Very interesting analysis by Film Crit Hulk, talking a bit about the PT (mostly Ep3) and Ep7.
Now, let’s go to “Scene 2,” which is actually a climactic scene from George Lucas’ Revenge of the Sith. Yup, we’re going to talk about the prequels! Which I honestly feel like are the perfect examples of “bad texture” movies. Because, while I can make a few positive arguments for certain moments within them, nearly everything about the prequels falls flat. The vast majority of performances are monotone and stilted. The characters rarely feel like they’re in the environments they’re in (in a way that goes beyond VFX limitations to just the framing and composition). Heck, there’s so little kinetic energy to most of the filmmaking that everything feels like a live table read with special effects. What’s more, and a fact that I rarely see discussed regarding these movies, is how they were really just rough-as-hell first drafts that were written on yellow legal pads (really, check the special features). There never seemed to be any real rewriting or care that went into penning the script for more elegant textural depths.
But this also where it gets interesting, because we know George outlined heavily and worked on sequences from very early stages. And, knowing his career, George actually has a pretty damn keen story sense. So when you really look at the structure and the actual “story text,” you see he understands how to build a weirdly solid foundation. I swear if you were to outline these movies, you would see something shockingly functional with simple, clear mechanics. He even builds up confrontations where we know what everyone wants and is trying to do. And even though he’s largely using broad tropes, the story attached to those tropes has genuine meaning and thematic intention.
But dramatic clarity is not the issue of the prequels. Even though we have all the building blocks we could potentially need to build empathy, George just didn’t know how to bring any of it to life in a convincing way. It’s all text. No texture. This is somewhat ironic, given that, many years later, my argument for the problems with The Force Awakens would be the exact opposite. I’ve spoken about it at length before, but it was the ultimate “texture” movie. Perhaps, after the failings of the prequel, it was so important to them to nail everything about the look, feel and aesthetic of Star Wars (1977). And they certainly tried to bring it to life with verve, delight and emotion. But the clarity on the story level is a damn mess, largely because it used the patented J.J. Abrams mystery-box methodology of constantly aiming away from coherent drama and instead more toward random “surprises” (along with delaying important dramatic questions they don’t actually have any coherent answers to).
Complete text here: http://observer.com/2018/05/the-two-crucial-filmmaking-elements-causing-all-your-movie-feuds/