George Lucas is 61 years old today, and I think I've hit on the core reason I'm less pleased with Eps. 1-3 than with 4-6: Less character development.
I haven't seen enough of Qui-Gon (quickly gone) Jinn and Mace Windu to root for them the way I did Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, Lando, and even Wedge Antilles ("Rebel base, this is Rogue 2. I've found them. Repeat, I've found them.")
Thanks to mass media, I've heard Qui-Gonn and Mace Windu are powerful Jedi, but aside from some fancy work with a light saber (which I'd expect from any Jedi), I haven't seen in the movies themselves what makes these characters unique.
I'll say the same for the young Anakin and Obi-Wan. At this stage, Anakin is merely tempted toward the Dark Side, which adds up to brooding onscreen ("I hate them. I hate them so much! I hate them!"), and Obi-Wan has yet to become the wise witness to history portrayed by Alec Guiness. Even Yoda seems more the prissy headmaster than the crafty grandfather.
In short, these characters have yet to be put in positions to really show what they're made of. Many of Anakin's formative years—an excellent chance for viewers to warm to him—were passed over with the ten-year gap between Episode I and II.
2 comments:
Advance word is that Revenge of the Sith is well done. However, I still say what's missing from this series is the Everyman. Han Solo cast a skeptic's eye at all the Jedi stuff in the original trilogy. In this prequel trilogy everyone is a Jedi...
Well, Luke was still pretty relatable after he became a Jedi, as were Ben ("You don't need to see his identification. These aren't the droids you're looking for.") and Yoda ("Good food, yes?")
But what you may be getting at is Eps. 1-3 are more pure fantasy whereas 4-6 are fantasy/sci-fi/comedy/Greek tragedy, something for every taste.
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