The force has definitely abandoned George Lucas

Rating: 5/10 (23 July 2003)

STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES / Starring Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman / Directed by George Lucas / Written by Jonathan Hales and George Lucas / Rated PG / **
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is a considerable drop from 1999's Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (which I enjoyed greatly, thank you very much) and much bigger drop from the original trilogy. Gone is the chemistry of we have come to know and love from the first three films. Hayden, Natalie and Ewan are no Mark, Carrie or Harrison. Computer effects seemed to have gone to George Lucas' head. The film is nothing more than a predictable piece of eye-candy.
Set ten years after the events of The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones finds Padme Amidala (Portman), no longer a queen but now a senator in the Galactic Republic. However, after a recent assassination attempt, Padme is forced to enlist the help of fellow friends and Jedi Anakin Skywalker (Christensen) and an older Obi-Wan Kenobi (McGregor) to protect her from future attacks. No sooner does another attempt come that Obi-Wan is trekking through the galaxy to find the source of these attacks while Anakin and Padme head off for Naboo only to share a secret love for each other.
Well, well, well. What can I say? This is probably the hardest movie to ever review. This movie isn't even a movie at all. It's only another entry to an endless industry of video games, toys, candy, movies and of course, merchandising for every single product imaginable. Lucas seemed to have forgotten about the true ingredients of storytelling. No, Mr. Lucas. Special Effects make not a movie great, in the words of our new CGI pal Yoda. And hot damn, this movie has enough of them! Maybe we viewers should regret the creation of computer animation. No wait, without computer animation we wouldn't have Pixar.
Sure, the acting wasn't great in the original Star Wars films, but the giddy charm of Luke, Leia and Han Solo was abound and hard to resist but it all came down to chemistry. Those three actors had great chemistry on screen and from what I heard, off screen as well. The characters in Attack of the Clones are flat, cardboard cut-outs. You could hardly tell the difference between Anakin and a video game creation. Both are so lifeless that neither of them are worth caring about. What's worse is the so-called 'love story' between Anakin and Padme Amidala. Let's face it, Lucas could not write romance to save his life. And guess what, he didn't even write The Empire Strikes Back script, where there is considerable chemistry between Han and Leia. I can't bear to sit through dialogue like "I've been dying a little each day since you came back into my life" or "Sand is coarse and rough. Not like you. You're soft and smooth." Gag me!
But the special effects, at least, are a saving grace in this film and prevented me from giving it a lower score. Once again, Lucas proves he's a master of digital effects. I'm also a bit surprised that even a few minatures and models were used in a few scenes. There is, I'm sure, not one scene where blue screen is not used. There is a particularly impressive scene involving Natalie Portman and a droid factory. However, much like other high special effects such as The Matrix and Harry Potter, these effects quickly overstay their welcome and overcome the story. After a spectacular, high-speed car chase through the air of a space city, the film settles to nothing more than a slide show of ILM's best work they've ever created.
You know, there is nothing else worth saying about this film. I'm bored writing this review. George Lucas has clearly lost the magic that separated Star Wars from every other single franchise ever created: Fresh and funny characters, thrill-ride action sequences and the most important, one of the greatest villains of all time, Darth Vader. Do you mean to tell me, Mr. Lucas, that this bratty cry-baby will become the most gritty and terrifying characters in movie history? Get real, please. Or even better, hire a real director. Someone better than Lucas, thank you. It still remains a carefully crafted string of special effects but nothing more than that. It's cold, heartless and destroys the Star Wars name.