Won't win any Oscars, but is it supposed to?

Rating: Null/10 (26 May 2002)

I'll admit it, I'm a passive Star Wars fan. I didn't camp out or stand in line for tickets, but I did see Episode 2 on the opening Friday.
However, after The Phantom Menace, I became much more skeptical about the series, wondering what direction Lucas planned to take the other two movies in. I became especially worried as the trailers and spoilers indicated a heavy amount of romance and courtship in the lamely named Attack of the Clones. Star Wars had never been directly about love, and I wondered how a group of relatively no-name actors and actresses would pull off this new breed of Star Wars. I left the theater on Friday stunned at that new breed. Attack of the Clones mixes two stories: the love of the young Jedi apprentice Anakin Skywalker and Republic Senator Padme Amidala, and Obi-Wan Kenobi's search for Padme's assailants, as she comes under attack in the beginning of the movie. Eventually, Kenobi stumbles upon the shady Jango Fett, who is being used to create a clone army for the Republic.
Meanwhile, while Obi-Wan is inspecting the clones and Jango Fett, Anakin is left to protect Padme, and the two rekindle their friendship and it blossoms into love on Padme's home planet of Naboo. Their love, as many fans know, will have a disturbing and profound effect on the galaxy. The first thirty minutes of the movie provide an instant hook, which is sorely needed, because the next hour will only interst die hard Star Wars fans as Anakin and Padme's weak romance scenes are played out and Obi-Wan does little more than investigate and talk. But the last hour is what left me stunned. Perhaps Lucas named Episode 2 more aptly than most, including me, had originally thought. The "Attack of the Clones" in the last hour is truly riveting. The action is new and unique, from the Jedi Order in action, to the highly publicized battle scene with the newly computerized Yoda. And the Yoda fight scene lives up to its reputation and more; in my opinion, it sets the new standard for action sequences in the entire film industry. Yoda has lost none of his mystique and omnipotence by switching over to CGI. Make no mistake, the film won't win any Oscars for acting and such. But most of the cast delivers solid performances. Hayden Christensen, despite being fed some awful courtship lines from Lucas, is well casted, portraying Anakin Skywalker as the conflicted and troubled youth that he is. Christensen positively shines in the scenes where he is not asked to spout the romantic drivel, and when he does, effectively does not make a fool of himself in the process. Ewan McGregor is refreshing as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Skywalker's master, as he portrays a stern, doting father-figure, a skilled Jedi warrior, and throws out one-liners reminiscent of Sean Connery. McGregor is easily the best actor in the movie. Samuel L. Jackson provides the "tough guy" image to the Jedi, radiating his image of power during the arena battle scene. Temeura Morrison makes an excellent Jango Fett, his deep, shady voice resonating with the bounty hunter aura. Natalie Portman however, comes off as bland and ineffective, as the script lends her nothing much beyond "Look at my cleavage!" C-3PO and R2-D2 are almost standard issue now, coming up with the fairly effective comic relief of the movie. Overall, this Star Wars is not quite at the series once epic level. But a good portion of the movie will put most movie-goers, even the casual ones, on the edges of their seats as it dazzles them with good old-fashioned Star Wars once again. The good far outweights the bad in Attack of the Clones and sets the stage for Lucas to shine with an epic in Episode 3, or disappoint, with anything less.