What Did They Do with the Real Darth Vader?

I have one main problem with the Star Wars prequels. What happened to Darth Vader? I am sorry, but Hayden Christensen is not Darth Vader. He is not a believable Darth Vader in any way, shape or form. I cannot believe that they could get away with that. Did they get away with it? Is everybody buying it? I'm not.

It would be extremely difficult to watch 1 - 6 now in that order. Darth Vader from 3 to 4 is like night and day. The problem I had was that I kept waiting for the transition to occur. There are a couple glimpses, but it is a whiny kid with a couple of basic dilemmas. I do not see the Emperor wanting this guy as his apprentice. Look at Darth Maul. He had focus and determination. Darth Maul was obviously expendable, but I do not think that Darth Maul started out with a jedi master who he kept complaining to. And, the emperor was not way excited to get this brat he had to babysit.

I understand the whole idea of making the Emperor the ultimate evil guy and having Anakin Skywalker become his stooge. That works great for the whole story, but let's back up to Episode IV and being first introduced to Darth Vader. What are my initial thoughts when I see him? Huge guy. Wears a bad-a mask and helmet. Dressed in black. Deep, intense voice. Ruthless. Motivated. Focused. He is evil, but there is no doubt that he controls his own destiny. There is mention of the Emperor, but Darth Vader is plenty for us. He strangles people from across the room. He is well acquainted with the dark side of the force. As my Dad says, he is a major threat.

I understand that Star Wars is about fun and is essentially a kids series. So, taking someone you (are supposed to) love and making them evil is a tough chore. In Phantom Menace, he is the hero child. There is an innocence at that point. Leave it there. Introduce these characters and create a complex character in a padowan learner who is too old to begin the training.

Then, start Attack of the Clones off with Anakin going to find his mother. He needs to be on the evil path right away. He goes nuts on the Sand People and feels the power of the dark side. He is not crying about it to Padme. He has done something evil and has begun the change. Then, he meets back up with Obi-Wan and there is duplicity in his talk. Let's use that scene with the Sand People to characterize him. In Attack of the Clones, they gloss over it. Yoda is concerned. Padme enables him. Then, it is over. They get on to their new battle.

No! The prequels are about Darth Vader's demise. Let's not kid ourselves. We need to see this through and have it be compelling. I hate Hayden Christensen as Anakin. I don't think he is a bad actor. They just made him too unappealing. Luke Skywalker is the whiner of the series. He represents the everyman. Anakin does not. He is the gifted child who abuses his power. We see this type of person all the time, but he does not learn until it is too late. So, instead of making him a hero in these movies, let's show him as the anti-hero.

Instead of having him be so confused with his emotions and his duty toward the jedi order, have him be focused in the wrong direction. Let's see that look in his eye. He knows it goes against the jedi order to be in love with Padme, but it's what he wants, so he goes for it. We do not see him crying when she does not kiss him back. We see him determined and resolute. She'll come around.

The movie is not too far off, but let's see a Darth Vader that is consistent with 4, 5, and 6, because those movies are the bread and butter. We want to see the prequels, because we want to see how Anakin Skywalker gets to be Darth Vader, the ultimate evil character. And seeing this guy who cannot control his emotions and whose whole existence is focused around this girl is inconsistent. They can be somewhat subtle about his transformation.

The only way they could possibly explain that Anakin becomes Darth Vader is to have another trilogy in between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. They need to show him go through the true transformation. I just don't buy the whole Padme problem. And, she dies of a broken heart. She is not a true champion, like she was in the other two movies. They only killed her off for convenience sake. Let's tie it all in together with a stupid death, because we already dug the hole.

I feel like George Lucas did not do it right. I wish someone would. He created 4, 5 and 6. But he did not give us 1, 2 and 3 with any kind of believability or consistency. So, in a lot of ways, it was a waste. Unfortunate, because I really want to know how Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader. I still do...