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Page 38<br />
Let’s be honest. I’m not a Prequel hater, but I can understand much of the<br />
sentiment that exists against those films. One of the greatest sins of the Prequel<br />
Trilogy is the way it robs Darth Vader of one of his essential tools: fear. It’s hard to be<br />
afraid of whiny Hayden Christensen walking around in a robotic life-support suit. I<br />
understand the arc that Lucas wanted to portray, and it does stand as something<br />
fairly unique in the history of franchise films. How many other films series would<br />
ever back up to tell you the entire story, beat by beat, of how their bad guy started as<br />
a sweet little boy and ended up a genocidal half-robot dickhead? It’s sort of crazy, but<br />
it is also an uncommonly human approach to pulp. In pulp, bad guys are bad guys,<br />
and it’s got to be simple, because you’re not really doing subtle or nuanced. The idea<br />
isn’t what is wrong with the Prequels; it’s the execution. Lucas managed to cast not<br />
one but two inherently unlikeable leads as Anakin at different ages. He struck out<br />
with both of his casting gambles. He seemed determined to make a star with the<br />
roles, and instead, he managed to brand both of these actors for life.<br />
In this film (and in the amazing new Marvel Star Wars comics that are being<br />
published these days), Darth Vader is once again the terrifying force that I saw walk<br />
onto screen for the first time in 1977. It remains one of the single greatest<br />
accomplishments of movie design, that helmet and his outfit and the Ben Burtt<br />
sounds and the amazing pipes of James Earl Jones. It’s just perfect, and he is Darth<br />
Vader here. He is the monstrous Lord Of The Sith, and I am so glad to see him back<br />
that it’s almost silly. It’s just delightful to see something this iconic done perfectly.<br />
I’m used to being disappointed, and I almost don’t know what to do when I’m not.<br />
That is not to suggest Rogue One will escape controversy. I think that’s almost<br />
par for the course with this particular franchise now. There is a challenge that John<br />
Knoll set for himself with this film, and how well he and his collaborators met that<br />
challenge is a subject of considerable debate so far. I am speaking, of course, about<br />
the use of a computer-generated version of Grand Moff Tarkin as played by Peter<br />
Cushing and an appearance by a 19-year-old version of Carrie Fisher as A New Hopeera<br />
Princess Leia. When the rumor first broke about this in The Daily Mail (could<br />
this be the first true thing they’ve ever printed?), I wrote about how I felt like it was<br />
disrespectful and ghoulish and I don’t like the idea and I hope Hollywood stops<br />
chasing this notion of resurrecting deceased actors for new films.
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