Why is Mace Windu a weak character?

I want those that like Mace Windu to share their opinion after reading this topic. Could anyone explain to me how he can be a likeable character? Samuel Jackson can be a good actor, but the character he was given for his Prequel role is extremely dull and two-dimensional. The only reason Mace Windu exists I think is because Jackson asked for a role and George Lucas allowed him to come aboard. All Jackson seems to do is attempt to look cool like Morpheus, Neo and Trinity in the Matrix but it simply doesn't work anymore. I find it extremely boring. Give me a character I can feel for rather than someone that just stands there thinking he/she is cool.

I never cared when Mace Windu was electrocuted and force pushed out a tall building. I was actually glad Windu was gone. Should I have liked Windu, and if you did, why did you? What qualities does Windu have that I cannot see?

 

well if you have to read shadowpoint to find more about mace windu

but he is one of those characters that is unique, he is wise, strong and knows alot about the force and the way it works. i think that he character works well with him...

he is one of those characters that is in control and a bad MF when he has to be...he showed that against sidious

 

"well if you have to read shadowpoint to find more about mace windu"

Considering how boring and two-dimensional I think Mace Windu is in the Prequel films, I for one will not waste time reading a book about his character.

"but he is one of those characters that is unique, he is wise, strong and knows alot about the force and the way it works. i think that he character works well with him..."

Wise? Hardly. He didn't believe the Sith could of returned without them knowing. That attitude doesn't strike me as wise. He only believed the mysterious attacker who was Darth Maul was a sith only when Maul killed Qui-Gon. That strikes me as stupid on his part. He went to arrest Palpatine with only a few Jedi which didn't strike me as wise either.

"he is one of those characters that is in control and a bad MF when he has to be...he showed that against sidious"

Being a bad MF, as you put it, doesn't interest me unless the character is actually interesting to being with. I'm fed up with these boring characters doing nothing but looking cool at the expensive of any human qualities.

 

Samuel Jackson can be a good actor, but the character he was given for his Prequel role is extremely dull and two-dimensional.

You're being far too generous, Jedi_Learner - Mace Windu is at best a one-dimensional character. I am not terribly fond of Windu, but he is simply a bland, ancillary character who is given a modicum of "importance" due to the fact that he is played by Samuel L. Jackson. If he were a central figure in the story, then I would of course take issue with these deficiencies in a considerably more pronounced manner, but since Windu mostly occupies a spot in the background of the films, it isn't a great concern.

The only reason Mace Windu exists I think is because Jackson asked for a role and George Lucas, in his infinite wisdom, allowed him to come aboard.

Yes, I agree for the most part. However, the name "Mace Windu," and perhaps some of the conceptual details of his character (such as it is), have existed since the 1970s at least, when Lucas first began to develop the stories for these films.

All Jackson seems to do is attempt to look cool like Morpheus, Neo and Trinity in the Matrix but it simply doesn't work anymore. I find it extremely boring. Give me a character I can feel for rather than someone that just stands there thinking he/she is cool.

In fairness, Jackson doesn't have very much material with which to work. Mace Windu, as it has been indicated, is a very marginal supporting presence who is "cool" to the extent in which Jackson himself is, not the character. "Star Wars" films are hardly Brechtian in their construction, so I do not watch one in search of probing psychological detail; if I truly wished to satiate a longing for an interpersonal character piece wrought with profundity and a palpable sense of emotional gravity, then I would go and watch a chamber drama by Bergman, or something of that nature. Generally speaking, "Star Wars" characters have rarely been much beyond basic archetypes or two-dimensional characters - there are exceptions, of course, and among them are Yoda, Anakin/Vader, Palpatine/Sidious, Obi-Wan Kenobi, etc. As I have already suggested, had Windu's role in the prequels been more prominent, then perhaps his noticeable lack of salient emotional qualities would have become more problematic for me. No, Mace is not a well-defined character, nor is he particularly likeable, but he also has relatively little screen-time.

I never cared when Mace Windu was electricuted and force pushed out a tall building. I was actually glad Windu was gone.

I was not emotionally devestated by his departure either - I don't think that that was the point of the scene, however. The focus of that scene in ROTS concerned Anakin and his decision to assist Palpatine, so that is where the dramatic interest lies - the fact that he helped kill a noted Jedi Master is a matter of some importance in this case.

 

I disagree that Mace's character is weak. I do like the character. He is a side-character with an important role in Anakin's path in ROTS. As such he does not NEED to be terribly developed. I like what development he has.


well if you have to read shadowpoint to find more about mace windu

I think if one has to read a BOOK to find out what is needed about a character, then the films fail.

 

Windu only exists to piss Anakin off and then die.

But I like him anyway. Hell, my favorite character is Wedge, who only exists to save Luke's butt and do cool stuff in ships.

 

Mace isn't *supposed* to be "likable". He's consistent & interesting & plays an imortant role. That isn't enough?!

Mace's role is to be the one who breaks first & walks into Palpatine's trap. You see in I&II that he's a strict follower of the rules, that he doesn't suffer fools gadly, that he's a hard liner. If this guy puts his trust in you - woe betide if you **** up! And if he feels justified, he'll go a step or two over the line.

You obviously don't get drama. Not all protaganists have to be "likable".

Strilo edit: Not acceptable. We discuss the films not the fans. Comments like "You obviously don't get drama" will only get you in trouble.

 

mace is the Darth Maul of the jedi.

Hes a badass, but his character stops there.

 

Mace was not weak up untill Anakin interviened on Palpatine's behalf, Mace owned That fight

 

1)Wise? Hardly. He didn't believe the Sith could of returned without them knowing. That attitude doesn't strike me as wise.

2)He only believed the mysterious attacker who was Darth Maul was a sith only when Maul killed Qui-Gon. That strikes me as stupid on his part.

3) He went to arrest Palpatine with only a few Jedi which didn't strike me as wise either.


Hmm, first of all, you're an idiot. Strilo edit: Flaming is not ok. Now, I would like to address some of your points:

1)He didn't believe it because it had been a MILLENNIUM since a Sith had even been seen.

2) He, as well as the ENTIRE JEDI COUNCIL, moreover THE JEDI ORDER didn't believe it was a Sith, namely for reasons stated in my previous point.

3) Well how many Jedi could he realistically take? Remember, The Clone Wars were raging on at this point. it's not like there are just Jedi chilling at the Temple like reading the paper. 3 supporting Jedi is a lot to take down a chancellor, and they're not even sure if he is a Sith or not, or if he's even armed.

 

Look whether you like Mace or not you need to read Shatterpoint, it adds so much to his character.

 

"Hmm, first of all, you're an [Flame]."

Must...resist...ahhhh!

 

I think Mace's character did grow more in AotC and RotS. I thought of him as really being a true Jedi, wanting to protect the council and the republic.

He was definetly nervous about the darkside being around him and was incredibly powerful. I was pretty sad when he flew out the window and that really was the begining of the end in Star Wars.

 

I read the novelization for ROTS and liked Mace a lot more. But the novel portrayed him as a character who never showed any outward emotion, and several times compared him to stone.

What a great character for a MOVIE!!! Way to go GL.

I would have liked to see Sam Jackson play Dooku.

 

I dont understand all the hype Mace gets on this board.
Mace is just ok. He did not do or say much, in the triolgy. He was boring and I was glad to see him go flying out the window. All he did was kill Jango, and fail to kill Sids.
That is it! Why all the praise?

He is unimportant to the overall story.
He is the Maul of the Jedi, way overrated.

 

It sort of hard to argue with an editor, but here goes:

Mace Windu, in my opinion, is not a two-dimensional figure. If you watch the movie, he is potrayed in third dimension, not only in appearance (id hope so) but in character. Mace Windu, to me, is the perfect person to lead the Jedi Council. If i were a jedi, i would love to work for Windu. He has that sort of "your doing the right thing" kind of air, and hes not like yoda, so you can take him seriously. Can you take a short green 900 year old person who talks backwards seriously? I hope not. He also is serious, and tells Anakain: "A sith...lord?!? You'd better be telling me right, and i'll trust you." Not to mess around with. Plus, its also nice to have an African American character, so that star wars isnt all white. Id feel bad for the African Americans if they didnt have a black character. Thanks, Lucas!

 

I like Mace Windu! He is a strong and wise character and it looks to me like he is nr. 2 in the Jedi Council after Master Yoda. He is also the strongest Jedi with a lightsaber, one of few thats knows form 7, Vapaad.
When Windu, Fisto, Kolar and Tiin are going to arrest Palpatine, Yoda was supposed to come with them, but he was stacked on Kashyyyk and Fisto says repeatedly: "I wish Yoda were here with us" something that not is shown in the movie, but is stated in the book.

 

I think ROTS rounded out Mace Windu's purpose. Through the first two films, Windu was shown to be a wise jedi because Yoda always gave Windu respectful consideration in the council discussions. He was shown to be a strong warrior in AOTC. However, the third film revealed Windu's real purpose in life.

I felt that Palpatine used Windu to show Anakin how "nice" it felt to let his powers go and kill a good guy. Anakin had already had a taste of revenge when he finished Dooku. Windu was the icing on the cake.

I also believe Palpatine was stringing Windu along the whole time to be the fall guy that put Anakin on the fast track to Darth-dom. Palpatine played with Anakin and Windu throughout the first two films, setting Anakin up to be jealous and hateful of Windu. It started in TPC, when Windu told Qui-Gon that Anakin would not be trained. FFWD to ROTS, when Windu told Anakin that he would not be given the title of "master" while sitting on the Jedi Council. It was all a setup staged by Palpatine/Sidius to build up hatred in Anakin.

There's a lot more to Windu than what I've seen discussed here. Think about the big picture, then reconsider your feelings about Windu. He was a wise, powerful jedi that played a key role in helping Sidius create Vader. To me, that's pretty cool.

4ceful1

 

Plus, its also nice to have an African American character, so that star wars isnt all white. Id feel bad for the African Americans if they didnt have a black character. Thanks, Lucas!

What about all the other ethnicities who don't have representation? Latino? Hispanic? Asian? Hell I am German... where is the German Jedi? I think that it's silly to expect or even comment on race in Star Wars. George didn't cast Jackson to make some sort of Affirmative Action quota in his films. He cast him cuz he wanted to.

And does anyone else think the term African American is mildly offensive to blacks from other countries... or in a film set outside of America? Has political correctness negated blacks from other countries?

 

I really dont like his lightsaber style. It looks as if hes untrained

 

The problem with Mace is that he is incredibly boring. He rarely does anything notable, and he is constantly corrected by Yoda. The only notable fight he has is with Palpatine, and he is ultimately out-classed even if he did win the saber duel.


What's worse is the fact that his character has NO personality. He doesn't come off as being particularly wise, nor does he seem clever or powerful. Simply put, he is there simply for the sake of giving Samuel L Jackson a role. Hardly a worthy character. Its a shame too, as he could have been an interesting character!

 

The only thing cool about him is his lightsaber, I mean how can he be the only black jedi? C'mon, he does nothing to care for him, I don't hate him, but when he died I wasn't like omg. The fight with Palpy his cool, is style is different, just like his saber, i liked it. All i can say about Samuel L. jackson is... SAMUEL L. JACKSON IT'S MY BEER!!!!!!!

 

Mace Windu was supposed to be a static character, so in that part, he did his job admirably.

Really, it wouldn't work if we had all these different Jedi Masters going "No no, Ani-my-boy, you're much too young and hot-headed to go about killing people and looking 'hologenic'." Could you imagine what it would look like on screen if Shaak-Ti, Kit Fisto, and all the others came up like that? Chaos, I tell you.


---SPOILERS FOR ROTS IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH---

I think [and this is solely my opinion] that Windu was the consumate, sterotypical Jedi. Because there's so many character within the series, it would be better to simply have one character step out of the shadows more and become the sort of prototype for Jedi. Think about it- at the end of ROTS, Kenobi shows that to a certain degree, he also failed as a Jedi. He became attatched to Anakin, and refused to believe that he could do what he did. Remember "Send me after the Empreror. I won't kill Anakin." and "I loved you like a brother!"? Obi-Wan failed to a certain degree. Perhaps Yoda did. So it was better to take a secondary character and make him THE Jedi. That's why his death was important as well. The most important Jedi after Kenobi, Skywalker, and Yoda, who also had to be killed, needed to have some sort of importance, but not that much importance.

 

First off, SKSeven, you are genius! Second off, I read some one on here who wrote, he gets alot of praise on these boards. No he doesnt! Very few people on these boards like him at all, just like most of the people who posted on this message. Dont dwell on the fact that you hate him. He is a secondary character, it would be like saying that you HATE ( with a passion, just as you do with Windu) Bib Fortuna, or someone like that. He doesnt have full character development, therefore, why do you hate him? He serves his purpose very well, I think, he is there, as SK said before me, to reperesent the rest of the Jedi Order. When you watch the prequals, consider the fact that we follow around characters who are closely tied, meaning that they all have emotional ties to each other. Windu is secondary so he gives a prespective outside of what we are used to seeing. He reperesents all of the rest of the Jedi Order, the ones who arnt emotionally connected to the main characters.