Episode II - The Clone War

           “The Clone War” is a 2004 fan-edit of Episode II created by “Magnoliafan” (Who some believe to be Kevin Smith based on the use of the name Magnolifan in the film Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back.) It is a sequel to “Balance of the Force” which was a re-edit of "The Phantom Menace". Magnoliafan has, once again, made some big changes to the basic plot of the prequels.

Among the most major changes is the nature of Count Dooku and the separatists. The opening crawl has been altered to use the word “rebellion” when referring to the separatists, implying that the separatists may be the beginning of the rebels that we see in Episodes IV – VI. Subtitles have been changed later in the filmand now characters actually refer to the separatists as the “Rebel Alliance”.

If this doesn’t make things morally ambiguous enough, Magnoliafan takes things one step further with Count Dooku’s character. In this film, Dooku is still the leader of the separatists, but not a Sith Lord.  Scenes in which he interacts with Sideous have been eliminated and he now fights with a yellow lightsaber instead of a red one. Viewers can really believe what he is saying he says Qui-Gon could be sympathetic to his cause. In fact, it is now entirely unclear if the Jedi are fighting on the right side in this galactic war.

Does Dooku's character work better if he is the "Father of the Rebellion" rather than a Sith Lord?

As with “Balance of the Force” annoying characters such as Jar Jar & the Nemodians no longer speak with racist accents, but in alien tongues. Again, deleted scenes have been re-edited into the film the majority of which include Padme’s parents, sister, and nieces. These scenes seem pointless until you realize that they have taken the place of some heavily mushy scenes involving Anaking & Padme rolling in meadows.

The Naberrie family enjoys a meal with Anakin & Padme

The entire film in general has been streamlined so that characters are less annoying. Anakin is a little more subtle in some places. Young Boba Fett no longer  has a stupid sinister laugh.  The librarian, Jocasta Nu has been eliminated entirely. Yet at the end of the film one might feel that Magnoliafan did not go far enough.

Another tongue-in-cheek dialogue change

The film still weighs heavily on a fan-boy’s heart. The plotline in which 3-P0’s head is switched with a battledroids is still present and only one of his needless puns have been altered. many love scenes with Anakin and Padme have been removed but the ones left over are still painful. No amount of editing could ever make their relationship believable. Anakin's immature whininess has been trimmed but enough of it remains so that the viewer can still be sure that Padme would never actually be into him.

Jar-Jar aside, was this not the worst part about the prequels?

In the end “The Clone War” is actually a brilliant edit of “Episode II”, but it seems that even a brilliant edit can’t save this film. Perhaps it was doomed the minute George Lucas set eyes on Hayden Christianson. Maybe that’s was the true love story behind Episode II.