Slowpokeking Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Many people blamed his Anakin mostly because they thought he portrayed Anakin as a "whiny teenager", which is completely different than they had in mind. But the overall characterization of PT Anakin is not Hayden, but Lucas' idea(My opinion is the overall idea is good, but actual plot and dialogue certainly could be better). Hayden is just an actor, he played what Lucas told him to play, I will say his performance could be better in EP II but amazing in EP III base on the character he was given. Blame the actor for the characterization is not fair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfninjajedi Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 He did fine for me, especially when looking at Anakin's backstory. Though I didn't see him as whiny, he seemed more frustrated, afraid, guilt ridden and troubled more then anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utio Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 You could say Lucas' writing is mostly to blame, but shouldn't that be the case for all the actors? Most of them did a good enough job. I thought Hayden had a huge job to do, and didn't do it as well as some other actors would have, but he did get better in episode 3. Imagine a younger johnny depp playing the role. Even with the questionable dialogue, I think he would have been better. Screen presence counts for quite a bit, especially when the film has alot of cgi, and I'm not convinced Hayden had enough of it at that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilikaa Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Hayden just did not play his part that well. His acting was bad. It also did not help that every scene with he and Natalie Portman felt forced. There was no real chemistry between the two. The script could have been better written as well, so that had some negative affect. He just wasn't right for the part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowpokeking Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 (edited) Hayden just did not play his part that well. His acting was bad. It also did not help that every scene with he and Natalie Portman felt forced. There was no real chemistry between the two. The script could have been better written as well, so that had some negative affect. He just wasn't right for the part. Because Lucas was bad at writing romance. The love story itself is quite flawed. Edited February 20, 2013 by Slowpokeking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slowpokeking Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 You could say Lucas' writing is mostly to blame, but shouldn't that be the case for all the actors? Most of them did a good enough job. I thought Hayden had a huge job to do, and didn't do it as well as some other actors would have, but he did get better in episode 3. Imagine a younger johnny depp playing the role. Even with the questionable dialogue, I think he would have been better. Screen presence counts for quite a bit, especially when the film has alot of cgi, and I'm not convinced Hayden had enough of it at that time. Johnny Depp is quite talented but I don't see him fit Anakin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utio Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Johnny Depp is quite talented but I don't see him fit Anakin. I could imagine a younger depp doing a stand up job, but really, I only mentioned him to give an example of what I think is a stronger actor, and even with the poor writing, they would have been a better choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharnamatic Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 You could say Lucas' writing is mostly to blame, but shouldn't that be the case for all the actors? I HATE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Could anyone have delivered it better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utio Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 I HATE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Could anyone have delivered it better? Kermit the frog? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freedannad Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Hayden just did not play his part that well. His acting was bad. It also did not help that every scene with he and Natalie Portman felt forced. There was no real chemistry between the two. The script could have been better written as well, so that had some negative affect. He just wasn't right for the part. There has been bad acting in starwars movies? EVERY Starwars movie/ Cartoon has bad acting in it. It's actually part of the charm. I'm sure Sir Alec Guinness would not consider his performances in Ep IV-VI the best of his carreer. I'm the biggest SW fan of them all(unofficially of course:) ). I'm sure every fan would agree that the acting and the writing of the movies leaves much to be desired. We dont watch these movies to watch academy award winning performances. We watch them because they are fun to watch, follow and talk about on forums and with friends. If I want to go watch good acting I dont watch Sci-Fi movies I watch "Lincoln" "Pulp Fiction" etc.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pirana Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 I'm sure Hayden is a decent person in real life, but the bottom line is, he's a middle of the road actor. If that wasn't the case, he would be getting offers that most A List actors get. Typically, great actors will work through the material and move on to better things, Harrison Ford quickly comes to mind. To answer the question, yes, he deserves as much criticism, or in this case blame, that he's received. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beniboybling Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 (edited) He did fine for me, especially when looking at Anakin's backstory. Though I didn't see him as whiny, he seemed more frustrated, afraid, guilt ridden and troubled more then anything else.I second this, I see nothing wrong with Anakin Skywalker and Hayden Christensen and I think he plays dark side Vader really well. I also like his performance in Episode II - is one of my favourite scenes. I mean compare that to Mark Hamill's acting, whose the better actor? Hayden is clearly the stronger lead actor. I think Hayden's acting skills are seriously underrated and people just like to leap on the 'he's an emo whiny teenager' bandwagon... its frustrating. EDIT: I'm also completely against the overwhelming amount of criticism he constantly receives. I admit he has some flaws but the criticism has gone so far that Hayden-hate has become the norm and anyone who appreciates his acting skills and torn to pieces. Why is it that none of this hate is directed at the Originals? Despite the abundance of sub-Hayden acting in those films? Because the Originals have been glorified over the years by the media and elitist fanbois whereas the prequels have been frowned upon as substandard and disappointing. Then everyone else just follows that opinion like blind sheep, it really does annoy me. P.S. as you can see I have strong opinions on this topic, so apologies in advance if I launch a polemic assault on you if you disagree. Edited February 21, 2013 by Beniboybling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurbere Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 I second this, I see nothing wrong with Anakin Skywalker and Hayden Christensen and I think he plays dark side Vader really well. I also like his performance in Episode II - is one of my favourite scenes. I mean compare that to Mark Hamill's acting, whose the better actor? I think Hayden's acting skills are seriously underrated and people just like to leap on the 'he's an emo whiny teenager' bandwagon... its frustrating. I concur. Especially on the part about Vader. Hayden did just fine. Are there problems? Sure, but Hayden played the role he was given just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventessel Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 It's very hard to judge. He had some screen presence, not on the level of Sir Alec Guinness, certainly, but enough. The main problem was that Lucas can't write a romance to save his life. None of it made any sense whatsoever in Ep. II and III, between Anakin and Padme. These reviews sum it up quite well. If you're familiar with Red Letter Media, you'll know what I'm talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spartanik Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 (edited) I seen hayden in other films, and he did actualy very good. I cant recall the name of the movie, but one in wich he has a role of a young drug addict. He did great in it. I dont think he is a bad actor. But i think the prequels suffrered greaty from bad writting and bad direction, and not very belivable plot devices, or rather plenty of things seemed rather forced. However If you look at christpher lee or Natalie Portman allthough they did nice, they are capable of so much more. same for samuel lee jackson. You see the actor can be as good as the part, not the other way arround. That said i think the characters and actors who shined the most in the prequels it got to be Ewan Mcgregor and Ian Macdiarmid, Worth to mention they usualy shine in everything they touch though. But i dont think they could if their characters and roles werent worked at as they in fact were. Edited February 21, 2013 by Spartanik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zerodyingtolive Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 I don't think he deserves all the bad criticism that he's got for his performance. I think he did a good job, to the best of his capabilities at that time. If you look at interviews or videos behind the screens of Episodes II and III, you can clearly see he also has this real level of enthousiasm. He's actually excited to play the role he's been given, and that really makes up a lot for me. I wouldn't mind if they'd make a short movie based on Anakin and some of the battles he's fought in the Clone Wars, together with his 501st. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conscioushours Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 He did fine for me, especially when looking at Anakin's backstory. Though I didn't see him as whiny, he seemed more frustrated, afraid, guilt ridden and troubled more then anything else. Agreed. I recently watched the Episode II again and kept thinking the same thing. I seen hayden in other films, and he did actualy very good. I cant recall the name of the movie, but one in wich he has a role of a young drug addict. He did great in it. I dont think he is a bad actor. You probably mean Life as a House where he plays a rebellious teenager. I really like the movie and I think he was perfect for the role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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