Oh the agony...

Rating: Null/10 (20 May 2002)

A long time ago a great director named George Lucas created a groundbreaking trilogy in the sci-fi/fantasy genre. He called it Star Wars and told it as the second trilogy. Now he is creating the first trilogy and since we are at the mid-way point of the story arc it is easy to see that George has forgotten what made the magic of the first series. The Phantom Menace introduced the audience to Anakin Skywalker, better known as Darth Vader, as a child. We also were given glimpses of a young Obi-Wan Kenobi and Princess Amidala. Attack of the Clones brings us Anakin and the other characters 10 years in the future. Amidala has become a Senator from her planet and Anakin is firmly entrenched as a student of Obi-Wan Kenobi. They meet up again when Anakin and Kenobi are called back by the Jedi Council after a failed attempt on Amidala's life.
Kenobi decides to follow up on evidence concerning a clone army being built while tracking the bounty hunter, Jango Fett, who launched the attack. He reluctantly assigns his student to follow Amidala back to her home planet as a bodyguard. Anakin is initially against this but realizes that his childhood crush on Amidala is becoming a more adult love so he complies. As Anakin and Amidala grow closer, Kenobi discovers all the information concerning the clone army and tracks the bounty hunter to his meeting with his boss Darth Tyrannous. After Kenobi is captured, Anakin and Amidala decide to launch a rescue ahead of the Jedi Council team led by Mace Windu. We then see the might of the Jedi unleashed against an army of Droids and the arrival of Master Yoda at the head of an army of clones beginning the Clone Wars mentioned in the original Star Wars movie. This seemed to be very much two different movies. The first half is a love story between Anakin and Amidala and the second half is a Star Wars movie. The thing that worked so well in the original trilogy is the chemistry between the characters. The three principals carried the movie and made you want to see each additional episode. There is nothing like that in this movie. The only characters that exhibit any chemistry at all together are C-3PO and R2-D2, which is a bad thing to say since they are DROIDS and contrary to popular rumor, this wasn't a love story about them. Natalie Portman again plays Amidala and, while Natalie is a good actress, she has no chemistry whatsoever with her co-star. Hayden Christensen is cast as Anakin. In the future Vader was an imposing figure. Right now, Anakin is played as a talented brat. True, the seeds have been planted which will facilitate Vader's fall to the dark side but right now he seems more like someone who just needs his behind pattled. Hayden Christensen has absolutely no concept of the character and can't play any type of menace. He sulks but that is about it. Perhaps it would be best to throw the blame also at Lucas as Hayden is mouthing the lines written and in that matter, Lucas has made major mistakes as the dialogue is atrocious. It was almost agony to sit through some of the discussions between the characters, as everything seemed false and flat. While the dialogue was absolutely awful and the actors need some serious re-casting, this was a visually exciting movie. The space scenes, the battles, and the backgrounds are all breathtaking on the big screen. Unfortunately the special effects didn't carry the first trilogy and Lucas really needs to remember that. The last portion of the movie does save things somewhat as we have an all out Jedi battle, which is entertaining to watch. Finally Lucas has released Master Yoda and, like the Droids, Yoda steals the show from the human actors. Lucas has a lot to make up for in the final movie and hopefully he will be able to do so. Right now things don't look too good for the trilogy though.