Much of it, yes, but the real reason Qui-Gon died at the end is because he was exhausted from carrying the entire film on his back.
Liam Neeson had the gravitas and experience to do his own thing, and almost everything good about that movie involves him. McDiarmid too. The younger actors, including Ewan, and the bit players were almost universally meh to dreadful, and frankly Portman was probably the worst; her line readings in or out of the makeup were stilted and straight up amateurish. While he was given garbage to work with and wasn’t some sort of prodigy who could elevate it, Jake Lloyd at least brought energy and authenticity. Lucas should have at least gone the ROTJ route and shadow-directed, but with a no-name “official” director who was good with actors. The story for Ep 6 is very iffy, but the performances themselves are fine, even with Ford sort of mailing it in; Marquand was able to turn that apathy into a certain bemused ennui.
I’m not going to blame the performances on the actors here because…look at the material they were given. Obi Wan’s character was “also there tagging along.” It really should have been Qui Gon sitting on the ship, meditating, being wise and occasionally offering advice to Obi Wan, a somewhat headstrong young man who has very nearly completed his apprenticeship and will soon test for the rank of Knight. Instead of…sitting on the ship doing mostly nothing while the old gummer goes on all the adventures. In Ep 1 especially, Padme has basically no personality. In the Queen makeup, she’s monotone and officious, out of makeup she…is like 14.7% stuck up, 9% a girl, 76.3% staring into space. What was Natalie Portman supposed to DO with this role? We’re told she’s “young and naive” but she does basically nothing of her own volition that demonstrates naivete.
Much of it, yes, but the real reason Qui-Gon died at the end is because he was exhausted from carrying the entire film on his back.
Liam Neeson had the gravitas and experience to do his own thing, and almost everything good about that movie involves him. McDiarmid too. The younger actors, including Ewan, and the bit players were almost universally meh to dreadful, and frankly Portman was probably the worst; her line readings in or out of the makeup were stilted and straight up amateurish. While he was given garbage to work with and wasn’t some sort of prodigy who could elevate it, Jake Lloyd at least brought energy and authenticity. Lucas should have at least gone the ROTJ route and shadow-directed, but with a no-name “official” director who was good with actors. The story for Ep 6 is very iffy, but the performances themselves are fine, even with Ford sort of mailing it in; Marquand was able to turn that apathy into a certain bemused ennui.
I’m not going to blame the performances on the actors here because…look at the material they were given. Obi Wan’s character was “also there tagging along.” It really should have been Qui Gon sitting on the ship, meditating, being wise and occasionally offering advice to Obi Wan, a somewhat headstrong young man who has very nearly completed his apprenticeship and will soon test for the rank of Knight. Instead of…sitting on the ship doing mostly nothing while the old gummer goes on all the adventures. In Ep 1 especially, Padme has basically no personality. In the Queen makeup, she’s monotone and officious, out of makeup she…is like 14.7% stuck up, 9% a girl, 76.3% staring into space. What was Natalie Portman supposed to DO with this role? We’re told she’s “young and naive” but she does basically nothing of her own volition that demonstrates naivete.