Anakin's Story Continues

Rating: 9/10 (5 March 2013)

Ten years after The Phantom Menace, Anakin Skywalker is the rambunctious apprentice to Obi- Wan Kenobi. The two of them confront Padme after several years as they are informed that several assassination attempts occurred trying to claim her life. As Anakin is assigned to protect Padme, the two of them are shipped off to Naboo while Obi-Wan tries to track down the ones responsible, leading him to Kamino where a massive clone army is being built. Meanwhile, Anakin continues having nightmares about his mother and heads to Tatooine to save her, meeting his step brother Owen Lars and his step father Cliegg Lars, who informs him that she was abducted by Tusken Raiders. Going to the Tusken Raider village, he talks to his mom for the first time in a long time, just before she dies, sending Anakin in a rage and causing him to massacre the entire village. At the same time, Obi-Wan is lead to Geonosis where he discovers that the wicked Count Dooku is behind the attacks on Padme's life. As Obi-Wan is captured, Anakin and Padme go to rescue him, unwillingly getting thrust into the battle droid manufacturing plant.They too are eventually captured by Dooku's enforcer, Jango Fett (Boba Fett's daddy-o) and are to be executed at the mouths of several wild Genosian creatures. Eventually, the jedi arrive and take on the incoming battle droids, then Yoda comes with the Clone Army, then Anakin and Obi-Wan take on Dooku, then Anakin gets his arm cut off, then Yoda comes in to kick Dooku's tush, then Anakin and Padme get married, then the Clone Wars begin.
If the plot of Episode II: Attack of the Clones sounds complicated, that's because it is. I think it's the most complex and befuddling of the saga, but that doesn't mean in the slightest that it is horrendous. In fact, it's a tad superior than The Phantom Menace, at least in my book. It has some of the best oohs and aahs out of the entire prequel trilogy, and seeing Yoda pull out a green saber is enough to make this film worth wild for me. As a kid, I always wanted to see him fight like a jedi, and seeing him do so in this film was like a fantasy come true. Some will argue that him using a lightsaber goes against all the wisdom he spoke of in The Empire Strikes Back, but you gotta remember that takes place many years after Attack of the Clones. Yoda's perspective has changed drastically by that point, and when he says "War does not make one great", he's talking out of experience. There are many other things in this film that fill me with glee. Seeing Obi-Wan put up a fight with Jango Fett on Kamino's rainy surface, it was one of Obi-Wan's greatest moments out of the entire saga. Seeing a feisty and ambitious young Boba Fett before he puts on the Mandalorian armor, it added so much depth to his character and made him a bit more understandable in Empire and Jedi, especially after Mace Windu's purple lightsaber meets his father Jango's neck, decapitating him. Seeing Padme in beautiful, revealing gowns, it made many of us guys drool like dogs. Anakin's one lucky dude.
Speaking of Anakin, one of the biggest complaints about Clones is that he is too whiny. Hayden Christensen gets picked on by so much by critics and members of the media for his portrayal of pre-Vader. But just stop and think for a while. Anakin is about 19-20 years old in this film. He has grown up, and is dealing with a lot of the things us teenagers deal with in real life. When we first met him in Phantom, he was an optimistic, dreaming little fellow who was looking forward to becoming a jedi. Now, 10 years have gone by, and the life of a jedi has torn him apart. He wants power, he wants to break free from the shackles the jedi have him in, he wants to do things no person has ever done before. Anakin's transformation in Clones really shows how someone can be torn apart by their dreams and want to undo everything they did in the past. Hayden Christensen really hits the nail right on the head, capturing Anakin's innocence, arrogance, and lust for unnatural abilities.
But I think that Christopher Lee's Count Dooku really steals the show and comes off as a space version of his famous Dracula character from the Hammer Horror films. I think Dooku is the most wicked out of all the Sithlords in these films, even more wicked than Vader and Maul. He just has that electrifying presence every time he enters the room and when he pulls out that curved lightsaber and shoots his lightning bolts, you can tell he's gonna do business, and that business is not going to be good. I also must praise Ewan Macgregor as Obi-Wan and Natalie Portman as Padme, for their performances have really improved since the last film and they seem to fit more into their roles in this film. And kudos to Samuel L. Jackson for kicking a lot of droid behind in the Geonosian arena with his purple lightsaber.
Although the special effects can be rubbery at times, they really look appealing and fantasy like. The effects on the clones, the digital Yoda, the Geonosians, the republic spacecrafts and gunships, they bring in a retro appeal and stick out tremendously among all the other scenery in the film. Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones may very well be the most visually appealing out of the entire saga, and when you watch this film, you instantly get sucked into the film's many environments and become part of the action and suspense.