Attack of the digital effects

Rating: 6/10 (19 February 2009)

Clones is a slight improvement on the previous prequel The Phantom Menace.It is still heavily bogged down by a multitude of factors such as poor scripting,wooden acting and dizzying use of digital effects.Hayden Christensen as Anakin is far from convincing,his petulance makes him more hormonal teenager than potential Darth Vader.His scenes with Natalie Portman are cringeworthy and lack that deftness of touch inherent to a great acting performance.All the technical and creative problems cast aside,the main problem with Attack Of The Clones and the prequels as a whole for that they are redundant storywise.We know what happens.Gone is the tension and revelation of Empire Strikes Back,digital effects have lost their 'wow' factor and the film suffers badly for investing too much in them.Lucas is however, a man who listens to his detractors,the main comic relief of the previous film,Jar Jar Binks, is almost entirely omitted from this film,surely a reaction to the venomous repsone his over inclusion in 'Menace' provoked,proof indeed that the public gets what the public wants.The sad thing about the quality of these prequels is that they will inevitably tarnish the glowing reputation of the earlier films.Financially,George Lucas will have gained imeasurably from legions of fans aching for more from this galaxy far,far away.Artistically,he will be considered a has-been,out of touch with the modern cinema goer.In summary Attack Of The Clones could probably be better names Attack Of The Digital Effects.