The experiment has failed.

Rating: 7/10 (17 May 2002)

I'm sad to say that the experiment has failed. It is impossible to entirely create a digital world and expect actors and actresses to react and respond to their environments naturally. It is also true that digital "C.G.I." characters are not viable main actors in a feature motion picture especially when they are on-screen with real actors. In other words just because you CAN do a thing, doesn't mean you necessarily SHOULD do it. Allow me to digress: Spielberg's "A.I." was a good example. By Spielberg's own admission, had he found a way to make the shark work, he would have used it more in "Jaws". Instead of the classic atmospheric and suspensful film "Jaws" is, it would have been closer to a B-movie. Sometimes your limitations FORCE you te be creative. George Lucas' best films: the original "Star Wars", "THX-1138" and "American Graffitti" were all made on shoestring budgets with all sorts of constraints and problems.
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" is, on some levels, a failure. The plot is mostly set-up and exposition. In the first part of the film you can feel it. Some of the dialogue and acting is painfully bad. Some of it is good. A few scenes at the end of the film rival "Episode IV: A New Hope" and "Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" Several homages to other films can be discerned: Spacecraft reminiscent of both "Tron" and "2001:A Space Odyssey" and one entire portion of the film was ripped off from John Ford's "The Searchers". The thing that I loved about the original $12 Million dollar "Star Wars" was how real it felt. The dust and sand, the bleakness of Tatooine. The dank, mustiness of the Mos Isely Cantina (spelling?) The dark shiny alloys on the Death Star were real and we could feel them and relate to them. Very few times did this film evoke the feelings and the reality of the original. A few times I must admit being "awed" by the imagination of the creator, but at no time did it feel like the work of an "auteur". I was just admiring some creative graphic designers touch. I think it's worth seeing in the theater if you are a fan of the series, but it wasn't worth waiting 3 and 1/2 hours for. I expect more of a film that a few great sequences surrounded by mediocrity. So sue me, my 12 year old nephew loved it.