When it's bad, it is very bad...

Rating: 5/10 (17 May 2002)

Final Fantasy has proven that the filmmaker can create the most dazzling special effects, and immerse the audience in an intricate virtual world, but it all comes to nought if the filmmaker doesn't draw the characters well and give them something intelligent to say.
There is much to be impressed with in Attack of the Clones. The storyline is quite ambitious and raises some more complex intrigues than the first trilogy. Lucas's politics have matured with age, preaching the virtue of democracy (albeit without much subtlety). It is also interesting to see the evolution between the two trilogies over time.
However, if Lucas is incapable of directing actors then in all fairness he should hand over the reins to someone who can. Christopher Lee excepted, the entire human cast may just as well have been animated. The characters are supremely shallow and the acting wooden. The idiotic wisecracks come along as just the wrong moments, obliterating any tension the film may have stumbled across. The comic duo R2D2 and C3PO are relied upon far too much. Portman seems supremely unsuitable for the role (during the final climax, exactly how did her jumpsuit transform itself into a crop top?)
Furthermore, Lucas, in his desire to take moviemaking from celluloid to digital, appears to have scripted the storyline in binary fashion: 1's being action, 0's being character development (development used broadly). The result is an unevenly paced film that outstays its welcome and only really succeeds in tedium and confirming what we all expected.
Bottom line: when it's good it holds the attention Â– when it's bad it is very bad indeed.
2.5 / 5