HelloGreedo the YouTube fan and reviewer has a great comment about Episode II in his new video about Attack of the Clones. I paraphrase:
"Were the Clone Wars anything like I pictured they'd be when I was a kid? No, they weren't anything close to what I'd pictured, but then you don't have to cater to my specific expectations of what something should look like.
On the other hand, any movie titled Attack of the Clones where the Clones don't even attack until twenty minutes before the end credits roll?
Yikes."
But, boy, those 20 minutes were great, were they not?
Sorry, I know that many enjoy the PT and find it to be fun and entertaining. I think I was the most entertained with AOTC but it wasn't "great" for me. And before there is any commenting on expectations, keep in mind that I was 15 at the time TPM came out and Star Wars was what my friends and I did, in some way, on a daily to weekly basis. But, TPM was not enjoyable, other than all the marketing (whoah) and "Duel of the Fates."
That's it. It didn't feel like Star Wars to me, and that was before I knew about the Internet or the fan rage that burned there about the PT.
For me, the PT was never "great" and I felt that way since TPM. Obviously, YMMV.
No it was never great.. for me the big WTF moment was when Qui Gon started talking about Midichlorians and how they give someone the Force. I just couldn't believe my eyes and ears.. with that concept Lucas crapped all over the original trilogy and the entire Force mythology and to this day i can't understand why.
Up until this point the movie was good in my book.. Not even 5 minutes into the movie and we are treated to an action packed Jedi fight scene complete with a much more dynamic style than what we were used to from the OT (and i still like most of it), a big planetary assault by a Droid army (first frown.. the Droids seemed too human for combat droids but i let it slide at the time).
It gradually got worse.. from the caricature Trade Federation leaders to Gungans and especially Jar Jar my grin faded more and more and i stared in disbelief at the screen. As i said then came the Midichlorians and i was done.. the movie never recovered from it and only continued with Jake Lloyds abysmal acting (i know, he was just a child and the script was bad but he simply should not have been cast), the idiotic script that has experienced Jedi take a 6 year old on a commando mission (and that 6 year old commandeering and blowing up a capital ship by "accident").. the overlong podracer race scene etc.
The entire movie was bad fanfiction brought to life by a guy who apparently didn't have anyone around him who had the balls to tell him that the story and many characters were crap, maybe he would have listened, maybe the guy would have been fired, we will never know.
That Disney apparently threw out all of George's ideas for the new movies fills me with confidence so come 17.12. i will be in the seat and hope to be blown away.
That reminds me of another point I was going to comment on-Anakin gains victory after victory in the series seemingly out of nothing. I know we are supposed to appreciate as his strong connection with the Force (more on that in a minute) but there were several missed opportunities to
show the audience how Anakin's abilities worked. I mean, the whole pod sequence is supposedly owing to his abilities with the Force, but we have seen pilots flying through crazy stuff before. We only have Qui-Gon and Anakin's word that humans can't do it.
Then the whole Naboo battle is a luck victory as well. Anakin happens to fly in to the control ship by accident with no indication of skill. Again, we are told a lot of things about Anakin on screen but never really see them manifest. It could have been him trusting in the Force, even if he didn't understand it, in a similar way to Luke at the end of Episode IV.
As for the midiclorians, most of that has been dissected before, but I'll add this point. It was a means to quantify Anakin's power, much like X-men's 3rd film introduced classes of mutants. However, unlike X3, the PT tells us lots of things about Anakin without every showing them to us. Like I said, it is a wasted opportunity.
To be honest, at the time, the prequils WERE pretty great, weve just had 15 years to pick them apart.
I hated them the first and only time I saw each. I didn't need 15 years to pick them apart. Hell, I saw
TPM opening night and you could hear the crowd go from "WOOOOOOO!" down to "oh" over the course of the first 40 minutes or so.
Granted I sat in one of the front rows, but that wasn't my experience. the movie went on to make almost a billion dollars in it's first run, so I doubt that people were really all that disappointed in the movie. Unlike The Matrix Reloaded which had a huge fall off after the first week.
I'm curious though. The Matrix film was not something long awaited, as the first film stood alone rather well, in my opinion. Had a beginning, middle and end, and all that.
TPM, on the other, was the first Star Wars film in 30 years. I wouldn't think to expect the drop off like the Matrix. Secondly, as much as I was left kind of
with TPM, I probably saw it two more times in the theater with various friends and family.
Some films, like Star Wars, I don't think would be deterred by negative word of mouth, simply because it isn't expected. The brand recognition was a draw in of itself.
Also, as is constantly pointed out in the Abrams Trek sub-forum, and about Transformers films, financial success does not mean critical success or a good movie.
I hated them the first and only time I saw each. I didn't need 15 years to pick them apart. Hell, I saw TPM opening night and you could hear the crowd go from "WOOOOOOO!" down to "oh" over the course of the first 40 minutes or so.
Granted I sat in one of the front rows, but that wasn't my experience. the movie went on to make almost a billion dollars in it's first run, so I doubt that people were really all that disappointed in the movie. Unlike The Matrix Reloaded which had a huge fall off after the first week.
Prequel haters are very loud within fandom, but still a minority.
Not liking a film makes one a "hater?"
Certainly not true in my experience. Most individuals I have talked with like parts of the PT, and don't like parts. Most I know find little to enjoy in the PT, especially as compared to the originals, and are very frustrated by the wasted potential.
I don't think it is necessary to dismiss opinions as "haters" when there are legitimate criticisms in those films, as with all films.
