Mocata said:
There’s been a lot of talk for many years now about how the prequels are looked at more fondly thanks to nostalgia. Or how they’re better if you’ve seen things the animated shows.I don’t agree with that in either way. I think TCW only adds a few things that I think the PT didn’t really need to tell it’s story (like the extended info about the clones, though I think the movies could’ve stood to explore their personalities more), mostly. Otherwise I think it’s genericizes Anakin’s character from a troubled tortured person to a more square jawed jockish hero type akin to Han Solo, which some acclaim over the movies portrayal. Even though I think it’s just a more generic take on Anakin’s attitude at the beginning of ROTS.
As far as nostalgia, I’ve seen adults apparently watch the PT for the first time in present day and like them. Have criticisms, yes, but still like them. I dismiss the nostalgia assumptions on that. I think that’s a recycled Plinkett claim that falls apart under much scrutiny.
Huge parts of the story still make zero sense (the Naboo trade dispute, the mystery of the clone army, the weird creepy romance). The one that’s still the most infuriating is that Obi-wan sees both the clones and the droid plant in the space of like a day, and doesn’t immediately see the conspiracy to create a war. Neither do the Jedi council, they’re all braindead.
I don’t really understand this much. Why would anyone assume that this is a conspiracy to start a war when as far as Obi or the Jedi would have any reason to think they came upon these things by happenstance? What would they see when they have no evidence to conclude it? Especially considering the droid army are just being made and the clones have been being developed for about 10 years. I think there’s room to criticize that the jedi don’t ponder this issue more, considering the connection between Dooku and Jango (though again, they have no evidence that would allow them to conclude specifically a huge amount of stuff there, but I think it’s a flaw that they don’t engage with it), but concluding it must be a conspiracy based on seeing armies I think is a stretch in a way.
I think the romance is weird in a way, but not creepy really. I think this is more a read on Anakin’s facial expressions than anything. I’m a little perplexed. I think Han’s attitude towards Leia is more creepy to me in TESB, and Han’s attitude more childish in how he very pettily reacts to Leia not expressing herself when they have no romantic relationship at that point. Unless the Anakin killing the tuskens is what’s just be referred to here, which, I think has a fair argument, but the bulk of their romance happens before that. And while I think their romance is fairly flawed, I don’t see zero sense.
I also don’t get the Naboo thing not making sense.
It’s nostalgia.
The evidence is that Jango Fett was hired to kill Padme and is also the template for the clone army, tries to kill Obi Wan, and goes directly from Kamino to the secret droid factory headquarters on Geonosis. This is brought up to Obi Wan and he very stupidly goes “no there appears to be no motive” and then Yoda says “do not assume anything,” and then they never talk about it again. The idea that a Jedi master goes out of their way to pay for a gigantic army of millions of troops and ships, in secret, for an unknown purpose, without telling anyone, and there’s no further investigation into it is just insane. If anyone in the Republic is involved at all in any capacity, which they would have to be to manage hundreds of star destroyers right away, that’s already a conspiracy. Count Dooku straight up tells them everything about Darth Sidious and they don’t even think it’s worthwhile to check. People put this up to the Jedi’s supposed “hubris” but it’s not hubris, it’s that they’re being written as morons. They don’t do the basic kind of stuff you would see in the first 20 minutes of an episode of a police procedural.
Han is very masculine, Anakin isn’t. He’s being a “scoundrel” but Leia is ultimately into it. He’s getting her to more consciously recognize her latent attraction to him. Anakin starts in the friend zone, and openly lusts, whines, complains, discusses sand, commits mass murder, and then somehow at the end of it Padme is deeply in love with him. The facial expressions are just one part of it.