative to the one person who helped him out of slavery and made him a jedi. Yes, I understand that he's a teenager, and they are prone to massive mood swings. But, this is Lucas's failing as a story teller. He starts out being arrogant, and bitchy, at the beginning of the movie and ends in the same way. There is no growth, or wilting of his personality, even after getting the girl he doesn't change. What was there to like about that whining, petulant Anakin? Two movies allready, and Lucas still presents a two dimensional character, in the first movie to goody goody and cute to be a person, in the second, to bitchy and arrogant to be a person.
: Lucas failed to show the heart of his story, Raimi succeeded. THerefore, Spider man is a better movie than AOTC.