Darth Somebody
Senior Member
To me, Count Dooku and Darth Sidious were all screwed in this movie.
Don't get me wrong. Ian McDiarmid and Christopher Lee are both VERY talented actors. And they both played their parts well, in the movie. But it was Lucas's script and personification of these characters that then resulted in their doom.
To me - Sidious and Palpatine remain two fundamentally different people and characters. Sidious was a subtle and masterful schemer. It was he who kept quietly in the shadows and lurked behind the scenes, scheming endlessly to overthrow the Republic and obliterate the Jedi.
Sidious, in the Phantom Menace and Attack of The Clones, was very mysterious. In TPM, you see him threaten and control the leadership of the Trade Federation -- a powerful consortium in the galaxy. While they have legitimate control over the group, you can see that he rules them. He oppresses himself upon them and uses him to his will.
Sidious, in Attack of the Clones, is featured even less -- but his shadow just as great. You learn that he is not as gone as many people think, when Count Dooku intentionally reveals Sidious to Obi-Wan. You see then that he is very much in the picture. Then, after you see how skilled and how powerful Count Dooku is in battle - you see Dooku bow to that same hooded figure and call him "Master". That there was the very essence of power.
You didn't see Sidious do a damn thing. He didn't cast lightning or use a Force push to personify his powers. He just had them. He commanded and dominated a fearsome warrior like Darth Maul, and a politcally shrewed badass like Count Dooku. And then the countless minions of the Trade Federation.
And then -- biggest of all -- you see that it is through HIS designs that the Galactic Civil War (To me, the Union and Confederacy are very similar to the Republic and Separatists - more so than the Empire and Rebellion dispute). You see that he is STILL the main villain.
I often compare him to Lector. Hannibal Lector is considered to be one of the greatest movie villains of all time. When asked why he deserves such a title - many fans simply state that while he's in prison, he still controls the movie. The major plot devices are based on HIS actions. Sidious is even more so.
Without Sidious -- you'd have no Civil War. No Revolution. No Empire. The plot of Star Wars is fundamentally linked with Sidious and Obi-Wan and Anakin more than anyone else.
In Revenge of The Sith -- they destroy this personage of Sidious. Lucas turned a shadowy badass into an over-the-top cackling dictator, whom no one can take seriously. I dunno about you, but I almost preferred it when Sidious did NOT use the Force.
In Revenge of The Sith, you see Sidious begin off as his character implies. He rids himself of his primary lieutenant through scheming -- and manipulating our beloved protagonist -- proving once more how cunning and clever he is.
In Revenge of The Sith -- you had ONE REAL Sidious moment. In the Galaxies Opera, where Sidious weaves the tale of his long-dead master and how the Jedi aren't to be trusted. THERE - you don't see him cackle. He is subtle and clever. Insinuating mistrust of the Jedi into Anakin. THAT was a pro-Sidious moment. Perhaps the only one.
However. Sidious is DESTROYED - the moment the four Jedi Masters walk into the Republic office to arrest him. He turns from an all powerful badass into an old man with acrobatics trying to take on someone half of his age -- losing -- then freaking out -- and getting his face decayed.
Oh how the mighty hath fallen...