The best yet of the new trilogy

Rating: 10/10 (20 May 2002)

The new trilogy cannot in any way be compared to the first. This one is synthetic, technically-driven, and far from the innocent simplicity of the first three entries.
When "The Phantom Menace" was released in 1999, a large percentage of the Star Wars devotees fell away, and such was to be expected. The feeling of the film was different--distant, esoteric at times. But this is an entirely new set of films and entirely new sets of objectives. Now that a second entry is in the books, perhaps the animosity toward Lucas and his new creation can go away at last.
"Attack of the Clones" is startling, mystifying, dazzling, provocative, and fun through-and-through. It employs the eye-candy graphics initiated with "The Phantom Menace" and takes them to a whole new atmosphere. Even though the film is 95% computerized, one can still feel a part of the picture, another spectator in the arena. The writing was refreshingly better than that of "The Phantom Menace." Full of quirky exchanges and chilling references of things to come, the script manages to keep the movement of the film fluid while not getting too bogged down in the politics of the story. A finely crafted dialogue and delivery onto a screen filled with enough going on to thrill even the biggest skeptic.
The last half-hour of the film puts the viewer on a conveyor belt, sets the speed to hyperdrive, and throws them straight into the door leading to Episode III. After seeing the film at 12:01 on the morning of 16 May, there was a great deal of material there to sink in. I am quite confidant that this film will appeal on many, many levels and take its place gracefully on the shelf next to "The Phantom Menace." And when all is said and done for this prequel series, movie lovers will have two wonderfully unique trilogies to sink their teeth into, for many years to come I hope.

"Attack of the Clones" gets a 7.5/10