Unbelievable displays of carelessness and laziness by George Lucas
Recently rewatched EP I and I took extensive notes of things I couldn't believe made it into the final movie. Lucas was really sloppy when writing and directing this film... Let me share a few (this list is by no means exhaustive):
1. When Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon arrive, the Trade Federation wants to give up the blocade because they don't want to confront the Jedi. That means they had... no plan for that option??? I think they should have expected that eventually the Jedi will be involved, so right out of the gate an example of lazy storytelling, as the villains seem really lame and not at all threatening at that moment. Of course you can argue that Sidious is the villain, not them, and I am aware of that, nevertheless, it's ridiculous to assume he did not prepare the TF for this option.
2. The delivery of lines during combat situations. When the Jedi arrive to Naboo, and plan to escape with the queen's ship, they discuss a plan to get to the hangars. And that discussion happens in a relatively open area, where droids can appear at any moment. And the line delivery from all the actors is very stilted and meticulous. There is nothing suggesting they are in danger and can be ambushed at any second while they are talking. There is no sense of danger or tension in the direction of these scenes either - with the bland, uninteresting camera angles and really basic editing, the action scenes are really nothing special throughout the film. And in the case of a Star Wars movie, that's really-really careless and lazy.
3. When they are escaping Naboo, they just fly straight into the blocade. They don't try to evade it, they don't even search for a weaker point when they have a chance to fly through. And when they are eventually through... no one is chasing them, the Trade Federation cannot be bothered to send even a handful of interceptors... or activate a tractor beam to capture the ship... or do... anything, really. I thought the point of the blocade was to not let anyone in or out, but obviously they didn't mind the queen escaping - come on, how lazy can you be when you write this story, George?
4. No father / prophecy. I don't like prophecies, because they are rarely executed well. Here, Lucas took the easy way out regarding Anakin's parentage, which is - you guessed it - a really lazy way to do it. The justification is that he is the chosen one. An example of a well done prophecy is from the same year: the original Matrix movie I think handled it cleverly and with a twist. Here? Nah.
5. When they get to Coruscant, the SW universe has the chance to show the center of the Republic, the home of the Senate, a buzzing city with many many interesting sights... but we are confined into sterile rooms where we have to endure stilted and uninteresting political blabbering. Where is your vision, George? If this was it, then it's really pitiful to see...
6. The uninteresting political babbling really affects the pacing. The film basically halts for twenty minutes, where really nothing interesting is happening. The Jedi council scenes, as well as the Senate scenes are full of bland and stilted dialogue.
7. In the Jedi council, Mace Windu says they are going to do everything to find out who was the attacker of Qui-Gon. But they don't do anything, they don't even send ONE Jedi to accompany Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan to Naboo! The council is blatantly useless anyways. I know George wanted them to look like they are overconfident, but come on, this is ridiculous.
8. When they approach Naboo, the audience expects a clever solution to circumvent the blocade. After all, when they escaped Naboo at the beginning of the movie, they barely made it out, only thanks to Artu's heroics. Now, when they are going back, how will they get through? Well... laziness, that's how. George kinda forgot that the blocade is there, so they just land with their ship, without any problems. Come on, an error like this would not be tolerated in a student film, let alone in a Star Wars movie!
9. When the Queen and Panaka's team is trying to get to the throne room, in one scene they are using grappling hooks. There is a shot where they ascend a level up. Consists of two shots, similarly framed, the group exits on the top of shot #1 and enters from below to shot#2. And the whole sequence looks like it's from a 1972 Eastern European TV-movie. The direction is so lazy, it didn't even include a far away shot, a shot from a different angle, or from inside the building... Just two very similar shots, where the lighting of the actors is different from the lighting of the environment, and the ascending movement is very unnatural and stilted... a catastrophe, and honestly baffling that this could make the final cut in a production of such prestige, but eh...