The Skywalker Saga Review: Part II
The script of the prequels is a pathway to many lines of dialogue some consider to be memeable.
To celebrate May the 4th this year, Nerdism is revisiting the Skywalker Saga in a 3-part review. To continue, we close the circuit of the Chosen One with the prequel trilogy, consisting of The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith, also known as Episodes I-III.
The Phantom Menace, released in 1999 and turning 25 this year, follows the story of Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) as they seek to settle a trade dispute between the Trade Federation and the planet Naboo, home to Queen Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman). In their efforts, the Jedi eventually will stumble upon the supposed Chosen One who will bring balance to the Force by destroying the Sith in the form of young Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) on the planet of Tatooine. Settling the disputes are much easier said than done as the titular phantom menace sends his apprentice Darth Maul (voiced by Peter Serafinowicz) to hunt down the Jedi and is defeated by Obi-Wan Kenobi. The political conflict also sees Senator Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) rise to the role of Supreme Chancellor in the beginning of a dark future for the Republic.
Attack of the Clones, released in 2002, continued the rising tensions in the galaxy as Padmé has now become senator to take over for Palpatine and is constantly under threat of assassination. These attacks prompt Chancellor Palpatine to order Senator Amidala be placed under protection of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker (now recast with Hayden Christensen). After another failed assassination attempt reveals a deeper plot, Anakin takes Padmé back to Naboo to protect her (and get secretly married) while Obi-Wan chases after the bounty hunter Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison). During Obi-Wan’s investigation, he is brought to Kamino, a planet removed from the Jedi Archives, where a clone army has mysteriously been ordered by a long dead Jedi Master. His continued pursuit of Jango Fett leads him to cross paths on Geonosis with Count Dooku (Christopher Lee), the new apprentice of a Sith named Darth Sidious who has supposedly taken control of the Republic according to Dooku.
Back on Tatooine, Anakin gets visions of his dying mother who he left on Tatooine years ago to become a Jedi. After returning and failing to save his mother, the dark side tempts him as he slaughters the village of Sand People who kidnapped his mother. Yoda (Frank Oz) senses this and becomes cautious, questioning what path Anakin will take and if he truly is the Chosen One. After Obi-Wan is captured, Anakin and Padmé also get captured upon their arrival on Geonosis where they are rescued by multiple Jedi and the newly formed clone army, sparking the First Battle of Geonosis and the beginning of the Clone Wars.
The final installment in the trilogy is Revenge of the Sith, released in 2005, follows Anakin and Obi-Wan’s rescue of Chancellor Palpatine from the clutches of General Grievous and Count Dooku. In the rescue, Palpatine persuades Anakin into killing Dooku, further sending him down a dark path. After Grievous escapes, Obi-Wan is tasked with searching for him in the Outer Rim while Anakin is sent by the Jedi Council to spy on Chancellor Palpatine, something he doesn’t agree with morally. Anakin has also been experiencing visions of Padmé dying in child birth and makes it his personal mission to do whatever it takes to prevent her from dying, even giving into the dark side and becoming Palpatine’s new apprentice.
That’s right, Palpatine is Darth Sidious and has been manipulating the Republic’s recent conflicts from the Trade Federation attacking Naboo to the clones executing Order 66 and wiping out nearly all the Jedi in the galaxy, paving the way for the Empire led by the Emperor and Darth Vader. While Obi-Wan survives Order 66 the same as Yoda, he is unable to prevent Anakin from becoming Darth Vader. During child birth, Padmé successfully gives birth to twins, Luke and Leia, but dies from losing the will to live after seeing Anakin’s fall. The twins are then split up in hopes of keeping them safe from the Empire, hopefully resulting in a new hope for the galaxy one day.
One of the best parts about the originals was its practical designs. The prequels serve as the inverse of this as CGI is favored more than practical designs. At best, Revenge of the Sith balances the two perfectly with some CGI rivaling that of Avatar (2009) in my opinion. At worst, Attack of the Clones looks like a video game with countless amounts of unfinished animations and terrible CGI fights, namely during the Arena Battle on Geonosis once the clone army arrives.
At the time, the prequels were heavily criticized for their use of CGI as it was a relatively new technology that the masses didn’t think would catch on. Considering we now have nearly every movie that releases use CGI in some form, it’s needless to say that George Lucas was ahead of his time and the originals were simply limited by technology as the prequels allowed him to execute his vision of Star Wars better via CGI.
Something given a lot of hate for both then and now was the dialogue. The originals had the issue of being clunky but managed to improve by the time of Return of the Jedi. The sequels on the other hand disregarded all of that progress to make some of the most memeable dialogue you have ever heard in your life, all of which are still used for memes to this day. Dialogue doesn’t always have to be serious, but something is wrong if the entire script is used for memes.
Another criticism of the prequels is wasted characters. Darth Maul appears in The Phantom Menace and is killed in the same movie. Count Dooku appears in a minor role during Attack of the Clones and is killed at the beginning of Revenge of the Sith. General Grievous appears in Revenge of the Sith and, like Darth Maul, is killed in the same movie. The clone army as a character is also wasted as there is no insight into their feelings since they are mostly used as a plot device for carrying out Order 66. While I dislike the disregard of their characters, I don’t have much issue with it because of one show: The Clone Wars.
First airing in 2008, The Clone Wars takes place between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith and resolves all of the issues with wasted characters as Maul gets my favorite character arc in all of Star Wars, Dooku is built to be a much more formidable foe, Grievous gets screen time, and the clones are given unique characters. The finale of the show also deals with the execution of Order 66 and after watching and falling in love with these characters for seven seasons it makes their betrayal all the more emotional, including the scenes of Order 66 during Revenge of the Sith. It’s so tragic and beautifully written that it was enough to make me tear up watching the final episodes.
My point in bringing this up is that it is possible for later material to make existing material better if done right. The Clone Wars took some of the complaints with the prequels and used them to create a show that turned its flaws into character development. I no longer watch Darth Maul’s death and think, “that was wasted potential,” as I instead start smiling knowing what happens to him throughout The Clone Wars and how he became one of my favorite characters in Star Wars.
While The Clone Wars deals with the tragedy of the prequels, the actual movies deal with the concept of the Chosen One. Watching Episodes I-III, you would think the prophecy was wrong as Anakin became Darth Vader but you’d be wrong. If you continue the story with Episodes IV-VI, you see that Anakin did eventually fulfill the prophecy as he destroyed the Emperor during Return of the Jedi.
The prequels did enough to stand out on their own from the tone, the fight choreography, and the scores crafted by John Williams but also managed to build upon the originals perfectly with the idea of the Chosen One, Order 66 wiping out all the Jedi, and showing us how Luke and Leia’s stories truly began. Are they perfect movies? No. Do they achieve a cohesive story as a trilogy and a saga? Absolutely.
The Phantom Menace — ★ ★ ★ ½
Attack of the Clones — ★ ★ ½
Revenge of the Sith — ★ ★ ★ ½
Release Date: 5/19/1999, 5/16/2002, 5/19/2005
Director: George Lucas
Runtime: 2hr 16m, 2hr 22m, 2hr 20m
Rating: PG, PG, PG-13