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06/29/00: SW: Episode 2 Fact has been updated with a few interesting tidbits. WJ
06/21/00: The Forum has been updated along with SW: Episode 2 Evidence. There's been a little more talk about possible Gabriel Byrne rumors, and of Liam Neeson appearing as the ghostly form of Qui-Gon Jinn, but this has already been mentioned so no need for an additional update in the Rumors section of SW2. To go off on a tangent, am I the only one beginning to figure out that almost all people who review films online have terrible taste? I went and saw Shaft yesterday, all pumped-up from a review I read on a certain site. Anyway, it was a boring film with a weak plot and poor editing. The review I read said it was the best film of the summer and was soo great blah blah. Well, I'm half-tempted to start providing my own reviews of films just so I can get the damn truth out (most suck). Anyway, I don't know if that'll be on this site, or a whole new site. Come to think of it, I haven't seen a film I've enjoyed in a long time. Guess I'll just have to watch Fight Club again. BTW, the best way to watch that film is after a bottle of Stoli's vanilla vodka. Better than the best... WJ
06/13/00: SW: Episode 2 Fact and Rumor has been updated. WJ
06/06/00: A quick update this evening with a concise summary of all the SW2 rumors that have hit in the last few days. Check them out at SW: Episode 2 Rumor (naturally...) WJ
05/30/00: First off, please check out the Forum, which has had quite a large update, and SW: Episode 2 Rumor for the latest dirt. Next, I'd invite you to take a look over at ThePrequels.com where they have parts I and II of an interview with sci-fi author Kevin J. Anderson. Check it out! Ok, I promised last time that I'd comment with some of my feelings and theories for SW2. Everybody seems to know what's going to happen in SW2, don't they? Let's see... Anakin leads an army to Tatooine to free the slaves, the Jedi fight the Mandalorians which ends up being called the Clone Wars, Yoda kicks ass with two little lightsabers, there is a Sith Temple with seven towers, the new Sith Apprentice is Darth Rage and Anakin and Amidala get married at the end. Right? Well, it seems to me that there are certain fundamental things which must happen in the next two films based on evidence we have already been given, and a general order (hinting at which one they'll be in) in which they must occur. -The film must take place on Tatooine, Naboo, Coruscant, and several yet to be named locations, presumably one being Alderaan -Boba Fett must play a prominent role; he seems to have some type of past relationship with Darth Vader, and couldn't be much older (or younger) than Vader -The Clone Wars must take place. Obi-Wan Kenobi must be a general who serves under Bail Organa of Alderaan, Leia's adopted father. It is logical to assume that The Clone Wars occur during, and are an integral part of SW2. -It is logical to assume that the main enemy that the Jedi/Republic fights during the Clone Wars are the Mandalorians, the armor of whom Boba Fett wears in the Classic Trilogy. This does not confirm whether Boba Fett is Mandalorian, however. It is also a sound assumption that the Mandalorian warriors are cloned into existence, hence the name "Clone Wars". -It is a safe assumption that Anakin returns to Tatooine to free his mother, and possibly all the slaves. He may lead an army to do this, or he may do it single-handedly. -It is a logical assumption that Anakin returns to Tatooine and becomes a farmer at some point. He also becomes acquainted with Owen Lars (supposedly Obi-Wan's brother). It is logical to assume from Obi-Wan's previous statements that he comes to Tatooine to convince Anakin to abandon his farming and follow Obi-Wan on an idealistic crusade, which Owen disagrees with. There are two logical possibilities for this "idealistic crusade": The Clone Wars, and fighting against the Empire during the Jedi purge. It is logical to assume that this crusade is The Clone Wars, since Anakin/Vader assists in the Jedi purge. -There must be a Sith Apprentice to replace Darth Maul. Either the next one will be Anakin/Vader, or there will be a different Sith Lord -Anakin must be shown to be "the best pilot in the galaxy" -A significant part of SW2 must be a romance between Anakin and Amidala These are some of the things that must happen. As such, I am in the final stages of piecing together my script treatment/plotline for SW2. Mind you, this is going to be my personal vision of what should be occurring in Episode 2. I will maintain a distinctly different popular plot synopsis which is everyone's best guess according to internet rumors. My script treatment will precede my full-blown SW2 screenplay, which will be online in several months. The popular synopsis will be subject to continual change, by my own treatment will be in the Fan Fiction section, and will not evolve with new facts and rumors after it has been published. Let me know what you think about the events of Episode 2. Did I mention that I don't think Anakin and Amidala will get married until the beginning of SW3? WJ
05/18/00: It's been awhile since I went on at any great length, with the exception of answering email in the Forum, so I decided I'll indulge myself and ramble a bit... It's been one year since the release of Episode I, with Episode II set to begin shooting this summer. We've had a whole year to dissect, analyze and criticize TPM now, including the release on home video (but not DVD, natch). So, what's the final verdict? The Phantom Menace was a very complex film. It was a "prequel", the first film of a six-part saga that began with the fourth episode. It is a sequel to an Icon 16 years in the waiting. It is the most expensive independent film in history. It is a film which had a fan base that arguably is one of the largest for any particular genre, one which through the internet tracked every moment in it's production up to it's release. The fan base was itself sustained with an "expanded universe" of various sequels and prequels which dealt with topics and characters that may or may not have even interested it's own creator, George Lucas. It contained the largest number of visual effects shots for any single film, and contained no less than five parallel plotlines containing worlds and characters that were already familiar and incorporating new characters and ideas hinted at or mentioned in the first three films but never before realized. So how did The Phantom Menace hold up? There are two general opinions: People who hated the film usually said that George Lucas sold-out. They said that he engineered a film which was custom-made to sell merchandise. They complained that the acting was "wooden" and uninspired in many cases, mostly owing to the fact that the actors had nothing to act against because of all the CG characters. The dialogue was trite and boring, the plotline confusing and devoid of an interesting or grand conflict. The main bad-guy, Darth Maul, was hardly in the film and had no dialogue to speak of. CG effects were used for their own sake, against Lucas' own credo to never have an effects-driven story overshadow a human drama. Jake Lloyd was "Mannequin Skywalker", the Queen had a weird accent, the supporting characters were weak and uninteresting, the dogfights were filmed incorrectly, the editing was choppy, there was far too much juvenile humor and Jar Jar Binks sucked worse than anything ever seen before in the history of the world. Fans who loved it said the title was perfect; hinting at the main plot of the film and harkening back to old movie serials which the rest of the film also did grand justice to. TPM started with Jedi doing what they do best. The final lightsaber duel was a wonder to behold, Ray Park's Darth Maul was one of the most memorable villains in cinematic history. The Podrace was a triumph of computer-generated imagery and pacing and the CG environments were spectacular. The CG characters were truly revolutionary and "photo-realistic". Ian McDiarmid's Senator Palpatine was a deeply complex and interesting character, the five parallel plotlines are a testament to Lucas' storytelling skill, the use of foreshadowing connected the original trilogy and overall the groundwork had been laid for the next five films, no small feat. An oh yeah, Jar Jar wasn't that bad... So what do I think? The Phantom Menace was not a great movie, but it was a cool movie. Lucas had the daunting task to set the stage for his next two films while in the grander scheme setting the stage for the five, all the while trying to live up to 16 years worth of fan hype. The film started out good enough, until we hit the Neimoidians, who had silly accents and poor lip-synch. The "brain-dead" comment seemed out of place. Good lightsaber action, everything looking good, Droidekas are really cool. Great until we hit Naboo when Jar Jar makes his appearance. Jar Jar didn't really bother me that much. His utterance of "how wude" three times was simply overused. Otoh Gunga was interesting, and the Gungan accents were okay. The introduction of R2 was a bit weak, actually not the intro which was cool but how we find out his name. Captain Panaka is boring, and so is Ric Olié. The look of the film is good so far, and Watto is really a fantastic character. I had no problem with Jake Lloyd in particular, but I do feel he had to chew his way through some bad dialogue. The podrace was pretty tremendous except for the stupid 2-headed announcer and Jabba spitting the frog head. Jabba flicking the bird off the ledge was very well-done though, quite humorous and in character for the big slug. Another director could have probably evoked more emotion out of the farewell scene between Anakin and his mother. The first fight between Maul and Jinn should have been longer and perhaps filmed at more of a distance like the final one in order to see the action better. Supposedly there is a cut scene of Jinn kicking Maul off the boarding ramp of the Queen's ship which I can't understand why it was cut. Coruscant was kind of neat, but I honestly thought that whole mega-city thing was done better in The Fifth Element. The Council was fine, kind of fascinating. Palpatine was the most interesting character in the film, I think, well played. His interactions with the Queen were some of TPM's better scenes. The Senate scene was a tad confusing, not plot wise but visually. Why Boss Nass had to shake his jowls and spit is beyond me. The fight between the Gungans and the Battle Droids was a very interesting piece of animation, but it is just that. Sometimes physical models just need to be there to give a real look to a scene. The final lightsaber battle was spectacular, really top-notch, but the whole Anakin in the fighter thing was hard to swallow. Yes, we had to see Anakin pilot a ship to show that he was a great pilot when Obi-Wan first met him, but he just never seemed to be in any real peril. And how did he slip inside the Trade ship's shield? And why was the main reactor in the cargo hold? Makes about as much sense as the laser gates during the duel, but I can forgive those because they were a neat plot device. The scene where Maul paced back and forth while Qui-Gon meditated was classic. Obi-Wan defeating Maul was a scene I had problems with. I understand that the intent was to show that through his focus and control Obi-Wan defeated Maul through mastery of the Force, but he jumped right over Maul who admittedly has the fastest reflexes in the Galaxy! Getting cut in half was a welcome bit of gore in an otherwise bloodless story. The remainder of the film was good, although I'm not sure about the globe of peace thing. The Phantom Menace was not the movie that most people expected it to be, myself included. Whether this is a good thing or not remains to be seen, when we will be able to evaluate all six prequels upon their completion. It certainly is difficult to make it work as a stand-alone piece, and we cannot yet judge it for how well it set up the rest of the series. There were times when it made me cringe, and times when it made me lean forward in my seat. Most of the effects were great, but about 10% looked crappy. I can remember the song Duel of the Fates, but none of the other music. I wasn't sure if they used a computer to make Natalie Portman be Padmé and Amidala in the same scene the first time I watched it. Lucas made it a point to have symbiotic relationships and individual duality as his two major underlying themes. Jar Jar seems to have begun the classic formulae "Hero's Journey" defined so well by Joseph Cambell. Luke made this journey in the original trilogy. Prominent foreshadowing was used (i.e. Anakin's promise to return to his mother to free her and the rest of the slaves, Anakin's fear of losing his mother making him seem "dangerous", the pan to Palpatine upon mention of a remaining Sith Lord...) Ultimately every sub plot and insinuation took a back seat to Senator Palpatine convincing Queen Amidala to call for a vote of "no confidence" in Supreme Chancellor Valorum's leadership, which was the crux of the whole film. Of course, the debate continues over why Lucas and all the official resources still go out of their way to avoid mentioning the obvious: Senator Palpatine and Darth Sidious are the same person. It is obvious, right? My thoughts on Episode II next time. WJ
05/13/00: Well folks, it's official: Hayden Christensen has been cast as Anakin Skywalker for SW2 and 3. Not only that, but starwars.com has opened their official SW2 section to coincide with the announcement. As a little teaser, the background of the Official Site's SW2 section seems to be some type of pre-production art. Pretty cool, after being burned out on Phantom Menace to get back into the swing of things with SW2. Expect a bit of a dissertation from me in the next few days concerning my thoughts about the second prequel... WJ
05/09/00: Well, Hayden Christensen is still the front-runner for the coveted role of Anakin Skywalker, though starwars.com hasn't made anything official yet. Until then check out my Forum for some cool fan mail. WJ
05/04/00: The race for who is to be Anakin is getting very heated indeed. Check out SW: Episode 2 Rumor for the latest info. WJ
04/26/00: SW: Episode 2 Rumor has again been updated with some (seemingly) dubious information from a (seemingly) reliable source. WJ
04/19/00: Check out the SW: Episode 2 Rumor section for the first of what is sure to be many claims of new characters in the next chapter of the Star Wars saga. WJ
04/14/00: The first really interesting SW2 news has finally surfaced! Both bits of news are actually really cool, and show that Lucas seems to be moving in the right direction. It also may dispel some critic and fanboy myths that Lucas had "sold-out" and has no regard for his fans and doesn't learn from criticism. Look at SW: Episode 2 Rumor and Fact. The Forum has been updated as well. WJ
04/08/00: The Candle Which Burns Twice As Bright, my fan fiction about the youthful exploits of Darth Maul and some background history of the Sith, is now complete. I hope you enjoy it; please let me know at whilljournalist@hotmail.com. WJ
03/04/00: Hello dear readers, and welcome to the first posting in the year 2000! If you are new to The Whill Journal, please take some time to look around; I'm sure you'll find something you like. If you are an old fan, you'll notice some small but significant changes to the layout and new sections to explore. Most important is the Episode 2 section, which contains the Rumor, Fact, Evidence and Logic categories. This is always under development of course, just as it had been throughout the production of Episode I. Of special note is the new Evidence category. Make sure to check out the Forum; a lot of good stuff therein! Yes, I know I am a dirty liar about posting the end of my Darth Maul fan fic The Candle before the end of the year, but I got involved in a substantial rewrite, and well, all I can say is you are in for a real treat in the next few weeks. Please email me at whilljournalist@hotmail.com with any questions, comments, gripes or fan fiction! Believe me when I say the best is yet to come! Thanks for all the support! WJ
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