Poorly written with wooden acting and a few good special effects set pieces. Get out the old ones on video. 2 Flys Out Of Five

Rating: Null/10 (20 May 2002)

Why in the Galaxy doesn't George Lucas hire a director for his Star Wars films, someone who's interested in actors? Lucas could then concentrate on what he does very well indeed, managing the special effects.
Star Wars  Episode 11: The Attack of the Clones is marred by terrible acting, lousy dialogue and a lead footed story line. There are, as you'd expect, several impressive high tech set pieces, but they become just plain boring when fleshed out by characters who seem to be sleepwalking.
The tall, elongated creatures who build the clones are just plain beautiful and the snarling spotted beast doing battle with the Jedi beasts was impressive, but that's not enough to fill in two hours of supposed entertainment.
Star Wars freaks might find the film fascinating but it really shouldn't leap to anyone's must see list, in spite of its huge promotional budget. Get out the old ones on video instead! George Lucas directed the original Star Wars way back in 1977 but then hired Richard Marquand for Return of the Jedi (1983) and Irvin Kershner for The Empire Strikes Back (1985).
Lucas directed American Graffiti in 1973 which was a quality film, but has directed nothing else of note. More pointedly, he's directed nothing at all for 22 years, until the awful Star Wars: Episode 1  The Phantom Menace (1999).
He's instead been a giant in the special effects field with his ILM (Industrial Light and Movement) company showing the way for decades. Those dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, the liquid metal man in Terminator 2, the water creature in The Abyss, even the completely digital movies like Toy Story were at least off shoots of the innovations of the ILM camp.
So George Lucas has been and remains at the forefront of film technology. But the last two Star Wars films must serve as evidence that Lucas should stay away from real live actors.
Then he might have lively performances like those of Harrison Ford and the Wookie from the earlier films to add to the magic of film fantasy.
If ever there was proof that digital actors won't usurp live actors, then its there in Star Wars  Episode 11: The Attack of the Clones.
Two Digital Flys Out Of Five