Next step in the journey. Here was the first step - The Phantom Menace.
The poor decoy for Senator Amidala is killed in an attack while the real Padme is in a fighter with R2. Did / do all the queens and senators
have decoys, or just Padme? Rough job being her handmaiden. "We are brave."
Indeed.
The Jedi are just "keeping the peace". That sounds so
different now. "We're not picking sides." Dudes, sometimes, you *have* to pick
sides, or you're just letting the bad side take advantage. But which is the
correct side? The separatists or the current government?
Padme suspects that Count Dooku is behind
her assassination attempt, but Mace says he would never do that, because he used
to be a Jedi. Hmmm, that’s not really a good enough reason,
Mace.
Count Dooku was once a Jedi? I forgot about that. I only
remembered that he's also secretly a Sith. How was he able to no longer be a
Jedi? Yes, I know Ahsoka was a padawan / Jedi and then she wasn't, but we
didn't know about her yet at the time that we found out Dooku was a former
Jedi. So did Dooku become Darth Tyranus when Maul died, so there are always
two?
It's been 10 years since the events of "The Phantom Menace".
Obi-Wan is sent to protect Padme, and Anakin goes along. It's the first time
he's seen her in 10 years.
Anakin shows defiance just like Qui-Gonn did. He's
determined to protect Padme and find whomever wanted to kill her.
Caught that bit where Obi-Wan and Anakin were talking about
politicians, and Anakin says that the Chancellor (Palpatine) seems ok. Ahhh,
the courtship has already begun.
I remember liking the character of Zam Wesell. Cool outfit
too. She was the assassin hired to kill Amidala.
Anakin has been fixated on Padme for 10 years, starting when
he was that little? That's ... disturbing.
Those poison worms are creepy. I wonder what they were
supposed to do, bite you to expel their poison or crawl into you like those
creepy things in "Star Trek: Wrath of Khan".
Anakin uses his speeder to catch a falling Obi-Wan, who did a
pretty good job hanging onto that probe for as long as he did. Anakin does a
similar drop-in to Zam's ship.
For her safety, Padme has to go into hiding and temporarily
gives up her senator seat to Jar Jar. So they only want to kill her
specifically? Jar Jar isn't going to be in danger in the senator
job?
Aww, those younglings were so cute. First time we saw such
little ones, other than little Anakin. Let's not think about the implications
of young children being taken away from their families to be trained into what
is essentially a cult. They did that to Natasha with the widow-makers in the Avengers too.
Obi-Wan cannot find Kamino, the water planet (all these
one-climate planets...), in the charts. Yoda deduces that their removal from the
charts had to have been done by a Jedi. It seems like that prospect should
worry them more than it appears to. Seems like that would be a big
deal.
With Anakin on Padme's security team, he bristles when she
knows what she wants with regard to security, shooting down what he was going to
suggest. Dude, it's her planet, she was queen and is now a senator, and she
knows her planet. I can't tell if he's just generally annoyed at being
overridden or if he's specifically annoyed that he can't show off for
her.
Oh, right, Obi-Wan's hyperspace ring. I've wanted that since
I first saw it. I don't know if they ever actually released a toy like
that.
Obi-Wan heads to Kamino and unexpectedly finds a sort of welcoming
committee. He plays along to find out what's going on. They say that the clone
army was ordered by Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas on behalf of the Jedi Council, but
Obi-Wan says he was killed 10 years prior.
Padme has a ton of pretty dresses in this film, but I think
that faded rainbow one is my favorite. It's really gorgeous.
At Star Wars Celebration in 2019 in Chicago, I happened upon an impromptu gathering of women in various of Padme's dresses. They were wonderful to see.
Obi-Wan gets taken on a tour of the clone farm and is told
that they've been genetically engineered to be less independent, easier to take
orders. The operation is run by Jango Fett, who is also used as the donor for
the clones. Jango had one request though - he wanted one unaltered clone, who
he then raised as his son, Boba Fett. Jango says that he was recruited by
Tyranus, who we know is Count Dooku. So is Count Dooku the one who erased Kamino from the
Jedi library? Or was that Sifo-Dyas?
Great way for Temuera Morrison to make his entrance into the
Star Wars universe. And Daniel Logan as little Boba Fett.
On the subject of Padme's outfits, her leather bustier is a
far cry from Carrie Fisher having her breasts taped down in the original Star
Wars because there was no jiggling in space.
As Padme and Anakin discuss their budding relationship, it's
interesting that Padme is all reason, for why they can't be together, while
Anakin is all emotion, about why they should be together. Padme's training as
queen of Naboo and then senator has taught her how to control her emotions and
to think logically. Anakin's training to be a Jedi should have done the same,
but he's missed a few lessons in those areas. He's got way more fire in him
than you'd expect from a trained Jedi. Though I guess his excuse is that he's
still a padawan.
Interesting discussion between Yoda and Mace Windu about the
Jedi's diminishing ability to use the Force, given that they didn't sense the
presence of the clone army, and that only the Sith know about this fact. I
wonder where that was supposed to go and what it was supposed to imply, because
I don't think they take up that subject again. Unless it's just a throwaway
line to explain how an entire army was created without them knowing about it,
not to mention the presence of Darth Maul, and Darth Sidious and Darth Tyranus
for that matter. Really falling down on the job, guys.
Anakin has a nightmare about Shmi and decides he needs to go
rescue her. Wonder how long he's been having them.
So I guess Obi-Wan made himself a new lightsabre, and it's
blue again. What did he do with Qui Gonn's lightsabre?
In Obi-Wan's fight with Jango, why doesn't he use a Force
push? Wouldn't that dispatch Jango faster? See, still need to know the rules
about Force push and why they don't just use them all the time.
Anakin returns to Tattoine and Watto tells him that he sold
Shmi to Cliegg Lars, who is a farmer, and Cliegg married her. So Cliegg bought
himself a wife. Not sure how I feel about that. I guess it was a better life
for Shmi? I presume she had the choice to stay or leave, to marry him or
not?
Obi-Wan follows Jango to Geonosis after he put a tracker on
Slave I.
Anakin and Padme go to the Lars homestead and meet Owen
(Cliegg's son) and Beru, Owen's girlfriend. Oh, so Uncle Owen really is Luke's
uncle, since Anakin and Owen are sort of brothers by the marriage of their
parents. Anakin arrived just too late though, as he is told that Shmi was taken
by Tusken Raiders only a month prior. Maybe he started having nightmares about
her after she was kidnapped.
The Trade Federation Viceroy and Count Dooku are at the battle
droid factory on Geonosis. So the battle droids are for the Trade
Federation.
But Count Dooku is playing both sides of the
fight? He recruited Jango to make the clones for the Republic, but he's also
overseeing the production of the battle droids for the Trade Federation. He's
arming both sides of the coming war.
Anakin finds Shmi, but it's too late as she dies in his
arms. He's so angry and can't control it, resulting in him slaughtering the
entire tribe. He eventually confesses the murder to Padme. The look on her
face as he's telling her. But then I guess she lets it go? I mean, she looks
horrified as he's telling her, but then she changes and seems to soften and then goes to comfort
him. I get he was angry and why he was angry, but that seems like a lot for her
to just smooth over. Nice use of the Imperial March theme in that
scene.
Mace tells Anakin to protect Padme, but it's clear that
Obi-Wan needs help, but Anakin refuses to leave her. Padme basically forces his
hand by deciding that she's going to help Obi-Wan, so Anakin has to go with her.
All of Padme's stubbornness was passed down straight to Leia.
As acting senator, Jar Jar is manipulated into calling for a
vote to give Chancellor Palpatine emergency powers to authorize the creation of
the clones, after the fact, since they're already in the process of being made.
Oh, that's why he wasn't in danger of being killed, because he was going to be easy
to manipulate.
Qui Gonn was Count Dooku's apprentice. Count Dooku tells Obi-Wan about
corruption in the Imperial Senate and how Darth Sidious is controlling multiple
senators. Is Count Dooku's influence what made Qui Gonn rebellious against the Jedi
Council? And why is Count Dooku telling Obi-Wan this and asking Obi-Wan to join him
in destroying the Sith when Count Dooku is a secret Sith? Is he just sowing discord
and suspicion everywhere?
On Geonosis, when Padme falls onto the manufacturing assembly
line, her avoiding all the various mechanisms was like running the gauntlet in
Galaxy Quest.
Anakin and Padme in the gladiator arena reminded me of the
Hunger Games. But why do they have an arena for this? Is it something that
happens often? What are those creatures kept around for?
Three dangerous creatures are unleashed on the trio. Anakin
manages to sort of tame the horned dude and helps Padme with the kitty while Obi-Wan gets away from crabbie. Aww, I liked that kitty, much like I like the
rancor in "Return of the Jedi". I want that kitty.
The fight between the Jedi and the battle droids was pretty
awesome. Hard to keep track of all the lightsabres and colors
though.
Why don't all the Jedi use Force push against the battle
droids? Yep, still fixated on the Force push.
Mace killed Jango, which Boba sees. Aww, poor kid. That
would not make him fond of Jedi.
Yoda and the clones arrive. When I first saw this, my head
exploded from seeing Yoda commanding troopers. And then, we're supposed to be
rooting for stormtroopers. How weird is that, given the events of the original trilogy?
So the Geonosians originally designed the Death Star and were
planning to build it? Then when that didn’t work, the Empire did it themselves
and then brought Galen Erso in to help?
I want Yoda's lightsabre. I'd totally buy that if they
offered it at Dok's.
Count Dooku escapes and reports back to Darth
Sidious, who is pleased with the news. Seeds of discontent and disruption have
been sown on both sides.
So they're preparing for a war. But who are we supposed to
root for? Generally, I guess we'd root for the Republic since that appears to
be the side that the Jedi are backing, but we know that the Senate is controlled
by the nefarious Chancellor Palpatine. If we root against the Republic, then
we'd be rooting for the separatists, who are led by the Trade Federation, and we
were already rooting against them in the prior film. But we also know that the
Trade Federation is aligned with Count Dooku, and that ultimately, control goes to
Darth Sidious aka Chancellor Palpatine. I think that's why I find this movie so
confusing, every time I saw it when it initially came out, and even during this
re-watch. You don't know who to root for because there really isn't any side to
root for. Palpatine is controlling both sides of the war. Even the Jedi are
misguided.
So at the end, when Anakin and Padme get married, I remember
the third time we saw it was with a particular set of friends. After the movie,
they were marvelling at Anakin's metal hand. We were confused because we'd seen
the metal hand every time. This was the friends' first time seeing a digital
version of the film (remember when digital was a thing that wasn't very
available?), and they said that when they'd seen the regular version of the
film, it was just his hand. And we remembered that George Lucas, infamous for
never wanting to finish a movie, was still messing with the film right up until
release. The film versions had to be finished first because they needed to be
duplicated and distributed to theatres, but he could work on the digital version right up until the end, so
if you saw a digital screening of the film, you saw Anakin's metal hand, but if
you saw a regular filmed version, you didn't. At least that's my understanding
since I never saw his regular hand because the three times we saw the film during its initial release, it
was a digital screening.
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