Fan Forum - Prequel Anakin Skywalker [Unappreciation] #12

sum1's original posts:

"This thread is for posting your dislike for Anakin from the prequels. Criticism of acting is welcome, but actor-bashing beyond that isn't allowed. Note: This is not a place to defend Anakin or the acting from criticism.

Anyway, Hayden's Anakin is USELESS and Jake Lloyd's isn't much better.

My post on Hayden's performance:

Anakin in his death scene in Return of the Jedi came across as a man with gravitas, dignity and depth. Vader in the original trilogy was a figure of strength and power and also a very masculine figure. So these qualities needed to be embodied by whoever played Anakin in the prequels. What Hayden gave us was a weak figure, who came across lacking in depth or strength. Furthermore, he's rather andogynous, which doesn't fit Vader at all. He also has this childlike aspect that can't be squared with the image of Vader. I also found his voice whiny and annoying in sound. And he gave Anakin an odd off-key lamo-loser air which doesn't fit a great jedi hero. He gave Anakin a kind of blank, empty gaze that implied no hidden depths or much of anything going on behind the eyes. And he made Anakin seem limited in intelligence. I ended up feeling that Anakin turned dark because he was too stupid to know better (the writing didn't help here either). Hayden's attempts at Anakin turning dark were basically just "I frown therefore I'm evil." His delivery of lines like "You underestimate my power!" plumbed incredible depths of lameness.

I've seen Hayden do better work elsewhere, but I've never seen him give a character much substance and all his characters come across kind of weak. Seeing as the prequels are a revisionist take on Star Wars, Lucas probably wanted Anakin to be played as a lameass wimp and he cast somebody he thought could deliver that.

Actors who could have done a good Anakin include Heath Ledger and Chris Hemsworth."

Additionally, here's material from a post of mine examining the facial expressions in the Prequel Anakin acting:

I looked at these pics:

https://24.media.tumblr.com/0888e13d...bo1_r1_250.gif https://24.media.tumblr.com/b2f0f7af...bo2_r1_250.gif https://24.media.tumblr.com/daadfabf...bo3_r1_250.gif
https://31.media.tumblr.com/d22197df...bo4_r1_250.gif https://31.media.tumblr.com/52f1bcd6...bo5_r1_250.gif https://24.media.tumblr.com/7654f61f...bo6_r1_250.gif
https://24.media.tumblr.com/2b4aeaf2...bo8_r1_250.gif https://24.media.tumblr.com/081093ed...bo7_r1_250.gif https://31.media.tumblr.com/c9eab075...bo9_r1_250.gif
you will be gold and gold again

And posted these thoughts:

"The kid is a pain. Just look at the photos. The way he's playing it there, he looks like a sulky, dumb, totally-unspecial little brat. Seriously not Vader potential. But Hayden's Anakin is worse. Look at his eyes and the set of his mouth. He's projecting such a look of childish sulkiness in multiple pictures there. When he's supposed to be evil he looks like an overgrown kid sulking because somebody denied him a treat. His supposed I've-gone-dark glares are all childish sulk if you look close (I don't have to look close to see it, but some might need to). All his supposedly angry/intense looks are just sulky looks when you give them a good look. When he tries to look serious, he looks dumb, brainless. When he's forcing Kenobi down with the lightsaber in one of the bottom pictures, the expression on his face is one of petty, childish spite rather than the dangerous fury of a true Sith. And when he he's going "What have I done?" (in one of the second-from-the-bottom pictures, after he's helped Windu's death) he looks like he's being an annoying whiney crybaby -there's a way to do that stuff without looking that way. In the Attack of the Clones pictures in particular, he looks incredibly awkward. And the second-last picture, of him going "I hate you!" at Kenobi, is an example of some of the worst acting ever. Instead of the fury and hate of a formidable Sith lord, it's the childish tantrum of an immature little kid."

(It must be stressed that criticism of actors must be restricted to their acting, which is what the above material is talking about.)

Previous threads:

http://www.fanforum.com/f99/prequel-...1/index20.html
http://www.fanforum.com/f99/prequel-...7/index21.html
http://www.fanforum.com/f99/prequel-...-3-a-63138424/
http://www.fanforum.com/f99/prequel-...-4-a-63147860/
http://www.fanforum.com/f99/prequel-...-5-a-63153621/
http://www.fanforum.com/f99/prequel-...-6-a-63161727/
http://www.fanforum.com/f99/prequel-...4/index20.html
http://www.fanforum.com/f99/prequel-...-8-a-63173418/
http://www.fanforum.com/f99/prequel-...-9-a-63183801/
http://www.fanforum.com/f99/prequel-...10-a-63192222/
http://www.fanforum.com/f99/prequel-...11-a-63198816/