Why Star Wars Prequels are pointless, Part II

Yesterday, I discussed three main reasons why I felt the Star Wars prequels were pointless, today I will expand by opinion by offering up a few more reasons. I hope you enjoy.

4) Anakin and Palpatine
In Revenge of the Sith, this relationship was finally given the proper attention that it should have gotten in the first two films. In Episode I, Palpatine encounters Anakin once and says, "We'll be watching your career with great interest." That's about the only time the two even share the same frame together. In Episode II, we get one scene between Anakin and Palpatine in which Anakin thanks Palpatine for his guidance. Now, here's the problem? We never see any of Palpatine's guidance! All of it is implied. That's the problem with prequels in generally, we are told all we need to know, but we never are shown it. There's nothing to suggest in the scene in Episode I and the scene in Episode II that Anakin would thoroughly trust Palpatine. It would even be nice to know what Palpatine's guidance consisted of? This relationship is established so poorly, that it's hard to believe that Anakin would forsake the jedi, forsake Obi-Wan and Padme, just so he could follow a man he has no reason to trust. There should have been more moments between Anakin and Palpatine that show us how he has gain Anakin's trust and how he poisons Anakin's mind for the very beginning.

5) Anakin and Obi-Wan
Anakin himself is a riddle. The main thing that we never get to see is his training as Jedi. We hear about the times he has saved Obi-Wan, but we never see any of his training. Considering training is an important part of being a Jedi, it would make sense Lucas devote sometime of the trilogy to Anakin's growth as a Jedi. It's only through his training, we can fully grasp just what kind of mentor Obi-Wan was to Anakin. We get one brief sequence in Attack of the Clones were the two bicker back and forth about protecting Padme, but other than that it's hard to really know just how the two view one another. Anakin whines Obi-Wan holding him back, but then the next moment Obi-Wan is "like a father" to him. How does Obi-Wan really view Anakin? It isn't until Revenge of the Sith when he says, "I loved you like a brother" that we get any indication Obi-Wan cared about Anakin. Their relationship seems to be a professional one at best. Remember, Obi-Wan didn't originally want Anakin to be trained as a Jedi, he only agreed to train Anakin because he was honoring Qui-Gon's request. Does Obi-Wan have any resentment towards Anakin or are Anakin's accusations all in his head? Does Anakin have a reason to be bitter towards the Jedi or is he exaggerating everything that is going on? How is it in Episode I Anakin is all for becoming a Jedi, yet in Episode II he is resentful of the Jedi? Did this resentment come on it's own terms, or was it part of Palpatine poisoning his mind?

6) Needless cameos from characters in the original trilogy
I find it annoying that Lucas constantly had to have characters from the original trilogy popping all over the place for no reason, except to give fans something to cheer about. Think about it for a second, in the three prequels name one thing C-3PO does that helps move the story along. Nothing! He does absolutely nothing in the prequels except make stupid jokes and ask Padme, "Are you all right?" The film would have been exactly the same had C-3PO not been in the movies. Narratively speaking, there is no reason to include C-3Po in the movies, he is does not play a crucial part in determining the outcome. Then there's Chewbacca cameo in Revenge of the Sith, he has two brief scenes and in both of them he manages to do absolutely nothing. Again, he's there for the sole sake of appeasing the fans. His presence itself becomes a distraction, because his being there takes the viewer out of Revenge of the Sith and brings them back to the original trilogy. "Look it's Chewbacca, I wonder how he meets up with Solo? Oh well, back to the movie!" These cameos were not needed. If the characters played a vital part in the story I could understand why Lucas would put them in the film, but they don't. They just waste minutes of precious screen time that could have been used to develop the lead characters. And I won't even get started on Boba Fett, that's just to annoying even to discuss at this time.

Well, I think I shall take a break from all the prequel bashing. I promise to have more non-related Star Wars post in the future.