Review Detail

(Intro)

I loved how you used Obi Wan’s voice especially how it was timed as the BEFORE THE DARK TIMES title card came into view, fantastic audio editing there and some great visual editing with the title cards for each of the chapters which appropriately aligned with the voiceovers and subject matters utilised in there respective chapters with the transitioning colours of A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….weaving it’s own little tale of foreshadowing before the dark times arrive.

(Chapter 1)

I like how you intercut the scenes of Palpatine’s explanation to Amidala on the political inadequacy of Coruscant alongside the inadequacy of the senate meeting as it streamlines and delivers the world building in a concise and well contrasted manner that perfectly shows how Palpatine flexes his puppet strings upon those who come to associate themselves with him.

(Chapter 2)

The scenes of the pod race were a bit abruptly cut to start with but once it got to the bit where they were moving through the canyon the rest of the race flowed significantly better from there and the intercutting between the pod race and Qui Gon’s AI speech was fantastic and a great way to get across Young Anakin’s mentality adding a nice sense of introspectiveness to the character, on a side note it’s both amazing and scary how accurate the AI can process and deliver Liam Neeson’s voice.

The dialogue you crafted for him along with the intercutting manages to capture that feeling of anxiety that a child would feel when a life changing opportunity and responsibility is placed upon there minds metaphorical weighing scales, the shortened Podrace scene also brilliantly resonates with Obi Wan’s ‘’He was the best Star Pilot in the galaxy’’ showing very little faults in his piloting and how he can improvise on the fly even when under stress about what path in life he should pursue.

I am more familier with the Old EU (Legends) than I am of the Current EU (Disney Canon) though I am guessing a Searcher is the canon equivalent of Legends ‘’Jedi Recruiter’’ though either way the idea to implement a concept outside of the films into your edit was not only genius but it helped this iteration of the Prequels better align with this particular line in Empire Strikes Back ‘’There you will learn from Yoda the Jedi master who instructed me’’

(Chapter 3)

Great introduction by Yoda which not only explains away Qui Gon’s departure in a natural manner but builds into the nature of Anakin’s childlike and young adult anxieties unifying themselves from the past and future to the present though speaking of Anakin the more well written and better acted aspects of his characterisation have been brought well to the forefront casting a better light on his sense of internal conflict and wavering adult rational as the darkness grows within him, though I did find the cut from his scene with Obi Wan to his scene with Palpatine a little bit on the abrupt side but as for Obi Wan himself he comes of as less overly critical and more like a balanced mix between a friend and a mentor which better aligns with his statement in A New Hope.

‘’And he was a good friend’’ his worrying thoughts of his Padawan now come of less like condescending criticism and more general concern for his apprentice’s well being, that intercut between Yoda’s advice and the death of Shmi Skywalker was beautifully brutal and perfectly built upon Anakin’s growing rage and to some extent implies in the scene with Yoda and Mace that the Grand Jedi Master may very well be regretting his own advice that he gave to the young Padawan, at least that’s how I interpret the scene with the potential new context.

(Chapter 4)

Feels like a direct sequel to Chapter 1 but not in a bad way as the use of powerful imagery and wording conveys just how Palpatine and Dooku’s influence started to push the denizens of the galaxy further into ideological and physical conflict culminating in the irony of the Jedi Order becoming less like peacekeepers and more like higher ranked militia in a sense becoming clones themselves as there very purpose and identity had become tainted by the repetition of war which you have managed to portray as quite hellish thanks to the removal of the battles more quippy exchanges of dialogue between characters.

My only criticism with this chapter is that Dooku’s ‘’It cannot be fixed it is time to start over’’ line is oddly placed as his mouth doesn’t move towards the end of his speech.

(Chapter 5)

I like how the beginning of this flashback sequence started out slow and bleak but than began to ramp up in speed and brutality to the point where it felt like ones head could explode, the idea of Anakin having war related PTSD is thematically brilliant as it makes perfect sense in this iteration of the Prequels why the arduousness of war would begin to push him to more extremist methods of ending said war with his statement later in the chapter on how the war has destroyed the principles of the republic having a lot more weight to it since the scenes leading into it pack more of a punch.

Absolutely brilliant and thematically appropriate idea to use the Emperors theme from Return Of The Jedi as Palpatine attempts to convert Anakin to his side and the intercutting between the anchor of light (Padme) and the anchor of darkness (Palpatine) was a great way to show how the strengths between said anchors weight upon Anakin’s moral compass began to weaken and strengthen respectively, in fact his general build up and transition towards becoming a Sith is a lot more well constructed and given how much more relatable he is in this iteration it makes his gradual turn much more terrifying and heart wrenching.

It was definitely a good call to cut out the lightsaber fight between Palpatine and the rest of the Jedi though as to why I say this it’s because it’s not only more consistent with Return Of The Jedi where he was portrayed as a puppeteer with a strong aptitude in the force but I always felt that given how he’s a Sith Lord and would probably be a Grand Master if he had his own Sith Army utilising a lightsaber would be beneath him, additionally given the situation that Anakin finds Palpatine and Mace in it feels more accurate to Matthew Stover’s Revenge Of The Sith Novelisation where Palpatine was purposely allowing himself to be put in a compromising situation in order to deliver that final push to Anakin becoming his apprentice.

I really love the dramatic slowdown and music utilised in the awakening of Palpatine’s disfigured state and Windu’s electrifying death though I do think the ‘’UNLIMITEEED POWAAAH’’!!! line should have been cut as it slightly diminishes the drama of the scene, the manner in which you manipulated Anakin’s body language to transition from horror to despair to sadistic pleasure at seeing the electrified Windu fly out the window was brilliantly executed and truly showed how the light within him was beginning to dim.

One more thing from Chapter 5 I felt could’ve been cut was Obi Wan shaking his head in disapproval as I feel it doesn’t really work in this cut as Anakin comes of as considerably more mature and reserved in said scene which makes Obi Wan look quite unsympathetic.

(Chapter 6)

I was impressed with how you utilised the AI in this chapter with my personal favourites being how you had Palpatine task Anakin with Sith Trials to prove his loyalty which is a concept from the Old EU that I find brilliantly expands the world building of the Star Wars mythos and illustrates the differing methods of ethical induction between the two differing force users of light and darkness though as for my other favourite example it would have to be the AI used for Qui Gon as the delivery of the dialogue far surpassed that of the original in terms of acting and multi film based continuity.

Though on the subject of Jedi there are few things I feel should have been cut with the first being that one kid Jedi who effortlessly cuts down a group of Clone Troopers as it raises to many questions as to why all these adult Jedi who have trained for years and mastered multiple lightsaber fighting forms and have a better understanding and aptitude of the force are being gunned down so easily by troopers that a kid with limited lightsaber fighting ability and force knowledge can easily dispose of, it’s a violation of common sense and a bit wonky power scaling wise.

Yoda wielding a lightsaber should have been taken out as like with Palpatine the idea of a wise powerful force intuned character flipping about and slicing and dicing the opposition when there mind and understanding is there most powerful tool defeats the purpose of the character, another issue I have with the whole liberation of the Jedi Temple scene is the revelation that Anakin killed children though as to my reasoning of why find it to be an issue it’s mainly because it pushes him to far over that Moral Event Horizon and weakens his final act of redemption in Return of The Jedi.

I like how you intercut the Mustafar battle with the conception and continuation of Order 66 as it truly shows that the pendulum of fate is being swung back and fourth for the galaxy’s future and the aftermath of Anakin & Obi Wan’s duel is a huge step up from the original as the lack of dialogue allows the communication of the actors body language to shine through making for a significantly more powerful and sombre departure between former master and apprentice which is only slightly undercut by Anakin’s screaming declaration of malice.

Additionally I liked the creative choice of the cover art as it gives of that sense of melancholy and fleeting sense of self, as the light of one identity becomes more distant and faded while the darkness of a new persona envelops the mindscape. Truly evocative imagery there.