A friend and I were discussing, the other day, what went wrong with Episodes I-III of the Star Wars series.
In discussing it, I started daydreaming about what I would've done if I were George Lucas with billions of dollars and all the magic of ILM behind me. (Cue daydream here...)
First, I would have made Anakin less the rebellious teenager and more of a withdrawn loner. He would have been almost bipolar: showing elements of greatness and leadership, but then drifting back to his dark, almost callous side. This would have made it more plausable that Padmé would have fallen for him...and more realistic that he become Darth Vader (who is hardly impetuous or reckless)!
Next, I would have made Obi-Wan and Anakin better friends: less master-apprentice and more co-equal. Not that Obi-Wan wouldn't be more powerful than Anakin, but only because he kept himself under control--not because of brute strength. They could have shown this if they had sparred (friendly-like) in Episode II--which would have been an allusion to their seminal fight in Episode III and their final fight in Episode IV. This also would have made Obi-Wan's attempts to save Anakin from his dark side all the more meaningful, and his death at Vader's hand more emotional and tragic.
Third, I would have made the Jedi Council more organized. It always came across as a bunch of individuals bickering, when it should have felt more like a society with a great deal of history and respect. You should have WANTED to be a Jedi. They should have retained their mystery and fraternity.
Finally, I would've had Anakin actually hunt down Jedis. It should have started as some internal drive to balance the force, almost psychotic...and only later would he fall under the spell of the Sith. With each succesful hunt and kill, you would have seen him transition toward madness and evil, while becoming more and more powerful. It would have been a greater series of "evil tasks" than killing Jedi apprentice children. (You even could have a part where Obi-Wan finds Anakin and asks him where he's been and Anakin says, 
"Out killing Jedis" very softly. The thought gives me chills!)
8 years ago
3 comments:
Make sure to check out the Youtube link at the bottom!
kudos. could o's? kood owes. kewdoze.
Goodness gracious ... what didn't go wrong with the prequels?
Anakin definitely needed to be a more likable character: he was a whiny putz! It's hard to care that the guy's going to the Dark Side if he's already an annoying jerk in the first place. The audience needed to love Anakin for the whole prequel premise to work. (On the other hand, Padme's confession of love came as a total surprise because, the reasonable mind figured, there was no way Natalie Portman would fall for such a childish twerp. So, sure, a believable relationship there would have been nice, too.)
I agree also that Anakin and Obi-Wan should have been more like friends. A glimmer of the camaraderie that could have been finally showed up in Episode III, and it's part of what made it the best prequel. Creating a brotherly bond twixt the two would also have ramped up the drama in their inevitable duel.
And Anakin's slide to the Dark Side was badly mishandled. Much more of that should have been developed in Episode II; what little attempt there was to do that in Attack of the Clones was laughable. I liked Anakin's love for Padme being one of the primary motivations for his fall, but all in all it would have been much better not to go from "Hi, I'm Anakin, Jedi hero!" to "I'm gonna kill me some kids!" in the course of one freakin' scene. (Incidentally, problem #5732245 with the prequels: referring to children as "younglings". Ugh.)
Here's the plot development I wanted: Anakin starts to become more and more distant n' troubled; Padme doesn't know who to confide in, eventually turning to Obi-Wan; yadda-yadda-yadda, Padme gets knocked up; Anakin finds out about it; and it is this startling development that tips Anakin over the edge to the Dark Side and motivates the Obi-Wan/Anakin duel. And HOLY COW Obi-Wan is really Luke and Leia's dad! Now that's drama!
Also, I would have liked Darth Vader to have a lil' more screen time, perhaps continuing his Jedi extermination campaign.
Oh, well. At least John Williams did the score.
Post a Comment