PT Which movie has your favorite Anakin?

Some of the OT threads got me thinking about this. Anakin is at very different stages of his life throughout the PT:

In TPM, there's the precocious and ambitious little boy.
In AOTC, we see the cocky, rebellious student with Issues (capital 'I' completely intended).
In ROTS, it's the grown soldier with a swiftly declining moral and emotional state.

My favorite is AOTC Anakin. There's something very exhilarating about his character in that movie. He's passionate and dangerous while still maintaining a youthful charm. This seems unpopular, but I loved his slouchy petulance as much as his reckless driving, riding on a Shaak, and playing with the Force. The garage scene on Tatooine is also one of my favorite scenes in the whole saga.

Which Anakin do you prefer?

 

I incontrovertibly prefer ROTS Anakin. Though preferences are of course subjective, to me, that iteration was far less annoying. In ROTS, Hayden was allowed to play "Dark Anakin" more throughout the movie. In my opinion, the acting was better when the charatcer was darker. Furthemore, Anakin got along much better with Obi-Wan in this movie.

 

I prefer OT Vader. For me PT Anakin is pretty unrelatable. If I stretched hard I'd say AotC Ani because he seems to *try* and emote humanly *a little*.

 

None of the Above since he doesn't act like a decent human in AOTC and ROTS and he's so annoying in TPM you can't even relate to him. My favorite Anakin is the one Obi-Wan tells Luke about in ANH.

 

That's the one I am *still* waiting to meet, Revan96.

 

AOTC.

Yep, pretty much all this.

 

The ROTS Anakin. It is actually the only movie were we see the positive relationship between Kenobi and Ani that ANH hinted at.

 

AOTC Anakin. Especially since it is the middle ground between the camaraderie between Anakin and Obi Wan. At the same time Anakin being devoted to Padme (telling his point of view about Obi Wan and yet still admiring the latter's abilities as a mentor and helping save him along with Padme who allowed Anakin still follow the Jedi council's even if the orders were strict), and his smile when he knew he could actually help Obi Wan.

Also this friendship with Obi Wan was telling, when in the moment frustration and Dooku escaping Obi Wan tells him what will Padme do if she was in your position " this saved Anakin at that point from being expelled from the Jedi Order. That's what friendship should be.

Also he said my favourite line "I am a slow learner" of which just moments before that saved Obi Wan from certain death.

This Anakin also was all the while admiring Palpatine "your guidance more than my patience" and "someone wise...well if it works"


MJ

 

I have nothing against your opinion, I just think it's interesting that you don't find him relatable. I guess it really comes down to the type of person you are, some people find him annoying, but I think he's a pretty normal child. I wonder how parents (who aren't necessarily fans of SW) think of him. My mother always says he's cute.

 

RoTS Anakin is my vote. Loved his fight scenes and the tension buildup between him and the council, also loved the brotherly bond between Anakin and Obi (before they tried to kill each other)

Phantom Menace: Anakin was an annoying little kid. AoTC: Anakin was way too immature (still like his character). RoTS: Anakin was still a young man who needed to needed to wise up, he was still immature but less immature than AoTC, he was still insecure and misguided, but I think his character did show some growth and development where he started thinking of not just himself but for his wife and future child. Even though he was blinded and misguided by Palpatine and eventually killed hundreds of Jedi and children

 

I like the AOTC.
Because it shows all of his sides.. the still little boy, young Jedi who has problems with his temper and also his dark and rebellious side...

 

All of them ...
(I have a slight déjà vu , and you ?)

 

AOTC Anakin also for me. He is the most fleshed-out in this one. It's a multi-dimensional character that has multiple influences and emotions, because for everything that he deals with in AOTC, there is not just one way to go for him.

He is young man looking for love on one side, but it is all the more complicated because it's actually forbidden to be in a relationship for a Jedi, so there is a certain conflict and there are contrary dimensions and emotions. There is the sense of euphoric love, which is always balanced and attacked by a feeling of doom and a feeling that something is wrong.
Secondly, there is his friendship with Obi-Wan, which is clearly visible multiple times. For instance, Anakin seems genuinely hurt after Obi-Wan lectured him quite harshly in front of the Nightclub. There is their friendly banter, Anakin heading for Geonosis to help Obi-Wan despite "strict orders" to stay and obviously saving him at the end from Dooku. Nonetheless, it's not a "everything's perfect" kind offriendship, it is not without strains. They are arguing and disagreeing and slightly annoyed by each other, but it's rarely disrespectful. Mostly, it's just two friends having "spent to much time with each other" (McGregor) and sometimes even entertaining, when I'm thinking about the Coruscant Chase.
Additionally, there is the loss that he experiences, which is quite intensely portrayed and multil-layered. He kind of loses himself in response and commits terrible crimes, but he's is still self-aware. He feels the guilt, he feels his own failure, so it's not just him being in pain because of his mother's death and regular mourning, but it's also him struggling with himself, his own imperfections, his weaknesses and overall emotions. His inability to meet the Jedi's requirement becomes apparant, which is another nice contrast to Anakin being obviously immensely talented and the "Chosen One".

There are just a lot of dimensions and contrasting developments and emotions for Anakin in AOTC, which is unique and makes the character a very intriguing one, and I agree with the OP that there is a certain "youthful charm" to the character is this movie that's missing from the next film. The whole chase through Coruscant is really entertaining, because you get to see that Anakin is somehow arrogant, but not necessarily in a less serious way. He is certainly a bit overconfident in the first half of the fuilm, but it's just as much just innocent and youthful insecurity being covered by strong words, which makes the change to protectiveness and disillusion in his character towards the end of the movie all the more striking.

 

Return of the Jedi

 

ROTS Anakin. He wasn't particularly likeable in TPM or AotC if you ask me. He seems the most mature in ROTS, and while he still makes some dense decisions and goes off the deep end, you can sympathize with his plight to some degree.

 

ROTS by far.

 

Probably AotC.

 

This one is fairly easy for me: AOTC Anakin.

Beautiful remarks by mute90, MarcJordan, and Samnz.

The struggle to do good and the striving for recognition and acceptance are profoundly there in Anakin in AOTC. Yet he's also contending with frustration, confusion, jealousy, apathy, lust, pride, and anger: very nearly the full spectrum of negative human emotion. These negative aspects, in addition to springing from his youthful adolescence, also arise, ironically, from a desire to be purposeful and virtuous, which is both being amplified and interfered with in a number of obvious and less-obvious ways (Palpatine, Padme, the Jedi, shadows from the past, etc.). So there are these conflicting currents and energies within him -- or "contrary dimensions and emotions" as Samnz put it -- and this adds considerable texture and intrigue to the middle stage of the character's prequel journey. AOTC Anakin, for me, not only emerges as the most layered protagonist in Star Wars, but makes AOTC one of the most compelling on-screen character portrayals ever.

Despite Star Wars' relatively brash nature (and the brash nature of Anakin himself), there are any number of subtle details in the writing and performance of AOTC Anakin, in my opinion, which perhaps makes Anakin something of a microcosm for the wider artwork to which he belongs. It is difficult to parse them all out; so multi-layered is the character in my eyes. One that has long struck me, however, is the catch in his face and voice when he says to Padme, "Sometimes we must let go of our pride and do what is requested of us." This line is very intriguing for the multifarious maturity/immaturity in Anakin it simultaneously conveys and conceals. On one level, it suggests that Anakin is a heck of a lot more developed since TPM, and has an inner poise and grace that life within the Jedi Order seems to have furnished him with. But then there is also this wispy bitterness about it: as if Anakin intellectually "gets" the putative wisdom of what he's saying, but also feels afflicted by it as he says it. It paints the image of someone yearning to meet a higher standard; and aware, on some level, that he is falling short; even if it's primarily to act aggrieved that he isn't better-credited by his mentor (which itself is, perhaps, a blast of arrogance concealing hurt and an inner gloom he dare not look too much upon).

Anakin's self-pitying mercurial side, and his somewhat-clumsy pursuit of Padme, are perhaps aspects of the character that profoundly turn some people off; not to mention his murderous travail and repeating actions like running head-long into physical and moral danger (the nightclub, the Tusken camp, the droid factory, Dooku). I can see that; but I love all the inherent contradictions in Anakin. He's a bit like that piece of fruit he slices for Padme: cut into him and a sweet, tart inner structure is revealed. Overall, I think we're seeing a budding Anakin in AOTC, who is also, paradoxically, in full bloom. Even though Anakin might be a little callow and have a "slouchy petulance" about him (I love that phrasing, mute90!), it's the combination of all these traits that gives Anakin an unusual fullness: an unborn angel on the edge of an endless dawn.

On more of a homo-erotic note, I also think Hayden Christensen's "Apollo" complexion adds considerable beauty and splendour to AOTC's visual structure. He's the ultimate epicene youth; and George's camera is in love with him. And why not, eh?

 

ROTS anakin was the best to me. He was relatable because I can see how he thought the council treated him unfairly he was becoming a great Jedi at the beginning of that film and the council would shoot his confidence down. He never got the credit he deserved IMO

 

The Clone Wars movie has a better Anakin then all of those combined. Matt Lanter is the best actor.

 

Sorry! Double post.

 

Absolutely. (see what I've bolded) There is a passionate type of Jedi quality that is not found in any other Jedi character (something that perhaps Luke eventually discovers, when he tosses off his lightsaber- and I'll get to that in a moment) and that's what most impresses me most about the Anakin we see in AOTC.

What Im saying is, in relation with the "I'm a slow learner" being my favourite line (which emerges in ROTJ, when Vader sacrifices himself), let me focus the attention, to the talk Anakin has with Padme in the transport.


When Anakin says "..... Compassion which I would define as unconditional love, is central to a Jedi's life, so you might say we're encouraged to love"


Here's a person trained as a Jedi for 10 years, and although as we know has spent time with Palpatine with his dubious guidance, Anakin has whether he knows it or not has a "built in" quality that no Jedi has. He has this forevision that Jedi need to have nurtured. Not even Yoda has it.

The Jedi impress themselves on more about the "civilized" lightsaber and what it can do for them, but Anakin's thoughts don't immediately dwelve on it, unless he isquestioned by Obi Wan about his skills compared to Yoda. Keeping also in mind that Anakin specifically targets the use of the lightsaber as "aggressive". I believe the affection he has for Padme brings this out. Infact her presence is "soothing". So when Luke throws off the LS, I think Anakin's affection for Luke is finally emerges, to be of self sacrifice "unconditionally".

So when I look back at AOTC and I "rediscover" this along with Anakin.

MJ

 

Does anybody see Vader or rotj Anakin up there? Sheesh bad trolling. Anakin is portrayed great in all the movies. My favorite is rots Anakin. But I will never understand why anybody dislikes TPM Anakin. Having him start off as a kid helps the saga arc. He seems like a cute normal kid but hes actually destined for more. This boy Quigon somehow stumbles upon has a higher midi count than even Yoda. And hes so innocent that when watching it is still hard to believe he turns into Vadar. The podrace is awesome. You have dangerous racing and a boy is the only human that can do it. GL is a poet and knew what he was doing with TPM Anakin.