With this I do agree.
Though I can admit that seeing Yoda whipping around all over the place with a light saber was fun.
I do like that version of Yoda much more than the old near death teacher found in a distant bog Yoda. (That part of Empire has always been my least favorite of the 2 good Star Wars movies.)
The very first time I saw him fight Dooku I smiled, but after that instant, it was just dirty.
First off, in Empire, Yoda is 900 some old years old, and due to his death, which appears to be either due to his tuberculosis (brought on by an old and failing immune system), or just plain old age, we can assume he is near the end of his species life expectancy. I don't think thats too far off of an assumption to make.
So Episode II takes place what, at most 30 years earlier? Luke is a fairly young hero, during episode VI we know hes at a point in his life where others have moved on to school or join the rebels, while he is still stuck at the farm. This strikes me as somewhere between 16-20.
Whats the point? Yoda in Episode 2 has probably lived 95% of his life. Maybe I wont be confined to a chair when Im say, 60, but I sure as ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- am not going to be jumping around and doing flips, when I normally walk with a cane!
But thats reality in a fantasy, "His species is very active in spurts in their old age!" Fine, whatever. The biggest problem, is that it just isn't Yoda. Thats not what Yoda stands for.
The impression of Yoda I got from Empire and Jedi, was that you cant judge by appearances, and that when dealing with the force, you cant judge strength with your eyes. Luke thought lifting the XWing was impossible, which led to one of the biggest and most poignant lessons he learned. In the prime of his life, and top physical condition, he paled in comparison to Yoda. Yoda who could barely walk, Yoda, who got winded climbing on stones, and Yoda who wore meek clothing, and lived in a mud hovel. For all his strength, if he didn't have discipline, and faith, and perseverance, he was not going to succeed.
And the Dark Side represented all the opposing sides. Physical strength, strength in numbers, short cuts, get rich quick, get strong quick, no hard work needed. "Join the dark side," Vader says, "and together we shall rule as Father and Son." Thats it, take this pill, and you will lose weight quick, or gain big muscles, or increase the girth of your manhood.
The whole thing is dripping with traditional archetypes that you can apply it anywhere. Steroids, relationships with the opposite sex, physical fitness, school work, hell cabinet building/restoring. Anything that is worth doing, is worth doing right, even if that means you have to put in the work, the discipline and the perseverance.
The whole damned point of Yoda in the entire universe of Star Wars was that mental strength was not a function of size, youth, flashy dress, or money. That the light side of the force was about meditation, humility, maybe even sufferance. It was very monastic, very cerebral. He was a Jedi Master not because he could beat you with a sword, but because he had mastered the mind.
Lucas just wanted to show off his special effects. Thats all it was, he ditched the original vision for a moment in the movie for people to clap with glee and talk about afterwards, and it made me feel dirty for being Lucas' whore. If you want to show "Why Yoda is called a Jedi Master", have him involved in some cerebral force power fight, like the end of Dark City, except cooler.
You cant tell me anyone thought at the end of the original trilogy what Yoda's skill with a lightsaber was, or why was he called master if he was so little. We knew. Lucas may think the audience is so stupid that you have to spell everything out *cough* Padme's naming of the kids before she dies *cough*, but come on, no won doubted Yoda, because we all shared in Luke's wonderment when he lifted the X-Wing with ease. That moment, if you can remember back to it, was so much better, and honest than his stupid spins and flips and Matrix movies with a lightsaber.
And so, seeing Yoda again displayed as a physical fighter, well it just makes me feel dirty again. Because that wasn't what he represented, and he taught a good lesson, because the original movies were actually good movies, with good traditional roles. But here we go again, mucking all that up.
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Topic: What the . . . ? Yoda and Vader playable in the next Soul Calibur (Read 4278 times)
