Top WOW Moments In The ‘Star Wars’ Prequels: Part 2
Another reason why I appreciate the prequels is they try to be different. The Force Awakens echoes A New Hope in how a nobody discovers they are Force-sensitive and helps thwart the antagonists. For all the claims that The Last Jedi subverts expectations (it doesn’t), it is largely a mash-up of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. The Big Bad tries to turn our hero while the Empire… er, sorry...the First Order chase the Rebels… um...the Resistance through space. Last Jedi culminates in walkers marching on a fort whereas Empire begins with walkers marching on their base.
We do not genuinely get anything original from both movies. We just get inflated versions. Instead of the Death Star, we have the Starkiller base, Snoke’s super-duper destroyer, bigger walkers, etc. At least George Lucas tries to do new things, which is another reason why I think the prequels are commendable.
That is no more evident than with the next WOW moments on my list.
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7. The Podrace – The Phantom Menace
While Qui-Gon’s plan to get the parts for his ship and to liberate Anakin are overly convoluted, and the podrace’s outcome is predictable, this section of the story builds on what we already know of Tatooine. In A New Hope, we learn that it is made up of large desolate desert where moisture is farmed. It is home to scavengers. Its hub, Mos Eisley, is where mercenaries can be found.
In the re-releases of A New Hope, and in Return of the Jedi, we learn that Tatooine is the base for Jabba the Hutt, a notorious gangster. In The Phantom Menace we learn even more about his organization. Tatooine has legalized slavery, and the Hutts are an extensive network. It also seems to be run by the underworld. Tatooine also has these podraces, which look like they are endorsed by Jabba the Hutt. They are also a community sport where crowds gather to watch. The addition of the Sand People taking potshots at drivers is also a nice touch as it adds to the risk in the sport and gives it an idiosyncratic flourish.
While some might complain that the sport itself is a merchandising tool (we immediately have podracing games), it is something we haven’t seen before in the Star Wars universe. Instead of giving us more of the same, we are actually getting more, and thus learning more about Tatooine and how it functions in daily life.
The one thing I would have liked to see during the race is Anakin have a Force moment like Luke did during his trench run in A New Hope, and while he is hanging from his feet in the wampa cave in The Empire Strikes Back. While Anakin is careening off course, it would have been nice to see him panic momentarily, then heed Qui-Gon’s advice, focus, and tap into the Force, before regaining control.
6. Darth Maul On Naboo – The Phantom Menace
It is a beautiful entrance. Doors open. Darth Maul is there, and he extends his lightsaber. I recall before the release of The Phantom Menace, a friend asked why Darth Maul’s lightsaber handle was so long in the promotional shots. Well, we come to find out that it is because the other end also extends into a blade. It is a double-bladed lightsaber (another new thing).
While Obi-Wan and Darth Vader’s battle in A New Hope is slow and measured, and both Luke’s battles with Vader involve heavy hitting, this one is fast, and has numerous flourishes, almost like a well choreographed ballet. Darth Maul deals Obi-Wan a blow that causes him to fall to a lower walkway, then leads Qui-Gon towards the energy shields. Granted, if the Jedi had used Force speed (as displayed earlier with the droid destroyers), then Obi-Wan would have been able to catch up (unless he’s exhausted or something).
When the energy shields separate Maul and Qui-Gon, it’s a beautiful contrast that Qui-Gon kneels and falls into meditation, while Maul prowls like a caged beast. It's a powerful delineation of how both sides operate: calm, measured, and at peace versus angry, violent, and destructive. Obi-Wan having to watch his Master slain is the height of drama. If I could have offered a script note, it would be to somehow finagle Anakin into this scene so that he could see that the Jedi are fallible, and that the Sith are a powerful alternative.
One of the complaints about the Darth Maul vs. Obi-Wan battle is that it is too stylized – a meticulously choreographed dance. Good. Great. You would expect a battle like this to be, in part, a dance. Not every blow is meant to be the killing blow. Like chess, it is setting up an opponent to expose an opening, or force them into a mistake. So there would be countless parries.
I have seen some claim that Obi-Wan should have allowed anger to drive him, as it drove Luke in his battle against Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi. Vader was an aging cyborg Sith whose heart was not entirely in the fight. Luke’s anger could overwhelm him. I suspect if Obi-Wan had tried that with Darth Maul, Maul would have exploited Obi-Wan's loss of focus and sliced him to pieces. Instead, Obi-Wan falls back on his training. This is the Jedi and Sith at their peak, rather than a quickly trained Jedi taking on his aging father.
Granted, the climax is a little trite (Obi-Wan’s leap out of the funnel) but I would rate this whole section as the best lightsaber battle in any of the movies.
5. Yoda Arrives To Confront Count Dooku – Attack of the Clones
Many complain about how Yoda, a Jedi Master who gave Luke that impassioned speech about the Force in The Empire Strikes Back, relies on a lightsaber. The claim is that he should be above using any weapon because he’s Yoda. Again, this is errant criticism.
This scene is cool because Count Dooku has just easily disposed of Anakin and Obi-Wan (Arguably, too easily of Obi-Wan, who defeated Darth Maul, although I guess this shows how much more powerful Count Dooku is). We see a long shadow stretching across the chamber. Count Dooku turns. It is Yoda, walking in like a gunslinger in the old west. It is a nice, heartwarming moment, because we know Yoda is the Master, and that Count Dooku is now likely to get his comeuppance.
However, Count Dooku first attempts to fling things at Yoda. Yoda deals with that easily enough. Count Dooku attempts to use Force lightning on Yoda. He counters it too. Count Dooku then comments that this will not be settled through their knowledge of the Force, but with lightsabers. Thus, Yoda is only responding to Count Dooku’s challenge.
As much as we want Yoda to effortlessly squash Count Dooku, Lucas is brand building— in this case, Dooku’s brand. In the sequels, Kylo loses to a novice Rey in their first lightsaber duel, and then is knocked out in his second confrontation with Rey. It is not exactly an intelligent way of building an antagonist. If I were a boxing promoter, I know who wouldn't be making my next PPV.
Lucas wants a strong Sith because a strong Sith is a fearsome antagonist. When Anakin finally defeats him in Revenge of the Sith, it will show just how much Anakin has grown.
As “videogamesque” as the fight sequence between Yoda and Dooku is, it makes sense that a creature the size of Yoda would have to rely on agility and acrobatics, because he won’t have the brute force to overpower an opponent. It even calls back to The Empire Strikes Back in a way, because when Yoda is making Luke jog, we see Luke somersaulting over obstacles. Obviously, Yoda knew that a Jedi would need to use these moves.
4. The Opening To Revenge Of The Sith – Revenge of the Sith
The sequel trilogy is far prettier in its application of CGI. After all, technology has gotten better. However, as pretty as they are aesthetically, they are paint by numbers. There is nothing to distinguish them from the Star Trek universe, the Marvel universe, or any movie whose playground is also the outer space. That is not to say that they are not all gorgeous. It is just that they have largely become generic (Guardians of the Galaxy makes some really nice exceptions).
I offer this preamble because George Lucas isn’t necessarily recognized for his visual flair. In fact, he is hardly recognized for his filmmaking. While he is revered as the creator of the Star Wars universe, his value depreciates because of the prequel trilogy. He has become this anomaly in the eyes of many— a creative genius who is best restricted from his own playground. However, Lucas is a visionary. When A New Hope was made, it was constantly innovating. While some of the effects may look dated today, it still has a style that is to be lauded.
By the time Lucas started work on the prequels, technology had advanced. While any idiot can now oversee a dazzling CGI backdrop, not many have a voice behind it that distinguishes it from the rest.
That's paramount: the voice. What distinguishes one artist from another? Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, etc., all have a voice that distinguishes their stories. Pixar has a voice that drives their movies, regardless of their content. You can have a movie about toys, about superheroes, about contemporary characters, and despite their narrative differences, their voice is identifiable. On the contrary, that voice seems to be diluted in a lot of science-fiction. J. J. Abrams pays homage. Rian Johnson aspires.
Lucas showcases his talent in the opening to Revenge of the Sith. Once the text crawl fades, we pan down to see the sun bright over Coruscant’s horizon. Then we see a Venator-class Republic destroyer moving in slowly. There is a driving drumbeat. Two fighters whiz down. The theme comes in. The fighters fly down the length of the destroyer (giving us an appreciation of its size and a sense of scale), and then bank over it where we get a long shot of the battle taking place.
As the fighters weave through the battle we get a measured appraisal of what is happening in the scene. We see the damage each blow is doing. That is one of the problems with contemporary dogfights in space. They become a fireworks display where you have no context. Sure, tons of stuff are happening, but what does it all mean? Here, we get to take stock.
Then, we get a glimpse of the frenzy. Lucas understands this is all scene setting so there is no need to overdo it. The goal of this scene is to get Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to the command ship, rather than overwhelm the audience with visual pyrotechnics to the point that they disengage.
This entire opening sequence is seriously epic. Hands down, it is the best space battle in all the Star Wars movies.
Still with me? Seeing the prequels in a new light?
Next, the top three!
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