MOVIE REVIEW: Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman) 1/2
Warning: There are spoilers in this review
Spider-Who?
The Force is strong with Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, which, I must confess, I only saw last night for the first time. I don't know what kind of a "fan" that makes me. Perhaps I should have waited in line to see the first showing, I don't know. What I can tell you is that because I adore the first trilogy and will always regard those three films as the ones that really opened my eyes to the potential for pure imagination in the movies, I have always considered myself a big Star Wars fan.
The latest installment picks up about ten years after where Episode I - The Phantom Menace left off. Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) has had to step down as the ruler of Naboo but now acts as a senator. After a failed assassination attempt on her life, old friends Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) are assigned to protect the Britney-midriffed mi-lay-dy. Meanwhile, a new clone army has been created under the direction of a mysterious bounty hunter, and the stability of the Republic is at risk when an ex-Jedi named Dooku (Christopher Lee) threatens to disrupt balance in the universe.
Attack of the Clones is a feast for the eyes and ears. In a lot of ways it looks more impressive than Episode I in terms of its dazzling array of aliens, creatures and critters. For example, there is a fun new character who works at an intergalactic diner on Coruscant that has four arms. There are also elongated beings on a hidden planet that hearken back to Spielberg's Close Encounters aliens and A.I.'s robots. And in the film's centerpiece scene, there are three giant beasties that put a new Gladiator-style twist on Return of the Jedi's Rancor monster.
This time around, director George Lucas seems to have forgotten a great deal about the familiar characters from the first trilogy. R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) can now fly thanks to rocket boosters attached to his legs. The supposedly all-powerful evil Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) can mentally corrupt hundreds of senators on Coruscant but somehow remain undetected by the entire Jedi Council in several scenes when they are all in the same room together (yet when Anakin is "in pain", he can be detected halfway across the galaxy). And Yoda (Frank Oz) indeed proves that "size matters not", in a scene that is completely incongruous to the character, but which is a delight for fanatics nonetheless.
Some other inconsistencies seem more and more difficult to dismiss as we approach the segway into Episode IV - A New Hope. Anakin actually meets Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen, which leaves me perplexed as to how Darth Vader could not know of their location when he goes on a spree to find two droids. Two droids which, incidentally, he will apparently have no recollection of knowing even though they are with him throughout a great deal of Phantom Menace and Clones. Or how about Obi-Wan's Episode IV remark that he doesn't seem to recall ever owning a droid -- and then in Episode II he has adventures with not just R2, but with a new one named R4? I guess in Episode III, a pre-requisite for the Clone Wars will be that all of the characters need to suffer from amnesia.
For me, the biggest discrepancy comes in the form of the romance between Anakin and Amidala, or, more particularly, the way it unfolds. The two begin as star-crossed lovers and things move along at a good pace. Then, when tragedy strikes Anakin, he has his first truly evil moment, and kills men, innocent women and innocent children. Only after that does Amidala say she loves him. Huh? I know beautiful women are attracted to dangerous guys, but come on! He just committed mass murder on countless innocent people and this actually convinces her of her feelings for him?
These are all, however, nitpicky comments in an otherwise fun adventure. The pace for the first two thirds of the film is surprisingly uneven, but there are moments when it springs to life, as in a chase scene through the aerial streets of Coruscant, and in an asteroid chase scene at the halfway mark. I also enjoyed seeing new settings such as a training session for young Jedis, a space library, a new Cantina on Coruscant, and further idyllic backdrops for the planet of Naboo. There is also an abundance of vibrant, new intergalactic vehicles that make the turtle-walking AT-AT's from The Empire Strikes Back appear, well, like turtles.
The actors are fine in Episode II, given they have fewer and fewer fellow actors, props, or scenery to play off of. Newcomer Hayden Christensen does the trick as a brooding, tormented young Jedi, and Ewan McGregor seems more at home in the role of Republic Investigator here. Some of the familiars from Phantom Menace are back too, including a more subdued Jar Jar Binks, the Trade Federation lackeys Nute and Rune, and an aged Watto, who has fallen on worse times. The most welcome character surprise of all, however, comes from the lovable droids R2-D2 and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels). After providing a great deal of unexpected smiles and welcome chuckles in a late scene filled with robot armies and pouncing Jedi warriors, Lucas should have given the pair of droids more screen time throughout the first two episodes.
It is in the aforementioned climactic battle scene on the planet Geonosis that Attack of the Clones really hits its stride. Zoning in on the elements of old Saturday morning serials, Lucas pulls out every nailbiter in the book. We have characters trapped on conveyor belts (and some are stuck in giant containers with molten lead about to be poured on them), some are manacled to posts with monsters about to charge them, and there's even a duel with an Evil Count, against whom our heroes must swashbuckle to try to stop a war.
Watching Star Wars movies is such a blast for me. Sure, I seem to have highlighted the parts about Attack of the Clones that didn't work, but in a way that's kind of unavoidable. After all, Lucas can only do so much in trying to please everyone. Ultimately, Episode II is likely to appease the masses precisely because it has such a mass appeal. (Comment on this)
