Hayden Christensen playing the romance Anaking & Padme

[Callaron]

Now to give you an example of actual wooden/unemotional acting I refer you to

 

The last person she reminds me of is Hayden.[/color]

 

Hah, one of my friends is always going on about Kristen Stewart's "one expression" acting.

And yes, that makes a fine example.

[Beniboybling]

Hah, one of my friends is always going on about Kristen Stewart's "one expression" acting.

And yes, that makes a fine example.

Its the breathing that gets me, so much breathing.

[Philmors]

I personally think one of the biggest problems with the prequel trilogy was how crappy the romance between Anakin and Padme was. I thought Hayden Christensen did a decent job as Anakin based on how crappy the writing was for the romance. It wasn't the biggest problem in the trilogy in my opinion but it was one of them. Jar Jar Binks deserves that title of being the biggest problem in the prequel trilogy.

[Orlogg]

To be honest, I found the entire trilogy's depiction of Anakin disappointing. And, to get back at the OP question, I think this is the script rather than Haydensens acting. I am not at all impressed by Haydensen's acting, but I am also underwhelmed by McGregor's performance, while I know the guy is great actor (Trainspotting!)

 

But the script imho indicates that Lucas either had been too long away from the SW saga, or saw the particular plot about Anakin as a mandatory exercise while his heart was more at expanding the SW universe (in which he succeeded extremely well).

 

I mean, the love scenes might have been awful, but what about the heavy inner struggle that Anakin supposedly went through when he turned to tha dark side?? It was totally unconvincing and only worked for me because I already knew what was supposed to happen, so that I can exaggerate and alter it in my mind to the climactic, dramatic event it should have been.

 

We can only hope that all the story scenes will be improved in the next enhanced special re-re-re-re-release edition of the prequel trilogy

Edited December 31, 2013 by Orlogg

[Rabenschwinge]

Well, there are scenes which I do like. Apart from the scene which was already mentioned I actually found the one where he confesses to Padmé that he killed all those sand people pretty good. This emotional shifts - "I know I am better than this." But also "You're not all powerful." - "Well I should be!". For a moment he regrets what he did "and not just the men..." but then "They are like animals and I slaughtered them like animals." I don't know what anyone else thinks about it, but I found it pretty good. And I guess getting those emotional shifts right is not easy for an actor. It displayed his inner struggle very well.

 

And if we go back to the romance itself: The scene when they first kiss (i.e. "the kiss you should never have given me") didn't have me entirely convinced, but it was still better than that scene later in the evening. I really liked the image with the sand. I first stumbled over it kinda wondering 'Why does he compare Padmé to sand now; there is no sand anywh... oh, yes, Tatooine. That's where he grew up in slavery, that's where he first met her and that they she and the two Jedi sought shelter from a sand storm the reason why they actually learned to know each other. And that's where his nightmares take him.'

 

The "You're all smooth and soft." may have been a bit clumsy, but that's ok for an eighteen year old. I am a lot more inclined to buy that than "You're in my very soul; tormenting me." from the same eighteen year old guy in high emotional distress.

Edited December 31, 2013 by Rabenschwinge

[Rabenschwinge]

We can only hope that all the story scenes will be improved in the next enhanced special re-re-re-re-release edition of the prequel trilogy

 

Well, they could try transposed roles for the scene. Natalie Portman is Anakin, Hayden Christensen is Padmé. Though it may be difficult to get Christensen into that dress.

[Orlogg]

Well, they could try transposed roles for the scene. Natalie Portman is Anakin, Hayden Christensen is Padmé. Though it may be difficult to get Christensen into that dress.

I like the idea, but maybe it would be more practical to have Christensen play Jar-Jar, and Ahmed Best Anakin

[bigray]

I think GL has a very romantic view of his universe, and wanted it to be seen as "high fantasy" albeit in a sci-fi setting - think Tolkien. he wanted that kind of high language, the sense of pomp and circumstance and propriety. I think it got away from him in some areas (think the animal farting at jarjar during the pod pre-race) but then he tried to reclaim it in the love scenes. It was just too incongruous and made the whole thing feel stilted.

 

I enjoy watching the prequels but in retrospect it would have been better if he had started the series with Anakin as a teenager, perhaps with Attack of the Clones as the first movie. His childhood could have been told in flashback or dialogue references. Then he could have taken revenge of the sith and turned that into the 2nd and 3rd movies which would have allowed more exploration of the relationship between Anakin & Padme and the various reasons for his fall. ROTS is the best of the prequel series, but a LOT happens in it, it feels rushed in places.