Entertaining but not great

Rating: 7/10 (26 May 2002)

First off, if you are a Star Wars fan (as I am), this is a satisfying installment in the serial. There's plenty of action, although it mostly occurs at the end, and the storylines are well developed through some exposition which may feel tedious to some. Let's face it -- Star Wars is never going to be mistaken for Wagner's Ring cycle, or even Lord of the Rings, and it's not supposed to be ... it's supposed to be fun, and Clones is, much more so than Phantom Menace.
** SPOILERS AHEAD **
That said, this movie has several obvious flaws, first and foremost the dialogue. If Lucas wrote the dialogue himself, he should hire a writer, and if he didn't, he should fire a writer. Most of the flaws will pass below your radar screen if you're really absorbed into the film, but some lines are so bad that you will roll your eyes. Most disturbing to me are the lines for C3PO. In other films, C3PO got laughs for the context in which he was speaking, a natural flow from his nervous character in stressful situations. This time, he says things like "What a drag," which not only have no place in a galaxy far far away, but sound like an attempt to insert humor a la Arnold Schwarzenegger. Blech.
Ewan MacGregor is given some terrible dialogue as well but he handles it well enough that it isn't too jarring. Speaking of jarring, we were promised that Jar Jar Binks and his unbelievable quasi-Jamaican-pidgin English would be greatly reduced, and it was, but not enough.
Another flaw, and in my mind a completely avoidable one, was Anakin's character. A problem for prequels is that we all know what will happen; the suspense is finding out why and how. However, Hayden Christenson's Anakin was a jerk from minute one in this film and it undercuts any sympathy we have for him. It also undercuts our faith in the Jedi, because if they can't see that Anakin is a bad seed, how the heck are they supposed to be powerful and wise? Why didn't they wait until after Anakin's great tragedy (about 2/3rds of the way through) to have his resentment and arrogance break through to the surface? It would have made a lot more sense than his unbridled petulance being almost completely ignored. Anakin is so unlikeable you almost wish that someone would kick his butt and when it happens, you aren't unhappy about it. Padme's attraction to him makes no sense; she'd be better suited for Obi-Wan.
But there are plenty of good things too, especially Christopher Lee as Count Dooku/Darth Tyranous (subtle name!) and Temuera Morrison as Jengo Fett. Lee is always outstanding and natural as a villain; he's certainly capping his career with two plums, the Lord of the Rings and Star Wars cycles. Morrison is quietly malevolent, a brooding presence who is one of the few in the movie who knows how to underplay for effect. The Yoda sequence at the end is a great payoff for the audience, and his unchaining from the limitations of puppetry is a huge boost to the story. There is also a couple of lines set up by the subplot of the Trade Federation, where orders are given to "shoot the Federation starships". You can't tell me that's a coincidence -- it's a funny shot at Star Trek, which not only preceded Lucas but in terms of cultural saturation still surpasses him. The action -- when it occurs -- is outstanding, very gripping, again a nice payoff for the audience.
Attack of the Clones is a worthwhile installment but doesn't come close to the level of Empire Strikes Back, the best episode in the series. Hopefully, Lucas will wrap up the prequels in a way that gets us back there. I can't wait to find out.