The Saga Continues...

Rating: Null/10 (26 May 2002)

I'm speechless...
What can I say? This film (not movie...FILM) was both terrifying and wonderful to watch. All the spoilers, interviews, and spy reports did not do "AOTC" justice. It wasn't just 2-dimensional characters set against spectacular vistas, it was great performances accented by fantastical worlds as only George Lucas could envision. "Clones" made "The Phantom Menace" look like a better movie than as my original sentiments perceived it. The two are a perfect complement to each other, whereas the classic trilogy films stand on their own.
First, the visual effects were spectacular. Once again, the ILM wizards have outdone themselves. They made the characters do things that no conventional filmmaking could possibly achieve. As the film progressed, it never crossed my mind that these environments didn't exist. Coruscant felt like a real place. I could envision real people acting on the same screen with animated creatures such as Yoda...oh my goodness, was Yoda FANTASTIC! I must admit, I was skeptical with the idea of a digital Yoda, much less the two-foot, 874 year-old master FIGHTING! It was truly spectacular.
Secondly, the acting in "The Phantom Menace" made me grimace and hang my head in despair. But all those were thrown away after "Clones." A lot of people complain that Hayden Christensen plays Skywalker as a "whiner," but you have to understand that he is a selfish boy who is growing up very angry and confused, and he doesn't know how to behave, which was played very well by Christensen. At the emotional point in AOTC (see the film!) the transition between Anakin and Vader began to emerge. That was executed perfectly. Natalie Portman exuded the no-nonsense attitude of Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia. She was great. All the supporting characters (especially Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine and the awe-inspiring Christopher Lee as Count Dooku) did wonderfully for their roles. Dooku's character of a disillusioned hero reminds one of his role as Saruman the White in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but the character was still one of Lee's best.
Finally, Maestro John Williams's score was one of the best he's had in a long time. It made the movie perfect. I was moved to tears of joy! And the plotlines that moved closer and closer to the classic trilogy (including the exchange between Dooku and Poggle the Lesser and the appearance of Jar Jar Binks). Binks now has a place in Star Wars...if you see the movie. I can now blame him for the entire downfall of the Republic!
At any rate, Attack of the Clones proved to be a marvelous addition to the Star Wars saga and paves the way for the descent to darkness in the concluding chapter of Episode III. See you in three years!!!