[Luis Dias]

You are still under the assumption that he's a bad actor apart from that particular role he does. I just don't assume that much, and ascribe most of the blame elsewhere.

[karajorma]

Hahaha, and I suppose I was also calling Judy Dench a bad actress because she can't play the role of a femme fatale?

Even a great actor can be miscast.

[Dragon]

The thing is, Mace Windu wasn't acting much like a wise monk. He was acting like a scary, black badass we all know and love. Scenes in which he actually acted like a monk are rather unremarkable. On the other hand, he's awesome when he's cutting down droids, fighting Palpatine and generally doing badass stuff.

[karajorma]

So he's awesome when he's ****ing up being an actual Jedi then?

[Nuke]

I think the prequels were watchable, mostly thanks to Samuel L. Jackson

Oh god no! He was one of the worst things in it!

And I say that as someone who usually loves his stuff.

get these mother ****in' sith off my ****in' cruiser.

honestly i hated snakes on a plane more than i hated the star-wars prequels. jackson is cool though, hes the only one keeping 70s style crime drama alive.

[Luis Dias]

So he's awesome when he's ****ing up being an actual Jedi then?

That's not his problem, since the very concept of a wise non-violent peaceful badass Jedi with a fkin light saber that cuts everything has always been the retardest facepalmiish corner of Star Wars ever. I guess all the force (uh) of that contradiction turned flesh and bone into that particular casting.

[NGTM-1R]

The thing is about Samuel L. Jackson, is that whilst I love his character, it has been more or less the same character for the last 8-ish movies.

If that is truly your mind, I recommend 1408.

[newman]

I don't find much to comment on Jackson's role in the prequels. While I like him as an actor, there's literally nothing I liked about those movies, including the role of Mace Windu which looks to me very much like it was written for the sake of having Samuel L. Jackson in the movie.

[Dragon]

get these mother ****in' sith off my ****in' cruiser.

Pretty much says it all. Who cares about meditation, mediation and diplomacy? It's Samuel L. Jackson, I want to see him cut things up with an awesome purple laser sword that can cut anything and reflect other lasers. He does this, and it's awesome. It would be even better if Jar-Jar was the one being cut up, but battle droids do just fine.

I don't find much to comment on Jackson's role in the prequels. While I like him as an actor, there's literally nothing I liked about those movies, including the role of Mace Windu which looks to me very much like it was written for the sake of having Samuel L. Jackson in the movie.

Which is a perfectly valid reason to write a role in this kind of movie. Otherwise, there would be no reason to see the prequels. If they managed to write in Chuck Norris, Arnie, Stallone, Lucy Lawless and gave Christopher Lee more screen time, those movies could be a lot better. Windu's badassery is one of the few redeeming qualities they posses.

[Sandwich]

It would certainly be interesting to see what they can come up with for SW7. I think the prequels were watchable, mostly thanks to Samuel L. Jackson Natalie Portman

Fixed.

Srslytho, Samuel Jackson can be a really good actor - actually most of the prequel actors can be awesome (can't speak for either of the Annie actors). It was the directing that sucked Death Star-sized balls.

Truth be told, I think Morgan Freeman would have been a better choice. In fact, I could easily see Freeman as Obi-Wan's tutor, he and Alec Guiness are not a million miles apart in temperament

You, sir, are a frikkin genius.

[Luis Dias]

I don't see any reason (other than plain masochism) to see the prequels.

[karajorma]

So that the Red Letter Media review makes sense.

[MP-Ryan]

Episode III was actually half-decent too.  It's really just episodes 1 and 2 that absolutely stunk.

[StarSlayer]

I know you're all lauding Samuel L Jackson as being an ass kicker in the films but I don't recall him actually doing all that much in the way of action sequences.  Aside from the giant ADD battle in AotC and the fight with Palpatine what did he do? 

I think the Tartakovsky cartoon episode with the pneumatic piston featured more Mace combat scenes than the entire prequels put together.

I thought III was horribly underwhelming as well, and Vader's transition was handled with all the subtly and finesse as a brick through a window.

[Dragon]

I know you're all lauding Samuel L Jackson as being an ass kicker in the films but I don't recall him actually doing all that much in the way of action sequences.  Aside from the giant ADD battle in AotC and the fight with Palpatine what did he do? 

TBH, not much really. Those were his greatest moments, along with some other battle shots I think. It's still the only reason to see the prequels (well, that, and Palpatine). Windu vs. Palpatine is one of the better scenes in the entire hexalogy. If there's one good moment in the prequels, it's this. Ep.I watches like childerns' movie (and I liked it when I was a kid, so it sort of works as that) and Ep.II would be better if they cut out the plot, leaving battle scenes and Count Dooku.

I think the Tartakovsky cartoon episode with the pneumatic piston featured more Mace combat scenes than the entire prequels put together.

The cartoon was actually much better than the films. Somewhat unusual, I'd say, but rather good.

[Luis Dias]

Windu vs. Palpatine is one of the better scenes in the entire hexalogy

I am now in cardiac arrest.

No reallly. I mean, just making someone *think* about Palpatine's idiotic face lift while raycasting Windu's light saber, while mr. Asshole Skywalker delivers some of the dumbest lines in the whole prequels (and that takes something) should probably qualify as attempt of brain murder.

[StarSlayer]

Ep.II would be better if they cut out the plot, leaving battle scenes and Count Dooku.

That pretty much says it all.

Though I'd go further and argue that while the technical quality of the CGI work ILM did was great the content was often overblown trash.  The battle of Courscant or Geonosis where little more then a giant incoherent Baysian cluster ****s.  It had none of the pacing, clarity and personal investment of any of the battles from the original.  Yavin, Hoth and Endor were all far better action sequences to anything in the prequels despite their age.  The prequels pretty much entailed throwing as much **** on a single frame as possible, probably in order to sell more toys. 

Hell I'd argue Ragnar, HoG and the Battle of the Rez from BSG where superior despite having only a fraction of the assets and resources put into the production. 

[redsniper]

"Now, give me back my lightsaber."

"How will I know which one is yours?"

"It's the one that says 'bad mother****er' on it."

[General Battuta]

At the far end of the showers, he walked into a situation.

The dressing station was loud with turbine-driven airjet dryers. The two Kubaz and the comedy team, still naked, milled uncertainly in one corner. A large surly-looking human in sun-bleached khakis and a military cap stood facing them, impressive arms folded across his equally impressive chest. He stared down the naked travelers with cold unspecific threat.

A smaller human in identical clothing rummaged through their bags, which were piled behind the large man's legs. The smaller man had a bag of his own, into which he dropped anything small and valuable. Both men had stun batons dangling from belt loops, and blasters secured in snap-flap holsters.

Mace nodded thoughtfully. The situation was clear enough. Based on who he was supposed to be, he should just ignore this. But cover or not, he was still a Jedi.

The big one looked Mace over. Head to toe and back again. His stare had the open insolence that came of being clothed and armed and facing someone who was naked and dripping wet. "Here's another. Smart guy carried his own bag."

The other rose and unlooped his stun baton. "Sure, smart guy. Let's have the bag. Inspection. Come on."

Mace went still. Pro-bi mist condensed to rivulets and trickled down his bare skin. "I can read your mind," he said darkly. "You only have three ideas, and all of them are wrong."

"Huh?"

Mace flipped up a thumb. "You think being armed and ruthless means you can do whatever you want." He folded his thumb and flipped up his forefinger. "You think nobody will stand up to you when they're naked." He folded that one again and flipped up the next. "And you think you're going to look inside my bag."

"Oh, he's a funny one." The smaller man spun his stun baton and stepped toward him. "He's not just smart, he's funny."

The big man moved to his flank. "Yeah, regular comedian."

"The comedians are over there." Mace inclined his head toward the Pho Ph'eahian and his Kitonak partner, naked and shivering in the corner. "See the difference?"

"Yeah?" The big man flexed his big hands. "What are you supposed to be, then?"

"I'm a prophet." Mace lowered his voice as if sharing a secret. "I can see the future..."

"Sure you can." He set his stubble-smeared jaw and showed jagged yellow teeth. "What do you see?"

"You," Mace said. "Bleeding."

His expression might have been a smile if there had been the faintest hint of warmth in his eyes.

The big man suddenly looked less confident.

In this he could perhaps be excused; like all successful predators, he was interested only in victims. Certainly not in opponents. Which was the purpose of his particular racket, after all: members of any sapient species who were culturally accustomed to wearing clothes would feel hesitant, uncertain, and vulnerable when caught naked. Especially humans. Any normal person would stop to put on pants before throwing a punch.

Mace Windu, in contrast, looked like he might know of uncertainly and vulnerability, by reputation, but had never met either of them face-to-face.

[...]

"Do you have a move to make?" Mace said. "I'm in a hurry."

The big man's gaze twitched sideways, and he said "Uh--?" Mace felt a pressure in the Force over his left kidney and heard the sizzle of a triggered stun baton. He spun and caught the wrist of the smaller man with both hands, shoving the baton's sparking corona well clear with a twist that levered his face into the path of Mace's rising foot. The impact made a smack as wet and meaty as the snap of bone. The big man bellowed and lunged and Mace stepped to one side and whipcracked the smaller man's arm to spin his slackening body. Mace caught the small man's head in the palm of one hand and shoved it crisply into the big man's nose.

The two men skidded in a tangle on the slippery, damp floor and went down. The baton spat lightning and it skittered into a corner. The smaller man lay limp. The big man's eyes spurted tears and he sat on the floor, trying with both hands to massage his smashed nose into shape. Blood leaked through his fingers.

Mace stood over him. "Told you."

[Mongoose]

**** why wasn't the real Mace like that

As the infamous Plinkett reviews put it, Lucas took an actor who's best-known for playing over-the-top badasses, and put him into a role that does next to jack-**** across three movies.  Seriously...can you think of one time when Samuel L. was able to just flat-out emote as Windu?  It didn't happen.