A Disappointing Episode

Rating: 5/10 (25 September 2002)

I was quite disappointed by this last entry in the Star Wars franchise.
I admired and enjoyed a lot the original STAR WARS trilogy, and I actually liked the much-hated Episode I. That was a juvenile film, yes, with flat dialogue (not banal), but at least it was entertaining, the story was decent and it was overall fun. But I cannot say the same thing about Attack of the Clones. I clearly see it is a great-looking movie. It is a wonderful film to look at. Just wonderful. All of the visual effects, all of the amazing places, new places, amazing monsters, the art direction, was all very neat. It is pure eye-candy. The action sequences are fun too. During the first half hour there's an exciting chase sequence through the streets of Coruscant, and almost at the end, there's a very impressive sequence set in a vast Coliseum (sort of a "Gladiator" style scene), where huge and scary monsters attack the heroes: Anakin Skywalker, Obi Wan Kenobi, and Padme Amidala. The sequence is done well, and from that point, Episode II becomes somewhat good.
But sadly, most of the film, is not like this. Most of the time the film is boring. The mistake of the film is that it just doesn't have a good script. It is one of the most banal scripts ever conceived into a film. It begins with a lot of characters talking about the problems in the Republic, all of the political crisis, and about the Empire, and bla bla bla. I was amazed that those scenes were incredibly unconvincing, even sometimes laughably bad. There's also a love story, involving Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and senator Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman). But the love story is so artificial, filled with tired cliches, bad and corny dialogue, the sort of things characters use to say in lame soap operas. And the acting is just well...flat. The actors look like they're not having fun with their roles. They look tired, and sometimes I felt like I was watching a junior high school play, set in space. Even gifted actors like Ewan McGregor and Samuel L. Jackson, look muted in the film. And the story itself, it's just basically an ending to Episode I and an introduction to Episode III, but it's not really a story in it's own way.
Because of the excellent visual effects, the entertaining action sequences, and because it is a great-looking film, it is not THAT bad. It's a mediocre film, but not a very bad one. It's the bad script that makes it mediocre. Some people may think I'm being too critical. I know people who say they liked the film, people who say they thought it was "cool" or entertaining. It is entertaining at times, but not most of the time. I can almost recommend the movie because the visuals are about to win me over, but no. I cannot recommend a film where the dialogue is flat, the story is boring and the acting is mediocre. Oh, and I almost forgot to say that many people seem to think that this is a better film than THE PHANTOM MENACE. It is not. I actually think that THE PHANTOM MENACE is a good movie, certainly better than this.
** out of ****