PT Was it smart showing Chewbacca in ROTS?

I'm new to the prequel trilogy and i was wondering what the fan consensus is on whether having Chewbacca appear in Revenge of the Sith was the right decision or not?

 

I think it's good fan-service for people who really, really, really wanted to see Chewie but it's a tad superfluous. But since Lucas wanted to get in the Wookie planet since, like, what, the 1st or 2nd draft of ANH then it woulda been downright silly to not have Chewie pop up. He's just background more than anything, as right as he should be. Almost wished they hadn't included the line where Yoda said goodbye to Chewbacca just because it would have been more "connect the dots" for fans aside from blatantly stating it. Also I guess Peter Matthew needed a new Chewie promo pic to sign anyway.

 

There is no right or wrong. You either like it or not.

 

I see nothing wrong with Chewbacca appearing in Attack of the Clones. This makes it easier to understand why Chewbacca was the one to take Obi-Wan to Han Solo in a new hope. He knows who the Jedi are and he knows what they stand for. I thought it was cute to see Chewbacca carry Yoda to safety after the Clone Troopers turned on the Jedi. I also remember hearing Yoda say that he will miss Chewbacca at the end of that scene. A bit sad too because it seemed like Yoda had finally realized that to miss someone would not be bad but to be attached to them in an unhealthy way and afraid to let them go is something different.

 

I didn't like it. Not that I don't like the character, but it makes the SW universe appear too small. It looked to me like it was an obvious cameo for the sake of the cameo.

 

It would have been a shame to see Kashyyyk in the films and not see Chewie. It looked as though The two Wookies were trailing the Clones as they got there a few seconds after Order 66 was initiated.

 

Fan service almost always comes off as cheesy and/or unnecessary. (see AUJ)

 

Didn't like it Having Chewbacca in as Yoda's piggy back buddy was definately bad. People were laughing at it in the cinema I was in and not in a good way.
OtOH it merely joined Vader making C-3PO and Stormtroopers cloned off Boba.. whoops I mean Jango Fett in its badness and was not the only thing.

 

Jango is a cool character in itself and actually has more lines than Boba in the OT. Yes, he goes out like a punk but so do all other villains except for Vader. At least he was a part of the plot. It's cameos like Jabba or Chewbacca that seem like a fan service.

 

Jabba's cameo was fan service? To me, it's one of the most understandable cameos.

 

Of course it was the right decision. Lucas loves the Chewbacca character and the way he's portrayed by Peter Mayhew, and has been wanting to put Kashyyyk in one of the movies since the beginning. And the way it's done works really well as well as an introduction to a character we then see again in ANH.

 

Jango was Boba Fett. Lucas knew he was popular from the OT (where at the time he killed him off like a punk to show he was not important to the story) and sold action figures so he thought he'd put him in the PT. Problem was age so whahla you have Jango Fett, Bobas daddy.

 

Age had never been a problem for Lucas. He came up with 9 year old pilots and 14 year old queens. He could have easily made Boba a 12 year old bounty hunter apprentice. Jango is there to give more backstory for Boba such as his hatred for the Jedi. I never cared for Boba, but at least this made him a more interesting character.

 

I could have done without it.

 

yeah, I don't think it was needed in the slightest

 

It was fan service to be sure but it doesn't bother me really. At least he didn't go with his original idea and have a young Han Solo in the film. That would have been a bit too much even for me as a huge PT fan.

 

Considering that Chewie is 180 something years old during the Clone Wars, it makes perfect sense to me seeing him on Kashyyyk defending his homeworld. It may not have been necessary, but I liked seeing him. He and R2 know a lot of stuff, but they don't snitch. It's funny that he plays dumb in ANH by acting like he knows nothing about Jedi. I do wonder if Chewie ever eventually got around to telling Luke that he knew Yoda.

 

I heard a bit of laughter about that scene as well when Yoda was lifted up by Chewbacca but I honestly saw no humor in it. I also heard laughter in the theater I was in when Yoda pulled his saber for the first time. I really did not understand that at all. I've seen Yoda use the Force in the Empire Strikes Back. I've seen Yoda train Luke. What was funny about Yoda using a light saber was actually one of the best moments in Star Wars for me. In the case of Chewbacca helping Yoda? Yoda walked slowly and lets remember that he was using a floating device to talk to Obi-Wan and Mace in Attack of the Clones. There's nothing wrong with having allies willing to help you. I still think Chewbacca and Tarful was trailing those clones to help out Yoda if he needed it.

 

There were scenes in the PT that I felt were attempts at a fan service that were more of a disservice. Anakin having built C-3PO seemed odd to me, Artoo's introduction seemed cheesy, Jabba seemed fine and made some sense, Boba being Jango's son didn't sit well with me initially, though I guess I've gotten used to it.

By the time we got to Chewbacca's appearance I don't know if I was just used to cameos of everyone or if it was done better, but I didn't mind that one as much.

 

Yoda said that he had good relations with the Wookies which is why he chose to go there. That was pretty smart of him because they helped him out in the end. As for Chewbacca being in the film? It was a nice touch for me to see Chewbacca with other Wookies after seeing him following Han Solo around all the time. I did not understand Threepio being built by Anakin either. That was pretty bad but Artoo doing his thing is always fun to watch. That is a brave little droid. Although I have to wonder how they blew up that shield generator on the ship they were flying to Coruscant. Did they have a shield around everything but the generator itself?

 

If anything he should have had a larger role. There could have been an extended action sequence of Chewbacca vaulting through the trees with Yoda on his back, Yoda deflecting blaster fire and using the force to pull vines closer and move trees out of the way.

 

I think there was laughter because those moments are relatively cheesy. They were just examples of fan service at their worst too me. Chewbacca really didn't contribute to the plot at all and in my opinion his presence on Kashyyyk contradicted what he was established as in the OT. Essentially a loyal pilot who didn't find himself with many loyalties in life. Having him fight in the Clone Wars only takes away from that in my opinion. I understand the idea of cultural pride and the need to defend your planet but Chewbacca always struck me as an adventurer and not someone who'd stick around at home.

And I can understand laughing at spastic Yoda. The guy was jumping around screeching like a muppet having a temper tantrum. It was definitely more funny than awe inspiring. I always figured that Yoda could just defeat guys with The Force without having to jump around with a weapon like a spastic monkey-lizard.

 

Many of the truths that we cling to depend upon our own point of view. If a spastic is Yoda is what you wished to see then that is what you shall see. I however chose to see a powerful Jedi Master that challenged Dooku and Emperor Palpatine. It was also fun for me to see Chewbacca on his own and not following around Han Solo. I always wondered what Chewbacca's life was like before he met Han Solo and although I did not completely get to see that I did get to see him on his own homeworld. I can see Chewbacca returning to his homeworld to defend it. Why would he not if his fellow Wookies were in trouble?

 

I wouldn't have minded it at all if Chewie had been more of a background cameo. Yoda didn't need to be on a first name basis with him, nor to ride him like a mount. However, it being done the way it was didn't shatter my enjoyment of the film in any way.