Flawed but worthy addition to the saga

Rating: 9/10 (20 May 2005)

We pick up ten years after the events of Phantom Menace. The former Queen of Naboo, Padme Amidala, is now a Senator and returning to Coruscant for a crucial vote on the creation of an army for the Republic, now threatened by Separatist factions. Amidala is a leader of the opposition of the Military Creation Act. Upon reaching Coruscant an attempt is made on her life and off we go.
Old friends Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are assigned to protect the senator. Ewan McGregor returns as Obi-Wan and gives another fine performance. Hayden Christensen takes over the role of the adolescent Skywalker, who is now being trained as a Jedi by Obi-Wan. Anakin is excited to see Padme after all these years and his childhood crush has blossomed into full-blown love. Here Christensen's performance suffers as he and Padme, played once again by Natalie Portman, embark on one of the most awkward romances I've ever seen.
After another attempt on Padme's life and a frenetic chase through the skies of Coruscant Obi-Wan and Anakin corral the bounty hunter responsible. But before she can reveal who she was hired by she is killed by a toxic dart. And this will send Obi-Wan and Anakin off in different directions.
Obi-Wan finds the dart came from a planet called Kamino, a planet of cloners located in a system which does not appear in the Jedi archives. With some help from Yoda and some young Jedi in training Obi-Wan is able to ascertain the location of his missing planet. It seems information about Kamino had been deleted from the archives. Only a Jedi could have done this. Who and why? These are answers which will prove critical.
Obi-Wan makes his way to rain-soaked Kamino where he is told that years ago a since-slain Jedi placed an order for a clone army. The template for the clones was bounty hunter Jango Fett who Obi-Wan meets on Kamino. We also meet Jango's son Boba, a key figure of the original trilogy who it is quite interesting to see the origins of here. Obi-Wan comes to believe Jango was responsible for the attacks on Senator Amidala. The Jedi Council, disturbed they could not see creation of the unauthorized clone army orders Obi-Wan to bring Jango to Coruscant. Easier said than done as Obi-Wan must track Jango and his son Boba to the planet Geonosis.
Meanwhile in the interests of safety Anakin has escorted Padme back to her home planet of Naboo. Here he makes his feelings for her quite clear. She resists as they would have to live a lie which would destroy them both. She clearly has feelings for him but attachment is forbidden for a Jedi. To carry on this romance could lead to Anakin's expulsion from the Jedi order. The dialogue here as the two grow closer is stilted, wooden and forced. People just don't talk like that and it detracts from the film. It is hard to blame the actors who can only read the lines they are given.
We soon see that Anakin is burdened by terrible nightmares about his mother who he feels is suffering on Tatooine. Here we first see great pain and fear in young Skywalker. And as Yoda taught us in Episode I fear is a path to the Dark Side. Anakin and Padme race to Tatooine to rescue his mother, now the wife of moisture farmer Cliegg Lars who lives in a familiar homestead in the desert. Here we first meet a young Owen Lars and his girlfriend Beru who will later have a much larger role to play. It turns out Anakin's mother has been kidnapped and is feared dead. Anakin goes off to attempt to rescue her and when he sees how she has suffered we see the first glimpses of anger and rage in the young man who would be Darth Vader.
Leaving Tatooine, Anakin, Padme and loyal droids R2-D2 and C-3PO (happy to again see Anakin, his maker) take off for Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan who has fallen into the clutches of Count Dooku, a former Jedi who left the order and is now leader of the Separatist movement. Dooku has a massive droid army at his disposal and it seems the Jedi will be needing that clone army after all. Anakin and Padme are soon captured and along with Obi-Wan sentenced to die. With death imminent Padme drops the facade and tells Anakin she loves him. Their lives are about to be destroyed anyway so he should know.
Of course we know the execution won't quite go as planned. Much of the drama here is drained by the fact we know quite well certain characters must survive or else there can't be an Episode IV and, well, we've already seen Episode IV. However what follows is visually impressive as a great number of Jedi, reinforced by their clone army, arrive on Geonosis. For the first time in the saga we see many Jedi in action as the droid and clone armies face off. The lengthy but well-done battle sequence is the beginning of the Clone Wars.
After a final surprising and ultimately thrilling lightsaber battle we begin to tie up the loose ends and get ready for Episode III. Episode II turns out to be satisfying although it certainly has its flaws, most notably the cringe-inducing attempts at romance coming from the mouth of young Anakin. But the positives far outweigh the negatives. Jar Jar Binks is mercifully reduced to a minor role. Samuel L. Jackson is given much more to do this time around as Mace Windu. Ian McDiarmid is reliably terrific in his performance as Chancellor Palpatine. The visuals are stunning, the battle sequences thrilling, all backed by another terrific score by John Williams. It's not perfect but Attack of the Clones does its job in making you anxious for Episode III, the final piece in the puzzle.