Star Wars: Review II: Prequel Trilogy

STAR WARS

A +/- Review of the Prequel Trilogy

The prequel trilogy has never deserved the hate it received initially. A goodly portion of the fan criticism has been those who were nearing middle age and expecting a film to make them feel like a kid of the late 70s/early 80s again. This change in the tide is because those that were younger when they were released have become a stronger voice in support of them as they are now adults themselves. Regardless of how one feels about them, it cannot be denied they are the most cohesive with each other, if only by default. Coincidentally, it does cause some fairly minor continuity issues with the Original Trilogy. It is also worth noting at this point, because the temptation may be present to do so, that a "+" cannot be merely visual and must contribute in other ways. [Legend: OT: Original Trilogy, PT: Prequel Trilogy, ST: Sequel Trilogy, ANH: A New Hope, TESB: The Empire Strikes Back, ROTJ: Return of the Jedi, TPM: The Phantom Menace, AOTC: Attack of the Clones, ROTS: Revenge of the Sith, TFA: The Force Awakens, TLJ: The Last Jedi, TROS: The Rise of Skywalker]

The Phantom Menace (Episode I, 1999)

+The Jedi Order: The OT introduced us to the Jedi in the form of two humans (an older master Jedi and his new young apprentice), Yoda in the waning years of his lengthy lifespan, and one cyborg human who fell to the Dark Side and seemingly past his prime as Jedi or Sith. Besides seeing the energetic dueling and command of the Force mentioned below, the question of how the Jedi operated is answered: a Council of masters, the hierarchy of master/padawan, how Force potential was identified, and how they are involved in galactic affairs as "guardians of peace and justice."

+"I'm the only human who can do it.": With the Galactic Civil War, little else was seen about life in the galaxy far, far away in the OT. Of course visually stunning, the pod race sequence also serves the purpose of showcasing an activity the citizens might participate and/or spectate, especially during a relatively peaceful time. The stakes are high, stimulating excitement, and additionally serves to show how special Anakin is and that Qui-Gon's view of the Force as living may very well be spot on when he ultimately wins for the first time ever.

+Duel of the Fates: Again quite the visual, the Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan vs Darth Maul lightsaber duel is also well choreographed and exhibits the Jedi in their prime, at least in terms of abilities. It additionally asserts how the Sith Rule of Two is feasible, which Yoda briefly explains a bit later, in seeing how powerful Maul is.

-The Senate: Some material of the PT was adapted from what are essentially offhand remarks in the OT, though the basics may very well have been in George Lucas' mind when he sketched out his ideas. This includes one in ANH: Tarkin's informing that the Imperial Senate had been permanently dissolved, the last remnants of the Old Republic. So, this first film contains some of the lengthier scenes of the Republic Senate in session. For many, myself included, it may take multiple watches to appreciate the depth these scenes add to the Star Wars galaxy though they remain tedious. It is worth noting: Senate decisions in AOTC and ROTS increasingly forward the dissolution of the Republic into the Galactic Empire, also.

-Severed Scene: There is a deleted scene that appeared on the DVD release in which Anakin has a scuffle with a child Greedo after the latter accuses him of cheating. Its removal is unfortunate, because it shows that a touch of darkness exists in Anakin even at nine years old, and certainly does not take away from Jake Lloyd's performance (as a bit of the parts left in). Qui-Gon breaks them up and dispenses some wisdom. I could not care any less that it's Greedo, but I disagree with cutting it because of what it does for both Anakin and Qui-Gon.

-The Fate of Maul: Until The Return of Darth Maul arc that concluded the fourth season of The Clone Wars, the character was presumed dead and meant to be for all intents and purposes. This is such a waste of a well-designed character: his ominous appearance, his use of the first lightsaber version of a bō, the fact that he is the apprentice at the time the Sith revealed themselves publicly after a long duration of secrecy, the fact that he has learned under Sidious and that this eventuality of revelation has clearly overshadowed that teaching, etc.

Attack of the Clones (Episode II, 2002)

+Cloners on Kamino: Another of those almost offhand comments, Luke and Ben/Obi-Wan briefly discuss the Clone Wars in ANH. So, it was inevitable the PT explore the concept further. The decision to make cloning a rare skill and one not even known by the Jedi to be occurring is a much better one than it be common and widespread. It effectively explains how a peaceful Republic, one that depends on individual planets to mostly control themselves as seen in TPM, could suddenly have a Grand Army. It's another slice of life when Obi-Wan learns of them by going to see Dexter Jettser at his diner, as well.

+"I killed them all.": After learning his mother had been kidnapped by Tusken Raiders and tracking her to their camp for her to die in his arms, Anakin's repsonse is crucial to the portion of his story seen in ROTS. He had already been shown to struggle with the authority of the Jedi, but without this scene including its motivation, it is much less of a leap to witness his fall to the Dark Side. During the below “+” point, we see his attachment to others come into play again and his first step to becoming “more machine than man.”

+Battle of Geonosis: If Duel of the Fates partially served to show Jedi in their prime, the beginning half of the first battle of the Clone Wars answers the other half of that question in what an army of Jedi is like. We find even masters are not invincible and clearly not soldiers as Mace Windu had stated earlier in the film. In the midst of this, the audience is shown Yoda’s Grandmaster lightsaber skill and how his proficiency in drawing on the Force at least equalizes someone of such small stature to mostly taller folk.

-“I don’t like sand.”: The romantic plot between Anakin and Padmé is very paint by numbers. To be fair, it is a fairly crowded story that it has to tell in addition to this including how to make a clone, beginning of the Clone Wars (another galactic civil war as it turns out), Anakin’s slip to the Dark Side, all of which are parts of the advancement of Darth Sidious’ plan. Anakin’s actions towards the senator are often creepy and the dialogue cringy. While lost on the audience as a whole, I believe this is the intention since as a Jedi, Anakin is forbidden to have relationships and does not know how to interact with potential mates, not that that saves the negative effect.

-Boba Begins: As mentioned in the +/- Review of the OT, part of the appeal of Boba Fett is the mystery. Making him a clone who took up his father’s armor, ship and profession as a child is a cheap (a theme with the character) origin. As with Maul, The Clone Wars series fleshes the story out and mostly negates this effect without retconning by actually showing it was not a straight line from the death of Jango to the figure seen in TESB. A point to The Clone Wars for individualizing a large number of the engineered clones, too, instead of them just being meat droids.

-Death Star Design: The plans for the Death Star being a Genosian project, while certainly a way to connect the trilogies, feels forced (see what I did there). This at least skims contradicting with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which is much better. It may very well be explained in other media, but my reference point is film and television.

Revenge of the Sith (Episode III, 2005)

+General Grievous: My opinion on this character is he is the one I did not even realize Star Wars needed. Only enhancing Vader's character through the earlier tech, what he also adds is threefold: 1) The nearly bone-white but alien skull-like face mask is off-putting to at least the audience, and in-universe, one can imagine what someone might think facing him in battle. 2) With Darth Vader, Lobot, and Luke's replacement hand in the OT, the introduction of a second major cyborg to the series should have been expected. Anakin's cybernetic replacement forearm and hand in AOTC showed that it was commonplace at that time, as well, so why not a full body? It is also fitting that he should lead droids into battle. 3) As sometimes misconstrued, beings other than the Force-sensitive are capable of using a lightsaber, like Han in TESB. It is less common and does require skill and Force enhancement to do so well in combat. But, what if these skills were programmed into a droid body capable of similar speed and coupled to an unpredictable mind who hates Jedi? With Dooku's training, you get a formidable Jedi killer. Collecting the hilts of his victims is a real nice touch.

+"...the Jedi are evil!": There are two parallels to Obi-Wan's "from a certain point of view" ideology expressed in ROTJ. The first is in the conversation between Palpatine and Anakin at the ballet ("Good is a point of view, Anakin") and the second, influenced by that conversation, is Vader (before the suit) telling Obi-Wan his take on the Jedi. A well written villain is one who does not believe he is in the wrong, at least not in ultimate goal. The scene that solidifies his fall for me is when he ignites his saber in the room full of younglings; he actually believes he is saving the galaxy future grief.

+Battle of the Heroes: Interspersed with the Yoda and Sidious one, the Obi-Wan versus Anakin/Vader duel is at least as visually stunning as any other in the PT, perhaps more so. Duel of the Fates is the prototype and sets the bar high, but this one edges it out as the best one since it is just as much emotional as it is physical. It is not lost on me that it is blue lightsaber vs blue lightsaber.

-Severed Seeds: I understand the intention is to keep the focus on Anakin's story, but the removal of the "Seeds of Rebellion" scenes (DVD release) in which senators including Padmé, Bail Organa and Mon Mothma speak of their collective discontentment with recent galactic affairs is an unfortunate edit. These are canon in my mind. 

-Barefoot and Pregnant: In TPM, Padmé Amidala is the girl-wonder queen, motivated to save her people and refusing to back down in the face of danger, refusing to be caught in political mire, and humbling herself to end an age old segregation with the Gungans for the salvation of both peoples. Continuing along that track in AOTC, she is seen as a visionary and uncompromising senator, if somewhat idealistic, but willing to put some beliefs aside to rescue a friend and for the greater good. Here, while there are a few expressions of the same viewpoints as before, she is more or less sidelined presumably due to her “delicate condition.”

-Positions, Everyone: The film ends in an obvious rush to get everyone into their OT starting positions with Organa adopting baby Leia, Tarkin, The Emperor and Vader overseeing early construction of the Death Star, and Obi-Wan delivering the baby Luke to Owen and Beru before riding out into the Tatooine desert. There was a scene deleted showing Yoda landing on Dagobah; at this point, why cut it?

Next up...Review of the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy!