Bruce Willis and Samuel "L" Jackson team up once again for this fantastic film by M. Night Shyamalanamanalam, who you might remember from that previous hit movie, The 6th Sense, also starring Bruce Willis, opposite Haley "Joel" Osmont, the kid a lot of people insisted should have gotten Jake Lloyd's role in The Phantom Menace. The reason for this, they say, is that Haley Joel "Osmont" is good at playing darker characters, and Anakin should have been darker, which, if you ask me (and George Lucas) is pretty stupid, because the whole point of the prequel trilogy is to illustrate how a happy, generous, loving little boy can grow up to be an evil, arrogant, very disturbed killer of millions. Anyone can see how a brooding, disturbed young boy can grow up to be a brooding, disturbed man. What's the point in that? I, personally, think that Jake Lloyd did a fine job with the script he was given. Granted, some of the lines weren't very well written ("Mom, you say the biggest problem in this universe is bad dialogue.), but that's not his fault. What do you expect? Also, I don't see where people get off complaining about how he acted like a kid. He was a kid! What do you expect? Peter effing O'Toole? A nine-year-old is going to act like a nine-year-old! So, now people are all saying that Anakin should have been older. I can see that, a little, except the reason Anakin was made so young was to make the seraration from his mother more painful for him.
Ok, and here's another complaint I've encountered. In ROTJ, Obi-Wan tells Luke when he first knew Anakin, he was a great pilot. Their complaint: Anakin wasn't all that great a pilot. He flew the ship to the droid control ship purely by accident. And the podrace? He hadn't even finished any before Boonta Eve. Now, let me get this straight. A nine-year old racing pods at breakneck speeds and flying a spaceship into battle isn't impressive? What more do you want? He won the race and the battle! But it was by luck that he won. So, you're saying that it's commonplace for nine-year-olds to race cars and fly fighter planes? It's amazing he didn't get himself killed. It's amazing he actually came back. What more do you want?
Oh, and the bit about who trained Obi-Wan? Yoda taught him and Qui-Gon took him as an apprentice. What's so hard to understand about that? Did you only have one teacher in your entire life? No? Then what's the problem?
Now, the stupidest complaint/excuse for not liking the film is about Republic Credits. If you'll recall, Qui-Gon wanted to pay with Republic Credits, and Watto said no. Couldn't he exchange them? If he could have, he probably would have, but I didn't see any banks around. But every city has a bank where you can exchange currency! Have you forgotten that this is a fictional story that takes place in a galaxy far far away? No? Then shut up.
Oh, and the Midi-Chlorian thing? I don't know how many people got pissed off about that one, but, like I always say, most anger comes from misunderstanding. Midi-Chloriens did not demystify the Force. It merely gave a name to that one thing that everyone's known about and that has been mentioned many many times in many many novels. Force-sensativity. That's all it is. Some people are not Force sensative. These people have a very low midi-chlorien count. People who are Force-sensative have a higher midi-chlorien count. Force-sensativity varies based on, you guessed it, midi-chloriens. It's not a new thing. It's just a new name.
One thing that really bothers me is the general idea that Star Wars movies are episodic. A big part of this misconception stems from the movies being called episodes, which they are not. Star Trek movies are episodic. Batman movies are episodic. They're a series of adventures linked together by the people who experience them. Star Wars, like Lord of the Rings, is not episodic. It is a big story told in a series of films (or books). Let's look at the Batman films and compare, shall we? There are four Batman films. They are episodic. There are recurring characters throughout, but it is a series of stories. Batman was story one. Batman Returns was story two. Batman Forever was story three. Batman and Robin was story four. The Star Wars movies, on the other hand, are completely different. TPM is part 1 of a bigger story. AOTC is part 2 of that story. EP3 is part three, ANH is four, ESB is five, and ROTJ is part six of one big story. You'll also notice in the Batman series, that by the end of the movies, all the loose ends are pretty much tied up. With the exception of ROTJ, none of the Star Wars movies really ties up loose ends. The only Star Wars movie that can really stand alone is ANH, and it was designed that way. The reason TPM seems so disconnected from the OT is because it took place 32 years beforehand, and there's nothing to tie them together.
Another big complaint I've gotten was the lack of a skeptic or cynical Han Solo type character. The first thing you have to understand is that TPM takes place in a time where Jedi were plentiful, and the Force was well-known. It hadn't been antiquated or socially rejected yet. Also, there is a characters who is skeptical about the Force. He just gets overlooked because people hate him.
And another thing about Jar Jar. Everyone complains about how he's just a waste of a character, and he was in too much of the film, and he was useless. 1. He served a purpose. Without Jar Jar, Anakin never would have invited everyone to his place, which, ultimately, would have resulted in them being stranded on Tatooine. Without Jar Jar, the Naboo would know nothing of the Gungans' Sacred Place, and they would have been defeated quickly without the diversionary battle. According to Harry Knowles, who has seen the movie, his purpose will be greater understood in AOTC. 2. If you look into his character, he's very complex and very human. Taking out Jar Jar would have been like taking R2-D2 or C-3PO out of ANH. Incidentally, one of the script editors for ANH decided that the scene in which 3PO gets his oil bath (and Luke discovers the message) was unnecessary and took it out. Lucas caught it and fixed it.
But people choose to ignore Jar Jar, and then they turn around and talk about what a great character Darth Maul was and how he needed to be developed. Darth Maul was not a great character. He was a cool-looking character who did neat tricks, but, ultimately, he was a lightsabre with feet. He had one purpose, and he served it.
And this racism crap? Please! The people who spout all this can't even decide what ethnic groups the various characters are trying to mock. You'd think if someone was supposed to be a stereotype, it'd be really easy to figure out which it was supposed to be.
Anywho, I thought Unbreakable was a damn good movie, and I encourage everyone to see it, especially if you're into comics.