Dud installment rescued by great finale

Rating: 4/10 (16 May 2002)

Even when you hear the negative pre-release buzz for a new Star Wars movie, you have to say to yourself "Hey, It's Star Wars, how bad could it be?". Well, for the first three quarters of "Attack of the Clones", George Lucas sets out to show you just how bad it could be. The dialog is weak and the story moves at a snail pace.
Hopefully, it is not too early in the movie season that critics will forget Hayden Christiansen in their year-end lists of "worst actors". This guy barely changes expression during the entire film and seems programmed to spit out the lines. Even normally good actors like Natalie Portman get sucked into his wooden vortex.
If I had to sum up the theme of this movie, I would say "George Lucas likes when people fall". Obi Wan falls about a mile after letting go of a flying droid, Anakin jumps from a flying car and falls even further and the Princess falls from a fast moving spacecraft. Did I mention that this never has any ill effects? Apparently folks are much tougher in a galaxy far-far away. Those aren't the only scenes at which I laughed out loud, check out the scene between Anakin and his mom for some great unintentional humor.
Anyway, I was prepared to come here today and scathe this movie as the year's worst, when along comes the final half hour. Once Anakin returns to Tatooine things pick up a bit thanks to evoking some fond memories of the first Star Wars. After that, it kicks into high gear with a great "Gladiator" scene that has some neat computer generated creatures. The ensuing battle involving the Jedi Knights, bad guys and a bunch of clones is very exciting and visually stunning. Even the obligatory light saber fights have some nice new twists that make them seem fresh.
In summary, the first three quarters of the film gets a D rating. The last one quarter is worthy of an A. Final rating C.