Jar Jar Binks and Anakin Skywalker... am I the only one who understood what George Lucas made?

[fireproof78]

I hated Jar Jar. He was offensive and annoying, and I never got the 'joke'. The Phantom Menace went off the rails for me as soon as he showed up. I got nothing against Ahmed Best, but Jar Jar was a misguided attempt at humor or to sell toys or something, to appeal to kids I guess.

I also didn't like Jake Lloyd for Anakin, but I don't blame him or his limited performance. I blame Lucas for that. Despite my dislike of Lloyd's performance overall I do think he did a good job with his farewell scene with Shmi. I also thought his introduction to the Jedi Council was decent as well. Lucas at least set up that rocky relationship that came to a head in Revenge of the Sith.

To me, the prequels didn't need kid characters or kid-directed 'humor', not for the story the prequels were telling. The prequels needed to have the tone of Rogue One or the LOTR films.

Unlike many I didn't have a problem with Hayden Christensen for Anakin. He didn't get the best dialogue or writing to work with, but I thought Christensen knew how to go dark pretty well. I also enjoyed his scene with Shmi as well. And his turn to Vader. His love affair with Padme wasn't the most convincing, but I blame Lucas for that. He set that on a weak foundation in The Phantom Menace and it never really worked since that point. I wish Christensen had been chosen from the start. And that either Anakin had started Episode I as a teen or adult.

The scenes with Anakin marching on the Jedi Temple and the younglings. When he's on Mustafar and turns slowly to the camera with the yellow Sith eyes. And how he cuts down the Separatist leaders. I thought he handled that well. And his interactions with Obi-Wan during The Duel, though I thought that epic fight went on too long.

Generally speaking, I don't mind Christensen either. I think that much of the darker scenes of ROTS, and the murder of the Tuskens showcase that, with the right material, Christensen can deliver a solid performance.

But, I also agree with the writing being poor, and not giving a solid foundation for the character to really grow in to the tragic character. It feels very sporadic in terms of character development. The love story was uneven, and had mixed moments that never felt like it fully matured in a believable way.

Overall, Anakin's performance had some great moments, but was lacking overall realism, and reliability in his motivations.

 

[Ithekro]

TCW helps a lot with Anakin Skywalker and his motivations as the war drags on.

 

[Venardhi]

Repeat after me: "The existence of ancillary products does not dismiss the valid criticism of a film itself."

 

[JD]

It's possible I've misunderstood the Senate thing, but the writing, directing, acting and editing of the Arresting Palpatine scene were all so atrocious that it's kind of become this thing where the audience has to make up their own minds.

Is it? It always seemed crystal clear to me.

 

[fireproof78]

TCW helps a lot with Anakin Skywalker and his motivations as the war drags on.

But, I shouldn't need it to understand his motivation. I really, really, shouldn't. Even if I enjoyed the Clone Wars (so far, I haven't) the deficiencies in the PT are hard to ignore, but I'm trying. I've read all the novels and am slowly digesting Clone Wars in anticipation of watching Rebels.

Also, as an aside, the IDW comics really help inform Nero's background from ST 09.

 

[LJones41]

TCW helps a lot with Anakin Skywalker and his motivations as the war drags on.

Perhaps for you, but I did not need "The Clone Wars" to help me understand Anakin's motivations. They were pretty obvious to me.


If the deficiencies of the Prequel movies are hard to ignore, why are the deficiencies of the Original movies, "The Force Awakens" and "Rogue One" so easy to ignore for many fans?

 

[fireproof78]

Perhaps for you, but I did not need "The Clone Wars" to help me understand Anakin's motivations. They were pretty obvious to me.


If the deficiencies of the Prequel movies are hard to ignore, why are the deficiencies of the Original movies, "The Force Awakens" and "Rogue One" so easy to ignore for many fans?

It would be helpful to understand what deficiencies you see in the OT and TFA that are mirrored in the PT since not everyone sees the same problems.

 

[JD]

But, I shouldn't need it to understand his motivation. I really, really, shouldn't. Even if I enjoyed the Clone Wars (so far, I haven't) the deficiencies in the PT are hard to ignore, but I'm trying. I've read all the novels and am slowly digesting Clone Wars in anticipation of watching Rebels.

Also, as an aside, the IDW comics really help inform Nero's background from ST 09.

How far into TCW are you? It does take the show a while to hit it's stride, but once it does it really knocks it outta the park more often than not.

 

[fireproof78]

How far into TCW are you? It does take the show a while to hit it's stride, but once it does it really knocks it outta the park more often than not.

Oh, I'm barely halfway through Season 1, due to work demands. I can freely admit that I'm in the "wait and see" right now, and looking forward to seeing much more.

 

[Makarov]

If the deficiencies of the Prequel movies are hard to ignore, why are the deficiencies of the Original movies, "The Force Awakens" and "Rogue One" so easy to ignore for many fans?

Because it's trendy to hate on some of them and not trendy to hate on the others.

 

[Venardhi]

I'm an equal opportunity hater. It all comes down to the question of if it is a good movie in spite of those flaws. I have lots of problems with TFA, but it is still a good movie. I have some quibbles with RotJ, but it remains a good movie in spite of them. The prequels' and RO's fundamental flaws simply detract too much from both the story being told and my own enjoyment to consider them good movies.

 

[fireproof78]

I'm an equal opportunity hater. It all comes down to the question of if it is a good movie in spite of those flaws. I have lots of problems with TFA, but it is still a good movie. I have some quibbles with RotJ, but it remains a good movie in spite of them. The prequels' and RO's fundamental flaws simply detract too much from both the story being told and my own enjoyment to consider them good movies.

Same here, save for RO, since I haven't seen it yet. I can still remember leaving the theater after watching TPM (at 15, so before the Internet or the phenomenon of "hating" was even a thing) and thinking "What did that have to do with Star Wars?" Over the years, my opinion has soften a bit, but I don't really find them enjoyable, despite their flaws, which I can say about other films, as @Venardhi stated above.

I don't "hate" the PT, nor is my opinion informed by trends. I love discussing them and find them enjoyable as discussion fodder, but as films, I don't enjoy them. AOTC being the one exception. I can watch that one despite the plot holes, primarily because of Obi-Wan.

 

[Makarov]

Although it's all opinions so it's not like I think anyone's can be wrong in liking or disliking them. However when it comes to the level of how bad their reputation was trashed there's definitely a bandwagon effect. People especially online enjoy rolling with the group think. It goes for positivity too although the negative seems to stick more. I see it all the time now when something becomes catchy, happens in video game releases a lot. It was inevitable that this would happen to Star Wars at some point especially with light hearted characters. If TFA had been less trendy we would see BB8 and Maz held up as memes to bash.

 

[Venardhi]

People like something that is popular: BANDWAGONER!
People don't like something that is popular: CONTRARIAN!

Most people just like or don't like things because that is how they honestly feel about them. The people who don't really care all that much are the people prone to social pressures to conform or actively refuse to. People who go on the internet to talk about it, or post videos discussing it, are not those people.

 

[Makarov]

The people who don't really care all that much are the people prone to social pressures to conform or actively refuse to. People who go on the internet to talk about it, or post videos discussing it, are not those people.

I think it's the opposite the majority of people who post about it are not going in depth like we are here, they're trying to "get in on the joke." In general my opinion is I think people are prone to going with the majority and it's not much different offline - people repeat what they hear. Especially youtube reviewers who are trying to have something to say. Thus we end up in a world where Jar Jar becomes this overly criticized symbol to represent a disliked movie.

 

[fireproof78]

The difficulty I see is the fact that these films have been out for so long that actual discussion gets boiled down to a few talking points and memes, and doesn't go beyond that. It's just lobbing meme grenades until the other one gives up.

I think all the Star Wars films are worthy of discussion, but it feels like it gets drowned out by the rest.

 

[Reverend]

Oh, I'm barely halfway through Season 1, due to work demands. I can freely admit that I'm in the "wait and see" right now, and looking forward to seeing much more.

Yeah IMO the first season is almost entirely skippable. Not to say it doesn't have good parts, but it's sort of akin to TNG's first season in that it's still trying to figure out what it is and dealing with budgetary and technical limitations. Though I enjoyed it at the time, in hindsight, it's a very wobbly season.
As counter intuitive as it sounds, I've often found that this is a good sign of a show's overall quality. Generally those that start off strong tend to loose their way fairly quickly, while those that take a while to pick up, really hit their stride later on. Very rare are the shows that start strong and stay strong throughout.

The good news in that Clones Wars is an anthology show, so you really can safely skip ahead to when the two-to-four episode arcs start overtaking the standalones and you won't really miss anything plot critical. Seriously, the episodes weren't even aired in chronological order so there's very little risk of spoiling yourself as it's not until season three that certain plot twists come into play and arcs actually start interacting more directly with one another.

If you're finding yourself struggling, do yourself a favour and skip ahead to say, the season 2 epsiodes 'The Mandalore Plot', 'Voyage of Temptation' & 'Duchess of Mandalore' to get a better sense of what's in store. That or 'Landing at Point Rain' if you're more into action & combat than character & political intrigue.

 

[fireproof78]

Yeah IMO the first season is almost entirely skippable. Not to say it doesn't have good parts, but it's sort of akin to TNG's first season in that it's still trying to figure out what it is and dealing with budgetary and technical limitations. Though I enjoyed it at the time, in hindsight, it's a very wobbly season.
As counter intuitive as it sounds, I've often found that this is a good sign of a show's overall quality. Generally those that start off strong tend to loose their way fairly quickly, while those that take a while to pick up, really hit their stride later on. Very rare are the shows that start strong and stay strong throughout.

The good news in that Clones Wars is an anthology show, so you really can safely skip ahead to when the two-to-four episode arcs start overtaking the standalones and you won't really miss anything plot critical. Seriously, the episodes weren't even aired in chronological order so there's very little risk of spoiling yourself as it's not until season three that certain plot twists come into play and arcs actually start interacting more directly with one another.

If you're finding yourself struggling, do yourself a favour and skip ahead to say, the season 2 epsiodes 'The Mandalore Plot', 'Voyage of Temptation' & 'Duchess of Mandalore' to get a better sense of what's in store. That or 'Landing at Point Rain' if you're more into action & combat than character & political intrigue.

Thank you for the suggestions. I tend to be a bit of a straight line through type of viewer, so the suggestion of things to skip to is quite helpful, since I don't want to read episode summaries and pick and choose...not yet, any way

 

[Reverend]

Thank you for the suggestions. I tend to be a bit of a straight line through type of viewer, so the suggestion of things to skip to is quite helpful, since I don't want to read episode summaries and pick and choose...not yet, any way

The official Star Wars site actually has a fairly handy chronological order list that just lists the episode titles, so no fear of synopsis spoilers. You may be shocked to see just how scrambled the airing order was, but then recall Lucas started his movie saga with 'Episode IV'.
If you're just interested in the major arcs, here's a list of them by season: -

Spoiler

SEASON 1
Malevolence Arc: 'Rising Malevolence', 'Shadow of Malevolence & 'Destroy Malevolence'
Nute Gunray Arc: 'Cloak of Darkness' & 'Lair of Grievous'
Ryloth Arc: 'Storm over Ryloth', 'Innocents of Ryloth' & 'Liberty on Ryloth'

SEASON 2
Cad Bane Arc: 'Holocron Heist', 'Cargo of Doom' & 'Children of the Force'
Geonosis Arc: 'Landing at Point Rain', 'Weapons Factory', 'Legacy of Terror' & 'Brain Invaders'
Mandalore Arc: 'The Mandalore Plot', 'Voyage of Temptation', 'Duchess of Mandalore'

SEASON 3
FIves' Arc: 'Clone Cadets', 'Rookies' (Season 1), & 'ARC Troopers'
Dathomir Arc: 'Nightsisters', 'Monster' & 'Witches of the Mist'
Mortis Arc: 'Overlords', 'Altar of Mortis' & 'Ghosts of Mortis'
Tarkin Arc: 'The Citadel', 'Counter Attack' & 'Citadel Rescue'
Ahsoka Arc: 'Padawan Lost' & 'Wookiee Hunt'

SEASON 4
Umbara Arc: 'Darkness on Umbara', 'The General', 'Plan of Dissent' & 'Carnage of Krell'
Zygerria Arc: 'Kidnapped', 'Slaves of the Republic' & 'Escape from Kadavo'
Deception Arc: 'Deception', 'Friends and Enemies', 'The Box', 'Crisis on Naboo'
Return of <REDACTED> Arc: 'Massacre', 'Bounty', 'Brothers' & 'Revenge'

SEASON 5
Lux/Onderon Arc: 'Heroes on Both Sides' (Season 3), 'A Friend in Need' (Season 4), 'A War on Two Fronts', 'Front Runners', 'The Soft War' & 'Tipping Points'
Younglings Arc: 'The Gathering', 'A Test of Strength', 'Bound for Rescue' & 'A Necessary Bond'
Underworld Arc: 'Revival', 'Eminence', 'Shades of Reason' & 'The Lawless'
Ahsoka Arc II: 'Sabotage', 'The Jedi Who Knew Too Much', To Catch a Jedi' & 'The Wrong Jedi'

SEASON 6
Fives; Arc II: 'The Unknown', 'Conspiracy', 'Fugitive' & 'Orders'
Yoda Arc: 'The Lost One', 'Voices', 'Destiny' & 'Sacrifice'

There are other arcs of course, some very worthwhile stand alones and some arcs that are kinda spread out across multiple seasons as they pertain to certain characters & sub-plots, but I'd say these are a good place to start. You can always go back and fill in the blanks once you feel more invested in the characters.
After that there's the unfinished story reels, the 'Son of Dathomir' comic & the 'Dark Disciple' novel.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Jar Jar was comic relief but he was extremely poor comic relief. He wasn't funny. I know preteen age kids didn't think he was funny. I can't speak for really young kids. But C3PO, R2D2, Kaspian, and BB8 were comic relief that were funny for all ages, not just the really low ones.

'All ages' comic relief needs to be more than 'Me fall down a lot haha me stupid.' Jar Jar is like if Kevin James were a weird bipedal amphibian.

I didn't mind Anakin too much, and I think the overall story was a good one, it was just poorly executed at almost every turn.