darth vader is the most overrated villain...ever.
the most villainous thing regarding darth vader so far has been the casting.

(spoilers to the various star wars movies to follow)
while i stipulate the voice, the suit and the ominous music certainly convey the requisite evil, the on-screen actions do not warrant the esteemed evil implied by the afi and the public in general

lemme go over the life and times of anakin skywalker/darth vader as i know it:

• kills baddies after the murder of a beloved family member.
  under that criterion, mad max and batman would be villains
• gets injured to the point where he needs that big (albeit stylish) suit to survive
• rematch with a ~65 year old obi-wan was kinda a tie until kenobi basically gives up
• chops off his newbie jedi son's hand, followed immediately by a "who's your daddy" and an alliance offer
• after his son subsequently busts him up, flip-flopper vader turns on his evil lord and master for one last attempt at sappy family reconciliation

if one is supposed to be cosmically evil, that person should live-breathe-and-eat-evil. don't pull this evil with a side of justification and some redemption for dessert.

vader apologists may point to the destruction of Alderaan....that should count for something. but i say any self-respecting intergalactic megalomaniac worth his evil salt would do this. frieza pulled that as a desperation move against goku

going forward, if villainous demonstrations from the upcoming movie consist mainly of defeating a not-so-slight mace windu and various anonymous jedi, that won't cement it for me.

better examples of true unmitigated villainy include de niro's version of max cady, the villain in the real manchurian candidate (avoiding another spoiler), doctor who nemesis the master, or the quintessential depiction of evil

please, mr lucas, do your worst...or at least have darth vader do his worst.

¶ - nitish @ 10:25 AM