Am I the Only Who Likes Dooku more Than Maul out of the prequel Villains?

I've always considered Maul a physically impressive villain. But as a character, he has always struck me as being slightly one-note, in compare to Count Dooku.

 

Watched the Mandalorian and ROTS in our pre-TROS marathon, and this weekend my wife had a question that initially blew me away.

Spoiler: Mandalorian E3 Spoilers

I had the thought that maybe Yoda is going to be revealed the one that saves the child Mando from the Super Battle droid during the flashback scenes, and she asked "Oh, did Yoda fight in the Clone Wars?"

Which I thought was a strange question, but the more I thought about it, the more I think it hearkens back to the biggest problem I have with the sequels- the Clone Wars, something fans really wanted to see, are almost entirely skirted around off screen in this trilogy, with the exception of some final battles in ROTS.

Anyway, I think Dooku suffers most from this. We see very little of him in AotC (with an audience likely more focused on the seemingly cooler Jango Fett), and his lightsaber fight is... less than impressive.

Then, he's killed off in the first act of ROTS without really accomplishing much at all.

I know the animation builds him up as a much better character, but for someone like my wife who only enjoys the movies... that just doesn't really matter. Honestly, if I asked her what Christopher Lee's name is in these movies, I'd say it's a 50/50 if she'd even come up with Dooku.

I dunno, I know I'm not really breaking ground here by criticizing the prequels or even by complaining that the depiction of the Clone Wars themsevles was wonky, but it's just a shame Dooku didn't get more screentime.

 

Christopher Lee's Count Dooku reminds me of Jared Leto's Joker - good actors playing poorly written characters.

 

“That’s well said.”

 

I think there is a couple of things with this:

1. I might be wrong, but I think George wanted to keep the story focused on Obi-Wan and Anakin.
2. Think of the Lord of the Rings and, more so than LOTR, the Hobbit. Gandalf is often sent off to do things (or killed off in the case of LOTR). One could argue this is because the dude is powerful, perhaps too powerful. By removing Yoda it makes it more interesting to see Obi Wan and Anakin deal with stuff.
3. As for Dooku (and I realize this is more than two things), I would think that SOME of the problems with him are simply physical. By that point Lee was what, late 70s? I guess they could have used a stunt double, but perhaps George just felt it was easier to simply minimize his role?

Having said that, I think it's a shame that BOTH Dooku AND Maul don't really get much in the way of screen time. Personally I was and am intrigued with Maul. I feel George killed him off WAY too soon, even though at the time I believed it was partially due to the fact that George wanted to use him to build up Obi-Wan's "bad ass" credentials. Probably wrong on that issue, but...

 

I actually liked that Dooku was older, it made him a true foil to Yoda (ironic becayse they were master and apprentice). It was neat to see a Senior Sithizen wields a lightsaber. Sure Palpatine is older too, but as you said Lee was 70; it reminded me of Alic Guinness in ANH vs Vader.

 

Yeah, I imagine if Christopher Lee was younger he'd have done more dueling. I seem to remember he did some films with swords in his earlier years.

 

And when he didn’t use swords..:



He used a golden gun.

 

I like Dooku as a character very much, but I could never get a negative review of AOTC out of my head where they described the climax as Kermit the Frog versus Count Chocula. That... kinda stung. But was weirdly accurate, too.

 

Except Kermit has never had coordination skills (See Muppet Treasure Island), and Dooku is by far more sophisticated than Count Chocula.

 

That was Christopher Lee? Man i never made that connection. As a big Bond fan, I have failed.

 

It’s ok, “I’m a slow learner,” too.

 

Maul looked cool, and was definitely made better in later media.

I always found Dooku very cold and calculating--a true villian, and for those who say he's not scary, I wonder if you have even met any truly manipulative or tortuous person.

As for a Maul vs. Dooku fight, I think Dooku would have won through finesse and Dark Side skill, but it would not have been an easy fight.

The Dark Horse comics really did a good job fleshing him out.

 

I agree all the way

 

Indeed, true schemers and master manipulators tend go not have imposing presences (I exlude Palpatine).

I agree. Lord Tyranus would have used his Makashi (Form II) techniques and Force Lightning to subdue Maul.

 

I like Doku, but I would have preferred that he would have been a mislead Jedi, really meaning to do good and only realizing shortly before his end that he was manipulated by a sith. So that he thinks he's trying to convince Obi Wan he's doing the right thing instead of trying to lure him onto the dark side

 

I am inclined to agree with this thread and the majority of the ideas presented.

I personally love Count Dooku. One of the reasons why is because he represented an elaborate and unique point of view towards the Jedi Order in comparison to any of the other characters in the prequels. Dooku knew that the Jedi weren't what they seemed to be. The politics and government corrupted it, and he ended up abandoning it entirely as a result--Qui-Gons death was the last straw for him. He's an individual that added a layer of complexity to the story. Star Wars was never just about The good vs. the evil. Dooku, in a way, pointed out how corruption was everywhere, even in plain sight where nobody could forsee it, not even the most powerful of Jedi like Yoda . Eventually he fell into this pit of corruption himself however.

"Government, even in it's best state, is but a necessary evil; in it's worst state, an intolerable one."

 

Maul is flashy and Dooku has elegance in him. His biggest flaw was being arrogant enough to believe he could manipulate Sidious too.

 

Dooku is fantastic and his skills with a lightsaber are more refined compared to Maul's pure aggression and flamboyant gesturing. Lee brings his portrayal of Dracula, with his menace and presence, to the character. In fact he's basically the Star Wars version of Dracula.