MCP
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Star Wars - Episode II: Attack Of The Clones: Reborn:
I am a huge fan of TM2YC's previous "Reborn" edit, so that was the standard I was judging this by. Unfortunately, this edit is not nearly as good in my opinion. I have to say firstly that (besides The Last Jedi) this is my least favorite Star Wars film. It's very uneven and there are a lot of problems on the script level. It has the worst acting in general of any of the trilogies, and probably career low performances from the 3 principals: Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor, and especially Natalie Portman. So trying to fix these issues is a massive job, and I have great appreciation for all the thought and effort on the part of the faneditor. It's with that in mind that I offer my feedback.
The major issue with this edit for me is technical. It's a very aggressive edit, with lots of cuts to scenes, and many are HARD cuts. The deletion of shots is quite noticeable most of the time, and the audio is even more jarring. I know that dealing with audio in a Star Wars film is incredibly tricky due to the constant score, and it's very evident here. The drop off and sudden pick up in the music is a dead giveaway, as is sudden moments of silence where lines are deleted.
In addition, all the quibbles I had from the previous Reborn fanedit are present here, but more so. There are still many wipes that are edited to be a 1/2 second too fast, an even more noticeable quality difference in both the visual fidelity and audio (high pitch) of the deleted scenes, and a jarring and unnecessary insistence on deleting all references to Padme having a double, which is obvious anyway.
On the other hand, several of the strengths of the previous edit are NOT present here. Jar Jar was recharacterized in TPM Reborn to be naive and afraid, but a simple, proud native trying to be a hero. Lucas' subversion of his character in AotC fits perfectly with that portrayal, where he is played for a fool by being the instrument that gives Palpatine power in the Senate. Here, the treatment is just to remove him. In fact, that's the effect on many characters. Rather than reshaping them through removing specific lines, whole scenes are removed or 2/3's of dialogue in a scene. It doesn't led to reshaping of character oftentimes, it simply leads to NO character. And jarringly so, as reaction shots are left in, but there is often no action/dialogue to react TO. It makes the cut weird and obvious. Boba Fett for example has absolutely nothing to say and nothing to do in the film. The stated intention is to "bring him in line with the strong bounty hunter in ESB", but he's NOT that character yet. He's a little kid. And he hasn't suffered any tragedy yet. That kind of overreach in deleting lines is endemic to the edit as a whole.
There are many parts of the edit that are very smart and work well, or pretty well. Deleting some of Anakin's more petulant moments and some of his bickering with Obi Wan does indeed make him more likable. There are little trims to scenes like Shmi's demise or Dooku's talk with the Separatists that do improve the scenes. Of course, the removal of the slapstick scenes with R2 and 3PO is much appreciated. However, many deletions go too far, not only deleting bad lines, but leaving almost nothing to conversations, resulting in scenes feeling empty or almost pointless. And the extensive reworking of the action scenes is mostly unnecessary, as the one thing George Lucas does great is place action beats. A bit of comedy or dialogue deleted from the scenes is fine, but the action itself is thrilling, and the reworking simply makes it less thrilling and rather more blah.
Finally, the deleted scenes are ESSENTIAL for the improvement of the film, as they add context, character, and nuance to both the Jedi storyline and the romance. However, many of them only have snippets reinstated, which are noticeable in their brevity. (And really this movie needs all the Rose Byrne and Joel Edgerton it can get!) The romance overall is better than in the original film, but still very abrupt and lacking. More lines and actions could've been left in. The stated intention was to "remove fighting between Anakin and Padme", but fighting can often be a foundation for attraction, particularly a relationship that turns possessive and abusive. Only the harshest lines need to be removed, and a few were actually left IN, notably Portman's biting "It makes me uncomfortable!" after telling Anakin not to look at her, which always bothered me. All in all, the romance just needs fleshing out, even with some banal dialogue, because yes, that happens too in relationships.
All told, I don't want to give the impression that this is a BAD edit. There are a lot of great ideas here. I'm afraid that it won't be aggressive enough for some people though. While for me it goes overboard in being far less precise and tactical than the previous Reborn edit. I'd like to see TM2YC revisit it and give it more polish, as I think it was only his 2nd edit and he has surely gained a lot more skill now. If the edits were less noticeable, it might give a different feel. As is, this doesn't replace the original film for me, though it is worth a watch.
https://ifdb.fanedit.org/star-wars-episode-ii-attack-of-the-clones-reborn/discussions/10953/
I am a huge fan of TM2YC's previous "Reborn" edit, so that was the standard I was judging this by. Unfortunately, this edit is not nearly as good in my opinion. I have to say firstly that (besides The Last Jedi) this is my least favorite Star Wars film. It's very uneven and there are a lot of problems on the script level. It has the worst acting in general of any of the trilogies, and probably career low performances from the 3 principals: Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor, and especially Natalie Portman. So trying to fix these issues is a massive job, and I have great appreciation for all the thought and effort on the part of the faneditor. It's with that in mind that I offer my feedback.
The major issue with this edit for me is technical. It's a very aggressive edit, with lots of cuts to scenes, and many are HARD cuts. The deletion of shots is quite noticeable most of the time, and the audio is even more jarring. I know that dealing with audio in a Star Wars film is incredibly tricky due to the constant score, and it's very evident here. The drop off and sudden pick up in the music is a dead giveaway, as is sudden moments of silence where lines are deleted.
In addition, all the quibbles I had from the previous Reborn fanedit are present here, but more so. There are still many wipes that are edited to be a 1/2 second too fast, an even more noticeable quality difference in both the visual fidelity and audio (high pitch) of the deleted scenes, and a jarring and unnecessary insistence on deleting all references to Padme having a double, which is obvious anyway.
On the other hand, several of the strengths of the previous edit are NOT present here. Jar Jar was recharacterized in TPM Reborn to be naive and afraid, but a simple, proud native trying to be a hero. Lucas' subversion of his character in AotC fits perfectly with that portrayal, where he is played for a fool by being the instrument that gives Palpatine power in the Senate. Here, the treatment is just to remove him. In fact, that's the effect on many characters. Rather than reshaping them through removing specific lines, whole scenes are removed or 2/3's of dialogue in a scene. It doesn't led to reshaping of character oftentimes, it simply leads to NO character. And jarringly so, as reaction shots are left in, but there is often no action/dialogue to react TO. It makes the cut weird and obvious. Boba Fett for example has absolutely nothing to say and nothing to do in the film. The stated intention is to "bring him in line with the strong bounty hunter in ESB", but he's NOT that character yet. He's a little kid. And he hasn't suffered any tragedy yet. That kind of overreach in deleting lines is endemic to the edit as a whole.
There are many parts of the edit that are very smart and work well, or pretty well. Deleting some of Anakin's more petulant moments and some of his bickering with Obi Wan does indeed make him more likable. There are little trims to scenes like Shmi's demise or Dooku's talk with the Separatists that do improve the scenes. Of course, the removal of the slapstick scenes with R2 and 3PO is much appreciated. However, many deletions go too far, not only deleting bad lines, but leaving almost nothing to conversations, resulting in scenes feeling empty or almost pointless. And the extensive reworking of the action scenes is mostly unnecessary, as the one thing George Lucas does great is place action beats. A bit of comedy or dialogue deleted from the scenes is fine, but the action itself is thrilling, and the reworking simply makes it less thrilling and rather more blah.
Finally, the deleted scenes are ESSENTIAL for the improvement of the film, as they add context, character, and nuance to both the Jedi storyline and the romance. However, many of them only have snippets reinstated, which are noticeable in their brevity. (And really this movie needs all the Rose Byrne and Joel Edgerton it can get!) The romance overall is better than in the original film, but still very abrupt and lacking. More lines and actions could've been left in. The stated intention was to "remove fighting between Anakin and Padme", but fighting can often be a foundation for attraction, particularly a relationship that turns possessive and abusive. Only the harshest lines need to be removed, and a few were actually left IN, notably Portman's biting "It makes me uncomfortable!" after telling Anakin not to look at her, which always bothered me. All in all, the romance just needs fleshing out, even with some banal dialogue, because yes, that happens too in relationships.
All told, I don't want to give the impression that this is a BAD edit. There are a lot of great ideas here. I'm afraid that it won't be aggressive enough for some people though. While for me it goes overboard in being far less precise and tactical than the previous Reborn edit. I'd like to see TM2YC revisit it and give it more polish, as I think it was only his 2nd edit and he has surely gained a lot more skill now. If the edits were less noticeable, it might give a different feel. As is, this doesn't replace the original film for me, though it is worth a watch.
https://ifdb.fanedit.org/star-wars-episode-ii-attack-of-the-clones-reborn/discussions/10953/