WTF are you talking about? The Emperor is awesome. He’s by far the most fun character in all of Star Wars to imitate and he’s endlessly quotable. Plus he just takes so much joy in being pure evil. I mean look how giddy he gets when he says “Everything is proceeding as I have forseen” and then cackles maniacally. It’s just glorious. Ian McDiarmid is awesome. He elevated ROTJ in every scene he was in and he made the prequels watchable. Just some beautiful scenery chewing all around. The only comparison I can think of is when Al Pacino literally played the Devil in The Devil’s Advocate. Just insane over the top evil, but it’s perfect for the character. He basically is the Devil of the Star Wars universe. Not everybody has to have deep characterization and complex motives in a classic good vs. evil fantasy story like Star Wars. Palpatine wants “unlimited power” and that’s really all we need to know.
I find it fun to imitate him because he’s unintentionally funny. The expressions he makes in ROTS when he’s fighting the Jedi for example. Or when he says “Dyew it.”
Ian McDiarmid is awesome though, I agree. I don’t like his portrayal, but for what he was shooting for, he nailed it. The interview where he’s explaining that Lucas wanted him to imitate the voice in ESB, and instead, he thought the Emperoror’s voice should sound sepulchral makes me appreciate his performance more.
But he’s NOT the Devil of the Star Wars universe, because even the Christian Devil, as we know him, has a past and a motivation which makes him interesting. He was formerly an angel who led a rebellion against God, and justified his loss by saying, “better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heaven.” Also, the Devil is known to be the father of lies, the ultimate deceiver. The Emperor may have shown flashes of that in ROTS, manipulating Anakin into believing only the Sith could prevent death, and making it look like the Jedi were evil, even though his sincerity seems less than convincing.
However, in ROTJ, he’s completely unconvincing. He’s not the master manipulator, he’s telegraphing his intentions at nearly every point. Luke might have killed his father when he had him at his mercy, but Palpatine ruins that when he starts cackling loudly and saying, “Good…now fulfill your destiny and take your father’s place at my side.” It’s like he’s using reverse psychology to keep Luke on the RIGHT path.
I did like Ep. II/Attack of the Clones, when it seems like Count Dooku actually is not completely good or completely bad. It seemed like for a moment, there was a third faction involved in the war, one who was against the Republic, but also against the Sith. It turned out he was just lying, but even THAT was a better example of the Devil, than what we saw in the ROTJ Emperor. Dooku was trying to appeal to Obi-Wan’s connection to his mentor Qui-Gon, and mixing truth with falsehood.