A Fresh and Exciting Chapter in the Timeless Saga

Rating: Null/10 (18 May 2002)

Making a film that will be highly anticipated long before its official release is indeed a difficult task. For writer/director George Lucas that difficult task came when he set out to make the long-awaited first prequel to his immensly popular "Star Wars" saga. Unfornately Lucas failed to please most of the fan base which made the original "Star Wars" so popular, and "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace", although a box office smash, left a lot of loyal fans disappointed, including me.
It was that very fact alone that made me skeptical when I saw the first trailer for the next "Star Wars" prequel, "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones." I was sure that Lucas would make another movie geared at young kids with only visual effects to back it up. I was very wrong about this.

"Clones" is very different and much, much better than "Phantom Menace." The film continues off of the first prequel, with the Galactic Republic finding itself in a time of chaos when a band of separatists tries to break off of the ancient government. Senator Padme Amidala of the planet Naboo comes to the central system Coruscant to cast a povital vote that will decide if the separatists are allowed their independence. It is will known that she will vote against this, and her life is put in danger when several attempts are made on her life. She is assigned two bodyguards, her old friends Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Immiedetely she begins to feel an attraction to the once 9-year old Anakin, but she tries to get over it. The situation becomes more complicated, however, when Obi-Wan discovers an uncharted planet manufacturing a clone army for the Republic, and the threat of the rogue Jedi Count Dooku and the Bounty Hunter Jango Fett.
"Clones" is sheer entertainment, with an intriguing plot, well-developed characters, and stunning visuals. The overall way the movie felt and was told was unlike any other "Star Wars" movie before it, and I liked this about the film. The violence in it surprised me though, since there was a large amount of it and some of it was a little intense for a PG-rated movie.

The acting was far superior to that in "Phantom Menace", with Ewan McGregor playing a very good and convincing young Obi-Wan, Natalie Portman portraying Padme far better and more human-like then in "Episode I", and Hayden Christinsan doing a good job of showing the different sides of Anakin Skywalker's personality.
The plot was very interesting, with politics, science-fiction storylines, and relationships all rolled into one. The characters were far more developed and much more realistic then the stiff and robotic ones in "Phantom Menace."
The visuals, as always, were spectacular, from the city-world of Coruscant to the strange alien creatures of the galaxy to the explosive end climax.
Overall "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" was a very entertaining movie, even not when compared to its less then great predecessor. It is surely one of the best movies of the summer and the entire year.