Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (Widescreen Edition) Review

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Attack of the Clones continues in the elusive story that The Phantom Menace started. Many claim there is no story, but it's intended to be that way. The Jedi, who are naive to the inner-workings of Palpatine, are in the dark as well as those that view these films. The entire plot will be revealed in Episode III and those that claimed there was no story will be smacking their foreheads and forced to go back and watch Episode I and II. God forbid you take a hint when Episode I is titled "The PHANTOM Menace."

This film is executed almost without flaw. The actions sequences are the best in a film, the comedy is great, and the story is very climactic with many twists along the way. Hayden Christensen is what really makes this film a STAR WARS movie, with his quirky acting style that truly makes him a Star Wars character, something we haven't seen sine Mark Hamill.

A digital Yoda that doesn't look too realistic can't hurt the overall beauty of this film, with some of the best looking scenery ever in a film.

Some of the dialogue will make you groan, but this is as good of a Star Wars as Empire, and definately one of the best fantasy films ever made.

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First, let me say some positives about this DVD:

The image and sound quality are amazing. This DVD is probably the best quality DVD to date. Great for showing off a high quality home theater. Since the movie was shot on digital film, there was almost no ghosting or image quality lost.

Now the negatives:

What made the original Star Wars movies so spectatular was their campy dialog, fake but realistic special effects (even though you knew it was a fake spaceship you still knew it was a picture of a real model). The older Star Wars films were mostly a tribute to the cheesey sci-fi movies of the 50's and 60's. A true space opera, they were classics.

Episode II relies mostly on the impressive special effects to mesmerize and entertain. Acting and story are second to this. The totally cardboard acting of Haeden Christianson is so bad, that it makes you wonder if he should play an emotionally repressed andriod instead of the future Darth Vader. It made me miss Jar Jar.

Oustanding special effects that circumvent the rest of the movie. This movie seems to be made mostly just to fill a quota and to set up the clearly superior episodes 3-6. Makes you sad to see a performer past his prime, and Star Wars is way past its prime.

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Three years ago I hosted a premiere of STAR WARS Episode I THE PHANTOM MENACE in my hometown. I stood in line ten hours for tickets as I gave away free gift certificates, drinks, and food. I then returned a week later to host the Star Wars Showtime Countdown from 10am till midnight. It rained both days (although the meteorologist I worked with said it wouldn't), but it all seemed worth it to finally see a new STAR WARS movie after 17 years. Then Jar Jar Binks popped up! For two hours I continued to wonder when the movie would actually pick up the pace and it never did. I, like many fans, was disappointed and feared what the next two installments would bring. One thing I never did, however, was generate the hatred toward George Lucas that I have witnessed these past three years. In April 1999, he was considered a genius. In May, everyone ganged up on him because they didn't like one movie! Not every idea works and not every project goes to plan. He made the movie the way he wanted and I only wish I had a career where no one could tell me how to do my job. Afterall, he made the first three his way and if someone had butted in, there probably wouldn't have been more than one made in the first place. But, nevertheless, I wasn't too sure about ATTACK OF THE CLONES. Three years later, I am happy to say that STAR WARS is back on track. Although there is still something missing from the days of Han and Luke, George Lucas and company have regained the feel of the original trilogy and put excitement, action, humor, and suspense back into the saga. The love story, although drawn-out, is broken up over a series of fun chases and explosive action that help keep the pace. And, fortunately, Obi-Wan Kenobi helps bring back much of the cocky attitude that has been missing since the departure of Han Solo. If you jumped ship after EPISODE I, I suggest you get back on board for EPISODE II.

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Lucas is on record as saying that he always envisioned Star Wars as a kid's adventure. Fair enough. But the audience base of Star Wars grew up, and they require more substance. I, for one, never had any great sense of what is at stake here, either from the characters or the plot. The effects serve to almost completely overwhelm what little plot exists, and as another reviewer noted Lucas manages to coax even the most accomplished actors into having all the depth of wooden planks from the lumber store.

Just think about it for a moment. If you grew up with Star Wars like I did, we knew long before even "Return of the Jedi" about all the major back-story events that Lucas told us at the time and through the movies. Anakin Skywalker fell to the dark side and became Darth Vader (and fell into a lava pit in a battle with Obi-Wan hence the life-support black armor and helmet). The Old Republic fell during the Clone Wars and the Jedi were all but wiped out as Vader helped hunt down and destroy them. The backstory we dreamed about was a shell waiting to be filled with more details and certainly sounded much more dramatic.

And now, what precisely has the first two films given us in terms us fleshing out the skeletal figure of what we already knew? Jar-Jar Binks soaking up screen time solely for the sake of keeping younger kids entertained? Anakin pilots racing pods as a child? Chase scenes galore? Anakin falls because his mother was killed by Tusken Raiders? Jango Fett was the template for Imperial Stormtroopers (who have the worst aim in cinematic history)? Count Dooku is a bad man who was once Yoda's student?

It's like we still have the open-ended backstory, and we're watching all the points being connected with seriously underdeveloped filler that slathers on special effects. Where is the cake under all this frosting? Sorry, Mr. Lucas, when I grew up my taste buds learned that eating just the frosting was missing most of the dessert.

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A film by George Lucas

"Attack of the Clones" takes place ten years after the events of "The Phantom Menace". Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) is an Apprentice in the Jedi order and is studying under Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). When Senator Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) from Naboo barely survives an assassination attempt, Kenobi and Skywalker are assigned by the Jedi Council to protect her and eventually to look into who is trying to have her killed. This sets the events of the film into motion.

Senator Amidala intended on speaking out against the Republic raising an army. There has been unrest in the Republic and thousands of star systems have already left the Republic and have formed an Alliance under a former Jedi named Count Dooku (Christopher Lee). The army would be to help the Jedi keep the peace in the galaxy, but many do not feel it is the role of the Republic to have a standing army. I do not give this background information to bore, but rather because this is the set-up that the movie is presenting us with.

Anakin and Obi-Wan are able to track a subsequent attempt on Padme's life to a bounty hunter. Obi-Wan follows the trail of the bounty hunter to a planet where he discovers there is a clone army being created, apparently at the orders of a Jedi ten years ago. He also meets the bounty hunter who is being used as the stock for the clones: Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison). Kenobi believes that Fett is also the Bounty Hunter who was trying to kill Padme Amidala. We also get to see the child: Boba Fett.

While Obi-Wan is investigating the bounty hunter and now the clones, Anakin has been instructed to return Padme to Naboo for safety reasons. It is during this trip that romance blossoms. There is a courtship, intense on Anakin's part, and our knowledge of the original trilogy tells us how it is going to end.

This movie serves to set up several important points in the Star Wars universe. We see the relationship between Anakin and Padme which will eventually provide us with Luke and Leia. We see Anakin begin his descent into the Dark Side and also have him start to become as much machine as human (as Vader is in the Original Trilogy), and we also see how Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) gains so much power as well as the clone army, which is the precursor to the Imperial Stormtroopers.

Is this movie perfect? By no means. Much of the dialogue feels stilted and awkward, and I can only imagine how difficult it is to act against a blue screen because the creatures will only be digitally added later. Still, this was an enjoyable movie with excellent effects and more of a feel of "Star Wars". Besides, there is a certain sense of justice in Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best) being indirectly responsible for the rise of the Empire. This is a science fiction "Star Wars" movie. We're not going to get classic cinema, but we will get a fun trip to the movies.