3 Mistakes that KILLED Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (Writing Advice)

[@OrangeHand]

Jedi Council: 'Anakin, go and protect this hot senator on a lush romantic world, but don't fall in love with her, got it?'

[@Don-ol8ze]

Padme, dressed in skin tight black pleather accentuating all her features, in a darkened room with a fireplace alone with Anakin: "We can't be together."

[@feathercompressor]

@@Don-ol8ze that dress is about to pinch her in half! Even if the dialogue didn't make me uncomfortable, seeing Natalie Portman putting up with that would do it for sure.

[@evancarlson5805]

"Wouldn't it be safer to send us somewhere sandy?"

[@KurokamiNajimi]

That actually is the point they wanted him to prove he could uphold the Jedi code

[@beescheeseandwineplease889]

Got it! …5 minutes later…😍🥰🍆💦🌮

[@bobothy4903]

I don’t like attack of the clones, it’s coarse, rough, and it gets everywhere

[@baahcusegamer4530]

This

[@elijahn8992]

To be angry is to be human Ani

[@Bluesine_R]

You have clones attacking all over you?

[@adammartin5866]

Not like Empire Strikes back. That movie is soft...and smooth

[@J31]

@@adammartin5866 Ah, you truly belong here with us among the clouds

[@GregMcNeish]

The biggest issue with Attack of the Clones was that it wasn't focused on building the relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan. They barely interact in The Phantom Menace, have an opening act here then spend the rest of the movie apart, and then at the end of the opening action scene of Revenge of the Sith - which is built specifically to pay off the "you were my brother" relationship of Obi-Wan & Anakin - there's this joking exchange: Anakin: You owe me one, and not for saving your skin for the tenth time. Obi-Wan: Ninth time! That business on [planet name] doesn't count. The instant I heard that in the theatre, all I could think was, "why didn't I watch *THAT* movie???" You want to know the one, single change that would have had the biggest impact on the overall quality of the prequel trilogy? Episode Two should have been a buddy-cop movie of Anakin & Obi-Wan saving the dang galaxy. THEIR relationship was the most important of all for the betrayal and final confrontation to land, not Anakin & Padme. Anakin never even full-on betrayed Padme (he let her down, told her off, and abandoned her, but never outright betrayed her). It's Obi-Wan whose heart got ripped out, yet that's the relationship that got the least establishment through the middle of the trilogy.

[@TomieJaeger]

Wow you make a great point that I never really thought about. To me because I had watched the Clone Wars I really understood the bond and brotherhood between Anakin and Obi-Wan, which made that fight on Mustafar and the complete destruction of their relationship so tragic, but the movies completely gloss over that. Just expecting you to realize they're that close without showing any of it. Excellent point, and it really made me further realize how much the Clone Wars makes the prequels better, when it shouldn't have needed a spinoff animated series to flesh out these themes and relationships.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Great point. Anakin insists Obi-Wan is like a father to him, but we don't actually get to see why.

[@R3_dacted0]

I see your points but I disagree with your premise. The point of the prequels was not the relationship between Anakin and Obi-Wan. The betrayal is meant to have emotional value, but it's not the main point. The point is to show how love and compassion can lead someone to the Dark Side. Therefore Padme and Anakin's relationship with her is supposed to be primary.

[@xavierthomas5835]

​@R3_dacted0 That's the point, but not the vehicle. If we're gonna talk about the Force, and how the Dark side and light interact, it'd make much more sense for the two characters involved to have something to do with the force. The juxtaposition accentuates what it is they're trying to show, instead of spending that time on a relationship that's created and ends for?

[@krraika1847]

@@xavierthomas5835 The thing is, the issue has less to do with characters talking about the Force and more with characters just talking in general (without bickering as seen in AotC). The more important thing is that, in order to show Anakin's development and fall, his relationship with Obi-Wan is as crucial as with Padme. Obi-Wan is supposed to be his mentor and friend, who trained him and first tried to redeem him from the Dark Side as according to the OT. But none of that is ever developed, as are other stuff (e.g. Anakin never trying to rescue his mom in both the 10 years after TPM and when he's with Padme, Anakin's training is never explored, Anakin's "extraordinary powers" are never shown, Anakin's relationship with the Jedi as a whole, Anakin's relationship with Palpatine, etc.). We are thus not given any proper context for why Anakin is supposed to turn against the Jedi and do terrible things, let alone shown the actual transformation or (more importantly) show any good in him. It's why Anakin in the PT is such a terribly-written character and is character assassination for Darth Vader as a whole.

[@goatbackr380]

I actually like Attack of the Clones. My only criticism of it would probably be the lack of development regarding the Jedi Council's decision to keep Anakin's mom in slavery. After Anakin kills the Tuscans, he should be upset at Obi-Wan and the Jedi for not freeing his mother and thereby causing her death, not that Obi-Wan was "holding him back".

[@taragnor]

Yeah, that would have made such a more powerful motivation and one that had more emotional weight. They should have made Anakin asking them to help him get his mom out of slavery be a major plot point. Then when he thinks Padme is in danger and turns to Palpatine, it makes a lot more sense since the Jedi already failed to save his mother. Possibly they could even set the seeds for it with Palpatine initially offering him money to buy his mother out of slavery, but Anakin refuses because it's 'not the jedi way' or something and he's trusting in the council to free her.

[@samuelebincoletto637]

I've got to say, this is actually a very good point, you also gave a good alternative as well.

[@clementine9]

@@taragnor Perfect fix 👌🏻

[@KurokamiNajimi]

Because Jedi aren’t suppose to hold attachment. Yes they could save his mother but the only reason they’d be doing that opposed to saving anyone else in the galaxy is because of his emotions. Goes against their ideals I use to be confused at Obi-Wan but what I gather his cope was is that if he had became a knight sooner he could have gone and saved his mother a long time ago. So he was on some level blaming the Jedi. I think the reason the films or even TCW (not sure about other EU material) don’t do anything with this is because of what I mentioned before. You can’t really have a convo around it when it’s already understood attachment is forbidden and we can’t have much of him thinking of it as their fault because he links it back to what he considers his own decisions and incompetence

[@ThreadBareHope1234]

I used to wonder about that too. I feel George Lucas doesn't reiterate particular points enough. 1) In the Phantom Menace, Shmee says "The Republic has no power out here" when Padme asks how there is slavery on Tatooine, that the Republic wouldn't allow it. 2) There's a lot of argument around what the relationship between the Jedi Order and Republic was and if it was wrong, but basically they were allied with the republic. The jedi likely cannot go tearing down systems of trade/ government they don't like. So we can infer that Jedi messing up Tatooine's slave business would likely cause the Hutts to ahte the Republic and join the Separatists. Idk, though. 3) The jedi aren't cops. I won't get too abstract about the Jedi's purpose, but many people think that both the jedi should obey the Will of the Force only (as if the Force cares about slavery) and at the same time interfere with everyone that is unjust, which is double think. I don't think slavery messes with the balance of the universe, so which is it. Should the Jedi Order war with everyone that's unjust or are they staying out of everything unless it hurts "balance"?

[@elijahn8992]

Mistake 1: Anakin and Padme Mistake 2: Anakin and Padme Mistake 3: Anakin and Padme Got it😂

[@Ironica82]

Pretty much my complaint as well. Once Obi leaves them, all their stuff sucks until Obi meets them again in the arena.

[@lindildeev5721]

The worst is that there's a deleted scene when Padme takes Anakin to the house of their parents and this scene does much more to their relationship than the whole trilogy. Anakin have a private conversation with Padme's father and they talk about how Padme seems to underestimate the danger surrounding her.

[@alih122]

@@elijahn8992 mistake 4: your existance

[@tm0855]

Your rewrite sounds way more intriguing than the original!

[@AlexRamirez-fj4dj]

Now i’m wishing we can have a rewrite of ep 2.

[@ludovico6890]

Because it properly develops Annakin and shows his turn to the Dark Side in a logical and plausible manner.

[@tonykay3117]

Agreed.

[@PurpleSun8933]

I'd buy that for a dollar.

[@kryptonianguest1903]

The only thing I don't like about the rewrite is Anakin leaving the Tuskan Raiders and then going back to kill them. It feels clunky. Better to have Anakin's mother being held by a small group of adult male Tuskans who Anakin kills while rescuing her. When he tells Padme what happened, he says he's going to find the village they came from and wipe them out. Padme talks him out of it, but later he stumbles across the village while doing something else. He gives in to temptation and slaughters them. Later, he tells Padme and we get back to the part of the rewrite where Padme is initially horrified by Anakin's actions.

[@tearstoneactual9773]

Those proposed changes would have made Attack of the Clones sooo much better and more powerful. Anakin wouldn't have come off like a whiny brat. (Not Hayden's fault.) Also a good, if not great editor could have sorted this all out, probably.

[@spencerwattamaniuk950]

Wasn't George Lucas heavily involved in the editing room as well? I don't think even the best editors can outrun tyrannical direction.

[@CdFMasterVideo]

That's what happened with the first Star Wars, the development of the plot and the building of suspense was terrible, but Lucas seeked advice and his wife, as the editor, fixed it all. I suppose in 2001 no one dared to give the Almighty George Lucas some advice or suggest significant changes to his work.

[@mrpotatoguy1]

Anakin is supposed to come across like a whiny brat just like Luke was. And yes, people complained and new watchers still complain about Luke's whininess. You don't "fix' something by changing the writers initial intention. I honestly find it funny how these prequel haters or movie "critics" still talk about these films decades later. They're obsessed with these films. Maybe because they're too good.

[@Daniel-en1on]

Without this movie there would be no Anakin and Padmé in the grass or the confused Obi Wan meme templates

[@ramonacosta2647]

I hate bad dialogue. It gets everywhere.

[@romakrelian]

"I hate women dialogue, and children dialogue too!"

[@Don-ol8ze]

Probably what frustrated me most about the prequels was the coincidences,ad absurdum all for cheap nostalgia bait. Darth Vader built C-3PO as a child? Sure he did. Boba Fett was the original clone? Sure he was.

[@ludovico6890]

The galaxy far, far away does come off as extremely small in the prequels. Seems to be a village where everyone is related. A hamlet even.

[@RomanCigić]

You didn't hear people theorising about Cal Kestis being Obi Wan's child? And how Obi Wan was in a relationship with queen of Mandalore? I dont like how Star Wars makes every single person have some connections to something.

[@erakfishfishfish]

Yeah, that kind of fan service stuff always leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Like C-3PO and R2D2’s cameo in Rogue One. Totally unnecessary.

[@mrpotatoguy1]

If you knew anything about SW you would know that 3PO and R2 belong in all 6 movies. How is Anakin building 3P0 nostalgia bait? If he keeps on doing the same things he did in the OT or repeating the same lines I could understand you . I don't think you or know what nostalgia bait is.

[@erakfishfishfish]

@@mrpotatoguy1 why do 3PO and R2 belong in the prequels? It causes more problems than build the world, raises too many questions. (Why didn’t Vader recognize 3PO? Why didn’t Obi-Wan and R2 recognize each other? Why didn’t R2 recognize Owen and Beru? Why doesn’t R2 fly in the original trilogy when that would’ve been extremely useful?) These answers have probably all been explained away in some obscure comic book nobody read, but that kind of gap filling doesn’t count (much like saying “but in the book it says…” doesn’t count). The truth is, if you leave the droids out of the prequels entirely and have them be random droids thrust into the adventure in Episode IV, nothing is lost. They were created so Lucas could tell the story from the POV of the lowliest characters a la the 2 peasants from The Hidden Fortress. If he wanted the same for the prequels, what was to stop him from picking different ones that don’t appear in the original trilogy? (Actually, he did, but it was Jar Jar, a character that could’ve worked in the hands of a better writer and director.)

[@xeroprotagonist]

I think some other big mistakes were still rooted in the first movie: we didn't get much if any development of Anakin's relationship with his mom in the first movie and she doesn't really have a personality as an independent character, so her death doesn't really land narratively the way it should, Padme also needed more of a character arc spanning the trilogy to bring her together in her unlikely relationship with Anakin in a believable way, and Darth Maul completely lacking characterization and then getting chopped in half in the first movie leaves us with Count Dooku as a midseason replacement who then doesn't have enough time to properly assume the role of the villain. And the common thread in all this too is that the prequels focused on a convoluted plot, CG spectacle, and bloated tensionless action scenes over actually developing characters, which was something the original trilogy carefully avoided and the sequel trilogy more than doubled down on.

[@ShinGallon]

One of the best things the Clone Wars show did was actually bother developing these characters. CW Anakin is actually a well written and developed character whose fall to darkness is well foreshadowed as well as tragic, and what Filoni did with Darth Maul is nothing short of astounding. To say nothing of how well it treats Padme and Obi-Wan. That show is far and away the best thing to come out of the Prequels.

[@RaveyTeamLarge]

It is a film though not a book, you cant expect every minor character to have a development arc. Anakin's mum was around for the first and second film far more than Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru in the original Star Wars (now called ep4) who get burnt alive and Luke never mentions them again. Padme got a giantic relationship arc with Anakin, it's in the Clone Wars which is 7 seasons. I think you are like the channel owner and are thinking book and not film.

[@thomasjeppesen3055]

Do you really need the mother to be a more independent character to percieve her death as impactful? She’s the mother of the protagonist and he made a very clear promise to her when he last saw her that he couldn’t fulfill. I don’t Think you could change much about that part of the narrative and make it more impactful that it already was.

[@xeroprotagonist]

@thomasjeppesen3055 if Shmi Skywalker was a character the audience cared about independent of her being Anakin's mom, I think her dying would have that much more impact. I feel like this is a common writing mistake, actually, one of the big problems with 'fridging' characters like this for another character's development is that killing off a 1-dimensional background character the audience doesn't care about doesn't have a lot of punch, even if the character cares about them a lot. The moment that the guy who was fated to become Darth Vader first gave in to the Dark Side and killed a bunch of people needed to be more climactic. The fact that the audience has no reason to care about the Sand People he kills either also lessens the impact of the scene.

[@thomasjeppesen3055]

@@xeroprotagonist I don’t see how the story could have developed her more than they already did without sacrificing the pacing or restructering the entire story. Besides I still don’t get why you don’t think her death wasn’t tragic enough as it is. She was a mother who had to let her only child go so he wouldn’t grow up as a slave. What more did you want from her?

[@feathercompressor]

Jango kills Zam with a poison dart which is instantly traceable to Kamino. Otherwise Obi-wan would never have found him and discovered the clone army, and all the Jedi in the Geonosis arena would have died. It's such a flimsy bit, and I hate that Obi-wan didn't get to do any real investigating, just a "phone a friend" convo with Dex and then show up and act like you belong while the Kaminoans info-dump you the entire plot without checking your ID.

[@krraika1847]

It falls under "acting stupid for the sake of the plot." It's what turns characters into walking plot devices than people with motivations and arcs.

[@feathercompressor]

@@krraika1847 sadly, the worst part is that Obi-wan is known from A New Hope to be skilled at affecting the "weak-minded", a power that is perfect for this sort of investigation but which doesn't get used?? Idk, I can only hope I avoid these issues in my own writing.

[@krraika1847]

@@feathercompressor Obi-Wan and Anakin really get the shaft, with the former being made more into a liar and the latter made into a psycho in the PT. It's just one of many issues with not only the prequels but the sequels too.

[@Princesilk347]

And on top of that, the clone army itself is never explained why it came to be. It's like a super convenient plot point that is there because the writer needed clones in the story. Also, side note, but no one even thinks to question that the clone army is made from a dude who's working for the enemy?? Like some Jedi should definitely be all "Wait, you said this was Jango Fett who they cloned? I don't think we should trust this army."

[@krraika1847]

@@Princesilk347 It's not the just the Jedi who should've questioned it but the entire Senate too. Think about it: there's this army made in the millions for the past decade without anyone's knowledge. Aside from that and the fact it was made from Jango (who was shown to be working with Dooku), the clone army is also an army of slaves bred for war. You'd think at least Padme would be against it since she was 1) appalled seeing slavery in TPM and 2) was against the Republic having a military in the first place, but nope. It's like RLM said: "You don't think about it. Just consume next product."

[@rercfd12]

I like your introduction: „I am haunted by the dialogue that George Lucas should never have given Anakin.“ That moment is really fun and you got my attention…

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks!

[@JamesRDavenport]

The Prequels were such a wasted opportunity. I always saw Anakin more as if he'd be Han Solo the Jedi in his youth. Playful, inventive, outgoing, a delinquent, a passion to help the little guy, a heart for true justice. He's at odds with council making his own rules yet they tolerate his rogue behavior because he's the Chosen One. This would then repeat the pattern. Padme a proper noblewoman always by the book and Anakin teasing her for it. They fight, but she secretly admires his passion and skill. He secretly admires her for being steadfast and grounding him to the truth. This is romantic tension. It would also make his fall all the more tragic.

[@EH23831]

Yes - Anakin was never likeable. I was actually impatient for him to turn to the dark side… he was such a whiney bore!

[@JamesRDavenport]

@@EH23831 And I don't blame Hayden for that either. In the behind the scenes, I got the impression that's where his instincts would've gone with the character if George would have allowed him the freedom to add his own input. What might've been!

[@kmexperience]

What frustrated me most about Attack of the Clones was the clone subplot. Obi Wan finds a clone factory that was apparently ordered by the Jedi, but can only be traced to someone who is dead (and apparently did nothing to document it). The clones are all modeled on a psychotic bounty hunter who tried to assassinate the queen … and even if Obi Wan didn’t connect him to that specific crime … the bounty hunter still tried to kill HIM twice. So I would say that makes for a red flag, even if the Jedi didn’t know that all the clones can become even ala the Krusty the Clown doll. It seems insane that the Jedi would use the Clone army at all. From what I understand, the Clone Wars show did a lot to explain the ongoing investigations of the clones. That was a great idea … we just needed to see some of that in the movie.

[@ShinGallon]

The Clone Wars show also explains WHY the Clones would suddenly turn on the Jedi they've spent years fighting alongside, and several of them get actual development and personalities (Commander Rex is an amazing character). To say nothing of what the show does for Anakin and Obi-Wan, and Padme, and Darth Maul, and Ahsoka...it's far and away the best thing about the prequels, definitely recommended.

[@kmexperience]

@@ShinGallonyup. These shows take the deep dives to give you the info that the movies missed. They’ve already filled in some of the blanks with the sequels, and I’m sure much more is on the way.

[@adquinta]

Well said. I think what’s frustrating is Attack of the Clones isn’t bad. . .it just could’ve been so much better.

[@baahcusegamer4530]

Anakin is an avatar of George Lucas without Marsha to filter him before he hits the screen.

[@thomasjeppesen3055]

No, that’s Luke. Anakin being his avatar would be very concerning. Anakin was always intended to be problematic by Lucas.

[@johnriddlebaugh7436]

Count Dooku doesn't show up until more than halfway into the movie. The Jedi Council is in the same room with Palpatine and no one comments "The Dark Side is strong in this one." Dooku even drops the hint that the Sith Lord they seek is has a high seat in the Old Republic, yet no one investigates it until the next movie.

[@ThreadBareHope1234]

Because it's likely around all politicians with selfish and malicious intentions. Duh

[@GepardenK]

That part works though. The entire point is that the Jedi Council has become too tainted by politics to scrutinize their own side, which is why they allow themselves to become soldiers in a war to begin with even though they are supposed to be unemotional and impartial.

[@kdrecords4562]

The true 3 mistakes are the properties of sand. 1) It's unlikable. 2) It's coarse/rough/irritating. 3) It gets everywhere.

[@Redoestimate1988]

I always used to skip over the romance scenes when I watched this movie as a kid xD

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

"A smart kid you were." - Yoda

[@CoveWeaverStudios]

@@WriterBrandonMcNultykind of like how you would skip the opening scene of last crusade, you said it in your bad prologue and good prologue video. Side note: one of the people I work with actually bears a somewhat resemblance to River Phoenix, you can find him in our pet commercial video.

[@reubenmanzo2054]

I think the romance scenes can be likened to chess, where you make a move that doesn't have an immediate effect but instead sets up a situation that has long-term consequences. These scenes set up Anakin's fall in Episode III.

[@Syryu]

For me the most frustrating thing was when you watch the bloopers for the movie, Hayden and Natalie had plenty of chemistry between scenes. There was one small bit where Hayden was just casually juggling while talking to her and her laughing along, and there was a blooper where Hayden sips some soup and he exclaims "Oh, that's really hot!" And every time Hayden ran he tripped over something. These are bloopers but I wished some were kept into the film because it would really help endear the audience to Anakin. He came to Jedi "late" according to the Order and therefore he would have the most human reaction to things that most Jedi are trained to remain stoic on. Adding in Hayden's bloopers and their between scenes chemistry would also explain why Padme loves Anakin to begin with. Her life has been entirely about diplomacy and politics. She's been surrounded by people who often say one thing, mean another thing, and then do something else entirely. The Jedi while admirable are very hard to approach or even understand when you're not used to them. They're constantly speaking in riddles to the average person and even to politicians they are really opaque. Anakin would be a breath of fresh air to Padme. He's awkward and kind of goofy but he's sincere and earnest and actually comes off as person rather than a mass of dogma and policies. This is probably what George was going for which is why Padme doesn't say anything about his awkward word vomit dialog but to me they picked the worst takes to showcase it.

[@connorking1386]

Brandon showing off his writing prowess rewriting Star Wars 👀😏

[@stratoplayer1988]

I used to think that Attack of the Clones was the weakest entry in the Star Wars franchise. Then somehow, the bad writing returned in the sequel trilogy.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

SOMEHOW

[@MichaelJPartyka]

It is still the weakest entry. Even TROS tops it.

[@spaceagepenguin]

Episodes VII and VIII do not suffer from poor writing Episode VII is a solid film and I do not have any major problems with it, only a few nitpicks. Episode VIII somewhat struggles due to various constraints imposed by Disney. The studio instructed Rian Johnson that he could explore creative possibilities, but he could not kill off any main characters, the film could not exceed three hours in length, and it had to conclude with a happy ending. Episode IX, on the other hand, faces more significant issues because it was rushed. While there are some good ideas in the film, it ultimately needed more time to develop and breathe.

[@MichaelJPartyka]

@spaceagepenguin Episode IX's problem was that it should've been used as a springboard for new stories rather than a "now with even more finality" ending. Rian Johnson left IX's handlers with open-ended possibilities, and they chose the most banal and uninspired route.

[@tylere.8436]

​@MichaelJPartyka I disagree. I'd rather watch AOTC at gun point than voluntarily watch TROS.

[@RickClark58]

"Badly translated videogame" had me laughing. So true.

[@asmith3846]

Aside: To connect the series, I expected Anakin to humorously use phrases that Darth Vader would darkly use later, like "Come now, Master--I find your lack of faith disturbing" or similar.

[@christopherhunt1957]

Padme: "I truly, deeply, love you." How? Why? I almost yelled that at the theater.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

What frustrated you most about Attack of the Clones (or the Prequels in general)? Let us know!

[@yashjoseph3544]

The dry and bland exposition.

[@krraika1847]

Pretty much, Anakin being a piece of crap. Anakin killed women and children in AotC for a mom he didn't care for--let alone did nothing about (despite breaking the Jedi Code several times to get into Padme's pants and him having visions of his mom in pain)--and he suffered no consequences. It's as bad as Luke trying to kill his nephew since both instances ruin what the two are supposed to be: good men, first and foremost. Not helped that Anakin repeats the same problem in RotS by doing little about his visions of his wife dying.

[@MichaelJPartyka]

The biggest mistake came right at the beginning: Anakin should not have been secret-crushing on Padme all those years. That made him seem like a creepy stalker kid than merely someone excited to see someone he once knew. It also made Padme have to shut him down in that cringey moment where she literally says, "You'll always be that 10YO boy to me." When the two of them met, it should've been a happy meeting without awkwardness. The awkwardness would have come at the moment Anakin rushed into Padme's bedchamber to save her. Once he had dispatched the killer droid, there should've been a long pause of Anakin and Padme staring at each other -- him seeing her as a desirable woman in bed; her seeing him as a powerful Jedi. That would've been the trigger point for their romance, breaking them free of their original attitudes toward each other and giving them the potential for another level of relationship.

[@baahcusegamer4530]

Ironically, I have fond memories of Phantom Menace. It entertained me, despite its flaws. I found most of Attack of the Clones frankly boring. Revenge of the Sith was fine for the first 20 minutes then meh until the end, which was the tragic end. 8 years ago, I wished the prequels to be decanonized. Then the sequel trilogy happened. And now, like Thanos, I feel perhaps I was too harsh on the prequels. Though give me some infinity stones and I would totally snap both sets of movies out of existence and replace them with something more appealing.

[@blshouse]

They missed the opportunity to cash in on the Jar Jar annoyance by having him revealed as the true Dark Lord of the Sith in Episode 3. The Palpatine/Jar Jar fight would have been epic!

[@AndrewKelley]

Anyone can criticize but it takes real skill to provide a concrete and compelling fix. Kudos!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks!

[@LordBaktor]

It's been a long time but I feel something missing is "where" Anakin fell from. We get an impulsive brat that complains all the time and we get the fallen hero but we never get to see the actual hero that fell. The Anakin we meet ending up evil is sad but it doesn't feel world shakingly tragic as it should. Same with the love story, Padme falls in love with a version of Anakin that we never see on screen.

[@ThreadBareHope1234]

That is actually a good point. Like I understand making him troubled, rude, and untamed from the start (showing his core flaws) but if he was more Jedi-like at least outwardly, it would be easier to buy into the idea that "oh he is becoming bad, the more time he spends with Palpatine." Having him be very proud from the start was a good idea though, he needed to have some responsibility for his fall. And I agree with the Padme part. Even as a kid who bought into basic stuff like the Jedi are good guys, I still did not get what Padme saw in Anakin. Also what was Obi Wan remembering when he said Anakin was a good friend and a cunning warrior? They didn't get along much until Revenge of the Sith. If Obi wan and Anakin mostly respected one another up until Anakin's turn, it would've driven home Anakin's paranoia and jealousy rather than everyone blaming Obi wan for everything. He owned it but that doesn't mean it was all his fault. Palpatine and Anakin both should be sharing all the blame.

[@NomahsSportsCards]

Really, really enjoyed this one! I wish I could see a recut of this movie with you as the writer!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Haha thanks!

[@robpegler6545]

One thing I always found jarring (in all the prequels, but especially this one) was the editing. In a well-written and properly edited film, the dialogue in each scene flows to a natural end point before the scene change. A good example would be in The Empire Strikes Back, when Yoda's just Force-lifted Luke's X-Wing out of the swamp. Luke says "I don't believe it," and Yoda sagely replies "That is why you fail." And then the screen wipes, because that line is clearly the right place to end that scene. Yoda's made his point, Luke's learned a valuable lesson, and the story moves on. In AOTC, that doesn't happen. Two characters are talking, and then suddenly the screen wipes to the next scene, seemingly right in the middle of their conversation. The scene isn't over, it just ENDS. It's clunky and unsatisfying, and it happens all through the film.

[@9neometa]

I've yet to read any of your books but your insight into storytelling is excellent.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thank you!

[@cole6843]

Anakin tells Padme and she's not that affected. She is a compassionate humanitarian. It makes no sense. It would make more sense for Anakin to tell Palpatine. Anakin shouldn't have told Padme at all.

[@jeremyarcus-goldberg9543]

I support your comment on the good parts of the last 45 minutes of the movie. It is some of the best moments of quippy, character based banter, along with excitement, romance, and action.

[@screenname8267]

How about: "Oh, this is such a drag" "I'm quite beside myself" Ignoring that 3PO was canonically unable to operate if his head was not attached to his body (Chewie had to attach his head before he could switch him on), "this is such a drag" is in no way whatsoever the manner in which 3PO talked. ...the scene also calls into question how droids work... because 3PO's head was unable to control his actions, and sometimes words, meaning the body of the battle Droid controlled those... yet 3PO's body was controlled by the battle droid's head, which acted and spoke in a normal manner, meaning that the head was in control... it also means that any time a Jedi decapitated a battledroid, they should have continued firing, as the body was in control, not the head.

[@Gareth-410]

All excellent points that I'd never even considered in all these years. 😂

[@krraika1847]

If you tell that to Lucas, he'd say "Oh, these movies are meant for children." He did the same when talking about Jar Jar in 1999.

[@oliverford5367]

My fix for the prequels is to make episode 2 into episode 1, and episode 2 be what they left to The Clone Wars TV show. The Jedi launch a rescue mission to Tatooine to free the people enslaved by Darth Maul and his battle droids. Obi Wan rescues two brothers - Anakin and Owen - and discovers Anakin's gift for the Force. He takes Anakin back to Coruscant while Owen urges him to stay on Tatooine. Senator Palpatine ironically uses the deaths of Jedi as his wedge issue to gain power as Chancellor. He openly tries to create a Clone Army which is voted down, until an attack by Maul on Coruscant. The final scene is Palpatine giving a galaxy wide address demanding all Republic citizens obey the Clones until the Battle Droid army is defeated, promising to decommission the army and give up power once they've won. Episode 2 is the the Clone Wars. Anakin meets Padme. Episode 3 is mostly the same as ROTS

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

YES. I just posted something similar in another comment. Phantom Menace is a waste.

[@oliverford5367]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Yes it starts too early and is disconnected from the other 2. Lucas for some reason leaves the Clone Wars nearly entirely offscreen. But the Wars themselves are the time when Anakin should be tested and start to fall to the Dark. It would be much better if he was traumatized by his experiences in the war, and that's what made him start to kill innocents (possibly he has to get information from someone who protests they're not under Republic jurisdiction, Anakin demands the info and when the man refuses, Anakin kills him). I don't understand why Lucas made Anakin so negative in this. He's really a Sith throughout - in the Naboo scenes he's saying he wants a dictatorship.

[@Kennethmarchant9705]

Awesome analyze, Brandon!

[@Alexey65536]

Episode 2 featured perhaps the dumbest assassin ever. Stupidity of that caliber was painful to watch.

[@LaughWhileItsStillLegal]

You think this guy was bad? Try watching the monks' attempts at eliminating Damien Thorn in the Final Conflict without cringing.

[@HelloSnake]

Great video, I'd love to see more on Star Wars.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks! Aiming to do another Star Wars-focused video in two weeks.

[@johnhughes2653]

"You can write this shit, George, but you just can't say it!" - Harrison Ford during the filming of A New Hope. Some things never change...

[@erakfishfishfish]

I think the same about a lot of Kevin Smith’s dialogue. It’s funny on paper, but his actors really struggle to say it and have it sound natural.

[@johnhughes2653]

Snoogins

[@wlot28]

This ain’t that kind of movie, kid…

[@lucymiau5700]

Anakin should admit to Padme that he wanted to kill the Tucscan Raiders but not admit that he killed them, at least not in this Movie. In this case the Love between Anakin and Padme would already be tainted by him lying to her about his murder rampage. Obiwan should find out about and later Anakin notes that Obiwan has lost some confidence in him. However, in this Movie it should not be spoken about anymore. This would bring some ballast of regret and mistrust in the begin of the 3rd Movie.

[@BooksForever]

I’m an unrepentant nerd - I watched The Fellowship of the Ring 17 times in the theater that year, and simply seeing this Star Wars trailer each time with its terrible dialogue was enough annoyance to ensure that I would NEVER even consider watching any more Star Wars from that point forward. No regrets.

[@errantwinds-up8uu]

I watched Fellowship 9 times in the theater, I salute you lol.

[@erakfishfishfish]

Watch Andor. Trust me on this one. It’s quite honestly the best thing Star Wars has done since Empire Strikes Back.

[@BooksForever]

@@erakfishfishfish is that a standalone movie or a streaming series? Might seem like a dense question, but like I said, I quit the franchise in 2001.

[@erakfishfishfish]

@ It’s a 12-episode streaming series with a second season (and final) coming out next year. (It was planned to be a 2-season series.) It’s a prequel to the Rogue One movie*, but that film isn’t required viewing for the show. The show is created by Tony Gilroy, who also wrote and directed arguably the best legal drama of this century: Michael Clayton. I will say the first 2 episodes of Andor are the slowest, but once the show takes off, it never lets up. *The second half of Rogue One is pretty damn good, but the first half is a scattered mess due to reshoots.

[@Lithilic]

I really like the idea of dissecting individual scenes or movies. Granted your general overviews with examples are great, but I think this is a good thing to mix-in too with some deep dives. I like how you pointed out that his awkward dialog (assuming it was intentional, which it obviously was not) should have consequences. It sounds so obvious but I think it's definitely a fatal flaw when people try to write quirky characters- the author may assume that makes them relatable or endearing but it's the struggles they face as a consequence that we relate to, not their bizarre behavior in and of itself.

[@kalfive555]

George Lucas is an amazing producer. And he had a great team with him that created the original trilogy - together. He's a crap writer and director when he got an ego and claims he created everything solo and tries to do every job: Writer, director, and producer. And nobody will dare tell him something is a bad idea.

[@alih122]

You have no idea what the hell you’re talking about just stop

[@billblond5727]

I think pacing was an incredible problem in all 3 of the prequels... I remember seeing him kill the younglings and thinking, "Waaaaaaay too soon..." it wasn't believable. I feel like Breaking Bad is the gold standard of a man's descent into darkness, but Episode 3 wasn't even on the same planet... well, figuratively speaking lol

[@holywarz]

“I failed you” - the queen’s decoy, before dying on the first assassination attempt. How George? HOW? This movie is incredibly stupid.

[@Alexey65536]

"This actually is the exact reason your job exists. So you did great!" (c) Hishe

[@Princesilk347]

Ha too true! Also, no points out, but why would they want to assassinate Padme anyways? She wants to give Palpatine more power and authority to fight the Separatists. If Palpatine is pulling the strings, then succeeding in killing her hurts his plan to gain more power. And if he doesn't kill her (which he apparently tries multiple times to do via the assassins), then he gets really lucky that his plans don't work out.

[@ellennewth6305]

I so agree with you, Brandon. Episode 1 was so bad, I never bothered with Episode 2. Such a disappointment after the original trilogy!!!

[@kurticusmaximus]

This was immensely insightful. Your revision of the Anakin and Padme romance story works really well. Helps me see if my own writing has serious pacing issues also.

[@solhelian91]

The most frustrating thing about Attack of the Clones was that it wasn't the first movie. Phantom Menace took time away from the Hayden Christensen version of Anakin that was needed for better story development. And all just so they could market toys to kids.

[@glentz716]

Yep. The first movie is not needed at all. They needed more time to create a non-rushed believable path for hero Anakin to turn into bad Anakin and actually hunt down and destroy all the Jedi he was supposed to have killed instead of a bunch of clone troopers doing it for him. Having him kill a bunch of kids was a bad idea.

[@paulrukavishnikov5171]

I was that kid who got fascinated with the setting because of the sequels. I was that kid who nagged his parents to buy him another Lego piece of the Trade Federation tank. So here's that. I'd probably never know anything about the setting if not for the sequels and their commercial success. Today I can watch those videos on KZbin where people criticize them for poor writing and preposterous dialogue and agree. Still, I will always be grateful they introduced me to the Star Wars universe.

[@solhelian91]

@@paulrukavishnikov5171 But did you need Phantom Menace for that? What if it had started from Attack of the Clones, or at an earlier point, but with a grown-up Anakin?

[@paulrukavishnikov5171]

@Deluthan77 I don't think so. As a kid I thought the AotC boring and I don't even remember watching the third one up until I was 16 or so. As a kid I thought Ja-Ja the funniest thing alive - I parroted his manner of speech annoying my parents and peers at school. And the Trade Federation tanks was like the coolest tech - just behind the rickety racing thingies featured in the first half. To me as a kid it really was the "first" movie that nailed it

[@davidanderson4748]

And it was a dumb marketing move at that. Kids don’t pretend to be kids when they play, they pretend to be adults.

[@raylast3873]

The most frustrating thing was that I had no idea what was going on after Obi-Wan leaves Coruscant, and especially why anything was happening.

[@crispyandspicy6813]

Anakin: "Yeah so i genocided an entire village because of my mommy issues" Padme: "I am literally DRIPPING." Would've feed well if they were gonna reveal Padme was going to be a Sith actually. Or if Instead of Padme it was Palpatine in disguise. That one would've made it absolute kino

[@G-Blockster]

I remember being disappointed by Clones. I had hoped to start right in the middle of the war, maybe a battle that turned the tide. Instead, what we received was dreadful, nothing like I had hoped. Instead of fast-paced, it was boring. Instead of witty dialog, we had ... that mess that was so on-the-nose. I never had any moves in school, but compared to Anikan, I was a regular Casanova.

[@Alaedious]

So many great points! 👍

[@mccsnackin]

What’s become obvious to me seeing documentaries about the original trilogy is the reason they didn’t come out a complete disaster was you had people like George’s wife and Carrie Fisher editing George’s bad ideas. Then the prequels make perfect sense.

[@erakfishfishfish]

He had people willing to tell him “no” in the original trilogy. For the prequels, he was surrounded by syncophants.

[@caedrewan]

I like this quick re-write - as you were building up to the idea, I thought the dilemma could present itself as: Anakin goes after his mother, but is barred from progression by some sand people. He knows he could overpower them, but hesitates because it wouldn't be the Jedi way - and it's that hesitation that results in Shmi not getting the medical help early enough to save her life. I guess this is an explicit version of what had already been Anakin's story - his years of following the Jedi way in his day-to-day training and adventuring meant not returning to where his mother needed him.

[@GarrettPetersen]

Obiwan's plot is fundamentally a detective investigation where the detective doesn't solve the mystery. He has all the pieces to figure out Palpatine's plan, but doesn't put things together. You can do that plot well, but it doesn't land here because the movie doesn't tell the audience what's happening. Here are two ways I might change things: 1) Point the camera at Palpatine. Have him worry that Obiwan will catch him. Make him plot with his minions to throw Obiwan off track. That would add suspense and stakes to Obiwan's investigation. This is a change in focus without largely changing the plot. 2) Have Obiwan solve the mystery, but get captured before he can tell anyone. Then the later part of the movie is Anakin trying and failing in a rescue attempt. This would require major re-writes of this movie and the next one.

[@Rigobert-Wupperschnitzl]

Can't wait for OT videos!

[@OokhEekh]

Wow, Star Wars could use some storywriters like you. Thx for this great analysis and fixes!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks!

[@wojciechwilk1077]

While I do agree with the most of the criticism, I can't agree that suggested solution from 6:41 is good idea: there is a stark difference between premeditated attack on a village and acting on a moment of anger - especially in the context of being a Jedi. I'd argue that it'd be better, if that state was built up gradually, for example by Anakin learning about some attrocieties done by Sand People before. I see the point of story telling, but part of Anakins character building (both in AotC and Clone Wars) has always been that he is eager to act on the moment.

[@MADforSWU]

I like your change to the Tuscan raider scene. I hadn't thought about it much but the complete flip from light to dark without any seen internal dilemma

[@ThreadBareHope1234]

Same. Like I understand making him troubled, rude, and untamed from the start (showing his core flaws) but if he was more Jedi-like at least outwardly, it would be easier to buy into the idea that "oh he is becoming bad, the more time he spends with Palpatine." Having him be very proud from the start was a good idea though, he needed to have some responsibility for his fall. Also what was Obi Wan remembering when he said Anakin was a good friend and a cunning warrior? They didn't get along much until Revenge of the Sith. If Obi wan and Anakin mostly respected one another up until Anakin's turn, it would've driven home Anakin's paranoia and jealousy rather than everyone blaming Obi wan for everything. He owned it but that doesn't mean it was all his fault. Palpatine and Anakin both should be sharing all the blame.

[@chaco_kid]

Nailed it. I found that to enjoy this movie I have to watch it on dvd. Every time they go over to Anakin, I click forward and go directly to the next Obi-Wan bit. The dialogue and the romance was horribly stilted. And the fact that he was so much younger always made it feel icky too (him constantly coming across as stupid and petulant doesn’t help either). Their love story is the reason for the entire next trilogy! It should have been epic and awesome and a chance for us to know them and love them so much that the turn killed us. Instead we just don’t care. That is so much worse. They kinda did the opposite in the newest trilogy… it made no sense that Han and Leia had broken up and had not even spoken for years. This is WAY worse for all of us who had read all of the Star Wars books, after the first trilogy, that were cannon…until Disney bought out SW and ret-conned the universe- destroying Han, Leia, and Luke in the process. 😢

[@carlraetzsch]

The dialogue alone is enough to kill this movie and the prequels in general. Mark Hamill said that the dialogue for the original trilogy was so bad, Harrison Ford threatened to tie George Lucas up and make him say his own lines at gunpoint. The man just writes bad dialogue! Unfortunately, nobody had the guts to tell him when filming the prequels, and so we got "I don't like sand."

[@thomasmann4536]

Apart from the things you mentioned, the most frustrating thing was the amount of plot armor Padme had, especially on Geonosis. She's a diplomat with supposedly little training, and yet she can hold her own against that tiger beast and then later on against the droids.

[@coop1311]

I also didn't like how the Jedi, who had been built up as a group of great warriors, all drop into that open arena to quickly take heavy losses. It felt like the bug-like creatures had a cheap win.

[@justinhebert5155]

I actually love this movie, there are so many things they got right visually, but these suggestions could have made it so much stronger! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[@OratoryJamesIV]

This movie has the worst dialogue in any major, big-budget picture I have ever seen. And as a person who co-hosted a podcast on bad movies for seven years, that is SAYING something. Not to mention the movie suffers from repeated instances of what I call "Tonal Shifts from Hell."

[@bucksdiaryfan]

Its hard to believe the same guy who wrote the iconic "Snowball Dance" spotlight scene in which real and universal emotions about leaving home and losing your significant other are conveyed in such a spot on manner also wrote the unwatchably bad "no one could possibly talk like this" Anakin and Padme scenes. Cindy Williams "putting on a brave face" for the freshman, but simultaneously conveying raw anger to Ron Howard behind her gritted teeth actually happened to me at a wedding... no human has ever encountered a situation where someone talks like Anakin does to Padme or vice versa.

[@natesullivanw24]

The prequel trilogy villain hopping always upset me. If one of these villains had a few movies to build up it could’ve been a great character

[@MethodMaster]

Have you ever considered creating a discord community? It would be a nice dynamic and spot to get writing advice.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

I actually have one for my KZbin Members/Patreon Supporters

[@MethodMaster]

@ Welp, I’m broke. Lol If you ever lose the membership do you lose access to the discord too?

[@athens_1psvr31]

The lasting effects the Prequels had are still being seen today. Due to the popularity the movies were Greenlit and in production without a script. When they were financially successful anyway the studios leaned on that strategy. Now 20+ years later it’s the dominant IP plan.

[@oceaninks]

Damn dude I loved what you added to awaking and killing the raiders. Taking the time to develop. That would have been so much better. I also want to add to the awkward dialogue for a akin argument. It could work like you said if...but all the characters talk like that which is a problem with direction and not the actors, or "purposeful" awkward dialogue.

[@allluckyseven]

4:11 - Here's the point where you earned my like. YES. I COMPLETELY AGREE. Also, Anakin could've been more like Han. And then Padmé could've felt attracted by his bad-boyishness. Hayden Christensen isn't the right actor to play that role, though. Oh, and another thing... I think you're trying to simply fix the movie, but no... The whole trilogy should be rethought.

[@Berethruu]

to add to the 'rushed character emotion' part - he could have snuck back to the camp, the sun starts to rise and he considers letting go, but the tuskens arrive back with another slave they've bought. Fear for the new slave bubbles up and anger overcomes him. He attacks the raiders and the 'saves' the slave, only for that slave to then, panicking, run back to a speeder crying out "you're no jedi, a jedi wouldn't do this", echoing what Padme said to him earlier about the dark side and the consequences that would follow. He now has no choice but to kill an innocent, and start down the dark path. It would be a fantastic tragedy. And believable

[@theprophet9429]

I will never bore of educated analysis on how atrociously written the prequels are.

[@warlawds7007]

This is why "The Clone Wars" series is received well. It kind of fixes the issues with AotC. The relationships of Anakin and Obi-wan and Anakin and Padme is more earned through shared experiences, and of course the dialog is a bit better. Another big issue that you sort of touch upon is that all of the characters don't seem to react how they should throughout most the movie. Padme shrugs off Anakin's killing spree, the Jedi think sending a hormonal 20 year old with a single senator is a good idea, Obi-wan jumps through a window after a droid after telling Anakin not to rush into things just a few minutes earlier. Even Padme denying feelings for Anakin seems almost backwards, since she's single and would probably be looking for a mate, while Anakin is the one that's supposed to be leading a priestly life. The other bad issue I remember is the Bathos with the droids in the final scenes. You've got this very intense battle between Jedi and Separatists, and they constantly switch to 3PO and R2 doing slapstick comedy in the the middle of it.

[@EntertainmentTalker22]

Hi Brandon, you know what new video series you could do? find a movie or a TV series that has problems like the characters, story, subplots, worldbuilding etc and explain what the writers could have done to fix this. Also I'm on my seventh chapter and really behind on the time I want to release my book

[@thomasjeppesen3055]

I think you miss something regarding the Naboo segment of the movie. The issue with the segment is not the slower pace or the lack of stakes because there are actually stakes to those scenes, they are just not “pew pew bang bang” kind of stakes. It’s “will they/won’t they” stakes and the consequences that follows if they decide to be together. The problem is the segment doesn’t work on a scene level. Their behaviour comes across as arbitrary to their characters at times instead of conflicted which I assume is what Lucas tried to aim for with this part of the story. The scenes thenselves don’t overstay their welcome or drag on. They are fairly straight to the point and then quickly vits back to Obi Wan. They only feel that way because of the awkward interactions that can outright unpleasant to watch. There’s also a clear disconnect between Padme and the audience as we never understands what she sees in Anakin. There’s no “oh this is why she loves him” moment. Instead we get several red flags that tells her why she shoukd never want to be in a relationship with him. Furthermore, I also think it would be jarring to immediately drop them of in the conflict on Tatooine as both plotlines with Obi Wan and Anakin are slowly building tension in their own way before they get thrown into the conflict.

[@gowzahr]

"It's not a bad idea, but every step along the way is a stumble." That's a great description of the prequels as a whole.

[@Grievs817]

Good video. Maybe not a surprise given my profile picture but my biggest complaint about the prequels is how Grievous was handled. Love the story and characters of the prequels, but the writing could have been a lot better.

[@libbyjeppson2061]

Brandon, at some point would you be open to creating videos regarding morally grey characters and/or antiheroes? Also, I highly recommend watching the Netflix series Arcane: League of Legends and some point. There are a lot of genuinely complex characters in that show as well as so many subtle details, connections and parallels in the story and writing which I think you would find interesting.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

I watched the first few episodes of Arcane and got sidetracked. Need to get back into it. Heard amazing things. Hoping to do videos on heroes, villains, and antiheroes in the near future.

[@Horneciu]

It could be like when they fly away to Naboo, something goes wrong because some bounty hunter catch them. Then Anakin kills the guy and then they decide to go for Tatooine (that is closer, like in ep1). He chooses the destination because of visions of his mother that hounts him from some time. Then they go and things develops like You said in video. Or maybe they were in the way for Naboo but somebody sends them a message that assasins know that so they change a course. Also, I think that idea of sending them like two regular people in heavy big passenger ship (Jumbojet of Star Wars) was a crazy idea. Sooo many ways to kill the girl in the spot >.>

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Yep, there's also the possibility of opening the movie with Anakin having visions about his mom. Then his confides in Padme on the way to Naboo, and Padme agrees to change heir destination.

[@Horneciu]

@WriterBrandonMcNulty yea but I always wonder why the heck Jedi Council didn't punish him for this crazy destination change or taking Amidala to freakin war zone against Windu's orders. I think that little help from assasins who would justify course change would be appropiate. And then it would be Anakins choice to go specifically for Tatooine and not somewhere else...

[@Leitis_Fella]

This comes on the tail of Sheev Talks's video from last week. Good timing

[@diywrites8703]

I think with the prequels you could have just gone with part 3. There was a lot of unnecessary things in part 1 and 2 and I think 3 showed us all we needed to understand. That Anakin was torn between light and dark. He was hiding a relationship from the jedi with Padme. Padme was having kids and Palpatine manipulated this torn Jedi to the dark side and made him Darth Vader.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Phantom Menace is useless. It's Qui-Gon's story, which causes all sorts of problems for the "Anakin trilogy." Attack of the Clones should have been Episode 1, then they would have had more time to flesh out the characters/plot/worldbuilding in a new Episode 2 set during the Clone Wars.

[@diywrites8703]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty looking back with 20/20 hindsight, what I would like to see is a story involving Obi Wan and Anakin both in a personal struggle against the dark side tendancies. Obi Wan wants to hunt down and kill Maul. While Anakin is struggling with this idea that Padme will die. They both go through their journey as brothers in arms during the clone wars and Obi Wan succeeds in becoming an avatar of light and Anakin is corrupted by Palpatine.

[@athens_1psvr31]

Pre-Prequels George’s philosophy was to not focus on the world and effects, but let them assist in telling the story and background world building. You see that he broke away from that philosophy.

[@intergalactic92]

5:35 or maybe, just maybe, have the senator being targeted by assassins out to kill her, actually have assassins actively chase her. It’s easy to forget that Anakin's supposed to be her bodyguard, he doesn’t do any actual bodyguarding. Have someone try and kill her on Naboo. Force them to flee into the outer rim, and have this be the reason he upends up on tatooine. 7:08 ok…. But Anakin has to become Darth Vader. This is the first time he gives in to anger, and is his first step on the road. It should be an impulsive moment. His arc is the inverse or the heroes journey, it’s a tragic fall. Which doesn’t really work if Padme is there to talk him out of it, stopping him from taking that first step.

[@joseph-fernando-piano]

The most frustrating thing with the prequels was that they made it so obvious from minute one that Palpatine was the Emperor from the OG trilogy... how hard would it have been to write in some sort of mystery subplot involving shape-shifters, clones, politician decoys (all of which were things in this movie) so that the Emperor's real identity was hidden until later... for me the biggest negative consequence was that the Jedi came off as morons by not realizing that Palpatine was obviously the Sith Lord pulling everyone's strings...

[@errantwinds-up8uu]

I think for me it comes back to the dialogue, because I just never believed Padme falling in love with Anakin. I don't even hate the idea, though it's a bit strange, I just never saw it happen. I don't blame the actors because they had very little to work with.

[@erakfishfishfish]

He really comes across as a creep in the movie. If the Star Wars universe had the internet, Anakin would post constantly about being such a nice guy.

[@KurokamiNajimi]

It’s one of those things where it’s not really meant to be that built up SW in general is more so appealing for the setting and concept than the actual writing being all that unique or in depth. Anakin/Vader’s character as a whole I’d say is the one exception. You could say it’s a flaw by extension to focus so much of the film around it then but I think the real purpose of showing them together is just to get you to like the dynamic

[@SacchieILU]

The thing most frustrating about AotC for me is how consistently Padme does not seem interested in him, but he basically forces her to love him. Their relationship is just weird and stockholm syndromy.

[@cam1772fsu]

When you put it that way ("forces her") that makes a lot more sense! Using Jedi Mind Trick the whole time w/o her knowing... that's also a better explanation of where he starts drifting to the dark side, wanting her to love him back so desperately he was willing to use the force to twist her feelings for him. Truly villainous! man, I wish that was the movie we actually got....

[@SacchieILU]

@cam1772fsu holy shit yikes on bikes. I love it

[@Nico-9138]

I get all you say, and GOD am I not objective about this movie. But looking at Anakin' mom's death, and story pace. I like that this all happened quickly. Anakin has such powers that he can foresee his mom's suffering, and find her to save her in a matter of hours/days. His powers are effective, and worth following/empowering from his moral point of view. The Jedi always tell him to be mindful, that the future is always in movement, to not be arrogant. But we and him understand that had he been more arrogant and self confident, he might as well have found his mother even earlier and saved her. Her death was a matter of hours. Her dying right as he finds her is a torment of emotions for both him and us. And the important thing about Anakin is, he is a GOOD man, who has momentaneous weaknesses. Had he had time to rationalize his hatred for his mom's death, and still gone for the revenge, he would turn into a cold blooded killer. Which he is not. It is important for him to fail in a moment, in a wave of anger that he can not control. We are also meant to root for him, to feel and understand his anger, for the viewer to understand it is not so easy to be a good guy, and not so umb to be a bad guy. This scene and pacing are great because the viewer is put in a position, that he hopes Anakin acts a way not even the viewer would be brave enough to act. We know he should be better than this, but none of us in his situation would be better than him. He is a good person, with emotional weaknesses. All of this HAD to happen in just a few seconds. Because he was struck by a tsunami of emotionals, not a cold blooded dilemna.

[@SiriusMined]

If a bounty hunter had found them on Naboo, that would have been great impetus for them to move to Tattoine.

[@Khether0001]

Especially when you are still learning to write, is there some professional or entity you can hire to advise on the text you wrote, and naturally would still be under a non-disclosure agreement?

[@CoveWeaverStudios]

One thing to keep in mind: just because a movie has some bad dialogue doesn’t automatically mean that the movie is bad. Even some of the best stories have some bad dialogue. Same as some bad stories have good dialogue.

[@royblack27]

I agree with your take on Padme's reaction, but not sure about making Anakin stew over it and then consciously choose to go commit mass murder. I think it does work better as a spontaneous reaction at this point (he can develop towards that true evil later like he does in RotS). If it still needs more setup tho, maybe he could he pull off the rescue at first but it prompts the Tuskens to attack again and that's when Shmi dies and he loses it. It could even include other interaction in the process.

[@Switch_Lens]

I think Anakin kept calling him "Master" as a sort ot mock deference.

[@AW-kr9fl]

5:30 is how the prequels should’ve started. A 20 something Anakin and Padme on an adventure. We don’t have to see anything that happened in the Phantom Menace.

[@jerryrehard7711]

This was the first time that I ever found myself fidgeting in my seat and wondering how much time was left till it was over in a Star Wars film. Along with The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker these are the only three SW movies that I only saw one time in the theater.

[@Psychward4]

I believed at the time (and still do) that the prequels were ill-conceived, since we know which characters will live through to the original trilogy, that Anakin will turn to the dark side, that Palpatine is secretly evil, etc. There are a few interesting new characters and worthwhile moments, but not enough to justify the undertaking.

[@lemonlemons]

Re-watching, i found myself charmed by the i hate sand scene. Its corny in a fun way, and at least as the subtext that hes talking about his home. I think we wouldn't harp on it so much if it wasnt for all the other shallow and cheesy romance scene. A corn cob in a field when it should have been served on a platter with the rest of the meal. Also might be because of how memed on it is.

[@JackKirbyFan]

LOVE your channel. You do incredible work. I hated the prequels period. I remember the first one. I fell asleep during the movie. I had no characters I could connect with, CGI eye candy only goes so far, and I failed to understand what the plot was about. If you're a trade organization, shouldn't you at least care mostly about - trade? I learned later Lucas wrote all three prequels as first drafts. He never polished anything worried more about how good the CGI looked.

[@athens_1psvr31]

What I learned was that the dialogue for Star Wars has always been terrible. What helped things in the original trilogy was that the emotional scenes weren’t due to George, but others and editing brought the emotional scenes to the movies. Those people weren’t involved with the Prequels and “Yes Men” and people treating Lucas like a God that could be wrong were involved.

[@Reach008]

I remember watching this movie in theaters at the age of 9 with my mom and grandpa. Half way through I apologized for begging them to see this because I thought it sucked