Attack of the Clones Drones on and on

Rating: 6/10 (19 May 2002)

I expected great things from this movie. Episode I had been slated and George Lucas has had three years to put the Star Wars express back on the rails.
To be fair, it must be difficult to write a story that we all know the ending to. To that ends Hayden Christensen's portrayal of an increasingly dislikeable Anakin Skywalker is probably the highlight of the film. However, quiet what the eminently sensible Padmé sees in him I'm not sure. Ewan McGregor may be trying to hard to play Sir Alec playing Obi-Wan but I like it.
That said the film jumps back and forth across the galaxy. The locations appear disjointed, with no real flow between them. Lucas seems more interested in creating wacky aliens and grand CGI scenes than plot and story, which plods along at snails pace. Stunning special effects don't cover the fact that Lucas has just lost his way.
I know it's now possible to put thousands of sprites in complex backgrounds but do we have to see them all the time? Thousands of flying ships; thousands of clones; thousands of droids. When Lucas, and moviegoers had to use their imagination to imply this, we seemed to get better films.
Better than Episode I, which isn't saying much.