Attack of the Clones 2002
I saw this last night and enjoyed it but there are still a lot of flaws. I think one thing that is missing (and also from the first one) is the swashbuckling that made the first (er . . . 4th) Star Wars so much fun. There hasn’t been much fun in these two prequels. A lot of that is because we’re not dealing with a bunch of happy rebels mounting spirited attacks on the giant evil empire. Plus there is absolutely no one that has been able to take the place of Han Solo. Instead we’re stuck with a bunch of pious Jedi’s and more evil politicans than you can keep straight. What fun is that?
I still like the movie. There are enough plot lines to cut back and forth to that you never get tired of any of them. And they visit several different worlds so you don’t get tired of any particular place either. The love story adds an extra dimension to what would otherwise just be a special effects movie. Still, Lucas can’t write a decent love story and the only thing that seems to bring these two together is that Anakin has had a distant crush on her since he was 7.
I thought the acting was okay. I was glad Jar Jar was essentially gone, though he is certainly ripe for assassination. Who would leave Gilligan in charge? And yet that’s what they do. Senator Amidala continues to play it fairly stiff, but I think that’s her part. Anakin is okay though I think he’s stuck with some pretty obvious teen-angst scenes that would have been more effective if they’d been downplayed but darker. I’d have liked to have seen a couple of scenes where the other Jedi are blown away at how good he is (like in The Matrix when Neo fights with his mentor), but he often gets his butt kicked. Lucas did the same thing to Luke who always seemed way too pathetic to ever be a great Jedi, let alone the greatest of all Jedi. Still he did pretty good with what he had. Ewan McGregor is a little better than last time since now, instead of being the humble apprentice, he is the master and is on his own for part of the movie. I thought they could have done a little more to emphasize how Obi Wan blew the whole universe by not being strong enough a mentor to Anakin and that this was because Obi Wan’s training was cut short with the premature loss of his own master. Kind of a commentary on bad parenting in action.
Samuel Jackson is bad again, having to deliver very stiff lines that just don’t fit him. He doesn’t seem to be himself without cussing every other word. He would have been a good one to take the place of Han Solo, but he’s as pious as the rest. He could have been the “angry Jedi", but Lucas has too much respect for the force religion to let something like that happen (remember when he changed Revenge of the Jedi to Return of the Jedi because he didn’t think Jedis should be vindictive?) Yoda has a big part as well. He’s okay but he gets old. Backwards talking annoys it does. The scenes with the Fet family seemed unnecessary but it was enjoyable to see the origin of Boba. Still, Boba Fet seemed such a minor part of the Episodes 4-6 that I question the need to put this story in there.
Some cool spaceships and the storm troopers are actually effective here (maybe they got worse over time as they became copies of copies). While some of the light saber fights were very good, Lucas blows it with the sabers turning in to pie-shaped wedges when they’re going fast. It just looked very fake and one area where there shouldn’t have been a flaw. Also a shame that one of the chief bad guys had essentially the same role in Lord of the Rings. It just made this seem that much more derivative.
My biggest complaint has to be the return of C3PO. He may be entertaining for the little kids, but I actually like Jar Jar better than C3PO.
Still, by throwing this much at the wall, a lot of it sticks. Though it’s hard for Star Wars to live up to its expectations, I thought this was well done. I’ll give it a B+, just missing an A because of the more obvious pitfalls that should have been avoided.
Owned on: Digital