A step above 'Phantom Menace'...

Rating: 9/10 (28 May 2002)

When Star Wars: Episode I  The Phantom Menace opened in 1999, it was proved to be a complete financial success, but was a disappointment to fans and critics around the world. Maybe it was the jive-talking Gungan named Jar Jar Binks. Maybe it was the horrific child actor Jake Lloyd. Or maybe it was the fact that creator George Lucas had lost his touch. Despite all these facts, The Phantom Menace was still a fine film, albeit, not up to par with the rest of the Star Wars films.
And now, the saga continues in Star Wars: Episode II  Attack of the Clones. Attack of the Clones is a vast improvement over The Phantom Menace, but still lacks the magic that the original cast upon the world almost thirty years ago.
Ten years has passed since The Phantom Menace. Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) is no longer a queen, but a senator. During an arrival to the planet Coruscant, a huge explosion blows up the senator's starship, along with everyone in it. Luckily, the senator in the starship was a decoy and the real Padmé Amidala was safe in a different ship. The senator has her suspicions of who the attacker may have been. She assumes it was the evil Count Dooku (Christopher Lee), an ex-member of the Jedi council who is leading separates to rebel against Padmé Amidala's home planet of Naboo. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) has wishes for an army to protect the Republic. The Jedi masters think that Padmé is not safe and sends in Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and his young Padawan Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) to protect her. Padmé, Obi-Wan and Anakin are all old friends and this reunion brings back fond memories. Anakin, who had a big crush on Padmé as a child, is still consumed by her beauty and feels her presence is intoxicating.
Meanwhile, another attack is made on Padmé's life. Attempting to find the attacker, Obi-Wan and Anakin chase this bounty hunter throughout the streets of Coruscant. This bounty hunter, named Zam Wesell (Leeanna Walsman), has been hired by the master of all bounty hunters, Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison).
Supreme Chancellor Palpatine feels it is unsafe for Padmé to stay on Coruscant any longer. Anakin is to escort Padmé back to Naboo, where he will protect her. Anakin's infatuation with Padmé grows, much to her dismay. Jedi are not allowed to be possessive, therefore are not allow to marry. Padmé is in love with Anakin, but she cannot admit it because it would destroy both of them if they got involved together.
On Kamino, Obi-Wan learns news that a clone army is being built for the Republic. It just so happens that the model for these hundreds of clones is none other than Jango Fett. Obi-Wan becomes suspicious of Jango and his son, Boba Fett (Daniel Logan).
Anakin's life becomes even more difficult after he suffers a great tragedy. After this incident, Anakin starts to slowly slip away for the Light Side of the Force and is becoming more and more like the man he will one day become, Darth Vader.
George Lucas is, and will always remain, an excellent filmmaker. His original Star Wars trilogy has impacted American cinema in ways no one could have imagined. He has an eye for creating visual masterpieces and setting up spectacular battle sequences. Lucas is also a great storyteller. He allows his imagination to run wild creating worlds we could only see in our dreams. He likes to press the technology as far as he can, breaking new barriers for special effects. Some may say he lost his touch, but the only thing he's really lost is the ability to write a really great conversation. Han Solo's conversation with Greedo is one of the most memorable conversations in movie history. But in The Phantom Menace his conversations feel flat and sometimes forced. He has improved his ability in Attack of the Clones, but a lot of the dialogue just seems to hang there.
Returning are old favorites C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and RD-D2 (Kenny Baker). It's nice to see such old friends, but Lucas tries to fit in comic relief to a situation that doesn't need it at all. Thankfully, he took all of the slapstick away from Jar Jar Binks. But sadly, gives it to R2-D2 and C-3PO. Lucas tries his hand at adding some of that great wit from the earlier movies, but in the end, fails. All of the jokes are just really bad puns. For example, R2-D2 has a scene where he drags C-3PO along to ground. C-3PO replies by saying, `This is such a drag.' There is, however, one witty remark from Obi-Wan. He says to Anakin, `Why do I have a feeling that you're going to be the death of me?' And anyone who has seen the original Star Wars should understand. For a Star Wars film, this is, surprisingly, a dialogue-driven film. Lucas doesn't add the wit he did for the original trilogy into his character's lines. The romantic conversations work well to pass the story along, but lack some bite. They are sometimes, dare I say, clichéd.

Returning from the Phantom Menace is Natalie Portman. Portman is an excellent young actress and has the perfect poise to portray Padmé. Padmé is brilliant and beautiful young woman and no one could have captured that better than Portman. It's Ewan McGregor, though, who is the real star of the show. He has the same sarcasm and insight that Alec Guiness did, who played the character some thirty years ago. He even somewhat resembles Guiness.

Newcomer Hayden Christensen fares nicely as Anakin Skywalker. Christensen has an edge to him that Anakin should have. He delicately transcends to the Dark Side with his character. He does not do as well in the scenes that require him to be happy. In the scenes where he is to be joyous, Christensen still looks like he's mad at the world. Anakin should be a normal person with hints of darkness to him, not someone who looks like he just escaped from Death Row.
It's about an hour into Attack of the Clones that the action scenes start to pop up more and more. Thankfully, George Lucas does not disappoint. He hasn't lost his touch to create a magnificent battle scene. The last forty-five minutes are worth the admission price alone. In the earlier Star Wars films, we hear so much about how Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz) was a great warrior, but we never got to see it for ourselves. Well, now we have proof. In the biggest crowd-pleasing scene of the film, Yoda gets to show the world what he's got. Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) has a more expanded and involved role. He too gets to show his extravagant Jedi fighting styles.

Star Wars: Episode II  Attack of the Clones looks absolutely stunning. The visuals are breath taking and the scenery is beautiful. The romance and chemistry between Padmé and Anakin is sweet and the battle scenes are an absolute splendor. Attack of the Clones is George Lucas's way of apologizing to all of the fans that were disappointed with The Phantom Menace and earning back their trust.----------9/10