good acting and amazing CGI scenery can't saves the terrible script

Rating: 5/10 (18 May 2002)

I love Episode 4-6 (yes, even Jedi) but I was rather disappointed by Episode 1 (I gave it a 7 out of 10). Unfortunately the news is true, Episode II is the worst of the Star Wars movies.
The CGI backgrounds are breathtaking, and the action scenes are decent, but the horrible scriptwriting is only sometimes redeemed by good acting.
If Academy Awards were given out for Actors who could take pathetic lines and deliver them believably (most of the time), Hayden Christensen would get Best Actor and Natalie Portman would win Best Actress for this movie.
Interesting camera tricks and beautiful scenery are all eclipsed by wooden, pathetic lines. Scene after scene is clipped and stilted, leaving us hanging when the cut-away to the next scene happens; wanting something, anything, more to complete the previous scene. I can't count the number of times I said to myself, `that scene ended too fast,' or, `That scene could have been much better if only.'
The Bad guys were never sinister enough. Dooku was as scary as an Ewok and could never fill Maul's shoes let alone Vader's. Neither he nor Palpatine appear as Darth anything until the last two minutes of the movie. We never get a private moment where Paltpatine's true evil shows. Anakin spends time talking about his feelings, but we never hear about or see (on his face) hints of the seductive power that is the Dark Side.
Strategically placed deaths, instead of being significant, are rendered meaningless due to the lack of connection that we have with the deceased.
Suspension of disbelief is stretched to the breaking-point by a number of plot twists. I often felt myself remembering the part from `Lethal Weapon' where Danny glover says `That's pretty [freak]ing thin!'
The close-ups of the CGI-Yoda are not always bang-on, thereby distracting focus from the story. His fight-scene was very cool however.
Speaking of individual fight-scenes though, the cinematography of Dooku vs. Obi Wan/Anakin was a pale imitation of Obi-Wan vs. Maul in Episode 1. Even Luke's duels with Vader were better filmed.
All these factors make for a movie that is often corny, awkward, and has little or no natural flow or magic. Episode 1 had more magic than Clones does and neither comes close to Episode 4-6 or Fellowship of the Ring. At times I laughed `at' it instead of `with' it, Clones was so bad.
If you plan to see Episode III, you should go to Clones, but if I were you, I'd go on cheap night. It's not the worst movie I've ever seen, some parts are quite good, but overall it's only a step away from a wait-for-video experience.
Attack of the Clones -- 5 out of 10