Superb in places, downright laughable in others

Rating: Null/10 (27 May 2002)

I think the general consensus of The Phantom Menace was that it was a fairly enjoyable load of rubbish. Light-hearted nonsense which had a slight comic-book approach. The idea of Attack of the Clones was that it was a touch darker, a bit more brooding. Well, after finally having seen this my verdict was that while the basic story was generally strong, and the special effects absolutely brilliant in places, there were a number of glaring weaknesses which moderately crippled it. The strengths were that it felt far more like Star Wars than the previous effort - the scenery was breathtaking and it encompassed the 'familiar yet alien world' that Star Wars has always used.
The characters were an intriguing bunch: Obi Wan Kenobi, as played by Ewan McGregor, was a far more authoritive presence than in TPM (The Phantom Menace). He commanded a little more respect. McGregor doesn't quite have the air of Alec Guiness, but he's done a lot better here than we might have expected. Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) has grown up, obviously, and comes across as an arrogant upstart whose self-belief outways him. There are plenty of subtle hints of his impending joining of the Dark Side. He's generically acted, but not badly. Senator PadmÃ© Amidala is far less wooden than she was in TPM, in fact I thought Portman's performance in TPM was positively poor. But she elicits far more empathy and warmth here, and does admirably better. Generally the story is fairly gripping, if perhaps suffering from the same flaws that TPM did, only not so badly. Again, the plot really isn't that great and the viewer find themselves simply going on a ride in the Star Wars world. In many ways, while this is a better movie that TPM, it's structured similarly.
The element that brings it down badly is the unintended humour. There is a love story in here, and it is cringe-worthily badly done. Quite honestly I wonder if indeed the humour wasn't intended, because I found it rather hilarious in places. In fact one part had me almost in tears - I'll say 'waterwall' and you'll agree.
Plus our old chum Joda gets into a light-sabre battle with an enemy, and it is a combination of the coolest thing you ever saw, and the funniest.
Overall, well worth going to see, but I can't help but feel Lucas will never make any of these prequels as well as he did the subsequent 3 back in the 70s and 80s.