Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

[Blankments]

Attack of the Clones is complete utter trash. There's only one redeeming quality in it, and that's the love theme from John Williams' astute mind. Unfortunately, the rest of his score is lazier than expected from him, rehashing themes at points when they really don't need to be. Lucas's writing and direction are outright terrible, and the acting isn't necessarily awful; rather, the actors have absolutely nothing to work with and as such, they turn in mediocre performances. The action scenes are dull, although all contain at least one flash of brilliance, although that does not nearly make up for their blandness. The effects have not aged well at all (the film is UGLY), and it has several major character problems (particularly Yoda is awful). Attack of the Clones epitomizes the worst aspects of the Star Wars prequels, being a completely terrible movie with nearly no redeeming value. F

[Amadeus]

Attack of the clones -- A (fantastic!)

 

 soap opera, space adventure a la the 30's, tragedy, mystery, thriller, war! It would probably have been different if IT wasnt for the fan boy hate and its structure would probably have been more like TPM. 

Otherwise this is something only Lucas himself could have pulled off. His sense of creating worlds that mirrors the films many moods and themes (i.e. The rain and heavy storms on Kamino mirrors the wrath of the gods, punishing the kaminoeans for playing with nature; whereas geonisis looks pretty much like mars, the planet of war).  

 

The characters and creatures are brilliantly written. They all represent an psychological/philosopical Idea or a cliche or a feeling etc.

 

the plots are weird, working against our heroes. The events that will occur cannot be changed. Fate is hanging heavy over the galaxy and Yoda only knows this. 

 

Obi Wan: "possibly"

jango: "possibly"

 

boba and anakin -- one is a son of a father, one is a son of a mother. 

 

Fireplace in the livingroom, fireplace where anakin finds his mother dying. 

 

A film without beginning nor end.

 

jar jar -- once the favorite toy of anakins, the friend he needed in TPM -- now a fool who makes the fates even stronger. 

 

[Rorschach]

The most forgettable of all the Star Wars movies. I can't even bring myself to watch the whole thing all the way through sometimes. I usually find myself skipping to the climax. At least TPM had bits of action spread out throughout the film. The effects here have unfortunately not aged well with time thanks to Lucas' persistence in mainly using a blue screen for the almost the whole film. Don't even get me started about the godawful writing and acting. Plenty of people have already ripped those aspects a new one many times and I generally agree with the consensus (Ewan McGregor is great as Obi-Wan though).

 

Boring and forgettable are not words I would ever want to associate with a Star Wars film. Somehow, George Lucas found a way to make that happen.

D+

[That One Girl]

It's a C for me.  it's solid when it focuses on pretty much anything that doesn't involve Padme/Anakin.

[Menor the Destroyer]

When I was a kid, I somewhat agreed with the general consensus on this movie. I did enjoy it, but I thought it was certainly the worst of the SW films. Mainly, this was because I disliked romance subplots in action movies in general. However, at some point around the release of TFA, I began to really warm up to this film. When I rewatched it in anticipation, it (along with the other two prequels, but this one especially) was far better than I remembered. Hayden Christensen's performance was actually...good? The romance was...fine? The story was...fun? At that point, I realized I had been completely wrong about this film. Despite a few rough moments, this movie's high points make it one of the best in the saga (currently, I have it at #3, just ahead of TPM). 

 

 

This film probably has the best action of any SW film. The Coruscant chase shown in the GIF is a highlight, visually striking and I love the banter between Anakin and Obi-Wan. There's also the brawl between Obi-Wan and Jango on Kamino, the amazing sound effects of the chase in the asteroid field, the (underrated and fun) droid factory scene, and of course the action-filled climax, which is just full of great moments. From the initial battle with the creatures, to the arrival of all the Jedi into battle, to finally the arrival of the Clone army, to Yoda pulling out his lightsaber against Dooku -- it's constantly one-upping itself and has exactly the kind of thrill I expect from Star Wars. In fact, this section is why I prefer this film to TPM -- TPM has a couple of issues in its (still entertaining) third-act battle, like Anakin destroying the ship by accident. AOTC's on the other hand is just great from start to finish.  

 

 

I also love how this film gives us a glance at a different side of Star Wars. From Yoda teaching the younglings, to Dex's diner, to Padme's lake house on Naboo, it really has a lot of types of locations that you wouldn't normally see in this series. And of course these are also quite beautiful locations, especially the lake house. 

 

Hayden Christensen is excellent in this film. He captures Anakin's inner turmoil well, along with the whininess and the teenage angst and the awkwardness of someone raised by the Jedi, along with the earnestness and sincerity that draws Padme to him. His performance in the Lars garage is a highlight of the saga, and the film's emotional highlights are his scenes on Tatooine. I have never understood why he gets so much hate. Anakin in general is quite well-written and characterized, with his attachments drawing him ever closer to the dark  -- and if you call Anakin "whiny" in this film, but don't have the same problem with Kylo Ren who is literally 30 years old, I feel like that's a double

standard. 

. 

 

Obviously the romance is the most-criticized part of this film. I happen to quite enjoy it, however. While I can see how it's a bit much in the fireplace scene (although I have always interpreted Anakin's dialogue there as a prepared speech he was giving to Padme), everywhere else I feel like the over-the-top, corny dialogue works quite well and feels honest to the characters. The meadow picnic, "aggressive negotations", even the infamous sand scene all are great. Padme is attracted to Anakin's emotional honesty and willingness to be himself (contrast this to her attendants who are very formal), while Anakin still idealizes her as the girl who he met all those years ago on Tatooine (of course, this "love" isn't healthy on Anakin's part, that's the point). 

 

Obi-Wan is excellent in this film. You can see his unreadiness to truly train Anakin, yet he has also clearly gained wisdom since his days as a Padawan in TPM. Ewan McGregor is amazing and he is probably the funniest character in the film. His detective subplot is a lot of fun and it introduces the excellent planets of Kamino and Geonosis, both very unique locations with memorable races living on them. 

 

A few more highlights:

 

The political subplot. Now, I will say that the motivations of the Separatists could and should have been explored further. Yet I feel like TPM gives enough context to the Republic's corruption that their desire to secede is understandable. However, what I really love here is the way Palpatine manipulates Jar-Jar to give him the emergency powers. Beautifully ironic.

 

The tonal mix. The beginning scenes with Zam have a bit of a noir feel to them, while the scenes on Naboo have the look of an old-fashioned romance, the Kaminoans and their facilities and atmosphere remind one of gray aliens from a different type of sci-fi. Very unique in visuals and tone. 

 

Dooku. Not the most developed villain, but Christopher Lee is always a highlight and he has a nice aristocratic demeanor.

 

The music, obviously. Across the Stars is a highlight and so is "The Arena" and the Kamino/mystery motif. However, this is probably the weakest score of the first six films, mostly due to the end battle being full of chopped-up tracks from TPM. 

 

A couple criticisms:

 

Needed more polish. Not in the way you're probably thinking, though. I'm thinking of stuff like Padme saying "I think Count Dooku was behind this" in order to get Mace to deliver exposition on Dooku. The production on this film was very tight and it does show up in some of the visuals, lines, and music in the ending battle.

 

Deleted scenes. Some of these should have been kept in the film. Especially the one with Dooku trying to get Padme to join the Separatists and the scene with Jocasta telling Obi-Wan about Dooku and the Lost Twenty. 

 

But these are quibbles, and overall, this film is a ton of fun, with great action, mystery, and romance. A testament to the imagination and creativity of George Lucas. 

 

Grade: 9/10, A