Lucas has followed his story exactly, whether we like it or not

Rating: 10/10 (19 May 2002)

I mean this in George Lucas' defense. One of the major complaints I see with AOTC is that the Jedi are dull and lifeless, as well as everyone else in the Republic. They're supposed to be! That's the life of the Jedi, being the peacemakers of society. Even Ben mentions in ANH that before the Empire, everything was more civilized and sophisticated. The reason everything/one is so relaxed in the original 3 movies is because there in no Republic, just a band of freedom fighters called the Rebellion who are trying to overthrow the Empire. The scenes of the Imperial army in the old trilogy were boring in the same sense the Republic political scenes are boring. We're seeing AOTC through the eyes of the good guys who are still in charge, not the little group of bad guys trying to overthrow the good ones. It's the opposite of what we saw in the originals, a totally different perspective, and it works great in the overall story.
The story belongs to Lucas and he's presenting it exactly the way it needs to be shown. Whether we like it or not is our problem. I admire the way AOTC turned out. It's way better than TPM and even that movie wasn't so bad, it's part of the story. I give this one an A- overall.