Star Wars Prequel Trilogy (1999–2005) — II: Poor Storytelling
*SPOILERS*
Boiling the film noir interpretation of the Star Wars Prequels’ commentary on power structures down to its main critiques, we find recurring issues related to unclear artistic intent, a lack of discipline when writing, and the prioritization of world-building over storytelling.
Pay attention to the things I’m also not picking on. I’m not picking on the CGI. I’m not picking on the acting or the intention to idealize the dialogue. That’s because overall I didn’t hate the Prequels. This is not criticism coming from someone impossible to please whose childhood nostalgia would have been impossible to live up to. I was born in 1990; going to the nice part of town to watch Episode I with my dad and my uncle opening weekend in a theater so packed we had to join a group of people happily sitting in the walkway next to the rows of seats is my childhood nostalgia. So this is more coming from someone who, now as an adult, wanted to look back at a Sci-Fi action trilogy he remembers as being visually stunning with one of the coolest characters of all time in Darth Maul, and maybe end up realizing that it was a quality, character-driven story that didn’t deserve the hate it got. At least, that’s what I was hoping for.
Confused Artistic Intent
- Core concept misalignment. Padme-dying-with-no-discernible-medical-reason-because-she-lost-the-will-to-live exists as a plot device in the same trilogy that couldn’t let The Force go without introducing midi-chlorians. Is it science or space magic? The prequels can’t make up their mind
- Tone misalignment. Is it a fun, whimsical children’s story where characters run from storm troopers with no plan like the original trilogy, or a substantive drama with depth for adults concerning power structures and solemn social commentary? If both, they do a terrible job marrying the two. And yes, marrying the two is a very difficult undertaking for any writer. Which is why most screen writers would have to know which tone they were going to go heavy on
- Unclear messaging. If the prequels are intended to be critical of the Jedi Order as the Disney Trilogy indicates then it was made insufficiently clear here. No idea the Jedi were being criticized by watching the Prequels alone; instead it feels like a critique of Anakin as a flawed individual
Creatively Undisciplined
- Sidious is stupidly overpowered. How did he find the time to become: a master of the lightsaber greater than Yoda, a master of Sith sciences greater than Plagueis, a statesmen with enough soft power to manipulate the entire galaxy into abdicating republican-democracy without dissent, a strategic genius with a million IQ who perfectly predicted every single chess move of every galactic player (yet somehow was completely blindsided by Vader and Luke’s dynamic in Episode VI), and a force master stronger than Yoda and simultaneously undetectable to literally every single Jedi in the galaxy? Yoda did only lightsaber and force shit for his entire (centuries old) life yet was still impossibly outmatched by Sidious in these categories alone
- Yoda-Sidious final fight. Yoda can force jump out of danger but only when the plot calls for it. And Ian McDiarmid merely holding a light saber looks less convincing than Liam Neeson relying on his athletic abilities in Taken
- Atrociously written dialogue. Ugggghhhhh. Please stop. Seriously Lighthouse Purge Guy might have been based partially on Lucas. I’ve heard the reason for this difference between the original trilogy and the prequels is that Lucas’s first wife made much of his dialogue feel more natural, from whom he divorced before the prequels were written. In other words, Lucas is a terrible dialogue-writer whose ego is so apparently fragile that no one less important to him than his sole life partner can effectively talk him down from his creative choices. Let’s also not forget that Lucas may have been trying to create a Noir trilogy in the prequels and may have been trying to pay homage to that heightened 1930’s transatlantic Americana, which makes it understandable why it was leaning toward idealized dialogue writing, but there’s a difference between that and being robotic. So his artistic intentions don’t excuse their execution
Bad Writing
Plot-driven characters, instead of character-driven plot. The characters in the prequels feel like automatons, doing what they do because it’s what they do. Their internal impressions and perceptions are not illustrated well, so their decisions convey little gravity. A character-driven plot would have the plot moving in a certain direction while illustrating a character’s inner turmoil to emphasize key decisions that that character must make, which would then yank the plot in a new direction. The best example of this is Anakin’s decision to turn to the dark side and declare his fealty to Palpatine — probably the most important moment in Anakin’s arc. And… nothing remarkable about it. No emotional impact. It feels like any other scene, the key moments moving quickly and without building much tension or letting the gravity of the moment sink in.
Lucas also prioritizes explanation, fan service and world-building over narrative excellence. Much of Episode I falls into this category — big chunks of it almost feel like they belong in a spin-off movie about Qui-Gon or Padme but instead those chunks were prioritized over crucial story-telling elements. Or to repeat that famous Stephen King quote, it feels like Lucas fell into the trap of refusing to kill his darlings, especially in the following three areas:
Trilogy is poorly paced. Most key events in Anakin’s arc are clustered in Episode III while other key characters are insufficiently developed.
- Anakin backstory underdeveloped. Episode I is light on core story yet is still two hours long. I loved that we get to learn that Anakin has special force gifts by seeing this 9 year old boy kicking ass in a pod race while furthering the franchise theme of fun piloting sequences, although I don’t think we needed like 30 min of visual real estate for that (like half of Tattooine’s film real estate). Especially since his inner fear came from his time spent as a slave with his mother, something that doesn’t get enough screen time given how important it is for the rest of Anakin’s arc across the trilogy
- Dooku underdeveloped. The power structure dynamic in Episode I robs film real estate from key characters later in the trilogy, like Dooku and Grievous, who are insufficiently developed given how important they are to the story. (Also do we need Grievous, narratively speaking?)
Character attributes and relationships are poorly illustrated. Many times being given to us by forcing exposition or plot movement.
- Anakin is illustrated to be such a sniveling, emotionally stunted, whiny, angry man-child, that when we get the scene of he and Padme falling in love and rolling around in grass, it feels abrupt and hard to believe that anyone would find him attractive
- Dooku is a terrifying and formidable duelist but this is never illustrated to us, so when Anakin beats him, it carries little impact. Dooku deserves to carry some emotional weight since he is a crucial plot mover. Refocusing Episode I would probably free up enough screen time to build our appreciation for Dooku’s significance through the trilogy
Key narrative context is not communicated.
- Anakin is The Chosen One™️, something mentioned in passing. And The Prophecy™️, central to his importance to the Jedi, is literally never explained. This truly is a generic trope lazily shoe-horned into the story
- Naboo’s position within the galaxy is poorly illustrated. Someone had explain to me that Naboo is akin to Estonia or some other small country that would be easily abused and overlooked. Imagine if the Estonian representative in the UN became the Emperor of Earth by legal, political means. This is context that would change the way we look at the entire trilogy given that Padme and Palpatine are both from Naboo. In this regard I actually loved that so much of Episode I goes to illustrating Nabboo’s internal dynamics; just wish they would’ve given some galactic context
- The Force is a finite resource. Which makes the concentrated power of the young Darth Maul make more sense when he overwhelms lifelong Jedi Master Qui-Gon without taking any damage. The size of the Jedi order has diluted the Light side with each one on average weaker in The Force than any Sith. This would’ve been cooler to explore than midi-chlorians, given that this sets up the theme of Jedi Vanity better
- The Separatists and Trade Federation are both given significant screen time and simultaneously underdeveloped. We see very little of their characterization, dynamics, and motivations while also taking away screen time from other important narrative elements — the worst of both worlds
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Star Wars Episode One Essay —
Star Wars Episode Two Essay —
Star Wars Episode Three Essay —
Star Wars Prequels Overview Essay —
II: Poor Storytelling
