The whole, honest truth

Rating: 7/10 (5 September 2005)

Reading other user comments, it looks like the fans hate the new films for not being as good as the originals. Well, they're not as good as STAR WARS or EMPIRE, but I'd certainly put them on par with Episode VI, Attack of the Ewoks. They're remembering the old films through the eyes of ten, eleven, twelve years olds. The great seems spectacular and larger than life.
The sad, honest truth is, 'Star Wars' films NEVER had great acting. (Guiness being the exception.) Watch 'Million Dollar Baby' or '21 Grams' or 'Schindlers List'. You'll see a huge difference in talent between these and the old 'Star Wars' movies. As to fun, action and adventure; 'Clones certainly holds up. The combat scenes are very well done. They also are a natural outcome of the plot. (Unlike in 'Sith'. The fight on the Wookie planet serves no storytelling function. It had just been a long time, since we last had any action.) What I find strange, reading these user comments is that almost no one mentions Anakin's encounter with the sand people. This is the pivotal moment of the film. He is faced with extreme anguish at the death of his mother and the fact that she was brutally tortured. Then his grief gives way to rage and his first and major step to the dark side begins. Lucas did the scene well. We know the sand people are being punished beyond the bounds of reason, but we are not shown the details. A long scene of endless butchery would not have fit a PG movie. More importantly though, it leaves to the imagination, just how terrifying Anakin's wrath is. His rage is so great, Yoda can sense it light years away on Coruscant. Rage so powerful, we hear Qui-Gon, wrested out of the Force afterlife, " awakened" to attempt to warn Anakin to stop. Do you remember in 'Empire' when Luke is leaving Dagobah, to rescue Han and Leia? Obi-wan cautions him not to give in to hate. Earlier, Yoda told him: "Once you start down the dark path, FOREVER will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will." Anakins' attack could have been the pivotal moment of the whole series! He might have fallen to the dark side, right there. It's a wonder he even held out until 'Revenge of the Sith'!... Over all, I enjoyed it. I wish every action movie nowadays had as much complexity and emotional dilemmas for the characters to grapple with. 'Clones gets 7 out of 10 stars from me.