Attack of the Two-Foot Tall Jedi Master!

Rating: Null/10 (16 May 2002)

Attack of the Clones is auteur George Lucas' follow-up to the first of the Prequel Trilogy in his Star Wars saga, The Phantom Menace.
It is a fine addition to the Star Wars cinematic legend, and a great step up from the eagerly anticipated and highly flawed The Phantom Menace.
Attack of the Clones features fine performances from Ewan MacGregor as the older, wiser, and more frazzled Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, who spends much of the film investigating an attempted assassination and chastising his apprentice, the enthusiastic and arrogant Darth Vader-in-training Anakin Skywalker. Hayden Christensen is Anakin Skywalker, who rises above sometimes stilted dialogue to portray a tortured and tormented young man with the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders. Christensen's performance takes the audience on an emotional roller coaster, leaving us with a feeling of cold dread and a grim vision of the future for this character. Natalie Portman is back as Padme Amidala, now a Republic Senator. Portman delivers a much more skilled performance than her stoic, frozen-faced queen in The Phantom Menace, but it is her awe-inspiring beauty and daring, form-fitting outfits that garner the most attention.
Samuel L. Jackson, one of my all-time favorite actors, truly shines as Jedi Master Mace Windu. He is a man of action in Attack of the Clones, and delivers the best line in the film, "This party's over." Temuera Morrison is the bounty hunter/clone template Jango Fett, and while not allowed very much time, possesses a mysterious, deadly screen presence, like Ray Park's Darth Maul. His clone-raised-as-a-son Boba Fett is portrayed by young Daniel Logan, whose devilish glee at the destruction and mayhem caused by his "father" makes us forget the wooden Jake Lloyd. Attack of the Clones' main antagonist, besides Ian McDiarmid's Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious, is Count Dooku, a charasimatic former Jedi who is leading a separatist revolt on the Republic. Christopher Lee portrays Dooku as he has in all of his villainous roles: brilliantly.
Now back to my one line summary. It is Yoda, our diminutive Jedi Master, who truly steals the show. Yoda, now a completely computer generated character, is brought to life in a way that overshadows everything else while he is on screen. Yoda is seen as the perennially wise master and as the caring, sweet teacher, but also as a tiny, voracious warrior. To see Yoda draw his lightsaber and fly about like green ball lightning brought a smile to my face and excitement to the audience.
Attack of the Clones features ILM's best special effects work to date. They triumphed in the key action sequences, especially the battle scenes on Geonosis, but their real triumph is the digital Yoda. While the first hour of the film might seem slow and dragging, don't fret, the last hour and a half is a maelstrom of action that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Lucas has brought us a not perfect, but wonderfully exciting chapter to his saga, and here's hoping will finish out the Prequel Trilogy on a high note.
Oh, and by the way, Jar Jar Binks is only on screen for about three and a half minutes, and not to give the plot away, aids in damning the galaxy to a totalitarian future. You gotta love that!
Highly recommended!