I felt much the same way about
Episode II-Attack of the Clones.
My biggest disappointment of the movie was
simple.
This is the movie where we are supposed to see
the beginnings of a relationship between
Anakin Skywalker & Amidala.
However, when they get scenes alone, what's
Anakin's favourite topic of conversation?
"Oh, Obi-Wan's jealous of me, he doesn't
understand me, he's holding me back, yadda
yadda yadda."
I've been taking an informal straw poll since the
movie came out. We all pretty much agree that
whining is NOT an effective method to get a chick
interested in you-let alone being in the same
ROOM with you. What in the world attracted
Amidala to him when that was his main topic?
Granted, it didn't take up a LOT of movie time,
but it was so dissonant I "fell" out of the
"willfull suspension of disbelief" needed to
enjoy the movie.
I liked the other jedis, & would have liked to
see more of them, especially Sam Jackson's
Jedi Master. ("Pass me my lightsaber-it's the one
that has 'bad m*-f*er' engraved on it.")
I also didn't like R2-D2's little jet-system.
Overall, though, I liked the movie. (Christopher
Lee might have done a few situps before trying
to pass as his character, though.) I liked the
subtle touch used with Jango & his "son".
Now THAT'S the kind of deft handling I would have
liked MORE of.
I hope they establish that the star destroyers we
see are the earlier "Victory-class" type, & not
the later, "Imperial-class" type, which would
mess up the continuity.
-------------------
Men in Black II was funny. Not great, but
entertaining. I mostly went to try to recognize
a haunt of mine which was used for filming.
Apparently, it was unrecognizable in the film.
----------------------
I haven't seen the profound movies yet.
Apparently, I've really missed something.
-------------------
In LotR:FotR,
I REALLY missed the characters that were
dropped. Tom Bombadil & Glorfindel had scenes
which I felt added to the story. (Obviously,
the director disagreed.)
I also would have liked the references to the
"missing" wizard left in.
Gandalf the Grey, Saruman the White (racist)
both appear in the trilogy (& the first movie).
They're both members of the Council of Wizards.
So's Radagast the Brown. (Rhadagast? I might
have the spelling wrong.) Radaghast's specialty
is communication with animals. He had met with
Saruman before the first movie gets rolling, &
was fooled into thinking he was still good.
Anyway, Radaghast sends out an animal APB on
Gandalf. That's why the King of the Eagles was
looking for Gandalf in the first place.
Radaghast & Glorfindel help remind the reader that
the events we see aren't the only ones going on-
other peoples are taking action off-camera.
I also missed Aragorn's comments in the council
at Rivendell. He points out that, as a Ranger,
he's been busy slaying goblins & things a stones'
throw from towns like Bree, where they make fun
of him & call him names like "Longshanks" (for all
the walking he does.) Bilbo makes an aside a
little later to Frodo about this. Bilbo explains
that all the rangers are really nobility in
exile. Finally, I would have liked the lines
about Bilbo's mail-jacket to have stayed in.
(He had retreived the armour from where it was
warehoused, & gave it to Frodo at Rivendell.)
At Moria, Gimli & Gandalf speak about it.
"..Where is it?" "Still at the Michael Delving
mathom-house, I suppose." "WHAT???"
"I didn't have the heart to tell him that armour
was worth the combined cost of the shire &
everything in it." (Frodo, wearing it under his
shirt secretly at that moment, winces.)
Ok, not earth-shaking, but I felt they added to
the story. I hope that when Return of the King
rolls in, the director makes his cuts where I
skimmed, saving us about 1 hour of hobbits on a
forced march.