Second Time Lucky

Rating: Null/10 (18 May 2002)

Episode I was hyped so much it took people a little while to come back down to earth and realise it disappointed them. Fortunately George Lucas either learned from his mistakes or had some grand plan from the start because almost everything that was wrong with Episode I (plot, direction, subtext, characters) is addressed here.
The first thing to mention, however, is the imagery. I hesitate to use the word `effects' because that has come to mean explosions and single moments of visual amazement. What the team at ILM have done here is to create a stunning visual backdrop to the entire Star Wars world, underpinning the whole story. Fantastic ships, characters and battles come to life so well that you really believe that this action takes place in another galaxy. Episode II can join a very few prestigious films in using SFX to create an entirely new world (2001 being one of them), which almost makes the story itself slightly irrelevant. In almost every scene I found something so great to watch it made me grin but it wasn't thrown at you, it just happened to be where the action was. Take a look at the aliens and the doors when Obi Wan visits Kamino and you'll see what I mean.
Well if that's the biggest pro of the movie, the biggest con is without doubt the romantic subplot. Hayden Christensen turns in a performance as wooden as a wardrobe, fortunately rescued slightly by the excellent Natalie Portman as Amidala. Some of the dialogue is atrocious - `I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere. Not like you. You're everything soft and smooth'. Like Harrison Ford once said to George Lucas, `you can write this sh*t, but you can't say it'. Thankfully this theme doesn't dominate the whole movie, and other subplots are much more satisfying. Ewan McGregor deserves special credit for his performance, managing to bring a bit of Alec Guiness into the character as well as his own exuberance. Christopher Lee is, well, Christopher Lee as the bad guy Count Dooku, which works out just fine. The person who really, truly, finally steals the show though, is a CGI illusion.
Yoda, quite simply, kicks more ass than any film character has ever kicked ass before. His entrance towards the end as you hear the `tap tap tap' of his cane round the corner gave me a grin so wide the top of my head almost fell off. I won't spoil the plot, suffice to say you learn why Yoda's meant to be the greatest of the Jedi Masters. It's 5 minutes of film I want to keep and play forever.
The Star Wars story unfolds a little more, pretty much as you'd expect. Obi Wan and Anakin have a great master/apprentice relationship and we see a little of the frustration and anger that will eventually turn Anakin into Darth Vader. The image of the Death Star which crops up at one point is a nice touch. And we also see how the Senate could turn into the Imperial Empire. `Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely'. `All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing'. You get the idea.
This would all make for a good film, slightly redeeming the mistakes of it's predecessor. What makes it a great film I want to watch again is the ending. It's not a plot twist or a subtle character moment, it's just an all out assault on the senses. The battle at the end of Episode I pales in comparison. Seeing multiple Jedi fight is amazing in itself, and then all hell breaks loose. Thousands of troops, hundreds of explosions, epic duels, it's all there and it all works. Finally.
All in all, Episode II makes you remember what it was about Episodes 4-6 which made you love this world in the first place. I can't wait until 2005.