I am so excited! This year, for my resolution project, I’m rewatching the Star Wars franchise. I chose it because I love Star Wars, and I thought it would be fun to re-watch the movies in order of release date, with perhaps a bit more of a critical and appreciative eye than I have before.
This month’s installment: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
The Premise:
Ten years after initially meeting, Anakin Skywalker shares a forbidden romance with Padmé Amidala, while Obi-Wan Kenobi investigates an assassination attempt on the senator and discovers a secret clone army crafted for the Jedi.
Spoilers for a 17 year old film ahead.
This movie is making me re-think my love for Star Wars. If it weren’t for the fact that I’ve seen the newer movies, and really like them, I would, at this point, write off the franchise.
As I mentioned in my last post on Star Wars, the prequels were never a good idea. And just like last time, I’m going to leave the actors out of it. I don’t know if it is solely the fault of the writers, if George Lucas has a hand in this as well, or if there was meddling from movie executives that caused this mess.
What exactly is the purpose of the Jedi? No one seems to know. Are they ambassadors? Diplomats? Secret Service-type law enforcement? FBI-type law enforcement? Keepers of the wisdom of the galaxy? Monks with fancy laser swords? All of the above? I’m sure this gets explained in the books, but I’m just looking at the movies. It is confusing. I think the general story line of the prequels would have gone much smoother if there had been some clear-cut definition of who they are and what they do.
I can accept that they do all things. They’re not supposed to be security for the Queen, but the galaxy is in political turmoil so she needs a Musketeer or two by her side to protect her.
But here comes the next problem. Whomever was in charge decided that things now needed to be a democracy. Actually, I think the democracy makes a lot of sense, with the Empire representing a dictator and all of that. The problem is that Lucas introduced Princess Leia in the original trilogy, so he had to have a Queen in The Phantom Menace. Now they’ve decided that the Queen only serves two terms. And the Queen is a child! That’s not how royalty works!
Okay. Padme is now a Senator after serving her two terms as Queen. She still has a significant amount of power to be able to incur death threats and an assassination attempt.
The most egregious disservice to the franchise is the character development of Anakin. He could have been, he should have been, the most sympathetic character. He left his mom as a child to become a Jedi. He’s super talented, gifted. He was rescued from a life of slavery to become a fucking Jedi! He’s keen and precocious, ambitions, a bit of a smooth talker.
Instead of showing us the pain of his decision to leave his mom, how that affected his training as a Jedi, his love for the Jedi, he’s simply a brat. He’s beyond whiny. He is hateful. The Dark Side should be playing up his arrogance far more than they do. The Dark Side just says “oh, he’s full of hate, let’s make him one of us.” It should have much less to do with his emotions. I know, I know, that seems to be the basic premise for determining whether someone is on the Dark Side or not. The story would have been far more compelling if they’d appealed to the rest of Anakin’s character.
Of course, there would have to be a character for them to appeal to. Almost all of Anakin’s lines are pouty and “poor me, I’m such a victim.” What’s worse is that he is manipulative of Padme [emphasis mine]:
Anakin: From the moment I met you, all those years ago, not a day has gone by when I haven’t thought of you. And now that I’m with you again… I’m in agony. The closer I get to you, the worse it gets. The thought of not being with you — I can’t breathe. I’m haunted by the kiss that you should never have given me. My heart is beating… hoping that kiss will not become a scar. You are in my very soul, tormenting me… what can I do? I will do anything you ask.
[uncomfortable pause]
Anakin: … if you are suffering as much as I am, PLEASE, tell me.
He’s making it up to her to make him feel better. If she doesn’t? Then what? He’s her protection. He’s also been a whiny, hateful prat. Will he walk away? Or will he do worse? Will he hurt her?
That kiss, by the way, never should have happened, and he was just as much involved in initiating it as Padme was.
And that made me think about how often male characters are portrayed as stupid, self-centered, and mean, and their female partners are always sweet and loving and take it. I’m simplifying things a bit here. Those relationships have additional twists and story-lines. This partnership between Anakin and Padme, however, does not. And I can’t, for the life of me, believe that Padme would actually be in love with Anakin, except for the fact that he seems to be the only male she knows who is even remotely close to her age.
In conclusion: Was there anything that could redeem this movie for me? The sets were gorgeous. I liked the contrast of Padme’s ornate royal costumes and her simplistically elegant wedding dress. Christopher Lee’s voice is magnificent, and it was great to see him on screen again.
There will be a moment in this movie that will always bring back the fondest of memories, and for that reason alone, I will not write off this movie as a complete loss.
The first time I saw this movie, I saw it in the theater with my brother, sister-in-law, and my niece who was four, the same age I was when the first Star Wars movie came out. She had seen the other movies already and really wanted to see this one.
Things are happening on screen, my niece is peppering me with questions so I don’t really know what’s happening. Anakin and Padme are looking at the sunset or something, the theater falls quiet. Padme and Anakin kiss (the kiss that should have never happened), and my sweet niece pipes up and exclaims “They’re in love!” Everyone burst out laughing. It was priceless.
Up next: Revenge of the Sith
Again, the music was WONDERFUL in this one, but I absolutely hated the script (George wrote it, too), because the dialog is SO BAD. I still can’t get over how their proclamation of love before the fighting arena sounds like it was lifted from the lyrics of “Truly Madly Deeply” from Savage Garden. Also, Padme’s white outfit getting “strategically” scratched off in a way that shows her stomach? Please kill me.
For me the prequels were nothing more than an exercise in pretty scenery and FX. After the original characters left the scene there was really nothing to hook us into the story. Lucas shouldn’t have spent more than ten minutes on Vader’s origin story. The prequels were like Riverdale in space but at least I like Jughead.