Star Words: Episode III, Part 1

[matril]

And now for the final installment of the prequel trilogy!

Where Episodes I and II take their time to build up the action, Episode III throws us directly into the biggest space battle yet. It's pretty much non-stop adrenaline until they finally crash-land on Coruscant. And Anakin has some very fitting words to start off this wild ride.

"This is where the fun begins."


This marvelous line can be enjoyed on at least four separate levels. First off, it's a nice call-back to Han Solo's line from the original film. When he says it, as they attempt to flee into hyperspace with several Star Destroyers in pursuit, it's almost certainly sarcastic -- though if Han didn't enjoy danger at least a little, he wouldn't have become a smuggler. What about Anakin?

That's the second level. It's a definite feature of his character that he delights in the thrill of battle. Just look at his face as he says the line. It's in direct contrast to Obi-Wan's attitude, who grumbles, "Oh, this is going to be easy" and "Blast; this is why I hate flying!" They're both excellent fighters and pilots, hand-picked for this rescue mission, but they have very different demeanors about the whole ordeal. It makes them good counterparts in battle.

Thirdly, Anakin's words are an excellent preface for this sequence. It's an absolute blast. A visual feast, fast-paced and frequently funny, a showcase of how the two Jedi work as a well-trained team to get the job done against all the odds. We see through Anakin and Obi-Wan's good-natured bickering how their relationship has evolved since the Clone Wars began and Anakin achieved the rank of Jedi Knight. We see how much he values his old master as he refuses to leave him behind. And we get to cheer on Artoo as he single-handedly takes on a dozen or so battle droids.

But we'd better enjoy it while we can, because things are going to get dark very quickly. The fourth level of this quote is ironic. In a broader sense, this film is where the fun ends. No more happy times for Anakin. No more victories for the Jedi. This is the last bright spot "before the dark times. Before the Empire." Even worse, it's already started and they don't know it. Palpatine's duplicity. Anakin's beheading of Dooku at the Chancellor's urging. The pieces are already falling into place.

Next time, some unwittingly ironic words from Obi-Wan...

Comments

[krpalmer]

"Let's read something more into this" is often welcome for me, but finding four different levels really does stand out. So far as this sequence goes, I do appreciate this instance in the movies themselves where (a grown-up) Anakin has a chance at uncomplicated heroism (supposing as I do that this was what some people had in mind when Obi-Wan talked about Luke's father in the original Star Wars, even if I wonder if they just might have not thought too much about what turned the good Anakin Skywalker into the evil Darth Vader...) For me, it might have been especially welcome after the original "drawn animation" Clone Wars mini-series made in between AotC and RotS, where Anakin seemed to have anger management issues. (The computer-animated Clone Wars, getting to follow a complete trilogy, seemed better there, but I've never been pleased with claims it was somehow "necessary.")

[matril]

"Let's read something more into this" is the rallying cry of the English major, and pretty much the main reason I started this series. ;) I feel it's important to see Anakin as uncomplicatedly heroic once in a while. Even his darkness, it could be argued, stems initially from good traits -- love, loyalty, a sense of justice, a desire to fix broken things.