Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones Review
by Shannon Patrick Sullivan (shannon AT morgan DOT ucs DOT mun DOT ca)May 17th, 2002
STAR WARS: EPISODE II -- ATTACK OF THE CLONES (2002) / *** 1/2
Directed by George Lucas. Screenplay by Lucas and Jonathan Hales. Starring Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen. Running time: 142 minutes. Rated PG by the MFCB. Reviewed on May 17th, 2002.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: A decade after "The Phantom Menace", Jedi knight Obi Wan Kenobi (McGregor) and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker (Christensen) are assigned to protect their old friend, Senator Padmé Amidala (Portman). But when Kenobi discovers the existence of a massive clone army, it appears that dark forces are pushing the Galactic Republic to the brink of all-out war.
Review: I was born in 1976, so the original "Star Wars" trilogy was a cornerstone of my childhood. Like many others, I played with my icy-white Hoth playset, took a spin around Cloud City, and tried to figure out what to do with a Rancor pit only two inches deep.
This makes reviewing the new wave of "Star Wars" films unusually difficult. When I was six years old and went to see "Return Of The Jedi" in theatres, I was pretty much exactly the age at which the franchise is aimed. Viewing "Attack Of The Clones" at twenty-five, that's no longer the case. This leaves me to wonder whether any disappointment I might feel toward the new prequels is because they are genuinely inferior films, or simply because I'm not six years old anymore, and the magic I felt as a child in 1983 is impossible to recapture as an adult.
That being said, I don't think I'm entirely off the mark in suggesting that "The Phantom Menace" was a good but deeply flawed movie which really did pale in comparison to its lauded predecessors. "Attack Of The Clones" marks a significant improvement. The story is better told and the characters more engaging, all without losing the enormous sense of breathtaking excitement which was the best part of "The Phantom Menace".
There are two major exceptions to this, so let me discuss them up front. The biggest problem with "Attack Of The Clones" is Hayden Christensen. Handed the pivotal role of Anakin Skywalker, Christensen displays no subtlety, seeming capable only of extremes of emotion. When Anakin is angry, he is furious. When he is tender toward Padmé, he is absolutely swooning. And much of the rest of the time, his approach is simply to make Anakin as bland as possible; to describe him as wooden would be an insult to the logging industry.
Christensen's performance is not helped by some truly dreadful dialogue. Lucas and co-writer Jonathan Hales do a reasonable job on most of the script, but they really drop the ball when it comes to Anakin's romantic overtures toward Amidala. Anakin is made to spout lines so corny that they're not even worthy of a daytime soap opera. His pronouncements are certainly designed to stir something up inside Padmé; unfortunately, in real life, it would probably be her dinner.
Still, even these sequences are salvaged by the performance of Natalie Portman. Portman continues to possess a remarkable ability to electrify even the most pedestrian of scenes. Although the original "Star Wars" trilogy included a prominent female role in the form of Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia, she was often overshadowed by her male counterparts. Not so Portman, whose Padmé is perhaps the single most proactive character in "Attack", demonstrating tremendous courage, tenacity and ingenuity. And although Amidala is no longer a queen in this movie, Portman nonetheless carries herself with a regal air; this is obviously an older, more mature Padmé than we saw in "The Phantom Menace", but she is still clearly the same character. (The same cannot be said for Anakin, who really bears no resemblance to his "Phantom Menace" counterpart. Given the lengthy gap between the events of the two films, though, this is probably forgivable.)
McGregor appears much more sure of himself this time around, no doubt benefitting from emerging from the shadows of Liam Neeson's "Phantom Menace" character. McGregor continues to do a splendid job of recalling Sir Alec Guinness' version of Obi Wan Kenobi from the original "Star Wars" trilogy without aping it. Here he successfully portrays an Obi Wan who is effectively the hero of the piece, rather than the aging mentor or dithering apprentice.
Also great to see this time around is the (chronological) debut of the famous double act that is C-3PO and R2-D2. Although they really have no particular function here besides comic relief, they carry out that role admirably. Amongst the supporting characters, Christopher Lee is delectably evil as the conniving Count Dooku.
In spite of a slow and meandering start, the plot of "Attack" holds together well, depicting a genuinely intelligent scheme by the followers of the Dark Side to topple the peaceful Republic. "Star Wars" aficionados will also be pleased to see that this installment is far more closely connected to the original trilogy than was its predecessor, featuring the return of several familiar characters and unveiling the origins of several concepts key to the "Star Wars" mythos.
And then there are the special effects and action sequences which are, quite simply, dazzling. Lucas appears set to trump himself with every movie, and "Attack" does not disappoint. The only thing missing is a truly wondrous image, such as the underwater city in "The Phantom Menace" -- much of the territory explored in "Attack" has been gone over before, albeit never with such sophistication. I also continue to mourn Lucas' near-complete abandonment of costumes and make-up for his aliens in favour of computer animation. Yoda, for example, certainly exhibits greater mobility here than ever before, but he still feels a lot less real than he did in "The Empire Strikes Back".
I fully expect that, like "The Phantom Menace" before it, "Attack Of The Clones" will be assailed by critics and fans alike and, true, I don't think it's as good as "Star Wars" or "Empire". But more than once during the movie, I found myself feeling a lot like I did when I first saw the original trilogy in the theatre nineteen years ago. "Attack Of The Clones" might not be able to recreate the magic of my youth, but it does a fine job of reminding me of it.
Copyright © 2002 Shannon Patrick Sullivan.
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