Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) 20th Century Fox/Sci-Fi-Action-Adventure RT: 142 minutes Rated PG (sustained sequences of sci-fi-action violence) Director: George Lucas Screenplay: George Lucas and Jonathan Hales Music: John Williams Cinematography: David Tattersall Release date: May 16, 2002 (US) Cast: Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, Frank Oz (voice), Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Temuera Morrison, Daniel Logan, Leeanna Walsman, Silas Carson, Ahmed Best, Rose Byrne, Pernilla August, Jack Thompson, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse. Box Office: $310.6 million (US)/$649.3 million (World)
Rating: ** ½
Every Star Wars fan has their own opinion regarding their least favorite entry in the series. Mine is Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, the second installment of the prequel trilogy that began with the less-than-impressive Phantom Menace in ’99.
What kills the movie is the subplot dealing with the growing romance between Anakin Skywalker (Christensen, Life as a House) and Padme Amidala (Portman, Leon the Professional), now Senator of the planet Naboo. We already know that these two characters will eventually get married and give birth to twins Luke and Leia. Therefore, there’s no “will they or won’t they” suspense involved. That’s NOT the problem. The problem is the dreadful dialogue that they’re forced to say to each other. As a love story, Attack of the Clones is one of the worst I’ve ever seen.
As a sci-fi movie with impressive visuals and state-of the-art special effects, it fares much better. It’s one of the first movies to be shot digitally and while there is something of a “WOW!” factor, one can’t help but feel a little nostalgic for old school special effects of the original Star Wars saga. For example, it’s plainly obvious that Yoda has become a CGI creation, replacing the puppet used in the previous installments. While I prefer the old Yoda, I love what CGI allows him to do near the end. Let’s just say that Yoda is the biggest con artist in the galaxy.
Ten years after the events of Phantom Menace, the Galactic Republic is threatened by a separatist movement led by former Jedi master Count Dooku (Lee, the LOTR trilogy). Senator Amidala comes to Coruscant to vote on a plan to create an army of the Republic to assist the Jedi against this threat. As soon as she steps off her ship, an attempt is made on her life. She’s placed under the protection of two old friends, Obi-Wan Kenobi (McGregor) and Anakin. After a second unsuccessful attempt on the Senator’s life, the Jedi Council assigns Obi-Wan to investigate who’s behind the assassination attempts while Anakin is assigned to escort her back to Naboo.
The only lead Obi-Wan has to go on is the unidentified bounty hunter that kills the assassin before she can reveal his identity. His investigation leads him to a remote planet where a clone army is being mass produced for the Republic using bounty hunter Jango Fett (Morrison, Once Were Warriors) as their genetic template. Meanwhile, the love between Anakin and Padme grows. As the threat of all-out war between the Republic and the Separatists looms, the Senate finally grants Chancellor Palpatine (McDiarmid) emergency powers to send the clones into battle. Also, Anakin’s seduction by the Dark Side begins after the death of his mother on Tatooine and the bloody revenge he exacts on her Tusken Raider killers.
With Attack of the Clones, I’m finding the political aspects of the story more interesting. They’re laying the groundwork for the state of things in the first Star Wars movie (i.e. the Empire and the Rebel Alliance). The action sequences are top-notch as usual, the climactic arena battle being influenced by Gladiator. Christopher Lee is always a welcome addition to the any cast and does an excellent job as evil Count Dooku.
What really stands out about Attack of the Clones is its awe-inspiring visual palette. Early on, Obi-Wan and Anakin engage in chase through the skies of Coruscant. This planet bears a striking resemblance to the cityscape of Blade Runner with its tall buildings, neon signs and hovercrafts. It’s an exciting sequence made even more so by the surroundings.
The whole movie looks great, but it doesn’t quite compensate for the drippy love story. That just about spoils the whole movie. One scene has the two lovers talking about sand. When Padme reminisces about her school trips to the beach, Anakin says, “I don’t like sand. It’s coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything is soft and smooth.” A collective groan went up in the theater at the midnight preview I attended the night before it opened.
Hayden Christensen is a terrible actor. He’s stiff, emotionless and dull. What possessed Lucas to hire this guy? He makes the annoying Jake Lloyd look better by comparison. Portman fares better than her co-star, but she looks a little embarrassed to be delivering her lines at times. McGregor does a pretty good job as young Obi-Wan. Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction) makes an excellent addition to the cast as Jedi Master Mace Windu. John Williams’ rousing score still causes chills. Attack of the Clones is a decent Star Wars movie, but it’s so undermined by the badly-handled love story that it diminishes the overall effect.
