On a somewhat-related note, TBS is showing the prequels today (well, at least episodes 2 and 3, from what I've seen).
Despite the presence of McGregor, Smits, McDiarmid and others, these things
have not aged well.
The acting by so many is really bad, and you can tell Lucas didn't want to travel anywhere to shoot anything "real". It's green screen city, and it's so apparent. Nothing looks real. I watched part of
Attack of the Clones (until 2019 my least favorite
Star Wars movie) and ROTS is now at the Kenobi/Grievous fight on Utapau. It's like a video game (that's not a compliment).
I know these movies set up so much of what came to be later, and what we enjoy. But man...they're pretty shaky in terms of some of the dialogue and acting. Everyone other than McGregor, Smits, McDiarmid and Jackson are pretty tough to watch. It's played so...broad, as though they assumed their audience would be nothing but third-graders and that they must hit them over the head with everything -
everything - for it to get through; these might be the least-nuanced, most
unsubtle movies I've ever seen. I thought so in 1999, 2002 and 2005. And nothing I've seen this afternoon has changed any of that. It's a wonder the franchise survived some of this nonsense.
The overall outline/gist is there, it's just...the execution and details were kinda all over the place. I've often wondered, as I have the sequel trilogy, what would've/could've been with a better writer/director and some better casting. Such missed, lost opportunity across
six movies.
This Obi-Wan show is helping with some of that, but it's not enough. I couldn't sit through any of these prequel entries, on purpose, again. But, hey...at least Lucas kept it consistent. Nobody playing Anakin - Jake Lloyd or Hayden Christensen - can act worth a shit in any of this. So, yeah...I suppose there's some believable continuity there!
"You were unbelievably wooden as a child, my Padawan; and you still are. You haven't changed at all, Anakin! Your hair is longer and you're a bit taller, perhaps...but, you really suck".
I watch these scenes between Palpatine and Anakin (pre-Vader/Order 66) and all I can think is "they probably didn't pay Ian McDiarmid enough to slum it here...". The imbalance between acting chops on display...it's like watching Anthony Hopkins sharing a scene with Pauly Shore. "One of these things doesn't belong...".
PS - They’re weirdly fun(?) to watch, though, because I can remember everything upon first seeing them in the theater. It’s a great “time capsule” vibe, and such a marked, well-remembered period of my life. 1 and 2 in California, midnight shows, wall-to-wall costumed fans, etc. And then episode 3 back in my hometown in 2005. I remember the theaters, the buildup, the hype and merchandising, that gut thrill of hearing those blaster and lightsaber noises once again, etc. Everything
surrounding the movies was a good time and exciting. The movies, unfortunately, simply didn’t hold up their end of the deal.
But when I see Ewan McGregor in this roll again, that all comes rushing back.