The Two Sides of Every Movie: An Essay by Gaith

[Gaith]

The Two Sides of Every Movie, Or, Why The Phantom Menace Will Always Suck:​

An Essay by Gaith​

Just as the only way to learn about auto mechanics is to dismantle parts of a car, so too has the viewing of fan edits and the process of fan editing proved an invaluable part of my cinematic education. When I and my friends howled and hooted at Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones when it debuted in 2002, we hardly suspected that in between the "dreaming Threepio" antics and the headache-inducing barrage of m'ladys, there existed the rough ingredients for an involving and satisfying action-adventure. Yet, as fan edit fans around the world are now aware, this is the case. "Attack of the Phantom" my first fan edit experience, and after devouring it and the Phantom Editor's wonderful commentary, I eagerly gave "The Phantom Edit" a spin. And was sorely disappointed.

True, "The Phantom Edit" was made before Attack of the Clones was even released, and therefore leaves much to be desired in terms of its cuts. But after seeing The Phantom Menace for the first time in a long, long time, I somehow knew that it could never be whittled down to anywhere near as fine an entertainment as "Attack of the Phantom", and not only because of Jar-Jar. No, The Phantom Menace simply sucks, right down to its DNA.

There is, I think, little need for me to detail the process by which I came to understand this conclusion, and will therefore cut to the chase: every film has two sides, a narrative plot and a thematic plot, and the degree to which they rhyme in large part determines the overall film's quality. To wit, let's examine the first and second Episodes of George Lucas' six-film saga:

Episode II
Narrative Plot: Obi-Wan discovers a threat to the Republic, and his subsequent capture necessitates a disobedient rescue by Anakin and Padme.
Thematic Plot: As the Jedi fear Dark Side corruption in their midst, Anakin and Padme wrestle with their forbidden love for each other.
Do the two "sides" cohere?: Absolutely. Obi-Wan's narrative discoveries embody the Jedi Order's fears, while the two lovers must rebel in thought and deed to satisfy their consciences and desires.

Episode I
Narrative Plot: Padme tries to rescue the occupied Naboo; meanwhile, Anakin risks his life and leaves his mother in order to fight for justice as a Jedi.
Thematic Plot: Padme learns that diplomacy alone can't always resolve a crisis, and Anakin realizes that service to others is greater than the relative comforts of home.
Do the two "sides" cohere?: Not really. Padme's character doesn't really change over the course of the film, and neither does Anakin, who, unlike Luke, is eager to be a Jedi from the get-go. Meanwhile, the Jedi don't change at all, and Jar-Jar, the character who does grow the most, also happens to be completely insufferable.


Now, Gaith," you might object, "Attack of the Clones may have had rhyming 'sides', but it was still a terrible movie." Indeed, an agreement between narrative and thematic plots does not in of itself ensure good quality, but it does facilitate it, as "Attack of the Phantom" demonstrates.

Let's take another example: the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean films.

Dead Man's Chest
Narrative Plot: Jack Sparrow must collect 99 souls to pay off Davy Jones... the alternatives being to relinquish his own soul to him, or do outright battle against his forces. Meanwhile, Elizabeth seems to be coming on to him.
Thematic Plot: Jack wrestles with his conscience, as he did promise Davy Jones his soul in exchange for short-term gain. He is helped by Elizabeth, who forces him to realize that while he could have fun with her, the moral transgression of taking her away from Will would torment him to no end.
Do the two "sides" cohere?: Yes, and beautifully so. Every scene, even the Cannibal Island sequence, leads up to the moment where he finally decides to take on the Kraken.

At World's End
Narrative Plot: Will and Elizabeth rescue Jack, seemingly for the hell of it. Elizabeth then accidentally becomes a Pirate King just as the East India Tea Company's fleet threatens to destroy the world's most illustrious buccaneers. Jack steals a map to the Fountain of Youth.
Thematic Plot: Jack isn't sure whether or not he'd like to become immortal. Meanwhile, Will thinks Elizabeth loves Jack, creating mutual tension between himself and his fiance.
Do the two "sides" cohere?: No. The Pirate Court has nothing to do with Will and Jack's misunderstanding, which a simple conversation could clear up. And while Jack's personal narrative and thematic plots do have the potential to converge, deciding to steal part of a map to the Fountain of Youth (an action which, frustratingly, occurs offscreen) doesn't necessarily amount to a decision to actually become immortal.

Thus, one might argue whether Dead Man's Chest is a good film, or if it's capsized by its extraneous flourishes (I lean heavily on the former side). But what can't, in my opinion, be denied, is that At World's End is a soggy mess.

Now, where does this leave us fan editors? For starters, I think it provides a definitive argument for why such films as the Back to the Future sequels can't be unified into single, good films - their respective narrative and thematic plots are simply too divergent to merge. And this rule also limits the number of movies that can be saved through straightforward condensation - you can trim the fat off The Phantom Menace, but it'll still be a lousy movie, with lots of Jar-Jar to boot. Even movies with such strong elements as Quantum of Solace, which its wonderfully acted quiet moments, thus fall beyond our limited means of repair. If I may be so bold as to recommend a course of action drawing on this lesson, it'd be to focus on, well, focusing movies whose core narrative and thematic elements already gel.

I hope that this essay provides food for thought, and I'd love to hear what you think of it!

Best,
Gaith

 

[boon23]

nice on, gaith.

 

[Adabisi]

If I may be so bold as to recommend a course of action drawing on this lesson, it'd be to focus on, well, focusing movies whose core narrative and thematic elements already gel.

I agree 100%. I'm much more interested in seeing a new take on an already good movie (two that spring to mind immediately are The Dark Knight Remixed and I am Jack's Laryngitis) than an attempt to make a bad movie watchable.

 

[Remixed by Jorge]

every film has two sides, a narrative plot and a thematic plot, and the degree to which they rhyme in large part determines the overall film's quality.

Nicely written though a tad simplistic. All the films you used as samples are hollywood action films which I would call hardly indicative of ALL film.
what about RASHAMON, WILD STRAWBERRIES, SHORT CUTS, MASH, 21 GRAMS, LA DOLCE VITA, WOMEN IN THE DUNES, BLOWUP, AMORES PERROS, THE CONFORMIST, 2001? Can you break those down to Narrative and theme?
I'm not saying you're wrong but your formula might apply to a segment of cinema and not necessarily to all.

 

[Gaith]

Thanks for the kind words, all!

As for those films, KBM... I'm afraid that with the exception of 2001 (a very long time ago), I haven't seen 'em. But let me try three great non-action movies:

Zodiac
Narrative Plot: Policemen and civilians investigate several suspects in an effort to identify and detain the Zodiac. Only through objectivity and respect for due process, however, can they hope to find the right man beyond reasonable doubt.
Thematic Plot: The unsuccessful search haunts several people who get caught up in the pursuit. Their desire to find closure sometimes threatens their objectivity.
Do the two sides cohere? Yes.


Pulp Fiction
Narrative Plot: A boxer tries to escape punishment for his betrayal, and hitmen try to avoid events that would lead to their arrest, or murder by their superiors.
Thematic Plot: The boxer, haunted by his failure to live up to his father's heroism, must decide whether to risk his life and save his enemy. The hitmen, after being confronted with several crises, must decide whether or not to continue their lawless, chaotic careers.
Do the two sides cohere? Yes. Like The Bride in Kill Bill, those who pursue honorable salvation get it, and those who don't don't, in a fitting reflection on the themes of honor, ethics and justice.


25th Hour
Narrative Plot: A drug dealer has 24 hours to report to jail for seven years; he contemplates running from the law. A teacher has an inappropriately sexual contact with a student. Several characters wonder what do with themselves in general.
Thematic Plot: In the shadow of the 9/11 attacks, the dealer realizes that he must atone for his sins. The teacher realizes that carnal knowledge of the young girl will not bring either of them happiness.
Do the two sides cohere? Yes. The overall subject is responsibility and penance; the major scenes all address this, finding that inner peace can only be achieved through morally sound decisions.

 

[blueyoda]

If I may be so bold as to recommend a course of action drawing on this lesson, it'd be to focus on, well, focusing movies whose core narrative and thematic elements already gel.

I agree 100%. I'm much more interested in seeing a new take on an already good movie (two that spring to mind immediately are The Dark Knight Remixed and I am Jack's Laryngitis) than an attempt to make a bad movie watchable.

There are good movies and there are bad movies and there are good movies with bad elements and bad movies with good elements and everything inbetween.

It's all a matter of taste and point of view, in my opinion. I know that personally, I can enjoy a "bad" movie as much as a masterpiece. With the right company of friends, the worst turd can become a very pleasurable experience, sometimes more so than a "great" film.

Great essay, Gaith.

 

[elbarto1]

I dont have the patience to wax intellectual but I really enjoyed POTC2, while 1 and 3 were unimpressive to me.

Oh, and nice essay Gaith Very interesting points but I rather like turd polishing. Sure its the 'easy access' type of fanediting and it usually garners less applause than the talented editors who create new films receive but IMO its like playing music, painting or any other hobby. Despite not being the best, I enjoy doing it, and will continue to do so.

I like all types of films, many regarded as good, some bad, others great, etc. However, I can find something of value in almost every film I see and the art of fanediting (to me) is about distilling the good aspects and excising the bad to make a fuller more cohesive, enjoyable viewing experience. whether that means simply cutting a scene or rearranging the whole film into something new is really just in the eye of the [strikeout:1pd3jdxu]beholder[/strikeout:1pd3jdxu] editor.

One thing is for sure - fanediting as a concept has changed movie watching for me, because now I am always honing in on technical aspects I never noticed before and am always thinking about "what I would have done different".

 

[Gaith]

Thanks!

Though I never said that movies with harmonious narrative/thematic sides couldn't be turds. Attack of the Clones is a turd; it merely has the potential to be good.

And I totally agree on the fan editing-as-filmic-education part! :wink:

 

[JasonN]

Frankly, I think your examination of EP1 is flawed and not on equal ground to your EP2 examination. Furthermore, as someone who has edited all 3 SW Prequels, I can safely say that the core story of EP1 is indeed pretty good and is the strongest of the Prequel stories.

 

[zeppelinrox]

"every film has two sides, a narrative plot and a thematic plot, and the degree to which they rhyme in large part determines the overall film's quality"

I'd agree with KBM in that this is pretty simplistic and probably doesn't apply in all cases and even when it does hold true, I'm sure a movie can still suck donkey balls. And I'm sure that when it doesn't hold true, it can still be a good movie (you'll see what I mean at the end of this post)

Now, until I had just googled it, I wasn't even sure what the hell a "thematic plot" is. See, when I was in school, a story or a movie had a plot and a theme, among other things, but not a "thematic plot."

So I googled the term ' "thematic plot" movie".
Not that many hits but a couple stood out.

According to this, http://www.writersstore.com/article.php?articles_id=480, "...the character emotional development plot line and the action plot line. Tie the character's private passion to a bigger, more universal public subject, and the thematic plot line is launched. "

So the narrative plot and thematic plot are not "sides". The thematic plot grows from, and is determined by, the narrative plot so I doubt that these aspects can vastly contradict each other.

Now the second stand out page that google found was WHY DONNIE DARKO'S LITERAL PLOT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE (AND WHY IT DOESN'T MATTER)
Basically, Donnie Darko has literal, philosophicaland AND thematic plot problems, but it is still a good movie.

 

[TMBTM]

I can safely say that the core story of EP1 is indeed pretty good and is the strongest of the Prequel stories.

Problem (to me) with TPM is that it's a movie about Palpatine's "divide to reign" method and it should have been more focus on that, IMO. But Lucas's esitation between telling the audience the obvious (Palpatine=Sidious) and his wish to somehow keep a bit of mystery killed this movie to me. This kind of movies needs a good vilain, not a "phantom" vilain. I know Lucas wanted to make things less "black or white" and did go for a grey tint in the prequels, it was a clever move on paper, but it did not work that good on the screen.

One a side note: It should have ended with Qui Gonn discovering that Sidious is the Sith Lord just before getting killed, or something like that. So he's the only one, beside the audience, to know the truth but don't have the time to warn the others. Now that would have made his death interesting from a story POV.

 

[Gaith]

as someone who has edited all 3 SW Prequels, I can safely say that the core story of EP1 is indeed pretty good and is the strongest of the Prequel stories.

I agree that TPM has the best narrative plot of the PT, even if the podrace should never have made it past the first screenplay draft. But what character development is there? Hardly any.

Frankly, I think your examination of EP1 is flawed and not on equal ground to your EP2 examination.

Would you like to share this insight of yours?

even when it does hold true, I'm sure a movie can still suck donkey balls.

I acknowledge this in the essay. AOTC's narrative and thematic sides complement each other, but it's still a bad movie.

See, when I was in school, a story or a movie had a plot and a theme, among other things, but not a "thematic plot."

"Thematic plot" is a term I thought up on my own (I think), and it's not wholly distinct from theme. "Emotional plot" might work just as well. Thing is, the term "theme" doesn't really imply the same sort of development and progression that "thematic plot" does.

The Last Crusade provides a classic illustration of my theoretical "two sides":
Narrative plot: Indy searches for the Holy Grail.
Thematic plot: Indy's looking for an emotional connection to his father.
The two sides cohere: The search for the Grail, and father and son's climactic mutual agreement to "let it go", provides this connection at last.

Basically, Donnie Darko has literal, philosophical and AND thematic plot problems, but it is still a good movie.

I wasn't terribly impressed with it myself, but the chaotic weirdness of the plot certainly mirrored the strange and hesitating sexuality/romance of the troubled teenage Donnie. The plot may not hold up under scrutiny, but that doesn't mean the two "sides" of the movie don't cohere.

 

[steelio2006]

awesome essay.

 

[Gaith]

Thanks!

 

[Grauser]

Great Essay Gaith! I've never looked at the plot of a film from this angle before. It's a very interesting and new way of looking at the fundamentals of a film (at least new to me!), and one that I will employ in the future. Using the term 'Emotional Plot' works a lot better for me in understanding and visualizing the differences between the Narrative and Thematic plots.

I also have to say that I heartily agree with Elbarto's comment regarding fan editing being a form of art; much like playing an instrument. Even a movie with a weak plot can provide entertainment.

I like all types of films, many regarded as good, some bad, others great, etc. However, I can find something of value in almost every film I see and the art of fanediting (to me) is about distilling the good aspects and excising the bad to make a fuller more cohesive, enjoyable viewing experience. whether that means simply cutting a scene or rearranging the whole film into something new is really just in the eye of the [strikeout:2690pgrm]beholder[/strikeout:2690pgrm] editor.

For example; I am someone who greatly enjoyed Gymkata as a child, and has gotten hours of entertainment watching it with friends. However, I would never dare to attempt a Narrative/Thematic plot comparison with it. I think that even films who's plots are fundamentally flawed can provide decent source material for an entertaining result. It all depends on your personal preference.

All in all, a pretty cool discussion. Thanks allot for a great essay, your Narrative and Thematic plot comparison technique is a strong way to identify films with a solid plot foundation, and ones which are fundamentally flawed.

 

[Nic]

How would this theory apply to a combination edit, like Wraith's "X-Men Requiem War"?

 

[Gaith]

To my mind, this isn't a theory but a technique for reading movies. ;-)

As for combinations, though, it does explain why I think they're a disastrous idea. However bungled or badly-made, nearly all movie stories have their own beginnings, middle and ends, even the hyper-connected, one-big-story ones (LOTR). I think it far, far better to edit individual films on their own (and then do marathon screenings if one likes) than to smush them together in one big glob. But that's just my humble preference.

 

[geminigod]

Great academic examination of the craft of storytelling, Gaith. It is not worth mincing words over your use of "narrative plot" and thematic plot".

The bottom line is that a good story has to have some kind of emotional device that people (or at least a very large audience) can emotionally connect with. If this exists, suddenly watching a janitor sweep floors becomes an engaging viewing experience. If not, well, then its a janitor sweeping floors and who gives a fuck.

One can hold a limited audience's attention just on action alone, but this is the Michael Bay/ Jerry Bruckheimer version of storytelling that I, for one, don't subscribe to.

And, yes, as others have pointed out, ideally this emotional arc should fit well with at least the character's narrative arc and ideally the overall story arc also. Even more ideally, the story narrative should be altered (generally somewhere around the middle of the film) as a result of an emotional transformation of our character(s).

Regarding TPC, anyone who thinks that story is better than AOTC or ROTS is crazy! Just saying. (Sorry JasonN). It is such a disjointed pile of dogpoo with horrible pacing. It would work much better as 4 Clone Wars animated episodes, each with their own arcs.

 

[L8wrtr]

I tend to avoid this discussion because I quite simply think the premise of the article is mental masturbation. Thematic this, narrative that.. . I've studied plenty of books on the craft of story telling, script writing and cinema. This is the first time I've seen story telling described in terms of thematic and narrative plot, alignment etc.. It's a quaint idea and in a vacuum it is valid, but overly simplistic in my opinion. Movies work, or don't work based on a multitude of reasons, and only the combination of these factors determines its success or failure, and a misallignment of narrative and thematic plot will never be a sole reason for a movie's success or failure.

But I do have to chime in on the notion of which PT has the best story. And like JasonN, as someone who has suffered through editing all 3 of the Prequels, I can say with absolute conviction that when you look at each movie as an individual film, The Phantom Menace is without even a shred of a doubt the superior story. When you roll up your sleeves and start dissecting the structure of the story of each of these films, it is really a no-brainer. TPM wins the story department hands-down

This isn't to be confused with the best movie, or best movie-watching experience of the PT. As I said above, a movie's success hinges on a complicated mixture factors. With The Phantom Menace, it is these other factors that confuse people into thinking that Episode 1 is a terrible story. TPM was an absolute failure of a movie when you look at the entire spectrum. Had Lucas done it right, this movie would have been the absolute untouchable, all-time grossing movie in the history of film, and would remain so until ticket prices reach $50.

One of the most important aspects of a successful film and quality story-telling (at least in traditional terms) is that every scene must contribute to the story. Each scene must serve at minimum one of two functions; it must develop character, and/or further the plot. If it can do both simultaneously, then even better, but it must do at least one of these. With the exception of the Planet Core sequence, every sequence of TPM carries the narrative forward and/or develops the characters. Now we can easily take issue with the advisability of many of the choices, the characters, the duration and pacing of scenes, the quality within the scenes themselves, but the STORY being told is the most coherent story without a doubt.

The story told by TPM has the best narrative structure out of the 3 PT films and follows the time-proven guidelines for quality story telling, in fact they are the same rules followed by Lucas when as he crafted the original Star Wars. TPM sets up a clear problem, and the rest of the movie follows our band of heroes as they try to resolve the problem. It doesn't get any better than that.

Act 1, the normal world where we establish the rules of the normal world, introduce conflict and make the call to adventure.
Act 2 puts our heroes into the special world where previous rules no longer apply. Our heroes have set upon their journey in order to save their home, and while they are on this path, they are tested, they grow and eventually reach their goal, which in the case of TPM is to plead their case to the Senate.
Act 3, return to the real world, overcome the challenge (save the princess, rescue the realm). This is classic story telling structure throughout recorded history, and the almost dogmatic obedience to this structure is one of the keys to the success to the original Star Wars. (The thing that set SW apart however was in the details, most notably compelling characters revised through numerous drafts.)

During this journey in TPM, we are introduced to a pivotal character in the special world (Anakin) who is central to resolving the conflict, and will become the focus of later movies. The one slightly unconventional aspect of this Hero's journey is that we have 3 heroes and one mentor, but they are all working towards the same goal; Free Naboo. Padme has this goal because it's her home world. Obi-Wan because it is his job and wants to prove that he is ready to become a full Jedi, and Anakin because he has become infatuated with the Queen and wants to adventure and to become a Jed, helping free Naboo will achieve both personal goals. (wow, thematic and narrative plots line up! Bonus time!)

Every component part of TPM supports this classic structure. The story works. The movie fails because the execution on this story is shockingly botched by Lucas and his sackless band of yes-men. The script is barely at the quality of a first draft; the characters are unevenly written, the plot-points are not as compelling as they could/should be, and the villain(s) are under-developed/utilized.

As an example, the scene everyone loves to bag-on: The Pod Race. this is the mid-point of the movie, where our eventual primary hero faces death and proves himself. In context of TPM, it is also the action which will win our band of heroes passage to their goal, getting the Queen to the Capital city to plead her case to free her people, and also proves that Anakin is an amazing pilot, able to meet the challenge at the end of the film.

While really cool by itself, it is a miserable choice to achieve the goals of proving Anakin's skills and being the key to their getting off of the planet. It's not interesting, there is no tension about how the race will conclude, BUT it does work, it achieves the goals of moving the story from A to B and develops character. It's too long, it's full of idiotic characters and lacks the tension it is trying to achieve, but that is a failure of execution, not story.

The story is further botched in Act 3, and I think my edit of TPM speaks to what I feel those flaws are, and how easily they could have been fixed.

But despite having the most solid story, it is one of the least watchable movies because the screenplay is so uneven, and in particular, the character of Jar Jar makes most people over the age of 13 want to blow their brains out.

When Attack of the Clones was released, it still failed to impress, but it was widely considered a better movie. Why? Because the details were improved, it felt more Star Warsy.. but sadly the story is a complete mess. Individual pieces feel better, but they fit together horribly and we have, in my opinion, even worse dialog than TPM. Also, we have no Jar Jar, which is an automatic 1 grade improvement. There is no real act 1, there is no goal other than find out who the bad guy is. The main story is Obi-Wan pursuing Padme's attacker, while she hides with Anakin. We cut between a poorly executed detective story and an even more poorly executed love story to create just a web of boring. Even worse, each storyline makes crazy choices designed not out of logical story progression, but out of necessity to show us information. Why would Anakin and Padme use unregistered public transport when the Jedi have their own ships and can travel both freely, and anonymously? Why go to Naboo? Why go to the Queen's court where her presence is almost certainly going to get noticed? The Anakin/Padme storyline is an absolute unbelievable mess, both from a narrative plot standpoint, and thematic. The movie is spent witht hem trying to fight their feelings and it makes for one of the most uncomfortable love stories put to the big screen. Likewise, Obi-Wan's adventure is forced, from trying to track down a Mandolorian bounty hunter, to a somehow 'hidden' planet of cloners, and once a secret army is discovered, the Jedi Council is more concerned with finding the source of the DNA than talking to the PEOPLE WHO ARE MAKING THE CLONES. Can you show me a picture of the guy who placed this order? How did he pay? Our records from 10 years ago are a bit spotty so, please help us clean this matter up.. No.. instead, go chase the pion bounty hunter. Yes, finding the Senator's attacker is important, but he's stumbled onto something HUGE in the process, and it's ignored.

The story of Attack of the Clones is an absolute mess, but it is considered more Star Wars like because the action pieces are more frequent, and feel more like the OT, but even those go on far longer than necessary and become boring and unbelievable.

Revenge of the Sith is somewhere in between, but is ultimately rescued by the simple value of its content. The story is solid, but not without flaws. The screenplay is however far superior to the other two films in terms of dialog and believability. The movie has an absolute focus, it has to because this is the payoff, see Anakin fall, see the Jedi get destroyed, see Ben, Yoda, Luke and Leia go into exile/hiding. The simple importance of the events help elevate the film above the two, and while I would still say that the story of TPM is a more well-constructed story, all of the pieces that make up Revenge of the Sith far outshine TPM because the sum of its parts is far greater than the sum of TPM's parts.

*sigh* It's taken me all day to draft this much during tiny pockets of down-time at work. I'm sure that when I get home and re-read this I'll see ways I could have made my points more clearly, but who knows when I'll have time to refine the comment any more, so I'm posting now and driving home

Revenge of the Sith remains the best movie of the PT, but The Phantom Menace has the best story

 

[Gaith]

All right, hombre, you wanna rumble, I'll play.

Movies work, or don't work based on a multitude of reasons, and only the combination of these factors determines its success or failure, and a misallignment of narrative and thematic plot will never be a sole reason for a movie's success or failure.

Well, as I've said above, I certainly acknowledge that more positives than this are needed for a movie to succeed. But can a movie fail to have these two sides align satisfactorily, yet still be a good film? I've issued a challenge above for anyone to cite a counter-example; no one yet has. ;-)

Free Naboo. Padme has this goal because it's her home world. Obi-Wan because it is his job and wants to prove that he is ready to become a full Jedi, and Anakin because he has become infatuated with the Queen and wants to adventure and to become a Jed, helping free Naboo will achieve both personal goals. (wow, thematic and narrative plots line up! Bonus time!)

Yes, the thematic and narrative origins line up, but as I noted in the essay itself, the problem is that none of these characters undergo thematic "plots" in the sense that none of their convictions change one bit. Padme already wants to protect her people (with righteous violence if necessary) and Obi-Wan already wants to be a Jedi before we meet them; same for Anakin, who, despite being a bit bummed at leaving his mum behind, doesn't hesitate for one moment to join Qui-Gon as a prospective apprentice, having decided long ago that if he ever got the chance to become a Jedi, he'd seize it. As I said, the only character who evolves, from total ignorant coward to battle-tested hero, is... gulp... Jar-Jar.

So no, I do not agree that the narrative/thematic plots rhyme, not for anyone besides the Gungan, and further hold that the movie was ultimately doomed to failure if for no other reason than that one.