Keep up the good work, George!

Rating: Null/10 (23 May 2002)

I saw the midnight showing of Star Wars Episode II Attack of The Clones on May 16th which was the morning I turned 19, and I have to say, I had some major doubts about this one. I had seen Phantom Menace, a few years before and was disappointed by it. However, the second that the recent addition to the Star Wars Saga began, all doubts were practically non-existant. Star Wars Episode II Attack of The Clones, though it had some minor flaws, was an excellent film as far as Star Wars movies go. It was a gigantic improvement over The Phantom Menace, which was not horrible, just not wonderful either. (too aimed towards small children) ATOC has a good solid plot, great action, a considerably lesser amount of Jar Jar, and also better charecter development than its predecessor, The Phantom Menace. These when put together make Attack of the Clones a milestone in both of the Star Wars trilogies. Not only is it better than TPM, it also makes the moments in that film that did not make sense, have a bit of meaning to them.
The movie has an Empire Strikes Back feel to it which works on so many levels. It fits in with Phantom Menace and and has a darker nature to it, just as Empire did. In fact we begin to see Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side. I cannot reveal to you how, but it is becoming quite evident. Also the romance factor, blossoming between Anakin and Padme, though contains a few lines that will make you cringe, does not really interfere with the movie at all. Infact, is nothing like the love story subplot in Pearl Harbor, which did nothing but interfere. Another element which makes Episode II worth watching is the climactic battle at the end which involves Yoda fighting which makes the Matrix look like child's play. There are many other great elements but I cannot name them all because there were too many to remember off hand. But just go see it and you will see what I mean.
"WARNING, POSSIBLE SPOILERS" Now as I said above, though the movie was excellent, it did have a few minor flaws. One was the scene when Obi Wan Kenobi, steps into a 50's style diner, and asks the local chef about a weapon he found. The problem with that is that it had a creepy sort of Arnold's Diner from Happy Days vibe to it. Second, the title, of the film which does not really fit with how the film plays out. It says "Attack of the Clones" as if the clones were the bad guys. The clones turn out to be the heroes of the republic and also where storm troopers originated from. The last thing I will waste space complaining about will be the gunships the clones were using. They were in a way sleek and made for some good action but they bore an all too eerie resemblance to the Huey helicopters used in Viet Nam. I suddenly got the feeling I was watching a futuristic version of We Were Soldiers. (also an excellent movie)
All in all, Attack of the Clones was a great film and will most likely be the Empire Strikes Back of the Prequel trilogy. As stated in the first paragraph, it has all the elements that a Star Wars movie needs, with some very minor flaws which every Star Wars film has. Oh and I should mention that Ewan McGregor just has made the best young Alec Guiness that George Lucas could ever find. George Lucas gave me one of the best birthday presents I could ever recieve, and it was worth waking up cranky the morning of my birthday. Keep it up George, you have one more chapter to go and I have faith that it will be one of the best ever.