Movie Review: The Phantom Menace 3D

There’s nothing quite like hearing the 20^th Century Fox music in surround sound in a movie theater. The Lucasfilm logo follows and then the first chord of the fantastic work of John Williams blares through the speakers. A certain chill goes through the air. The yellow text scrolls up the screen. No matter how many times I’ve read the scroll for The Phantom Menace, I read it again. 

There’s just something about watching Star Wars on the big screen. My husband and I went to see The Phantom Menace on Friday during the afternoon. The theater gave us a pair of Darth Maul 3D glasses. The collector in me would have liked to receive one pair of Maul and one pair of Anakin’s racing goggles, but I’m not complaining. 

During the movie itself, I was constantly aware of the 3D element, which presented itself the clearest during close-up shots. The 3D, as it is in all 3D films, was distracting. The only upside to the new format was how bright the colors were. We saw this with the Blu-Ray, so it wasn’t anything new. The 3D was better than other films, but it’s still not worth it. 

I don’t like being aware of 3D while watching it. While it’s important to notice that it’s there. It shouldn’t be distracting or annoying. Even though Lucas’s 3D was much more tolerable to the eyes than others, I still experienced eye strain. 

I’d rather watched the movie in 2D once again rather than waste money on 3D. It wasn’t an option. In the small area I live in, the theater is eight screens and something must be a mega blockbuster to earn another screen. The other movies theaters closed years ago due to lack of business. 

The best part about the Star Wars movies coming out in theaters again is simply that we fans can enjoy them once again on the big screen. It brings back feelings of awe and wonder. It’s also a great way for new fans to experience the Saga. For this reason alone, I’ll go see the others—even if I have to view the 3D. 

After viewing TPM once again, I think that the story is pretty solid. It’s a good foundation for what lies ahead. I discussed the plot last week, so I won’t repeat it.

The movie was fourth in the domestic box office. That’s not bad at all for re-release. The Vow beat it, but it was also the weekend before Valentine’s Day. Plenty of people were going on the weekend for the holiday. I’m not sure what Lucas was deem “successful.” 

With the rest of the Saga, I hope that more theaters can show it in 2D so that the fans who can’t watch 3D won’t miss out on the experience. We all need to see Darth Vader say, “Luke, I am your father” on the big screen again.

My Star Wars Love Story

I met my husband through the Star Wars fan website, TheForce.net. 

We both wrote fan fiction on the site boards. He was an Anakin/Padme writer and I usually stayed in Beyond, occasionally straying into the Saga era. I was aware of his user name and work, but never had spoken to him about anything on a personal level. 

One Saturday morning in Fall 2005, shortly before I had to leave for work, I received an IM from him. He introduced himself and complemented one of my horrible stories. It was awful. I admit. I started writing fan fiction in eighth grade. I have my share of horribly written stories from years ago, like many other writers.

Anyway, we started talking. He was curious about the EU. We talked online often until we eventually fell for one another. As they say, one thing led to another and before I knew it, it was May 2009, I was standing in front of family and friends saying, “I do.”

Without Star Wars, we wouldn’t know each other. It’s no surprise that this franchise is important to us. We don’t follow the same parts of Star Wars. I’m an EU fan, love pilots and the military. I’m more of an action orientated person while he’s all about the Jedi, the Sith and the Force. He follows the pre-OT era more than I do. He’s the one who brought The Old Republic to my attention. 

We haven’t spent our years together in a constant Star Wars haze. Like any other interest, life interferes, interests move around and other things crop up. Back in 2009, I had started rereading the EU. I had stopped reading during college due to a variety reasons including dissatisfaction and lack of time. He gave me Millennium Falcon as a Christmas gift that year and I was hooked once again. 

We play SWTOR together. We saw The Phantom Menace in 3D last weekend not only because it’s in theaters again, but also because we’ve never watched the movies in that setting together before. 

Star Wars has always been important to me. It’s something I grew up watching and playing. Now it means even more, as it brought about an important part of my life. And this is one of the many reasons I hope the franchise stays strong. 

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Katniss Everdeen, the Girl on Fire

Katniss Everdeen

The female Tribute from District 12. A star-crossed lover. Girl on Fire. Mockingjay. All these describe Katniss Everdeen, the main character in The Hunger Games. Readers see the story through her point of view. She is strong, determine and cynical and marked to die.

Who is she, exactly? How did she come to be the way she is?

Katniss is the eldest of the two Everdeen sisters. Her father died when she was 12 in a mining accident. After his death, her mother falls into a stupor, forcing Katniss to take on the role as provider for the family. She develops her hunting skills and eventually meets up with Gale Hawthorne, another boy trying to help his family survive. Gale’s father died in the same explosion as Katniss’s did. Gale is a few years older than she is. The two work together to catch enough food to feed both their families. Due to her resentment of her mother’s mental abandonment and her hard lifestyle, Katniss is rather cynical and rough. Her little sister Primrose is the only person that she loves deeply. 

After Effie Trinket selects Prim at the reaping for the 74^th Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers. This move wasn’t a surprise, but making her volunteer rather than being picked gave her character much more depth. Katniss promises Prim she’ll try to win, even though she has no real hopes that she will return to her home in District 12. 

Throughout preparations and the Games themselves, Katniss proves repeatedly that she is a survivor. She knows that she will receive no mercy from Capitol and can play her own games to survive another day. 

Katniss and Effie at Reaping

What makes Katniss such a great character isn’t only that she volunteered to die in a horrific fashion for Prim; it’s her behaviors, attitudes and decisions. Katniss isn’t innocent. She isn’t naïve or clueless. She also has reasonable and understandable emotions. She cries, she hurts, she acts out in anger. How many times are the heroes or main characters in books, movies and comics considered a weakling if they show too much emotion? 

Forcing us to read about Katniss grieving makes her seem more human. We’re already put into a horrific setting that seems unbelievable on the surface, but with a little thought can feel as if it could actually happen. Katniss changes right before our eyes in a masterful way. Suzanne Collins showed us how the arena changes people without being too obvious about the changes or telling us. 

Coupled in with most discussions about strong female characters is, of course, the love interest. In a way, there are two in this story, though I never considered Gale a true contender. In a world without the Hunger Games, possibly, but he has a dangerous streak in him that would cause considerable problems between the two in the future. In Catching Fire, yes, it could be called a “love triangle” in the loosest definition of the phrase. The man is Peeta Mellark.

Peeta fell for Katniss long before the story begins, as he explains during the Games. We’ll save an in-depth look at Peeta for another post. Katniss has a bumpy relationship with Peeta. She doesn’t depend on him to keep her safe, nor does she need him to define her. The two can work together with either seeming pathetic or weak.

Katniss, the Girl on Fire

Various reviews and discussions criticize the way Katniss breaks down during Mockingjay. Her response was realistic. There’s only so much tragedy a person’s brain can handle. Mentally shutting down was her way of dealing with the situations, or at least attempting to recover from them. This reaction doesn’t classify her as weak or useless. It makes her human and different from other female characters. Very few can explain what it is like to be hunted, so there’s nothing for most people to base her reactions on. 

Katniss is one of the best examples of the types of good female characters that readers want to see. Writers can learn more about the types of characters the masses want to see by following Suzanne Collins example.

Where's the love? A look at the lack of romance in the EU

Romance is a fickle thing in writing. Too much will make the story seem too soppy or distract from the main plot while too little leaves readers unsatisfied. Finding that balance is one that many writers struggle with. When it comes writing romance, I shy away from the long, love-filled speeches. I prefer to use actions and gestures, like a touch or favor. There’s no set formula, though, about how much or how little a story needs.

Romance plays a vital role in so many stories we love. Think about Empire Strikes Back. The love story between Han and Leia was phenomenal. It wasn’t drippy or character killing (go Harrison Ford’s improvising). It wasn’t awkward. It was believable. Their actions made sense for the characters, making their love easy to see. It was a vital chain in the story, not some silly side plot.

Take Harry Potter as another example. While love is a major theme of the book, it’s not romantic love. The romance in Harry Potter is much less than some fans wanted to see. Hermione and Ron don’t have grand, loving moments. In the books, we don’t even see their first kiss. The movie handled that scene well. It was the moment we were all waiting for—and expressed the same amusement as Harry did about the situation. 

Romantic pairings come into play in Harry Potter. The Ron and Lavender incident caused severe friction between the three. And who can forget about the Yule Ball fiasco? Bill and Fleur’s wedding and the pairing of Remus and Tonks added not only a touch of romance, but hope to the latter books. 

Even Harry’s crush on Cho and feelings for Ginny were rather muted. He pined for them, but it wasn’t as if they were the focus of the books.

When it comes to Harry Potter, I don’t think that the books needed more romance. It wasn’t about Harry’s relationship with Ginny or Remus learning that he can have love too. The romance added a bit of flavor to the book, the topping if you will.

Romance is something severely lacking from the Star Wars EU. It didn’t used to be. The best example of this recent problem is the Fate of the Jedi series. It started with great romantic interactions with Jaina Solo and Jag Fel. These continued through the series until Backlash. There was nothing in Backlash. No real Jaina and Jag or Han and Leia. Allies? Yeah right. Vortex, a sliver. Conviction? Not really. Ascension? I’ve already expressed my feelings on the “romance” in that book. 

What doesn’t make sense with FotJ is that there was a love story right there to work with and expand upon. Jaina and Jag were prominent characters in Outcast, for one. After that, their roles dwindled. It’s important to maintain some type of character balance in a long series, but it was lost along the way.

When I think of romance in Star Wars, I don’t think of chats in the starlight or candlelight dinners. It’s more action orientated and animated. It’s possible to have a romantic interaction without gooey language or even a kiss. It’s all in the wording and the character point of view. A person’s reactions are more telling than anything else is. Look at the Hunger Games trilogy when Katniss thought Capital was going to torture Peeta. She wanted to kill him to save him. Even though she didn’t realize it, it was clear she loved him.

The EU books need romance to balance out the story. Think about a book or story. Now categorize what is going on in the book. Each piece acts as a building block to make the perfect tale. Too much of something and the story feels odd. 

Romance is something that most can understand. Most people want to love someone or already do. It’s an emotion we can understand, even if we don’t have any experience with the situations or emotions the characters are feeling. I’ve never been hunted, or as good as dead, but I understood Peeta’s need to keep Katniss alive in The Hunger Games, for example. 

Star Wars is a space opera. Love plays such a vital role in the overall Saga. Anakin’s obsessive love for Padme influenced his decisions to go to the Dark Side. Would Anakin have fallen had he not fallen in love and married Padme? It’s very possible, but the story wouldn’t have been the same.

Romance also appeals to everyone. We all know the arguments about romance novels and “chick flicks.” They’re for “women.” Plenty of men enjoy these types of stories. The concept that romance is only for women is a pointless, old stereotype.

One of the many questions I’d love to ask the editorial team and writers is where the romance went. Including some aspect of it would not only make the books feel more “Star Wars,” but would also make the stories more appealing to a wider audience. Without Mara and Luke, the content falls mainly on Han and Leia’s and Jaina and Jag’s shoulders, yet we don’t see too much of either. 

When writing, I can’t put the number of pages or romantic interactions into a calculator to determine how much more or less I need. Reading the story and finding feedback is the only way to accomplish this. Receiving feedback from multiple sources is even better. That way, it’s possible to see multiple views of the scenes in question. Some stories only need three or four romantic moments or bits while others need a chapter’s worth of content.

The argument for balancing romance is similar to angst, tragedy, comedy and other genres. Each has a place in a story—and a certain amount called for. While not every story needs romance, that factor was established as a key factor of Star Wars during the OT. It’s time for it to come back.

The Phantom Menace: Hate it or love it?

The Phantom Menace. Will reviews change this go around or will people still consider it the weakest of the Saga?

Unfortunately, I doubt anything will change. I’ve blogged about how nostalgia for the Original Trilogy and expectations hurt the chances of TPM being accepted as it deserved. The reasons people dislike this film are a mixed bag of plot and character issues.

 “Trade routes? Trade Federation? What?”

Why is it when politics are brought in, a movie is suddenly labeled “boring”? The politics made the movie interesting. I admit when I was younger I didn’t find it nearly as interesting as I do now. It wasn’t the blaster fighting, action-packed movie fans were used to. The galaxy, unbelievably, isn’t at war all the time. Something had to happen for Palpatine to rise to power. Empires don’t spring out of the sands of Tatooine with a little womp rat fertilizer. 

The movie used a smaller plot, the issue with the Trade Federation and Naboo, to open the door to the larger scheme of everything. This move eases viewers into the story rather than throwing them into a whirlwind of treachery, deceit and betrayal. While trade disputes might seem unimportant, look at the history of various countries to see similar problems. Trade routes being blocked or blockaded lead to wars and border disputes. A large bomb or attack isn’t always the way the wars begin.

The plot was the foundation for the trilogy and in a broader sense, the saga. Think about the prologues, introductions or beginnings of stories. They are typically filled with background information and details that come into play in the future or tell fans who the players are. To some this information seems boring but it is vital to a complete and well-developed story. Without a foundation, the story will fall. Knowing that Anakin was a slave and seeing how leaving his mother affected him was vital to understanding his fall to the Dark Side. Another example is how Obi-Wan become a Jedi Knight and Anakin’s master as such a young age. That event also sheds a bit of light on Anakin’s eventual turn. 

Coupled with the plot are the characters. Lucas and co. received quite a bit of criticism over Anakin as a nine-year-old boy. Sometimes when reading these complaints I wonder how much time that person spent around nine-year-old boys. They say strange things. They are (usually) naïve even during a hard situation. They point out what they believe should be the obvious answer to a problem. And they remember some statements parents say to use later. Jake Lloyd’s acting was like a kid. Had Anakin acted too “adult” or hard, it’d been hard to believe he was a kid. While Jake Lloyd was no Dakota Fanning, he did pull off a difficult role.

Jar Jar Binks is another character ran through the gutter. I never cared about Jar Jar either way. He was just “there.” That said, I could completely understand why he annoys the snot out of so many people. I do wish he’d been disregarded after the first movie. Bringing him in as the idiot who gave Palpatine more power was a little too “let’s blame it on the village idiot.” 

The Phantom Menace isn’t my favorite of the Saga. It’s not even in my top three. I don’t find it to be a failure as others do. Is it the perfect movie? No, but it’s still enjoyable and great to watch. It’s not fair to hate a movie without being completely objective about it and thinking about the points fully. Just because something isn’t how you expect it to be doesn’t make it dull or a mess. 

Either way, whether you love it or you hate it, The Phantom Menace 3D release will be an interesting one to watch. The box office numbers will be quite telling about the future of the 3D releases. I think the movie will fairly well for a rerelease. With the Clone Wars, more kids are into the fandom. Many may have missed the opportunity to see any of the six in theaters. This is another great opportunity to bring more people into the fandom.

The Hunger Games: A history lesson

What are the Hunger Games? Who is Capitol? What’s a mockingjay? Are these burning questions plaguing your mind? Are you unsure about the Hunger Games series? With the release of the movie in less than two months, it’s helpful to have a little prior knowledge before going in—or to help you make the decision whether to attend or not. 

Until the release on March 16, I will post various entries regarding the character analyses, settings, events and other information about the books on Sundays. Any entries that contain spoilers will be clearly marked. The review will go up after I see the moving that weekend and something over the work of Cinna.

So let’s start with a history lesson:

Panem and the Capitol

Panem came to being after some sort of apocalyptic event that changed the land and killed modern civilization. Panem is the nation that sits in the North American continent—or what was left of it. The Capitol is the government located in what were the Rocky Mountains. Districts formed; either previously established areas or created by Capitol. Each of the 13 districts had an industry. 

One-Luxury Goods
Two-Masonries, weaponry, military hub located here after the Dark Days
Three-Technology
Four-Fishing
Five-Power
Six-Transportation
Seven-Lumber
Eight-Textiles
Nine-Grain
Ten-Industry
Eleven-Agriculture
Twelve-Coal
Thirteen-Graphite, nuclear weapons

Seventy-five years before The Hunger Games, District 13 started a rebellion (Dark Days) to oppose Capitol’s harsh ruling of Panem and obtain their freedom. During the rebellion, Capitol created muttations (genetically altered creatures) to fight the rebels. These included tracker jackers and jabberjays. Tracker jackers, resembling wasps, injected enemies with venom that targeted what a person was afraid of and caused hallucinations. The tracker jackers followed anyone who destroyed the nests. Jabberjays repeated conversations, acting like spies. More information on those later. 

The rebellion ended and District 13 was eradicated. Panem now had 12 districts and Capitol. As punishment for the rebellion, Capitol created The Hunger Games.

Each year, the district representatives choose a boy and girl between 12 and 18 during the reaping to send to Capitol to participate in the games. The children’s names are on a slip of folded paper placed in a bowl. The older a person was the more slips they had. Children gained an extra entry each time they signed up for tesserae, grain and oil, for each person in the family. The tesserae lasts one year. 

The gamemakers, who run the event, put the 24 tributes on display for the citizens of Capitol and the rest of Panem. A team of stylists makes over each tribute to make an impression. The tributes participate in training, are evaluated and given a score. Finally, each tribute has a short interview to entice the citizens of Capitol. 

All this pageantry is the way that the citizens of Capitol decide who to bet on or who to send gifts. For a fee, gifts can arrive in the arena to help the tributes. The gifts are very expensive and increase in cost as the games progress. 

The gamemakers send the tributes into an arena to fight to the death while everyone watches. For the citizens of Capitol, it’s entertainment. For the people of the districts, it’s a harsh reminder that they have no control over their lives that Capitol always wins.

The event occurs each year. The main character of the series, Katniss, participates in the 74^th Hunger Games. To press the matter of no control further onto the districts, each district hosts the tribute during the Victory Tour, held half way between the Games.

Imagine having to honor the person who killed your child.

The question is how much of this information will we see in the movie? The finer details of the rebellion don’t come about until later in the series, but we do know why the Games exist. Based on the trailer, it looks as if the movie promises to be gripping like the book.

If anyone can make 3D look right, it's George Lucas

With the upcoming 3D release of The Phantom Menace, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about 3D in general. I’m not a fan of 3D. I don’t think it’s going to take over many homes. It’s simply not friendly to those of us who multitask when we watch TV or movies. 

In addition to the tech aspect of 3D, I also don’t see the point. A tree popping out of the screen doesn’t make the story any better. Look at Avatar. The movie had a mediocre, predictable plot with pretty pictures. Sure, great visuals can bring ticket sales, but that doesn’t mean the movie is good. I spent Avatar begging for the end credits. 

I watched Thor in 3D (as it was the only option and it was free). The 3D was only noticeable during the fast moving scenes that made my head hurt. Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, looked great in 3D, but it was a gimmicky kids’ movie. The 3D didn’t add to the drama. 

And yet, with these complaints I am still going to see The Phantom Menace in this format. Because let’s face it, if there’s anyone who can give us a movie where the 3D is relevant, it’s George Lucas. He’s already done so much to the world of movie making and special effects. He could change 3D to something worth the time and money. 

When special effects look bad for the time, it distracts viewers from what is going on in the movie. I’m not talking about the horrible looking creatures at the end of Ghost. Those bad effects are forgivable. I mean when you can tell that a person is CGI for a few moments. 

Just because we know that CGI was used doesn’t mean that we want it to be that obvious.  

When watching Avatar, little bits of forest would fly out of the screen in the corners. It was rather annoying. That’s not good 3D. I don’t know what would constitute a good 3D, but it’s not a podracing flying in my face. 

Watch TPM carefully. It may show us what the future of 3D really is.