Lucas somewhat redeems himself

Rating: Null/10 (12 June 2002)

Well, I'm not ashamed to admit, ATTACK OF THE CLONES wasn't quite as bad as I had thought it would be. It was certainly an improvement after the over-the-top, ritzy-ditzy, incredibly-awful EPISODE I, but still not as good as the original trilogy. It had an even balance of ups and downs, making for quite a mixed bag in my opinion.
THE GOOD POINTS: The special effects weren't as overkill as they were in EPISODE I, and I liked the darker tone the film had. But for me, the best thing about this film was Ewan McGregor. Although I liked him in THE PHANTOM MENACE (the only other principle actor I liked in that movie besides Liam Neeson), he was much better this time around. At times, I felt as if I was actually watching a young Alec Guiness, and I could easily buy that this was the same war-hardened Obi-Wan we'd be seeing again in EPISODE 4. I know these prequels are about Anakin Skywalker, but I would have been perfectly happy if this film (and EPISODE III) focused entirely on Obi-Wan. He was terrific.
Watching Samuel L. Jackson kick ass with a lightsabre was cool (and one of the things I was really looking forward to), but it was a moment that could have been much better. His fight with Jango Fett was too short. Temeura Morrison was good as Fett, but the character was rather underused I felt. He needed more presence in the film, and he should have been saved for EPISODE III, as he had the makings of a really interesting character. Jar-Jar, thankfully, is barely on-screen, though he's still a cringe-inducer when he is. And one of my favorite scenes is the one with Yoda and the young Jedi kids.
The chase through the city on Coruscant was pretty good, but went a little over-the-top with Anakin successfully managing to catch a falling Obi-Wan, and Anakin, moments later, diving headfirst through the city. He must have an excellent sense of timing, because judging from the distance he fell and the time it took him to get there, the vehicle he was jumping to was nowhere near the vicinity of them. And even if it was, it would have been long gone before Anakin could have even thought about jumping out.
THE BAD POINTS: Hayden Christensen was quite bad, more so in some scenes than others, but overall proved to be a bad choice. I didn't buy for one second that this is the kid who will become the fearsome Darth Vader just a couple years down the road. Perhaps if his murder of the Tusken Raiders had actually been shown (and not just the two we did see), it might have helped a little. His emotional scenes were unconvincing, as were his scenes with Natalie Portman, who was as dull as she was in EPISODE II. And why must her hairstyle/wardrobe change with every scene? It really gets laughable after awhile, especially with that pseudo-dominatrix outfit during the fireside scene.
The always-watchable Christopher Lee arrived too late in the film, doing what he could with Count Dooku, another underused role that should have been a lot more menacing than it was. A weak villain, though better than Darth Maul. Yoda fighting Dooku was one of most hysterical moments I've ever seen on film. Using the Force to block objects being thrown at him was good (reminiscent of the confrontation between Luke and Vader in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK), but once he started bouncing around like Jim Carrey in THE MASK with a lightsabre, the sequence instantly well apart. And Anakin going double-lightsabre on Dooku was rather annoying, something you would expect in a John Woo movie, not a STAR WARS movie.
And when will filmmakers learn that humans riding on the backs of thrashing animals doesn't look at all convincing? Whenever the film was with Anakin and Amidala on Naboo (and, later, Tatooine), the pace dragged badly. When it was with Obi-Wan trailing Jango Fett from one planet to the next, it was great. Obi-Wan's subplot was, for me, the most entertaining aspect of the film.
Composer John Williams seemed to be on autopilot for about the first hour or so, with music that seemed to do little beyond providing atmosphere. Only around the time of Obi-Wan and Jango Fett's first confrontation (my favorite sequence of the whole film) did he seem to finally get going, coming back with a couple of the themes we all know and loved, though a better use of them would have been nice.
Seeing it once in the theater was enough, but being as how Obi-Wan was just so damn awesome, I'd probably buy the DVD just to have his moments.
All-in-all, I give it a 3.5/5