There is unrest in the Galactic Senate.......

Rating: 7/10 (17 February 2011)

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is written and directed by George Lucas. It's the fifth Star Wars film to be released but the second in terms of story chronology. It stars Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, Temuera Morrison & Ian McDiarmid. Music is scored by John Williams and cinematography is by David Tattersall. Set 10 years after the events featured in The Phantom Menace, the story sees the Galactic Republic under threat from separatists and a civil war looms. As Naboo Senator Padme Amidala is in danger of assassination, Jedi Padawan Skywalker is assigned to protect her. Meanwhile, Obi-wan Kenobi makes the worrying discovery of a clone army, a discovery that spells chaos for the galaxy.
Now that the dust has settled on the prequel trilogy, it seems that Attack of the Clones is the one of the six film's that is most unliked by the fans. Which on structure terms is perhaps understandable given its heavy leaning towards the romantic strand between Amidala and Annakin (they are no Han & Leia that's for sure). Yet for all its problems (script/dialogue/acting/CGI mania) it's a marginally better film than Phantom Menace; nicely whetting the appetite for part three as well. If you can negotiate the mundane periods and accept it's merely the bridge to a better part of the film galaxy? Then it's a more palatable experience.
Lucas has thankfully learnt some lessons from his first instalment (for example it's practically bye bye Binksy), but being the episode in which so much has to be set up in the franchise (reasons for love/hate/politics/family ties), Lucas is hand-tied as to how he can please the masses; and you feel that away from blunderbuss action he's not very comfortable directing such dialogue driven passages of play. However, the characters are now better formed, with the likes of McGregor looking more at ease playing such an iconic role, and if it's action you want, then you get payed up in full with colourful carnage: particularly for monster smack down time in a gladiatorial arena. Bonuses see Jackson more prominent as an ass kicker, Lee delicious as the villainous Count Dooku and Yoda (with a digital upgrade) makes a telling mar;, these are things that greatly improve the final third of the piece. While the print (it's all shot on HD Digital) positively sparkles in a way that insists you see it on the best available format you can.
After the mixed reaction to Phantom Menace, and with it vying for punters in 2002 with Spider-Man, Harry Potter and the second Lord of the Rings, Attack of the Clones suffered at the box office in terms of financial expectation. For even tho it made around about $500 million in Worldwide profit, it remains (allowing for adjusted inflation) the lowest performing Star Wars film in the series. Revisits to the film show it to still have the same old flaws, but it's far from being a bad film. It has the darker edges that were required (ala Empire Strikes Back) and there's too much high octane entertainment for it to ever be considered dull as a whole. But does the charge of action and effects over script and characters still stick, then? Well, yes, but this is George Lucas after all.....
7.5/10