"Great Margins!"

Rating: Null/10 (15 August 2002)

Back in my dark days of editing, there would come a story where words failed. We would look around the table, desperate to find something, some way to be positive about the manuscript before us. (This was in the dinosaur ages, long before American Idol and the attendant snarky comments.) Finally, someone would pipe up, "Great margins...!"
After the horribly disappointing "Phantom Menace," I approached "Clones" with the oft-heard-on-this-site feeling of, "It can't be worse..."
Well, at least it wasn't worse. Not much better, unfortunately.
The spfx were nice. (Great margins!) (With Lucasfilm handling the effects, could they be otherwise?)
The soundtrack was--er--back on track. (Sorry.) (The 'track for "Menace" was almost suffering from MPD. I still haven't purchased a copy, and doubt I will--a rare happening for me, when it comes to John Williams' work.)
Given that Anakin is supposed to be the be-all end-all Jedi, Obi-Wan is rather on the condescending and patronizing side with him. That would send him to the Dark Side, alone.
During the battle between Yoda and Count Dooku, a voice in the audience piped up, "Omigod, Yoda is a Cuisinart!" (No, it was not I. Honest.) Mr. Lucas...here was a serious, important scene...and the entire audience at the screening I attended was literally howling with laughter. Bad move.
Christopher Lee was a hidden delight. Always good, he didn't disappoint--even in this head-shaker. Let's hope that "Clones" and "Lord of the Rings" means he'll be back on the screen frequently.
I feel guilty for not liking "Clones." While part of me expected it to be as ho-hum as "Menace," part of me wanted to recapture the thrill of the first time I saw "A New Hope."
I guess it's true--you can't go home.