The only Star Wars review you will ever need

[Mike DiCenso]

Data being emotional is not as much of an issue since it the emotion chip was established as far back as "Descent, Parts 1 & 2". So having Data experiment with trying to use the chip again was in keeping the the character going through his story arc to become more human. However it was a bit of a disappointment when in INS and NEM that Data suddenly no longer had any emotions as though he'd never had it installed at all without even a word on why.
-Mike

[watchdog]

I liked how the reviewer pointed out that in GEN Data's emotion chip added nothing to the story and actually slowed down the movie (I thought it made Data come off as something of a coward myself), he concludes that Brent Spiner just wanted to express a wider range as an actor but it did not serve the film at all.

[Praeothmin]

I agree, Data's emotions in the movie didn't serve the story at all, and to me only made him very annoying...
I loved Data while he was searching to become more human, and the limited successes he had, and the insights he slowly develloped over the years.
All the things he was, all he had, like friendships, strong interpersonnal bonds, those aren't the things an inhuman machine can devellop, but Data did.
He was becoming more and more human over time without realizing it.
It would have been far more interesting had he realized he did have emotions without the need for the chip, when, after Geordi gets abducted, he starts to worry without realizing it, and others took notice.
The movie woujld have been a bit better, at least where Data's character was concerned.

However it was a bit of a disappointment when in INS and NEM that Data suddenly no longer had any emotions as though he'd never had it installed at all without even a word on why.

Yup, that was also very stupid, but then, by that time, we should have expected idiocy like this from B&B and the people they worked with...

[watchdog]

Hey, here is another review of the entire SW prequal trilogy, and this one looks closely at the character of Anakin Skywalker;
http://www.confusedmatthew.com/The-Star ... equels.php

He also reviewed and compared the animated clone wars movie;
http://www.confusedmatthew.com/Star-War ... e-Wars.php
There's a couple of things I dont agree with him on but his review looks at all the many other things that is wrong with the prequels, I wish I could play all of these videos for my overly fanatical nephews, but I know my brother would not like it (with all of the cursing and swearing, he tries to lessen the exposure to his sons).
Definatly check out the clone wars review, it's the best but all of them are good as well.

Ouick edit:
Confused Matthew's review of Star Trek Generations;
http://www.confusedmatthew.com/Star-Tre ... ations.php

[Mr. Oragahn]

That confused Matthew is really trying too hard to be confused about many things. His TPM part I was "interesting" although remarkably falling short of trying to stand up to his website's name, and the second part was simply retarded beyond belief.
Maybe this idiot needs to be told that the Jedi are the guardians of the Republic, and whatever happens outside of the Republic is not their business. Period.
Gui-Gon Jinn doesn't comment on Anakin and Shmi's words because he knows there's little he can do, there is nothing to say at all, and anything he can do is to focus on the way to get off that rock.
Then, of course, all the reasons given to get out of here are silly, but that's Fat Lucas.
The other reviewer who seems to be chewing his own tongue as he speaks is actually capable to point out the silliness of the plot when it comes to finding a way to leave Tatooine. Etc.

[Mike DiCenso]

That confused Matthew is really trying too hard to be confused about many things. His TPM part I was "interesting" although remarkably falling short of trying to stand up to his website's name, and the second part was simply retarded beyond belief.
Maybe this idiot needs to be told that the Jedi are the guardians of the Republic, and whatever happens outside of the Republic is not their business. Period.
Gui-Gon Jinn doesn't comment on Anakin and Shmi's words because he knows there's little he can do, there is nothing to say at all, and anything he can do is to focus on the way to get off that rock.

Confused Matthew's biggest problem, if you look at his other reviews, is that he's trying way too hard to find faults with not only TPM or ST, but with almost anything out there. His attempts at critiquing "The Incredibles" is stretching the limits as he blatently failed to understand the simple concept that the movie was not merely aimed at children, but primarily at adults who grew up on this sort of thing. He also missed the point that Mr. Incredible is as much at fault for dismissing Buddy (who later becomes the villian Syndrome) even after it was clear that the guy's ability was not having innate super strength, heat-ray vision, or what have you, but being a gadgeteer. The kid built working rocket boots on his own for crying out loud!

At the very least he should have sought out Buddy, sat him down and given him a good dressing down, then pick him up by explaining why it would be too dangerous for Buddy to be his sidekick, and that if Buddy wants to become a Super, he should begin by building gadgets like the boots. Find the kid a job for the Defense department, or something where he can focus his gadgeteering skills in a positive manner, and maybe become his own Super at a later date.

Furthermore, Matthew missed the complete and whole theme of the movie! It is about a family with special abilities that is being repressed from it's true calling by a society bent of finding new ways of being mediocre, how dysfunctional the family is becoming, and ultimately how it manages through various story arcs to find themselves as a family, and to make people realize the Supers are necessary for when people like Syndrome or the Underminer show up.

Then, of course, all the reasons given to get out of here are silly, but that's Fat Lucas.
The other reviewer who seems to be chewing his own tongue as he speaks is actually capable to point out the silliness of the plot when it comes to finding a way to leave Tatooine. Etc.

Yes, the juristiction that the Jedi have is not the issue here since it was stated several times that Tatooine is outside the Republic so much so that even Republic money is scoffed at. What is Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan to do? The real issues are in the how of Qui Gonn going about getting the part they need for the hyperdrive. Exremely questionably immoral and stupid are his methods. The webcomic Darths and Droids at least can explain it all as the insane and idiotic plan of a hack and slash gamer. Lucas has no such excuse.
-Mike

[ILikeDeathNote]

I would like to point out that Bob Cesa's blog appears to be extremely leftist.

[The Dude]

OK...why?

[Mr. Oragahn]

OK...why?

Because of the lady tied up in the basement. It's a leftist thing.

[The Dude]

OK....

Thats totally over my head.

[Mike DiCenso]

That's quite a bit of non sequitur humor there.
-Mike

[watchdog]

I warned you guys of the politics when I first posted the link, it is leftist by the way...so am I.

I agree about Confussed Mathews not really trying to understand the Jedi, but I think the most interesting critique was of Anakin himself (I know nothing new), One interesting thing is the first reviewer I posted pointed out that there is a noticable difference between TV Picard (whom he calls Larry) and movie Picard, the same could be said about Anakin. The movie Anakin acts compleatly different from Clone Wars Anakin, I just find this to be very interesting.

[2046]

That's very true. The Anakin character in TCW is pretty good. I watched RotS recently and was really shocked at how different he was. Sure, character development is tricky when showing 10-15 years in like 6 hours, but after the rescue scenes he comes off like a total toolbag compared to TCW Anakin.

And, of course, his fall to the dark side was never properly executed at all, and it's even worse after watching TCW Anakin.

[Mike DiCenso]

It'd be really cool to help show the slide to the Dark Side by Anakin by killing off Miss Jedi Jailbait at the end of the series in order to help make clearer why Anakin is so scared of losing those he cares about.
-Mike

[watchdog]

I'm curious about that as well, I doubt that they will ever show her being killed off in the actuall show but the tie-in comics and books could shed some light on her ultimate fate. If I were a betting man I would say that the odds are good that she will turn up in a comic book fighting Darth Vader and she will either escape, or be let go by him and go into hiding.
As for Anakin, it really is telling when you contrast the character on screen like that, Woodstump sounds much like Obi-wan when correcting Sudoku Tampon, and then you cut to Anakin bitching and whining about whatever, and talking about killing men, women and children. One review I saw a while back on TPM was by a lady who wanted to know what kind of woman would fall for a whiny loser who would admit to mass-murder like Anakin does to Padme (I kinda like confused Mathews name for her, Uba-duba).
Watching Anakin in the prequals, aside from when he was just a kid, he never really comes off as a good-guy or even someone you should fight for as Luke will later do. While I dont think the Jedi really know what the hell they are doing half the time, Anakin always seemed to be trying to force himself to stay good. His slide to the Dark side does not come off as tragic, it comes off as inevitable. Wheras Woodstump from TCW seems like just about every other jedi just maybe a bit younger and inexperienced.
All of these reviews bring into stark relief how badly written Star Wars has become in recent years, you dont really root for Anakin because he really comes off badly. There is no reason for Padme to fall in love with this guy at all save for the fact that he needed to breed with someone in order to produce Luke and Leia. There are so many better ideas out there, mostly by the fanboys, that would have made better films than what Lucas churned out, one of the problems I think is that Lucas decided that Star Wars, from his point of view, is the story of Darth Vader.
Lucas problem was spelled out to me years ago by his personal secretary; I wrote to him to thank him for the young Indiana Jones Chronicles and I asked him if he was planning on using some of the information that I had read about young Indy in the novelization of Raiders of the lost Ark, where Indy remembers being fascinated by lion tamers at the circus and spends many hours later practicing how to handle a whip. What I got back in the mail from George Lucases secretary was that Indiana's first experience with a whip was as seen in Last Crusade, and that Mr. Lucas never ever works on something written by someone else, he only works on things he himself writes. I think that goes a long way to explaining much of what happened to the prequals.