The END of Star Wars?!?!

So Mom, Ben, Micah, and I went to see Star Wars on Thursday. I like it, overall. Seeing the story of Darth Vader's (Anakin's) fall to the dark side was particularly interesting to me. But then again, this is the girl who's read a good number of the Star Wars books and has some emotional attachments to the series. I admit it; I cried at the end.

But here are the points that particularly bothered me: Padme NEVER walked, sat, or otherwise acted like a pregnant woman. I'm sorry, there is no woman in the galaxy - the universe, even - who, when 8 months pregnant with twins, can run. Having been a pregnant woman myself, I can honestly tell you that from month 5 or so on, we waddle. Running becomes a thing of the past, because all we can do is waddle really fast (imagine having something slightly larger than a grapefruit sitting IN your pelvis). Further, even if the love of her life had betrayed her, wouldn't the children she carried be enough to make her want to live? Apparently not. Padme is a weak-willed, sniveling brat who did nothing more than cry about her fate than actively try to change it.

I kept hoping, through out the movie, that Anakin would get the hint and change. I knew that it would never happen, but still. Here's to craptastic acting on the part of Hayden Christiansen, who's only redeeming quality is his relative hotness and charm.

Was anyone else bothered by the plastic quality of the Emperor's face after he zaps Windu? Excuse me, in the original movies, his face was bruised and burst vessel mottled, as well as overly wrinkly. In one of the later books - which Lucas does not exactly endorse - the bruising/vessel bursting is explained as a consequence of using the Force for evil instead of good, because there is really not two sides of the force, more two ways of using it. It's just like a gun - it can be used for good or it can be used for evil, but that doesn't make the gun itself evil or good. It would have behooved Lucas to have gone back and taken some screen shots of Palpatine from the original series before they did his makeup, not after. Also, what the hell was up with Palpatine's voice? It was like, all the sudden, he's trying to sound evil. Um, no...just no.

Also, after having read the books, I was rather disappointed with Kashyyk, the Wookie planet. In the books, Kashyyk is described as a planet covered in it's entirety by trees several stories high. I was at the very least expecting a planet with trees significantly bigger than the Wookies who are supposed to live in them (yes, in them. They carve their homes out of the trunks!). Not what I got at all. Further, I'm rather disappointed that we did not meet a young Han Solo, who at this point would have been all of 8 or 10 and already an ace pilot. Also, at the end of the movie, Jar-Jar is still alive, which is the greatest tragedy of all in my book.

However, knowing me, you can bet I'll be asking for this movie for Christmas. I also need to get Episode I. In widescreen. ^.^