Grim

Rating: 6/10 (30 June 2002)

Though it's a worthy addition to the `Star Wars' series (there's lots of eye candy), the aura of gee-whiz and kid-like vigor that has come to be expected has been replaced with a grimness of purpose that drains most of the fun out of the experience; what's left is creator George Lucas' relentless intention of ramming a narrative down your throat. Almost completely devoid of humor, Lucas seems to have put his blinkers on: in between chase and battle sequences are long, dull stretches of exposition meant to `explain' Anakin Skywalker's descent into Darth Vader (as played by Hayden Christensen, he's both a teenage rebel and a budding fascist) as well as his blossoming romance with politician Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman). For the most part, the action sequences, while elaborate and convincing, are overlong; the final section, the actual clone attack, has so much going on and to such lengthy extremes that you begin to get distracted and confused (although Yoda, as the field general, keeps telling you what's supposed to be going on). The acting itself, usually reliable if not spectacular, this time around seems to have a joylessness to it (Ewen McGregor appears to have phoned in his Obi-Wan Kenobi) that makes things seem drearier than they should, although Christensen does have a nice, startling moment when he describes the rage he felt avenging an important death. In the end, though, the visuals make the enterprise worth it, particularly a short, monochromatic fight scene in a driving rainstorm on top of a mushroom-shaped building--it's vastly different from anything in the entire color-drenched series and wonderfully memorable.