Let’s be honest, the Star Wars prequels aren’t exactly known for their cinematic brilliance. They’re often cited as a prime example of how not to make a blockbuster. However, despite all the criticisms – Jar Jar Binks, clunky dialogue, overreliance on CGI – I want to argue that one aspect stands out as surprisingly compelling: the romance between Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala.
A Romance Under Fire
“> Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman’s performances have been heavily scrutinized for years. Critics deemed the acting “wooden” and the dialogue “painful,” almost derailing their careers. As Natalie Portman told New York Magazine in 2014, “Everyone thought I was a horrible actress.” While the criticism isn’t entirely unfounded, I believe George Lucas deserves credit for fully embracing the melodrama of this dynamic, tracing their romance from their first encounter to its tragic end.
The prequel trilogy’s focus on Anakin and Padmé also makes sense narratively. After the success of Han Solo and Princess Leia’s relationship in the original trilogy, it was logical to explore the parents of Luke and Leia. Their story grounds the entire saga, providing a crucial link between generations.
“> Anakin and Padmé first meet in The Phantom Menace, when he’s a young boy on Tatooine. The five-year age gap became controversial over time, but it becomes less relevant once Christensen takes over the role in Attack of the Clones. While the scenes between Portman and young Anakin (Jake Lloyd) might seem strange in hindsight, her presence throughout the trilogy is essential to their love story. She’s one of the few people who knew Anakin before he became “the Chosen One.”
Attack of the Clones delves into the core of their romance, embracing familiar tropes: age gap, forbidden love, and the fact that he’s her bodyguard. It features infamous lines like Anakin’s sand monologue and an awkward first kiss, but also moments of quiet chemistry set against the stunning landscapes of Naboo (filmed in real-life castles and villas across Italy and Spain).
Anakin’s feelings for Padmé are obvious throughout the film, discussed at length between them. By the final act, when they’re about to die after being captured and forced to fight monstrous beasts, Padmé’s admission of love is both moving and believable – a rare feat in Attack of the Clones. The lines are pure melodrama (“I’m not afraid to die. I’ve been dying a little each day since you came back into my life”), perfectly complemented by John Williams’ gorgeous and romantic theme, “Across the Stars.”
“> In Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Anakin and Padmé’s relationship plays a pivotal role. Anakin’s descent to the Dark Side and his transformation into Darth Vader are directly tied to Padmé’s death, making it feel inevitable. This wouldn’s resonate without the groundwork laid in Attack of the Clones.
Your tolerance for melodrama may vary, but the sense of scale and the boldness with which the prequels embrace this dynamic is worth defending, not just as the best part of the prequels, but as a vital piece that Star Wars seems to have abandoned. To this date, Anakin and Padmé are one of the few romantic couples in the Star Wars movies, a series that has grown more asexual under Disney’s ownership.
The Star Wars prequels showcase some of George Lucas’s worst impulses, but their legacy lives on as an example of a director fully committed to his vision, for better or worse. With Anakin and Padmé, Lucas fully embraced the space opera, treating the romance at its center with the same grandeur and naivety in which he treated politics, economics, and The Force. It’s a lesson Lucasfilm’s new leader would be wise to remember while there’s still time to save a franchise that was once great.
Source: Polygon
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