Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones Review
by Bob Bloom (bobbloom AT iquest DOT net)May 17th, 2002
STAR WARS: EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES (2002) 3 1/2 stars out of 4. Starring Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Frank Oz, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, Temuera Morrison, Pernilla August and Ahmed Best. Story by George Lucas. Screenplay by George Lucas and Jonathan Hales. Music by John Williams. Directed by George Lucas. Rated PG. Approx. 2 hours, 20 minutes.
A sense of dread and tragedy orbits Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones like a death star preparing to fire.
Perhaps it is because we know what fate lies in wait for the now young-adult Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and we are powerless to turn the course of cinematic history.
This second of George Lucas’ prequel trilogy is emotionally dark and foreboding, very akin to the second film in the original trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back.
As an audience we watch as the young Jedi apprentice Anakin slowly and totally unaware begins his fatal journey to the Dark Side. The power of Attack of the Clones rests in the emotional residue the movie stirs in your subconscious.
You know that this young man becomes Darth Vader, one of the most famous villains in the history of film, yet you are attracted to the youthful Anakin, his boyishness, his impulsiveness. Like a car accident you see coming, you want to warn him of his peril, but are unable to do so.
Christensen is the heart and soul of Attack of the Clones. His Anakin is daring, arrogant, impatient, at times childish. He also is a young man in love, with the beautiful senator, Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman), the former queen of Naboo.
Anakin has been in love with her since childhood. The two are reunited when the young apprentice and his master, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), are assigned to protect the young champion of the Republic.
Slowly, against their respective principles, Anakin and Padame do fall in love. It is this weakness in Anakin that the evil Sith lord Darth Sidious slyly exploits to begin luring the young Jedi to the Dark Side.
Attack of the Clones is more than a love story. It’s a tale of intrigue and adventure, featuring many spectacular set pieces, most of them computer-generated.
This is a special effects extravaganza, and you may want to remain through the 10-plus minutes of end credits to admire the hundreds of names credited with creating this galaxy, far, far away. The list goes on and on, making it difficult to understand how the nation could be flirting with a recession with so many people employed by Lucas’s Industrial Light and Magic and its various offshoots and subcontractors.
Lucas took a hint after the mixed — sometime hostile — reception to Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. He hired someone to help him write the script — and the improvement is quite noticeable. The screenplay by Lucas and Jonathan Hales is more mature, more layered than the first movie. The dialogue also rises above the elementary-school line readings of Phantom Menace.
The performances in Attack of the Clones are solid. McGregor is wiser and more deliberate as the older Obi-Wan. Portman displays maturity and conflict as the spirited, but idealistic Padme, torn between duty and love.
An added attraction is the legendary Christopher Lee as Count Dooku, a former Jedi who has embraced the Dark Side and is a powerful ally of Darth Sidious. Lee’s Dooku relishes is villainy, and it is so satisfying to see this former Hammer Film icon again playing meaty roles he can sink his teeth into.
A highlight of Clones — one that will definitely have the audience cheering — is a rousing light saber duel between Dooku and Jedi master Yoda. It is an intoxicating technologically masterful sequence.
The cast also includes Samuel L. Jackson as Jedi Knight Mace Windu, and Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker and Frank Oz, reprising their characters of C-3PO, R2-D2 and Yoda, respectively.
At about two hours and 20 minutes, Clones does drag a bit, especially when dealing with the political aspects that are dividing the Republic.
But you won’t mind these minor irritations.
Attack of the Clones resonates with all kinds of references to events and people we’ve heard about and met through the first trilogy. For example, Luke Skywalker’s Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, his foster parents from the first film, are introduced as a young couple not yet married. We meet the deadly bounty hunter Jango Fett and his young son, Boba, who grows up to become the enemy of Han Solo. And we see the creation of the Army of the Republic, whom we later realize will be transformed in the evil Empire’s storm troopers.
The contribution of John Williams’ music cannot be over emphasized. More than any other factor, it is the composer’s score, with its cues to themes from the first trilogy, that helps awaken our memories of the original movies and helps bind Clones to those features.
The finale is a fine example. It has an almost fairy tale quality to it, but Williams’ ominous musical cue serves as an unsettling counterpoint.
Attack of the Clones is very colorful, despite its darker aspects. It offers some spectacular vistas filmed around the world, exciting battle sequences, most of which were created via computer, and characters whom we can embrace.
But most of all Clones is a journey of discovery. It’s about a young man flexing his muscles and trying to determine along what path his future lies.
In the Star Wars pantheon, Attack of the Clones ranks near the top.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at [email protected]. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on golafayette.
Bloom's reviews also can be found at the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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