Send in the clones
Written: May 19 '02 (Updated Jun 08 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: action, sets, costumes, special effects
Cons: love story, casting, characters
The Bottom Line: Although it overly plotty and has an unsatisfactory romance, Attack of the Clones ends with rousing action scenes.
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| BrianKoller's Full Review: Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones |
One of the most anticipated films since Gone With the Wind, The Phantom Menace proved to be a blockbuster success. The billion dollar worldwide gross was more than could be hoped for, although the Jar Jar Binks dolls did not prove popular. The film made tons of money despite complaints from both critics and audiences, who felt that it was overly targeted to children.
George Lucas apparently listened to his fans. The reviled Jar Jar is reduced almost to a prop in the fifth/second film. Anakin is played by a young adult instead of a child who can't act. The plot is more carefully conceived, perhaps overly so. The script has no obviously annoying lines, such as following a violent death with the quip "Oh, that's gotta hurt!"
How does Attack of the Clones stack up against the other members of the double trilogy? Although less consistent, it is marginally better than The Phantom Menace. It is easily worse than any of the first three films.
Attack of the Clones takes a long time to find its legs. The plot is too complex and confusing, despite pages of dialogue that exist only to explain it. There are scores of characters, and even if the viewer has seen the other films, it is difficult to get them all straight.
The middle of the film is dominated by a love story between Anakin (Hayden Christensen) and Amidala (Natalie Portman). There is also a growing feud between Anakin and his fellow Jedi Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor). The latter subplot works better than the first. Christensen and Portman have been (mis)cast primarily for their beauty and poise. They lack the verve that Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher had in the first trilogy.
The blame for the tiresome romance belongs with George Lucas, however. He wrote the first draft of the screenplay, he directed their scenes, and he chose the leads. He certainly had time to correct the mistakes. There is little interest in whether the angst-ridden pretty boy will get to have sex with the supermodel senator. There's no suspense there, either, since we already know that Vader is the father of the twins Luke and Leia. He is unlikely to procreate them through someone that he picks up at a bar.
If anything has held the film together at this point, it is the production values. The sets, costumes, and cinematography may all be computer generated, but they still have variety and eye appeal.
Fortunately, the film picks up considerably in its final third. When the DVD comes out, fans will likely begin with the droid factory scene. By then, the lovable droids C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) have reunited for reliable comic relief.
Lucas' talents as a director and special effects wizard also return. The last forty minutes or so are loaded with action and suspense. The monsters are scary, the villains are evil, and the lives of our heroes are in peril. These scenes redeem the film. (68/100)
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Recommended:
Yes
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BrianKoller
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Member: Brian Koller
Location: Plano, Texas
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Conservative grades, but kinder and gentler reviews.
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