I see Anakin sabotaging the bad guy's pod not out of maliciousness, but frustration at his own childishness. What if he's portrayed as lashing out indescriminately at the brute hunk of machinery, realizing he's somehow done serious damage, then peering about hoping no one's seen his cowardly act?
The type of foreshadowing I would have liked to have seen is Anakin rewarded for youthful victories that came too easy, nascent Jedi powers that were not so awesome as they seemed. This would have set the stage for his descent into the dark side, not because of an insidious evil streak, but because he was too simply weak to resist.
Brin's analysis may be overblown, but with Phantom Menace, George Lucas shortchanged us all. New Hope and Empire were brutal without being gory; Menace, like Return of the Jedi, pulled every punch and softened every blow. The pity is that Lucas could have easily employed simple plot twists to add a second dimension to his characters and more depth to his tale. Consider:
* Naboo is conquered by a merciless alien army, its people rounded up in concentration camps. Wouldn't a few scenes of devastated cities and brutalized citizens have helped to set the proper tone? As portrayed, the invasion had all the impact of a bloodless palace coup.
* Anakin Skywalker is such a good little boy, without the slightest hint of a mean streak that might one day develop into a personality like Darth Vader's. Wouldn't it have been far more intriguing if his miraculous victories had been undeserved, his awesome proto-Jedi powers something of a fraud? Instead of having the simpleton bad guy in the pod race sabotage Anakin's pod, why not reverse the roles, and have Anakin cheat his way to success? Especially if Anakin's sabotage inadvertantly results in the bad guy's death - and the precocious little hero shows no remorse... Likewise, when Anakin just happens to make the right moves to blow up the space station in the final battle, wouldn't it have been far more satisfying if R2D2 had been silently pulling the space fighter's strings all along? And then the loyal droid lets Anakin disingenously take credit for the kill...
* Obi Wan is a priceless gem of an apprentice, as obediant as Robin the Boy Wonder. Couldn't he have exhibited some of the crusty recalcitrance so charmingly cultivated by the elder Obi Wan? Just a bit of chafing under Qui Gon's imperious mandates, a little jealousy of his mentor's sudden interest in the annoying little slave boy. Why not have Obi Wan taken in by the fake transmission from Naboo, conspire with Amidala to secretly respond to the plea for help, thus naively tipping off Darth Maul to their location on Tatooine?
* Darth Maul is obviously a pawn who's only genuine purpose is to take out Qui Gon. Instead of simply having Obi Wan dispatch Darth Maul in the end, Lucas could have deepened his plot by having Palpatine/Darth Sidious double-cross him. Here's the rationale: Palpatine forsees Anakin's destiny to become his apprentice and intuits Obi Wan's future role as Anakin's first mentor in the ways of the force. Palpatine intervenes at the critical moment as Darth Maul is about to nail Obi Wan, distracting the arrogant Sithling with his Phantom Projection Power, giving Obi Wan an opening to slice the bastard in half. George, if you need help, I'm available...
* Queen Amidala. Ok, so the handmaiden trick was pretty good, but it could have been better. Qui Gon doesn't want her tagging along, right? So couldn't he have treated her with something less than respect, maybe a little gruff exasperation? This would have at least given Qui Gon some mild embarrassment to portray when her identity is later revealed. And don't you think the intrepid band got along just a little too cozily on Tatooine? Wasn't there supposed to have been some animosity between Amidala's and Jar Jar's species? A few withering remarks directed at that ridiculous geek would have gone a long way...
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I see Anakin sabotaging the bad guy's pod not out of maliciousness, but frustration at his own childishness. What if he's portrayed as lashing out indescriminately at the brute hunk of machinery, realizing he's somehow done serious damage, then peering about hoping no one's seen his cowardly act?
The type of foreshadowing I would have liked to have seen is Anakin rewarded for youthful victories that came too easy, nascent Jedi powers that were not so awesome as they seemed. This would have set the stage for his descent into the dark side, not because of an insidious evil streak, but because he was too simply weak to resist.
Brin's analysis may be overblown, but with Phantom Menace, George Lucas shortchanged us all. New Hope and Empire were brutal without being gory; Menace, like Return of the Jedi, pulled every punch and softened every blow. The pity is that Lucas could have easily employed simple plot twists to add a second dimension to his characters and more depth to his tale. Consider:
* Naboo is conquered by a merciless alien army, its people rounded up in concentration camps. Wouldn't a few scenes of devastated cities and brutalized citizens have helped to set the proper tone? As portrayed, the invasion had all the impact of a bloodless palace coup.
* Anakin Skywalker is such a good little boy, without the slightest hint of a mean streak that might one day develop into a personality like Darth Vader's. Wouldn't it have been far more intriguing if his miraculous victories had been undeserved, his awesome proto-Jedi powers something of a fraud? Instead of having the simpleton bad guy in the pod race sabotage Anakin's pod, why not reverse the roles, and have Anakin cheat his way to success? Especially if Anakin's sabotage inadvertantly results in the bad guy's death - and the precocious little hero shows no remorse... Likewise, when Anakin just happens to make the right moves to blow up the space station in the final battle, wouldn't it have been far more satisfying if R2D2 had been silently pulling the space fighter's strings all along? And then the loyal droid lets Anakin disingenously take credit for the kill...
* Obi Wan is a priceless gem of an apprentice, as obediant as Robin the Boy Wonder. Couldn't he have exhibited some of the crusty recalcitrance so charmingly cultivated by the elder Obi Wan? Just a bit of chafing under Qui Gon's imperious mandates, a little jealousy of his mentor's sudden interest in the annoying little slave boy. Why not have Obi Wan taken in by the fake transmission from Naboo, conspire with Amidala to secretly respond to the plea for help, thus naively tipping off Darth Maul to their location on Tatooine?
* Darth Maul is obviously a pawn who's only genuine purpose is to take out Qui Gon. Instead of simply having Obi Wan dispatch Darth Maul in the end, Lucas could have deepened his plot by having Palpatine/Darth Sidious double-cross him. Here's the rationale: Palpatine forsees Anakin's destiny to become his apprentice and intuits Obi Wan's future role as Anakin's first mentor in the ways of the force. Palpatine intervenes at the critical moment as Darth Maul is about to nail Obi Wan, distracting the arrogant Sithling with his Phantom Projection Power, giving Obi Wan an opening to slice the bastard in half. George, if you need help, I'm available...
* Queen Amidala. Ok, so the handmaiden trick was pretty good, but it could have been better. Qui Gon doesn't want her tagging along, right? So couldn't he have treated her with something less than respect, maybe a little gruff exasperation? This would have at least given Qui Gon some mild embarrassment to portray when her identity is later revealed. And don't you think the intrepid band got along just a little too cozily on Tatooine? Wasn't there supposed to have been some animosity between Amidala's and Jar Jar's species? A few withering remarks directed at that ridiculous geek would have gone a long way...