Yesterday I watched The Phantom Menace. Today, obviously, is The Attack of the Clones because my other option is impeachment and honestly, we know how that is going to go!

Here's my TPM thread. The takeaway was that TPM was a well-above average blockbuster with solid themes, incredible design, and better dialogue than you have been told https://twitter.com/ProofofBurden/status/1358778967482716164

I feel like TAOC has the least discourse? It's also the one I remember the least! It's the one I'm most excited to re-watch just because of that

Some words about trilogy structure and the difficulties Episode II faced on the drawing board before I roll the film.

The Original Trilogy follows the conventional structure of a fantasy trilogy. Uncomplicated hero's journey, hero brought low, hero rises again having learned to be a better person.

TESB has Luke lose to Vader; Avatar Season 2 ends with every hero failing at an objective; in The Two Towers Rohan is nearly extinguished as Frodo is lead to near certain death. (The LOTR movies botched this, fight me.)

The Prequels aren't following this. Episode I was nearly an uncomplicated hero's journey, but tragic themes were already creeping in

Because it is a tragedy, Episode III is going to be the low point. This is a rewatch, so I know he specifically hits rock bottom immolating on Mustafar as Space Fascism rises, but we had that mostly from the Original Trilogy anyway

Episode I needed to show the good in Vader and introduce the tragic flaws. Episode III needs to show the tragic downfall of our characters (mirrored in The Republic). What does that leave for Episode II?

It falls to the middle installment to show each character making a tragic choice. I should begin with the sense that the heroes will prevail and end having demonstrated their downfall is inevitable but not sealed.

Given that I remember Episode I being superfluous and discovered it wasn't, we'll see how Episode II measures up to those goals! Cue the tape!

"Contains tobacco depictions". Okay, ratings board, but they're literally called death sticks, what are you on about?

Oh! A secession crisis! I'm sure this will have no relevant political themes

Bafflingly, I think Corescant looks worse in this one, though it's still good enough CGI to do it's job

The death of Corde (sp?) is impactful given that she was a rando

Windu: We're peacekeepers not soldiers! This is obviously a meaningful distinction to monks! The Jedi Order is not already spiritually fallen! We swear!

Seriously, every word out of the mouths of Jedi are wrong. People hated these movies because they wanted a story of uncomplicated Jedi Knights and got a neat mix of Buddhist/Catholic church embroiled in politics

This has the Harry Potter 5 problem where teenage petulance is annoying, but Lucas writes it pretty well for Anikin

"Takes these, they're very poisonous. Be careful. There can be no mistakes this time."

There's the terrible dialogue I was promised, one movie late

Anikin is having nightmares about his mother and Obi-Won's terrible advice is, "Dreams pass." The Jedi are G A R B A G E

Obi-Won jumping through a window and grabbing a drone is everything I want from CGI Star Wars, thank you!

There is a feminist streak that runs through these movies. Obi-Won assumes the assassin is a man only to be shown wrong. Lucas could have had a better/less essential gender split, but women get a decent range of roles

In this movie, it is McGreggor who exists in a bubble where he's in a better movie than everyone else

I love Noir Courascant, say whatever you will about the screenplay

People criticized the Obi-Won/Anikin relationship, but he's now getting better guidance from Palpatine now AS THOUGH THAT'S THE POINT

Imagine if your state were represented in the Senate by Jar-Jar Binks---unless you're from South Carolina and then you already are

"I would think you Jedi would have more respect for the difference between knowledge and wisdom."

Lucas laid it on thick and people do not get this point

The whole movie calls back to the 30s, but nowhere more than the soft cinematography on Naboo. It's a double omage; once to Lucas's inspirations and once to the fact that the Space Nazis are coming

Anikin being wounded by Padme knowing things is both great characterization and very much shows that Lucas understood fragile masculinity is a gateway to fascism

The set design on Kamino is great and feels like Star Wars while also being very different. You can feel the Clone Troopers came from their sensibilities

"I don't like sand" is very much a low-point in what has been a rough half an hour for dialogue. The flirting with their eyes and the kiss, on the other hand, is proof Lucas should have his characters talk 15% less

Anikin: I don't think the system works

This whole conversation, which I cannot transcribe in full, was viewed as heavy-handed at the time, is basically what 30% of the US believes today and it's terrifying

I unironically love this overwrought dialogue: "That kiss torments me. My heart beats, hoping that kiss will not become a scar."

I get why people hate on this, but it's no less dramatic than Shakespeare, fight me

Every homosexual nerd of my generation cites shirtless Hayden Christianson as an important part of their sexual awakening, and even now he's HOTT

Anikin's visions link back clearly to the movie before and Machete order looks increasingly wrong

A lot of conventional stunts in the Obi-Won/Jango fight scene and it gives it more weight than the Corescant chase scene. Take notes, Hollywood

Lucas liberally deploys CGI to augment it, which works most of the time. I'm not anti-CGI, I just think it's an overused tool that doesn't capture physical altercations well

Watto's character design is somehow even more anti-Semitic this time around! Imagine doubling down on that!

This movie has a lot going for it, but an hour in the themes are a bit lost under a very cluttered plot

Oh, but the ominous vibe on the Lars Homestead and the discussion of where Schmi brings Anikin's tragic flaw back to the center. The suns are setting, which is a symbol Lucas uses in all three movies for Anikin's downfall

Again, a bit on the nose, especially today, but it's literally a bunch of capitalists breaking away from the Republic under the guidance of the Sith

I'm tearing up for Schmi's death. After a murky noir plot, Lucas finds a lot of clarity in this moment. William's score, Yoda's disapproval, Hayden Christianson acting the hell out of murdering those Raiders...it all comes together

And a little detail I've never noticed: Qui-Gon calls out, "Anikin, no!" through the Force

Here, at the midpoint of the tragedy, Anikin admits he wants the power to stop death. He vows to become strong enough to save the other people he loves from ever dying. TAOC has earned its keep, if nothing else

Lucas doesn't have the same focus on Padme (and it's a problem), but her tragic flaw is she does whatever she wants. Her tragic decision is marrying Anikin---which is still ahead---but going to Geonosis backs that characterization

To @DooleyNoted90's point about theater training and Lucas's dialogue, Christopher Lee has no trouble making that dialogue sound excellent. (He could have elevated the phonebook, so the credit is partially his)

Emergency powers to Palpatine is not prescient so much as the ability to read Roman and German history. ("I love democracy! I love the Republic!") But our Founders were concerned about a new Caesar and the Germans proved them right

Everything happening in the droid factory could be cut, which could free up room to cut some of the plot wanderings in the first half

For all I think it's useless to the whole story, Lucas does a good job---much better than Disney---setting up the rules of his set-pieces before executing them. (Showing where and how often the molten metal is poured, rather than aimlessly reacting)

WHOA!
Anikin: Don't be afraid.
Padme: I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid to die.

I had not put together how thoroughly and how early Padme rejects Anikin's insistence that he saves her

I have been hard on William's score because I and II aren't his best work, but the love theme is superb

Also with the Rome vibes, we're in the Colosseum and there is a crowd cheering for their deaths. This set piece is not really justified for the characters, even if it advances the plot more than the droid factory

AND THE JEDI HAVE ARRIVED! With an army. This is the their tragic decision, the final commitment to a worldly politics

Lucas usually shows off his masterful working of the beautiful chaos of battle in space, but he does it in the Arena this time with the lightsabers

There's always a central focus, but you can catch glimpses of a fully-realized battle in the background. (The unnecessarily maligned throne room scene in TLJ captured this too)

We've paid off a bunch of lines from the first half of the movie---about Anikin's lightsabers and Aggressive Negotiations---because Lucas is a good writer overall

(Okay, NOW the army has arrived)

A good show-don't-tell detail from Lucas is the designs track an increasingly militarized war Galaxy. The droids and ships are increasingly powerful through this trilogy, culminating in the Death Star

Again with the bloat: Anikin and Obi-Won agreeing to work together is exactly the right arc, but they've spent too much time apart for it to be entirely earned

Anikin immediately rushing against Dooku is Lucas using fights for characterization. (ARE YOU TAKING NOTES DISNEY!)

The Yoda fight scene was divisive when it came out for two reasons. First, the CGI was...cutting edge didn't quite cut it, but it wasn't (and isn't!) terrible

But second, it also showed Yoda as a warrior rather than a sage. This is the point! This is Yoda making a tragic choice and taking the Jedi down a ruinous path!

A major point of this movie (again, that gets a bit lost), is that war is caustic to Democracy

Everytime the Imperial March is played, it gets longer and purer, and here it is over the footage of the Clone troops massing for war

And Padme and Anikin are wed!