The Star Wars Prequel trilogy. Is there a cinematic subject
more prone to anguished shouts of disappointment? Probably, but not many. The
prequels were one of the most anticipated cinematic experiences in my brief
lifetime, and perhaps one of the most anticipated events in general. People who
had grown up with Star Wars were so eager to have their questions answered,
most importantly of course being how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader. The
sheer amount of anticipation for the film was it’s own downfall however. No
film could have lived up to such high expectations, and many decry the trilogy
as a disaster. While it certainly does have its problems (moreso than the
original trilogy), I don’t think the word disaster is appropriate. I feel that
the trilogy is overall good, and I’m going to make my case by looking at the
good and bad of each of the films.
Episode I the Phantom Menace is where we begin out journey,
as is only logical. The overall plot of the film isn’t bad, and the acting is
for the most part good. Most people only have a problem with the kid who played
Anakin, which I can understand, but at the same time child actors are very
rarely any good, and for good reason. However, one of the film’s biggest flaws
is the accusations of racism. The Trade Federation leaders are depicted with
strong influence from east Asia. Watto, the greedy, slave owning junk merchant
has been noted to have many Jewish traits. And who could forget Jar Jar Binks,
the newest in a long line of black minstrel stereotypes. This is a legitimate
problem with the movie, and one I am quite frankly surprised was over looked.
Still, I don’t feel that it’s necessarily an indication of George Lucas being a
racist, merely a very, very big lapse in judgment on the part of him and the
others who worked on the film. The film also suffers from some pacing problems,
as it feels to drag at certain points, particularly on Tatooine with the pod
race.
Before getting into the specific films, there are two
problems that are pervasive throughout the trilogy that need to be addressed.
First, there is the over-reliance on the use of CGI. While I’ll gladly say that
there are things done in the films that wouldn’t have worked without the CGI,
and while the CGI is for the most part well done, there are moments when I feel
that they would have gotten better results from using the same tricks that were
used in the original trilogy. In particular, I feel that Yoda worked better as
a Muppet than as a CGI model, though I understand that they wouldn’t have been
able to do the fight scenes with Yoda that way. The second problem (which is
really only a problem with the first two films), is the amount of comedy in the
films. While the original trilogy had some good, funny moments, they were few,
and all the better for being so few. The original trilogy also mostly stuck to
verbal humor, while the prequel trilogy had more silly sight gags and slapstick
(especially involving Jar Jar).
However, beyond those problems, the film is pretty good. As
I said before, the acting is solid, with good performances by Liam Neeson and
Ewan McGregor, as well as the other cast members. The story is, while not spectacular,
certainly not as convoluted as other films, and other than the pacing problems
works well. Perhaps one of the most well received parts of the movie were the
visuals. Everything looks different from how it did in the original trilogy,
but not so different as to think that we’re in a whole different series. There
definitely feels like the two looks are distanced from each other by time, much
as a modern car would from one from the 1920’s.
Episode II: Attack of the Clones is the worst of the trilogy
in my opinion, and I think most would agree with me. While many of the racist
stereotypes have been toned down, the film suffers other problems. Let’s begin
with the writing. There are numerous plot holes in the film, though many of
them are not immediately apparent. I could spend a very long time pointing out
every single one and boring you all to death in the process, but I’d rather
just say that the script needed to go through another stage or two of editing
to simply catch the mistakes. But the minor plot holes aren’t the only writing
problem. No, there’s also the romance scenes between Anakin and Padmé. Now,
this is interesting because George Lucas has actually recognized this problem
with the films, and the problem is that Lucas can’t write romance. The romantic
scenes feel very artificial and forced, despite the effort on Natalie Portman’s
part to work with the material given. Now that writing’s out of the way, we can
talk about one of the film’s biggest and most obvious problems; Hayden
Christensen. You would think that finding a talented actor to play Anakin
Skywalker would’ve been top priority for the film, considering the trilogy is
primarily about his character’s journey. Instead, they found one of the worst
actors to ever star in a blockbuster film. If he were playing a minor
character, this wouldn’t even be a huge detriment to the film, but no, he’s the
LEAD character.
Now, while the film certainly has it’s flaws, there are some
good points to it. The dialogue between Obi-Wan and Anakin for example is
actually really good, and you can get a very good feel for their relationship
with each other, as well as the character depth. Once again, the visuals are
well done, especially the climactic duel at the end (I absolutely love the
lighting during the close-ups between Dooku and Anakin). The acting on the part
of everyone other than Hayden Christensen is quite good, particularly on Ewan
McGregor’s part. He’s obviously trying to bring a lot of the same qualities to
the role that Sir Alec Guinness brought in the original trilogy.
At last, we come to Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. This
is pretty much universally considered the best of the prequel trilogy, and even
on par with the original trilogy. But, while it might be the best of the
trilogy, it does have problems. The most obvious of these is once again Hayden
Christensen. While his acting has improved a bit since Episode II, he’s still
stiff and unbelievable. One thing I will say in his favor though, is that he
does well in the fight scenes with the lightsaber. Now, the next biggest flaw
with the film is the ending. I think you all know what part I’m talking about.
The part where Padmé dies from sadness, in what has to be the lamest death in
any of the films. Honestly, the part that annoys me the most is that they could
have quite easily made her death more plausible. All Anakin would’ve needed to
do would be to throw her in anger, instead of just dropping her when he was
force choking her. A hard enough throw would’ve wreaked havoc with her, and the
strain of childbirth could’ve pushed her body past its limits. But no, she just
dies of sadness. I know, I know, it is technically possible to die of sadness,
from something called Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (or broken heart syndrome), but
there’s no sort of indication for that, and in the context of this story, it
still feels like a cop-out. Another problem I have isn’t so much as what is
present, as what is not. What I mean is that there are a series of deleted
scenes that show the founding of the Rebel Alliance. They’re very important to
the overarching continuity of the series, and I’m disappointed they’re not in
the final cut of the film. They’re included on the DVD, but all the same. My
last major problem with the movie is with one of my favorite characters;
General Grievous. Grievous was a bit of an oddity in the film. He’s introduced
in a similar manner as Darth Vader was in Episode IV, but unlike with Vader,
there’s almost no explanation about who he is, where he came from, or what is
up with that cough of his. Some of that is shown in the original animated
mini-series The Clone Wars (the one done by Gendy Tartakovski, not the one
that’s still running), but not everything. I know many people that went and saw
the film but who hadn’t seen the mini-series, and were confused by his
presence.
These are my thoughts and feelings on the prequel trilogy. I'll probably get a lot of shit for saying that I actually enjoyed them, but oh well. You can't please everyone (as George Lucas found out with these movies).