I’m Sorry?!

Okay, I know I keep saying it, but I really am sorry for not having blogged in a while.  I have been completely overwhelmed by the whole “home ownership” thing.  Just to give you an idea of all of the work that I have been doing around my house, here’s a list of things I completed in the last two weeks:  New roof was put on the garage, new water main put into the house, washer leveled, new kitchen sink installed, driveway sealed, dining room carpet removed, carpeting installed in the guest bedroom, chicken coupe removed from the back yard, and countless hours of yardwork.  This is only some of the things I’ve done in the past two weeks.  So, I need to make some changes to how I am going to run this website.  I’ve decided that instead of updating this website every day, I’m going to make my updates once a week.  This will also give me the time to concentrate my efforts on my first podcast.  I know many of you check my blog on a daily basis and are probably very dissappointed by my decision.  However, due to all the changes in my personal life and my living space, I need to take more time away from the blog.  If things slow down later, I will start to blog more.  Now onto the wrap up of all of the characters in Attack of the Clones……

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Okay, so here is a review of the characters from Attack of the Clones in the order they appeared on my blog:

Captain Typho

“However, on his watch, there are three attempts on Amidala’s life and he attempts to avert none of them.”

“I’m just not that impressed with Captain Typho and his abilities to execute his job.”

Captain Typho:  * (1)

Senator Amidala

“When I first saw Attack of the Clones, I really liked the Amidala character.  I thought she played the “lover” role very well and I also thought she balanced the role of a strong woman with that role.”

“I mean, how can you beat Sentor Amidala in a leather corsette and a plunging neckline looking like a hot chick?  Okay, maybe because I’m a guy it does a lot more for me, but I really liked her outfits in this movie.”

Senator Amidala:  ******* (7)

Anakin Skywalker (The Teenager)

“Anakin is basically a 17 or 18 year old teenager that is on the verge of rebelling from his father figure which happens to be Obi-Wan Kenobi.  When I first saw this movie, I thought the Anakin role in this movie sucked.  But as I watched this movie a few more times, my viewpoint changed.”

“Anakin Skywalker plays the perfect role of the character in complete confusion.  I believe that this is what makes judging this role so hard in Attack of the Clones.”

“I would like to say that Hayden Christensen was the PERFECT actor for this role!  He played this concept very well.  I believe that he got bashed for no reason at all and that fans just weren’t able to understand such a complex character.”

Anakin Skywalker (teenager):  ********* (9)

Obi-Wan Kenobi (as the father)

“Obi-Wan is definetly a powerful Jedi by the time this movie hits the major timeline.”

“Some of the most powerful fight scenes in Attack of the Clones include Obi-Wan Kenobi.  I believe that Ewan McGreggor does a great job making this movie an even better movie than all the hype that was given to it.”

Obi-Wan Kenobi:  ********** (10)

Zam Wessel

“Although Zam only appears for a short while in the movie, her role I think is diminished by the average Star Wars fan.”

“I think that Lucas created one great chase and fight scene using Zam and I became more intrigued by her character because of this movie.”

Zam Wessel:  ******* (7)

Jango Fett

“The idea of this character being in a movie reminded me of the days that I first learned about Bounty Hunters in The Empire Strikes Back.  I must truly say, that this is what made me most interested in this movie.”

“I believe that Temuera Morrison did an absolutely incredible job with this character.  I have to say, of all the Star Wars cast members that I would want to meet, Temuera would be my first choice.”

“Really, Jango is just an awesome bad guy!  I defy anyone to find a better bad guy in all the history of Star Wars!”

Jango Fett:  ********** (10)

Count Dooku

“There is never any mention of him before this point and there seems to be much disdain for a man that no one knows anything about.”

“So, instead of trying to find a character to fit Christopher Lee into, I think Lucas developed a character that Christopher Lee could play.  After he screwed up with this character, he kills him off fairly quick in The Revenge of the Sith.”

Count Dooku/Darth Tyrannus:  *** (3)

Yoda

“I often thought about why such a short, seemingly powerless Jedi can end up as the head of the Jedi Council.”

“Yoda kicks butt and amazingly seems to have no problem fighting off the Sith Lord.”

Yoda:  ********** (10)

Kit Fisto

“I do have a million and one questions about Kit Fisto.  First off, he’s supposed to be a really important Jedi.  So, if he’s so important, then why dont’ we ever see him on the council?  Why don’t we see him in the chambers?  Is it possible that he’s not actually an acting member of the council?”

Kit Fisto:  ********* (9)

Mace Windu

“More important in this movie, we get to see Mace Windu as a leader as well as a Jedi.”

“How powerful does a Jedi have to be to jump over a balcony, force land, deflect shots, and not break a sweat?  I think that just tells you how powerful Mace Windu really is.”

Mace Windu:  ********** (10)

C-3PO

“The only upside of C3-PO’s performance is the small amount of comedy interjected by Lucas by putting his head on the body of a war robot and vice-versa where there was some comedy interjected into the movie.”

“I really was just not impressed with this character in this movie.  And if Lucas really thinks these movies are told from their point of view, then we’re missing half the story half of the time in this movie.”

C3-PO:  **** (4)

R2D2

“When talking about Attack of the Clones, I believe that R2D2 has stepped up even further in his role in the Star Wars universe and in my heart.”

“In these scenes we see R2D2 fly, use a mechanical arm and we see him save Padme’s life while in one of the “lava” containters (or at least that’s what I think it is).”

R2D2:  ******* (7)

The Emporer/Chancellor Palpatine

“Of all the “bad guys” in the Star Wars universe, there is one guy who becomes the resident evil man.”

“Again Ian McDiarmid did an amazing job playing this two-faced character.  He seems to sell the character wll and we all are very convinced that Palpatine and the Emporer are running the show.”

Palpatine/Emporer:  ********* (9)

Jar Jar Binks

“Although Jar Jar has a very limited role in this film, I feel I do need to show how George Lucas shows his disdain for Jar Jar by leading him to the biggest mistake by a Star Wars character in a single movie.”

Jar Jar Binks:  *** (3)

 

The List:

Captain Typho:  * (1)

Senator Amidala:  ******* (7)

Anakin Skywalker (teenager):  ********* (9)

Obi-Wan Kenobi:  ********** (10)

Zam Wessel:  ******* (7)

Jango Fett:  ********** (10)

Count Dooku/Darth Tyrannus:  *** (3)

Yoda:  ********** (10)

Kit Fisto:  ********* (9)

Mace Windu:  ********** (10)

C3-PO:  **** (4)

R2D2:  ******* (7)

Palpatine/Emporer:  ********* (9)

Jar Jar Binks:  *** (3)

 

OVERALL:  3

Overview of “Attack of the Clones”

Okay, so I didn’t get to my wrap-up that I wanted to this weekend.  What can I say?  Owning a home seemed like a simple venture upfront, but has since turned into an all – time consuming nightmare.  I know that things will eventually calm down and problems will be solved, but becoming a home owner can be so overwhelming that it seems that things in your home will never calm down, but they will.  Anyway, this past week we’ve seen more comments than ever before.  First off, I would like to say “thank you” for those of you making comments on my blog.  That is what gets dialogue going and helps make this blog interesting and exciting.  With that in mind, I would like to encourage others of you to make any comments you would like.  Simply click on the comments button and write what is coming to your mind.  I will say that I am both the biggest fan and biggest critic of Star Wars.  I know I don’t know anything, and I really haven’t taken the opportunity in my life to study Star Wars like the guys who run “Chrono Radio” and “Star Wars Timeline Gold Edition”.  However, I do consider myself to be the average educated American and the knowledge I give is from that viewpoint.  I don’t have the time to read each and every article on Star Wars on the Internet.  I am a member of  “The Rebel Alliance” fan group and am also a contributing member of http://www.theforce.net.  However, I KNOW I don’t know everything there is to know about Star Wars.  But, I do like a good critique now and again and have enjoyed ALL of the comments provided so far.  Now, on to my overall perspective on “Attack of the Clones”.

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Okay, so I didn’t get to my wrap-up that I wanted to this weekend.  What can I say?  Owning a home seemed like a simple venture upfront, but has since turned into an all – time consuming nightmare.  I know that things will eventually calm down and problems will be solved, but becoming a home owner can be so overwhelming that it seems that things in your home will never calm down, but they will.  Anyway, this past week we’ve seen more comments than ever before.  First off, I would like to say “thank you” for those of you making comments on my blog.  That is what gets dialogue going and helps make this blog interesting and exciting.  With that in mind, I would like to encourage others of you to make any comments you would like.  Simply click on the comments button and write what is coming to your mind.  I will say that I am both the biggest fan and biggest critic of Star Wars.  I know I don’t know anything, and I really haven’t taken the opportunity in my life to study Star Wars like the guys who run “Chrono Radio” and “Star Wars Timeline Gold Edition”.  However, I do consider myself to be the average educated American and the knowledge I give is from that viewpoint.  I don’t have the time to read each and every article on Star Wars on the Internet.  I am a member of  “The Rebel Alliance” fan group and am also a contributing member of http://www.theforce.net.  However, I KNOW I don’t know everything there is to know about Star Wars.  But, I do like a good critique now and again and have enjoyed ALL of the comments provided so far.  Now, on to my overall perspective on “Attack of the Clones”.

I will say that I believe that my Star Wars fanaticism came to it’s height with the release of the movie.  I was one of the first people to go out and buy the soundtrack and fell in love with John Williams’ music from point one.  Then, for the first time ever, I went to a midnight viewing of a Star Wars movie and I dressed as a Jedi Knight for the event.  I have to say that it was an awesome experience and made me excited for the next movie to come out.  I had high expectations for this movie.

I disagree with most mainstream Star Wars fans.  I believe that Attack of the Clones was an incredible masterpiece and really showcased all of George Lucas’ talents.  I think it was high in special effects and all of the things that George likes to focus on.  The amount of CGI created creatures grew (almost doubled) and the eye-catching cinemagraphics were just unbelievable.  Most people agree with me up to this point.  Then, people talk about the poor acting performance.  This is were I strongly disagree.  I think that there were several actors that helped to carry this movie and played some unbelievably tough roles.   Let’s start with the person who is usually critiqued the most, Hayden Christensen.  EVERYBODY thumped on Hayden Christiansen who supposedly did such a horrible job with Anakin.  My arguement is quite opposite.  I think that Hayden did a great job presenting Anakin as an older teenager-type male that was in competition with his older, parental figure.  I do think the “love scenes” were forced, but again, like the other films, I blame Lucas, not Christensen for the breakdown in acting.  There is no doubt by anyone involved that Natalie Portman did an amazing job playing Senator Amidala.  She played a great, “strong female” role that I would like for my daughters to emulate someday.  That is why I encourage even my daughters to watch this film with me when I watch it at home.  Lastly, there is no doubt that Ewan McGreggor did a phenominal role playing a fatherly Obi-Wan Kenobi.  He certainly did a better job in this movie than his role in Moulin Rouge, but then again, I hate that movie (which is a blog for a different day).  McGreggor really convinced me of the struggle that Obi-Wan goes through in wanting to do the right thing, but also wants to serve Anakin as the one who is “to bring balance to the Force”.

I will say there is once again an actor that is overlooked in this movie as well.  Ian McDiarmid does an incredible job playing both roles of Palpatine and the Emporer.  He did a great job of showing the almost bi-polar concept of the Emporer.  McDiarmid shows the cunning and caniving role the Emporer plays in creating “The Clone War”.  He does a great job being the almighty Chancellor and the all controlling Emporer.

The best scene in this whole movie is the battle scene towards the end of the movie.  First we see every Jedi fighting together in the arena, which seems absolutely amazing and stunning in itself, and then we are treated to the visual of a battle.  The first battle of “The Clone War” which occurs on Geonosis.  This whole movie is breath-taking and amazing.  I know that most Star Wars fans put this movie towards the bottom of their list, but it ranks among one of the top.  I think there are only two George Lucas films better.  You’ll have to stay tuned to find out which ones…….

Jar Jar Binks

This weekend will bring the wrap-up of the Attack of the Clones blogs.  I will do a quick/brief overview of all the characters and present the overview as I did the overview of The Phantom Menace.

Also this weekend, I hope to attempt the first parts of the very first audio cast of “The Jedi Council Speaks”.  I will those of you who are fans of the site know how the recording sessions went and how long it may take to record and put together the podcast.  Now, onto Star Wars “stuff”:

Although Jar Jar has a very limited role in this film, I feel I do need to show how George Lucas shows his disdain for Jar Jar by leading him to the biggest mistake by a Star Wars character in a single movie.

Jar Jar Binks:  *** (3)

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Although Jar Jar has a very limited role in this film, I feel I do need to show how George Lucas shows his disdain for Jar Jar by leading him to the biggest mistake by a Star Wars character in a single movie.

The first time we see Jar Jar in this movie he greets Anakin and Obi-Wan when they arrive to meet Senator Amidala.  I remember every Star Wars fan moaning in the movie theater when they first heard Jar Jar’s voice in this movie.  However, we find out as the movie goes along that Jar Jar has a very limited role in the movie.  I do want to point out that his role in the plot-line is definetly not limited.  When Amidala leaves to go to Naboo to attempt to save her own life, she leaves Jar Jar in charget of her Senitorial seat.  Many Star Wars fans have asked why she would leave it in Jar Jar’s hands and not demand the Queen of Naboo not fill the seat?  With that task having been done, she leaves Jar Jar with no instructions and no expectations.  Then Jar Jar makes the biggest mistake that a Star Wars character could ever make.  He agrees to grant the Chancellor “immediate emergency powers”.  This gives the Chancellor, who is also the Emporer (if you didn’t read my blog last night, or can’t keep up) the ability to raise a clone army.  Of course by this point, the clone army already existed.  In essence, Jar Jar gives the Emporer the power to start the Clone Wars and puts the entire Senate into ultimate peril.  This gives the Dark Side the upper hand and the ultimate ability to topple Jedi Council and all the Jedi.  Jar Jar becomes a pawn of the evil sides doing.  So, his role in the movie is small, but his role in the plot, is bigger than his own life.

Jar Jar Binks:  *** (3)

The Emporer/Chancellor Palpatine

Of all the “bad guys” in the Star Wars universe, there is one guy who becomes the resident evil man.  The Emporer who is also Chancellor Palpatine plays an absolutely brilliant role in this movie!  Who has could make both factions in the Star Wars universe go to war?  I have some real interesting thoughts on just how brilliant he is.

Palpatine/Emporer:  ********* (9)

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Of all the “bad guys” in the Star Wars universe, there is one guy who becomes the resident evil man.  The Emporer who is also Chancellor Palpatine plays an absolutely brilliant role in this movie!  Who has could make both factions in the Star Wars universe go to war?  I have some real interesting thoughts on just how brilliant he is.

Let’s split this character and really treat him as two different people, because in a way, he is.  I’m going to start by talking about Chancellor Palpatine.  Does anyone remember how he comes to power?  Oh yeah, he comes to power because he manipulates Queen Amidala to call for a “no vote of confidence” in Chancellor Vellorum’s power.  This ultimately leads to the insertion of Palpatine as the new Chancellor.  Don’t think for one minute that things did not happen to his plan.  The Chancellor then meets Senator Amidala at the beginning of Attack of the Clones and tells her that he is sorry that there have been attempts on her life and that he would do all that he could to ensure her safety.  Here comes the great irony, the guy who is really trying to take Senator Amidala’s life is the Emporer, who is also Chancellor Palpatine!  This scene always seems to make me laugh at the concept that Lucas gives.  Think about the irony that one man is trying to kill someone and ensuring their safety all in one breath.  Then, Chancellor Palpatine decides the Jedi Knights should be responsible for Amidala’s life.  Again, Palpatine has ultimate control here as he knows that the Jedi will put both Obi-Wan and Anakin in charge of this duty.  He also knows that this will distract the two most powerful up and coming Jedi so that the Emporer can do the duty that he plans on doing.  In the course of the movie, Obi-Wan gets further distracted trying to find out more information on Jengo Fett.  Then, he finds the clone army, which I believe Chancellor Palpatine planned on.  Ironically, the discovery of the clone army and the need for a clone army for the defense of the Republic coincide.  Palpatine convinces the Senate to let him use the clone army to attack the Federation’s droid army.  This leads to the Clone Wars.  But remember that there is someone in control on the other side of the Clone Wars.

On the other side of the movie is the Emporer, who is also Chancellor Palpatine.  The Emporer is in charge of the Federation faction by controlling what Count Dooku does.  This is all really revealed at the end of the movie.  The Emporer forsees the weakness in the Jedi and decides that if a war were to happen, the Jedi need to be at the front of the war to make sure that the Sith can rise again and wipe them all out.  So, he deliberately makes attempts on Senator Amidala’s life knowing that this will cause the Jedi to have to react.  He knows that they will find out who Jengo Fett is, and that the discovery of this Bounty Hunter will lead to the discovery of the clones on Kamino.  He also plans on this being used to start the Clone Wars.  Imagine this concept today.  That would be like George Bush and Saddam Hussein being the same person (I know I’m gonna catch political comments for that crack!), and Bush manipulated the American people into a war and Hussein did the same thing, and when the war ended, we found out they are the same person.  In reality, that is exactly how the Clone Wars happened.  I think that is what makes this storyline so unique in Star Wars.

Again Ian McDiarmid did an amazing job playing this two-faced character.  He seems to sell the character wll and we all are very convinced that Palpatine and the Emporer are running the show.  I think for those who were not true Star Wars fans and did not know that the Chancellor and the Emporer were the same guy, they would have been fooled by his ability to act out these two roles seperately.  Kudos to Ian, and I think you have earned an Emmy in my home if you haven’t received one in real life.  Although, I think his acting for the Star Wars series will get better for the next movie.  I give The Emporer a:

Palpatine/Emporer:  ********* (9)

R2D2

R2D2 has always had a special place in my heart as far as the Star Wars saga is concerned.  When talking about Attack of the Clones, I believe that R2D2 has stepped up even further in his role in the Star Wars universe and in my heart.  I do believe that Lucas’ stories were meant to be told from the point of view of R2D2.  Let’s face it, he’s the “hero” we all want to be.  He always seems to come to the rescue and seems to be in the right place at the right time.  This makes R2 the perfect companion for any Star Wars fan.

R2D2:  ******* (7)

 

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R2D2 has always had a special place in my heart as far as the Star Wars saga is concerned.  When talking about Attack of the Clones, I believe that R2D2 has stepped up even further in his role in the Star Wars universe and in my heart.  I do believe that Lucas’ stories were meant to be told from the point of view of R2D2.  Let’s face it, he’s the “hero” we all want to be.  He always seems to come to the rescue and seems to be in the right place at the right time.  This makes R2 the perfect companion for any Star Wars fan.

At the beginning of Attack of the Clones, we see R2D2 with Padme as the ship gets blown up and Corde gets killed.  Later in the movie, R2 plays a major role in saving Senator Amidala’s life in her quarters.  He does semi-fail in his duties to protect the Senator, but still seems to play a major role in the scene with the bugs that try to attack the Senator.  R2 joins Anakin and Amidala on Naboo and stays with them while they keep Amidala on the planet and out of the way of danger.  There’s even a kind-hearted joke on the way to the loading dock when Anakin says “relax, what could happen to us.  Besides, we have R2 for protection”.  A nice little knock at the stubby little droid.

Later in the movie, Anakin and Padme decide to leave Naboo and head to Geonosis and look for Obi-Wan Kenobi.  R2 joins them and makes some of the most incredible moves in any of the Star Wars movies for R2!  In these scenes we see R2D2 fly, use a mechanical arm and we see him save Padme’s life while in one of the “lava” containters (or at least that’s what I think it is).  Although this scene is awesome and incredible, it does raise some questions in my head.  Why doesn’t R2 fly when he runs into problems in the other movies?  How is he able to be so nimble and so quick in this movie, and then become the bumbling idiot of a robot that we see in The Empire Strikes Back?  It’s not like he’s a human and degrades over time.  He’s a robot that should be able to receive maintenance and keep all of his gadgets working.  Just something to think about.

Even with the questions I have about R2D2, I still think that I associate with this character in Star Wars a lot.  My friends say it’s because I’m short and stubby like R2, but I beg to differ.  Anyway, I give R2 a:

R2D2:  ******* (7)

C-3PO

For some reason, the characters that seem the most fun in George Lucas’ movies seem to take the brunt of the criticism.  For some reason, the C-3PO character in Attack of the Clones seemed to take a lot of poking fun at and seemed to be the character that everyone wanted to make fun of and make a point to critique.  One thing to remember when watching Star Wars is the fact that the stories (according to George Lucas) are supposedly being told from the point of view of C3PO and R2D2.  For many fans, simply knowing this information really seems to change how they view the movies and even the timeline and story lines.

C3-PO:  **** (4)

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C3-PO seems to be a very interesting character in this movie.  In the last movie, we see Anakin leaving C3-PO behind being incomplete and uncovered.  As a matter of fact that it becomes a matter of a joke between R2-D2 and C3-PO.  With some irony, R2-D2 becomes somewhat of a focal point at the beginning of this movie, as droids go, and by the end of this movie he seems to diminish in capacity with regards to C3-PO.  We literally don’t see C3-PO until the mid-point in the movie.

It’s not until Anakin decides to visit his old homeworld of Tattoine and finds out that Shmi had been sold to another man that he actually ends up finding C3-PO.  We finally see C3-PO covered and fully operational.  There seems to be no connection between Anakin anc C3-PO which shocks me because I would expect Anakin to be excited about seeing one of his creations completed.  But, obviously the future Darth Vader doesn’t seem to care about his robots or anyone elses for that matter.  Going on in the movie.  C3-PO seems to become nothing more than a servant droid from this point on in the movie.  The only upside of C3-PO’s performance is the small amount of comedy interjected by Lucas by putting his head on the body of a war robot and vice-versa where there was some comedy interjected into the movie.  I do think the comedy was a little forced, but I do think that Lucas did a good job of balancing the comedy with the action.  Although, I think he gets better at doing this with each movie that he directs.  Too bad there won’t be any more Star Wars movies, because he may have perfected by the next movie.

I really was just not impressed with this character in this movie.  And if Lucas really thinks these movies are told from their point of view, then we’re missing half the story half of the time in this movie.  Shouldn’t we have seen the events that Watto talks about at Mos Eisley from C3-PO’s point of view?  Maybe I’m just as critical of this character as others.  With this in mind, I give C3-PO a:

C3-PO:  **** (4)

Mace Windu

Okay, tonight I would like to talk about probably the most powerful Jedi of all time.  Alhtough you would never know it by watching The Phantom Menace, Mace Windu is quite the awesome fighter as far as Jedi Knights are concerned.  I guess that’s one of the reasons many Star Wars fans are not fans of Episode I, but fell in love with Attack of the Clones.  Let’s face it, this movie had many surprises including Yoda, and Mace Windu just to name a few.  Of the three prequels, I think Lucas seriously out-did himself with the production and storyline of Episode II.  So let’s talk about Mace Windu…….

Mace Windu:  ********** (10)

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Okay, tonight I would like to talk about probably the most powerful Jedi of all time.  Alhtough you would never know it by watching The Phantom Menace, Mace Windu is quite the awesome fighter as far as Jedi Knights are concerned.  I guess that’s one of the reasons many Star Wars fans are not fans of Episode I, but fell in love with Attack of the Clones.  Let’s face it, this movie had many surprises including Yoda, and Mace Windu just to name a few.  Of the three prequels, I think Lucas seriously out-did himself with the production and storyline of Episode II.  So let’s talk about Mace Windu.

In Episode I, I saw Mace Windu and thought, “oh cool, George has finally been pressured by the NAACP and has decided to put an African American in his movies.”  I never seriously thought that Mace Windu, of all characters, would become one of the best kick butt Jedi Knights ever!  I was simply impressed not only by the role given to Mace Windu, but the execution of the role by Samuel L. Jackson and the sheer verocity of the character’s development in this movie.  When we first see just how much control Windu has, we see him discussing what the Jedi Council will do about the attempts on Amidala’s life.  Windu seems to be leary at every corner about not only Anakin, but Obi-Wan as well.  Let’s face it, Mace Windu had a pretty good idea what Anakin would become and even warned the council that the “boy should not be trained” in Episode I.  Only by Episode III would we see just how right Mace Windu really was.

More important in this movie, we get to see Mace Windu as a leader as well as a Jedi.  We see him leading assault teams of Clone Troopers and we see him leading teams of Jedi Knights.  He really plays a great leader role throughout the movie.  It is Samuel L. Jackson’s portrayal of the character in this movie which makes me fall in love with Mace Windu as my favorite Star Wars character of all time.  I was most impressed with the fight scene in the arena.  How powerful does a Jedi have to be to jump over a balcony, force land, deflect shots, and not break a sweat?  I think that just tells you how powerful Mace Windu really is.  It’s simply incredible!  More importantly, he is the Jedi that kills Jengo Fett.  I think that is what really puts him over the top as the best Jedi ever.  Even better than Yoda.  Let’s face it, Yoda failed as a leader, but I will talk about that when I talk about Yoda in Episode III.  Windu, however, never really fails as a leader and even tries to do the right thing when others would not.

I can’t help it, I’m a HUGE Mace Windu fan and I even tailored my Jedi Knight costume after his from Episode II.  So, with this in mind, I can’t help but give him:

Mace Windu:  ********** (10)

Kit Fisto

Okay, it’s time to talk about a not so well known Jedi.  I have a definite opinion about him and have many questions as I did with Yoda.

Kit Fisto (for those of you who have not completely memorized all of the Star Wars characters) is one of the more interesting looking Jedi knights.  In Attack of the Clones, Kit Fisto is the Jedi that is an alien that is green.  He has “locks of hair” that are kind of like hair but are really made of skin (or that’s what we’re supposed to think – it’s pretty obvious it’s rubber from a mask the actor is wearing).  Kit Fisto is the Jedi that “force pushes” C-3PO when he is attached to a Trade Federation droid body.  Later on we see him in several aspects fighting and doing a great job at being a Jedi.

Honestly, Kit Fisto plays an even more important role in Episode III when he goes to arrest Chancellor Palpatine, but that’s a blog for a later time.  I do have a million and one questions about Kit Fisto.  First off, he’s supposed to be a really important Jedi.  So, if he’s so important, then why dont’ we ever see him on the council?  Why don’t we see him in the chambers?  Is it possible that he’s not actually an acting member of the council?  Better yet, I have some more personal questions about Fisto.  Like, what species is he?  Where did he come from?  What about his backstory?

If any of you authors are reading this blog, Jedi’s like Kit Fisto would make cool backstories.  I think that Kit Fisto’s background story would be great to tell and would interest many of the Star Wars fans.  I know that if they were to ever write a series of books about him, I would be all over them.  I’ll be honest, Kit Fisto is my favorite Jedi Knight, just because we don’t know the answers to these questions.  Although Mace Windu kicks butt and is awesome, I just like Kit Fisto better because he looks cooler.  I am currently looking for a Kit Fisto mask to add to my collection of Star Wars collectibles that I can wear for halloween.  If anyone knows of or can find one, let me know so that I may try to get it.  I give Kit Fisto:

Kit Fisto:  ********* (9)

Yoda

Okay, today’s topic is of a character that many thought to be some pompus idiot much before Attack of the Clones came out.  Let’s face it, many of us viewed Yoday to be some stupid puppet on the shoulders of Jim Henson.  I have a hard time everytime I see Yoda not imagining that really sad puppet version that we first see in The Empire Strikes Back.  I guess this is what makes me a “Classical Star Wars fan” and not a “Modern Star Wars fan”.  With this in mind, I do have some interesting viewpoints on Yoda and many questions about Yoda since I have seen this movie.

Yoda:  ********** (10)

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Okay, today’s topic is of a character that many thought to be some pompus idiot much before Attack of the Clones came out.  Let’s face it, many of us viewed Yoday to be some stupid puppet on the shoulders of Jim Henson.  I have a hard time everytime I see Yoda not imagining that really sad puppet version that we first see in The Empire Strikes Back.  I guess this is what makes me a “Classical Star Wars fan” and not a “Modern Star Wars fan”.  With this in mind, I do have some interesting viewpoints on Yoda and many questions about Yoda since I have seen this movie.

When you see Yoda in the beginning of this movie and throughout the entire movie of The Phantom Menace, we see Yoda as being this imperfect weakling of a Jedi.  Many Jedi bow to Yoda and his powers and expertise, yet we never know why Yoda is revered in this way.  I often thought about why such a short, seemingly powerless Jedi can end up as the head of the Jedi Council.  Then we see Yoda at the end of this movie.

I don’t know about the rest of the Star Wars fans out there, but I was blown away by the fight scene at the end of this movie.  When Yoda first pulled out his lightsaber, I first thought “okay, this is why Yoda goes into hiding.  There is no way he could face a Sith Lord.”  Then the fight commensed and I was completely blown away.  Yoda kicks butt and amazingly seems to have no problem fighting off the Sith Lord.  I can’t believe that this battle really ends in a stalemate with Dooku still getting away in his ship.  I really thought that Yoda should’ve won considering exactly how much he just kicks butt.  I was dissapointed that Yoda just didn’t finnish off Dooku right then and there.

So, after this battle I was left with many questions.  Why does Yoda have to walk around with a cane?  Why doesn’t Yoda kick butt more often and why does it seem like he is weak only when he chooses to be?  Why isn’t Yoda even more powerful in The Empire Strikes Back?  If Yoda is so powerful then why can’t he seem to see the Sith Lord right in his own midst?  Better yet, if Yoda is so powerful, then why can’t he see that Palpatine is going to become the Emporer?  I have many questions knowing what I know know and seeing what I see at the end of Attack of the Clones.

However, even with all of these questions, Yoda still kicks %$&T^!  With this in mind, I can’t help but give Yoda:

Yoda:  ********** (10)

Count Dooku

Let’s start with a “house update”.  First off, it looks like the official closing date for my house now seems to be set in stone.  It appears that two weeks from tonight (August 15th) I will be signing my life away to and on my new house.  Our hope is to be completely moved in by late August, long before I have to go back to school and do my other move in.  Moving into my classroom.

Anyway, onward and upward.  As far as the Star Wars Podcast that I plan on opening, I plan to start doing tests tommorrow on “The Jedi Council Speaks” and if all goes well, I could potentially have the podcast done and ready to go by the time we move into the house.  In this case, I should not be late on the first podcast of “The Jedi Council Speaks”.  Fans:  If there are topics you would like for me to discuss when I do my first podcast, throw them out there now.  Plans in the future are to get people that are involved with Star Wars on phone calls and interview them for future podcasts.  Much has to do with the potential time I may have on hand.

Finally, tonight’s discussion.  I saved this one because I wanted to take some time on this character, because I have the most issues with this “bad guy” of all of the bad guys introduced to the Star Wars universe…..

Count Dooku/Darth Tyrannus:  *** (3)

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Okay, I want to begin by saying, who the hell is Count Dooku?  This guy, this ex-Jedi, and Sith Apprentice just seems to come out of nowhere!  There is never any mention of him before this point and there seems to be much disdain for a man that no one knows anything about.  Padme immediately blames the attempts on her life on Dooku almost immediately in the beginning of this movie.  How did this come to be and where did Dooku originate?  We find out from Mace Windu that Dooku is an ex-Jedi and there are references later on the movie to this.  If he is an ex-Jedi, why didn’t we hear about him before?  This is the one storyline that Lucas is completely screwed up on!  I just don’t think I understand the logic behind introducing a Sith Lord and having all of this said about his background and then never hearing one thing said of him before this point.

Later on in Attack of the Clones, Dooku makes all of these random accounts of the Jedi Council and how it is weak.  Then he makes references that I’m not even sure I understand.  Something about Dooku also being Qui-Gon’s apprentice I believe or some strange comment about Yoda’s apprentice.  After seeing this scene, the first thought in my mind was, “what the heck, do I need some sort of Jedi Council encyclopedia to keep this straight?”  I was completely confused by the conversation at this point in the movie and I was even more confused when they got done talking.

The one thing that did make sense was Dooku having formed the Separatist movement.  I thoroughly enjoyed finally getting a chance to see how Dooku got all of these factions together and how he put together the concept of the Separatist movement.  I did like the fact that the Seperatists were shown to be more than just the Trade Federation.  Then Dooku exposes himself to the Jedi.

Maybe this is where all of the Sith have gone wrong.  Maybe instead of exposing themselves to the Jedi to be “found”, maybe they are better off being in the background and trying to run the galaxy from within the governing bodies.  Anyway, Dooku seems to be a pretty powerful Jedi for never having been mentioned in the Star Wars universe before this point!  He is able to injure Obi-Wan Kenobi and decapitate Anakin’s hand.  Then, he is able to beat Yoda.  All in the same fight!  This is one powerful Jedi and Sith!  I just don’t buy this part of the movie.  Yeah, it created some great fight scenes, but is Dooku really that powerful?

Here’s my take on this character, and I think it all centers around the actor that played Dooku, Christopher Lee.  A year before the release of this movie, Lord of the Rings:  Fellowship of the Ring was released.  I believe that Lucas saw this movie in it’s pre-release stage, as many directors did, and said to himself, “wow, Saruman is a great villain.  I have to have this guy in my cast.”  So, instead of trying to find a character to fit Christopher Lee into, I think Lucas developed a character that Christopher Lee could play.  After he screwed up with this character, he kills him off fairly quick in The Revenge of the Sith.  I believe that Lucas saw the error of his ways and tried to resolve the matter quickly by developing a new villain in General Grievous.  Yes, I am making some pretty huge accusations here and I have no way to back them up.  But can anyone else explain this character?

My first challenge to you, the readers of this blog.  Come up with a better reason for the development of the character of Count Dooku, other than the one that I have explained in the previous paragraph.

Okay, so what do I think of Count Dooku?  I think he is the worst of all of the Sith!  He wasn’t even scary and really wasn’t as dominering as all of the other Sith were.  How can I even consider him a Sith?!  That’s why Dooku gets a measely:

Count Dooku/Darth Tyrannus:  *** (3)