Just for the fun of it, here's a run-down of all the lines that stood out to me and my opinion on whether they work or not.
Let's get this out of the way first: everything Jar Jar Binks says is horrible. All of it. It's all bad. Now let's not speak of him or the other Gungans' dialogue again. Here are the rest...
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| "Anakin, we need to have a serious talk about your Death Stick addiction..." |
This line appears in every Star Wars film Lucas has made for some reason--it's like a theme for George Lucas. This time, it's Obi-Wan's line to Qui-Gon, and it's the first piece of dialogue that sparks a meaningful conversation (the movie's first lines are simply formalities in landing the ship in the first scene). It's a fine way to get the two leads to talk about the situation, which in turn expresses their opinions, attitudes, and some insight on Jedi discipline. My only gripe about this line is that it's been said so many times in the series it just starts to feel obligatory and shallow. Almost like a joke sometimes.
"I don't want this stunted slime in my sight again!"
Hot dang, Darth Sidious sounds so evil! He totally doesn't tolerate cowardice.
"I will make it legal."
A good verbal clue that Darth Sidious has political influence and power. It makes him a more threatening figure, even this early in the series.
"They must be dead by now. Destroy what's left of them."
What the actual freak? Did Nute really just order his droids to mutilate corpses? Why?
"Roger roger."
Why are these battle droids so goofy and useless?!
"This is umpossible!"
Well, okay, Nute does say "impossible," but with the accent it sounds off. Is it wrong to be amused at this?
"You were right about one thing, master. The negotiations were short."
Ah, that's Obi-Wan being witty as usual. I love it.
"A communications disruption could mean only one thing: invasion."
Why though? Palpatine's transmission came from Coruscant, which is light-years away and could have easily been disrupted by any number of stellar phenomenon--radio waves, gamma ray bursts, black holes, pulsars, magnetars, quark stars, neutron stars, novae, or even living creatures in space (which we see in The Empire Strikes Back and Solo: A Star Wars Story). For some bloody reason, these movies set in space hardly ever show any of these things (save for the creatures).
Well, fine, let's all jump to the conclusion it's an invasion. The guy's intuition is right about this, and it generates tension between the queen and her council. And yet, this also destroys any sense of dramatic irony, since all the characters now know the invasion is coming.
"The ability to speak does not make you intelligent."
I know, right?
"You hear that? That is the sound of a thousand terrible things heading this way."
After this, Obi-Wan proceeds with the gory details of Jar Jar's fate at the hands of the Federation. Most scenes with Jar Jar are rather hard to watch, but I do like this exchange and how the Jedi basically intimidate the stupid Gungan until he relents.
"There's always a bigger fish."
This sounded so wise when I first heard it and I can see its thematic value beyond the film, although in the film it's probably meant to hint at the scope of the series. Today, I still don't have any problems with the line.
"No need to report that to him until we have something to report."
Also a line I commonly tell my coworkers.
"What, you think you're some sort of Jedi waving your hand around like that?"
Hahaha, that's some good meta-humor you got going on there Watto. I still like this line, not only since it references the Jedi hand-waving scene we all remember from A New Hope, but because it leads into the next story problem--Watto doesn't take Republic currency, he can't be coerced to, so Qui-Gon has no other choice but to walk away for now.
"Yippie!!!"
Okay, so, Anakin's a kid and he says kid things. But this is probably the most inappropriate place for him to randomly shout "yippie!!!" No kid in their right mind is going to be this excited over Watto giving him more chores then being told to go home. This is just cringey and stupid.
You know what would have worked better here? Anakin moaning. He moans anyway in the sequels, but doing it here makes sense. He's a slave and Watto keeps piling on the work for him--this is the perfect time for him to whine in all the same ways Luke does in front of his aunt and uncle. This would have underscored how low and oppressive his situation is, and it could even be an expression of his desire to leave this life behind.
"This is getting out of hand. Now there are two of them!"
I love this line and how meme-worthy it actually is. The way Nute says it is rather cheesy. But the really neat thing about this line is that it suggests that the Trade Federation actually thought they had some kind of leverage or control over their Sith counterparts.
"At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge."
This is the point when Sidious sends Darth Maul out to Tatooine to find the queen and the gang. Their discussion on Coruscant amounts to this line, which suggests that the Sith are making a comeback.
And that's pretty much it. Nothing else is revealed, and we never even learn what the Sith are avenging (more well-informed fans probably know exactly what though). All this talk sounds cool and all, and as the first glimpse of Coruscant it's a neat-looking scene, but since it was established in a hologram conference that Maul would be dispatched, this scene is redundant and probably could have been cut without affecting anything.
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| Blah blah blah, you already know what to do Maul, just do it already, jeez... |
Obi-Wan says this in reference to Qui-Gon and the others being stuck in Mos Espa. It's meant to be a voice of concern. But the way Obi-Wan says this, he makes it sound like a good thing (and Panaka agrees with him). And I find it kinda funny that Obi-Wan would take that attitude given the situation.
Really, this is a very subtle nuance in Ewan McGregor's performance. I think this scene needed another take or two, and he would have nailed the voice and inflection better.
"Are you an angel?"
I can't help but to cringe a little. Coming from a kid, it comes off as naive, and that might be the point. But surely, Anakin sees human beings all of the time, so for him to peg Padme as an "angel" is clearly an expression of Anakin's admiration for her, at best. At its worst, it's a pick-up line.
I'm pretty certain Padme doesn't take Anakin's words seriously, and that's why she just smiles and plays along with it.
"What do you mean, naked? My parts are showing? Oh my goodness."
Seeing as C-3PO does indeed have no plating in this scene and has exposed circuits and stuff, this is indeed an amusing line.
"Your focus determines your reality."
The more I look at this line, the more I like it. I just wish it wasn't said in such a quick, passing manner. Qui-Gon says this to Anakin as a wise way of telling him to simply focus and win the Podrace. In the broader sense, I'm pretty sure it's a Jedi mantra too. There are numerous points in the series where a Jedi overcomes challenges and obstacles when they stop and focus. Removing distractions, calming emotions, and redirecting their mental energy--this is how Obi-Wan kills Darth Maul in the end, how Luke frees himself from the Wampa cave in The Empire Strikes Back, and it's how Rey comes to understand the Force in The Last Jedi.
In a real-world application, this can still be profound wisdom. If you've ever been angry at something, you'll find it narrows your view, shuts out people around you, makes small things seem like big problems, and can catch you in a negative feedback loop that feeds itself. Sometimes one needs to change focus in order to break out of it, to realize that most problems are solvable and most things are not worth getting angry over. In this respect, focus truly does determine reality.
"Why do I get the feeling that we've picked up another pathetic life form?"
This line amused me before. But really, wouldn't Obi-Wan have known another "pathetic life form" was coming since he had to run the midichlorian scan on Anakin? Also, why call Anakin "pathetic"? That's just rude.
"Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."
This might be the best and most thematically valuable line in the movie. On-the-nose perhaps, but it's Jedi wisdom so it fits the context of the scene just fine. What helps is that we already see the seeds of fear in Anakin through his interactions with the council and his brief talk with Padme on the way to Coruscant. If anything, we probably should have seen more clues of Anakin's fear as the movie went on.
It's also notable that this line sets up the pattern we will see in Anakin's fall arc. The Phantom Menace shows us his fear. Attack of the Clones shows us his anger and hate. Revenge of the Sith shows us suffering. The line establishes the template for the whole series, and it all exudes truth.
"Then we must not fail to get the Viceroy."
Padme says this to Panaka to resolutely convey that her battle plan to capture the Viceroy is the sole way they can succeed, and the stakes are so high that failure is not an option. However, the way Natalie Portman says this it almost sounds snotty and sarcastic. And my response has always been "No! Really? You think?"
Once again, this is an issue that could have been easily resolved with another take, to capture the sense of resolve. As it is, the tone and inflection comes off as stiff and snooty.
"Wipe them out...all of them!"
Hot dang, Darth Sidious sounds absolutely chilling when he says this.
After writing my last post that questioned the movie's plot, I now have to ask what exactly is the point of "wiping them out?" At this point in the story, Sidious got what he wanted (to become the Supreme Chancellor). He has no more need for the Naboo crisis--exterminating everybody serves no purpose other than to be a mustache-twirler.
"I'll try spinning. That's a good trick!"
The sad thing is, it kinda is a good trick. It's an evasive maneuver that makes Anakin a harder target to hit. What's even crazier about this is that he spins again in Revenge of the Sith as a way to make two pursuing rockets explode behind his fighter. Like poetry, it rhymes!
Still, the way Anakin says "that's a good trick!" robs the maneuver of its gravitas. A serious battle is reduced to a game to him, and any threat of death is just lost on both him and the audience. It comes off as silly, plain and simple. Not to mention, "spinning" is an oversimplification--this would be much easier to stomach if it was a barrel roll.
"Now THIS is Podracing!"
*sigh* It isn't, Anakin. But fine, whatever. You're a thrillseeker to the end. Now grow up already and fight the Confederacy, jeez.
"We will watch your career with great interest."
So much foreshadowing! It's inevitable that Anakin becomes Palpatine's apprentice in the end.
On a grander scheme, it's worth noting that there was quite a bit of speculation and rumors concerning Palpatine's and Darth Plagueis' involvement in Anakin's conception--recent media has confirmed that Palpatine did influence Shmi's pregnancy in some way, so it's likely that Palpatine recognizes Anakin as the Chosen One in this scene. You'd think he'd have a stronger reaction, but the series seems to always fall short in characters recognizing each other (Darth Vader never acknowledges Luke's presence in A New Hope despite them being father and son, for example).
In any case, I find this line amusing.
"Always two there are, no more and no less. A master and an apprentice."
I never really understood this whole "Rule of Two" thing the Sith Lords obey. I know Lucas talked about it in some documentary and explained that masters don't trust their apprentices and apprentices always overthrow their masters, so the Rule of Two is a way for both sides to keep each other in check somehow.
How does Yoda and Mace know that there's really only two Sith and they're always in pairs? How do they know the Sith still use the Rule of Two and some upstart isn't breaking the rules? Since other Sith characters pop up later (like Asajj Ventress), how do they know that a secret Sith army isn't lurking around the galaxy? There kinda is already given that Sidious gains control of the clone army, but for the prequel movies it's only him, Maul, Dooku, and eventually Anakin. The more I think of it, the more it feels like a missed opportunity to have a major resurgence of Sith and have a huge-scale Jedi/Sith war, juxtapose to the Clone Wars.
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| "Good talk, padiwan. Good talk..." |
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