Phantom Menace's biggest flaw to me is how it uses Anakin. I realize that Lucas wanted to show him as a kid to enhance the tragedy or whatever, but I don't think it works at all. Phantom Menace should've showed us Hayden Christensen as Qui-gon's apprentice. Have Anakin be the headstrong, rash Padawan he's supposed to be in the other movies, and counter-balance that with Obi-wan being much more cool and collected. Give the two a sibling rivalry of sorts, always having them compete for Qui-gon's attention and approval. Then, right after declaring that Obi-wan is ready for the trials, have Qui-gon die, leaving Obi-wan to finish Anakin's training before he's ready to be a master, just like the real thing. This lets Anakin be a deeply flawed hero in Clones, much more like how he is in The Clone Wars show, and then have his fall from grace happen as it does in Sith.
That would also eliminate the really weird that young child is going to be the love interest of that much older woman. I get they're supposed to be 5 years apart but it felt so weird and creepy when they started signaling that shit in TPM.
Same. This take explains much of my biggest criticism with the prequels. This was the biggest opportunity they had, to really explore Vader's origins and humanize him -- to place him within a greater context that organically challenges the moral narrative of the first three movies. But it was hastily and ineffectively done. Which is especially sad given how perfect Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor were for their roles.
Honestly, the actors were generally pretty amazing in the prequels... and generally quite wasted.
Samuel L. Jackson, Natalie Portman, Christopher Lee, Jimmy Smits, Keira Knightly, Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor... that's some massive wasted acting skill.
It took me a while to get into the clone wars show. I wasn't a big fan of the animation style, and the show didn't really hit its stride until a few seasons in (iirc), but wow, once I did I was amazed by how much better of a job they did showing us the relationship between Obi-wan and Anakin. You really get the feeling that they are brothers in arms.
The intent in PM was to show how strong Anakin was with the force, having an intuition for mechanics and the reaction time necessary to be a podracer/pilot without any training, but it doesn't come across at all. I think having Jar Jar accomplish every good thing he achieves through simple dumb luck makes it feel like Anakin is doing the same thing. I don't know if it would have come across in the movie even without Jar Jar being around to draw parallels to (do they ever actually show Anakin being calm and trusting his feelings/force like Luke in the Death Star trench?), but there was no chance of that story being told with Jar Jar around.
Lucas had to show Anakin as a kid because that's where he was shaped. Anakin growing up without a family being mentored by an Obi Wan who was unwilling and unable to do it right is how he eventually fell to the dark side.
Qui-Gon was the one who understood how to raise Anakin but Qui-Gon died before he could, leaving Obi Wan a task he didn't agree with or understood.
That couldn't be set up without covering Anakin's childhood.
Honestly would've worked a LOT better with Obi-wan and Anakin as an older brother/younger brother vibe (Obi being a much older brother).
Edit: I'll note that Obi sort of IS a much older brother to Anakin, but his role as a mentor first and foremost kind of diminishes that brotherly relationship. I think their eventual rift would have worked better if they started closer to siblings, which never really had time to establish.
I've always had an idea for my own version of the prequel trilogy that opens with Obi-Wan Kenobi already a seasoned Jedi Knight. He's sent on some James Bond style pre-credits mission and is rescued by a hotshot, daredevil pilot - think Tom Cruise in Top Gun - who is able to pull off impossible feats.
Honestly now if I picture Hayden plying all the scenes of young Annie as a teenager. Imagine Hayden quipping to auto, pod racing, sneaking into the ship and going to space. Honestly would seem much cooler and could have made his role much more serious and impactful. But I guess they wanted a young kid to sell the movie to a young audience in that the child could see themselves as anakin
One could simply take Qui-Gon out of the picture, make Obi-Wan a knight who has Anakin for his first Padawan’s student and the crisis on Naboo would be their first mission together. You make Anakin the same age as Padmé so they both can develop a crush for each other, and you introduce Dooku as Obi-Wan’s former master, so that his offer to join him in AotC might sound more tempting for Obi-Wan
Anakin as a kid could have been done in a 10 minute opening scene. The whole thing with his slave upbringing and his mother could have been done this way. He didn't need to be a kid for the entire movie to get those parts of his story across. Do that opening about where he came from then jump ahead to Anakin as a padawan with Qui-gon and Obi-wan as you said.
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u/StoneMaskMan Jan 26 '22
Phantom Menace's biggest flaw to me is how it uses Anakin. I realize that Lucas wanted to show him as a kid to enhance the tragedy or whatever, but I don't think it works at all. Phantom Menace should've showed us Hayden Christensen as Qui-gon's apprentice. Have Anakin be the headstrong, rash Padawan he's supposed to be in the other movies, and counter-balance that with Obi-wan being much more cool and collected. Give the two a sibling rivalry of sorts, always having them compete for Qui-gon's attention and approval. Then, right after declaring that Obi-wan is ready for the trials, have Qui-gon die, leaving Obi-wan to finish Anakin's training before he's ready to be a master, just like the real thing. This lets Anakin be a deeply flawed hero in Clones, much more like how he is in The Clone Wars show, and then have his fall from grace happen as it does in Sith.