Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones
George Lucas
Quick View: Obi-wan and the now grown Anakin Skywalker are tasked with protecting the young senator Padme Amadala. Obi-wan sets of to track down the would-be assassin,
meanwhile Anakin and Padme begin to develop feelings for each other. Will Anakin choose to stay loyal to his Jedi code and obey the last orders of his Master, or will he give in to his emotions, and risk everything for the woman he loves and the Master he respects.
Full Review: We are promised clones. Attacking clones. We expect to see clones. Attacking. Not in the last 5 minutes, not in the last 10 minutes, within the first half of the movie. Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones is the second installment of George Lucas’ prequel trilogy to his Space-action-fantasy adventure saga, Star Wars. The film brings quality CGI fight scenes mixed with some of the most unbearable dialogue and cringyness found in cinematography. Seriously, hate-poems about sand? Teen love drama? Who wrote this dialogue? Come on George.
Jar Jar is one thing, but this!
Attack of the Clones follows Obi Wan and Anakin 10 years after the events of the first film. Anakin has matured into an almost fully grown man, and Obi Wan has fully embraced his role as a Jedi knight. They are tasked with safeguarding Senator Padme Amidala from assassins sent by the separatists, who wish to end her life to benefit their own agenda. The young Anakin falls prey to his feelings for her, and while Obi Wan trots across the galaxy hunting the would-be assassin, Anakin and Padme…develop their relationship. Obi Wan discovers a planet that was deleted from Jedi Archive record, and finds that the planet is producing a clone army for use by the republic for war. Later, he follows the bounty hunter to the planet Geonosis where he discovers Count Dooku talking with the separatists. He is captured, and Anakin and Padme rush to save him. Getting captured themselves, they declare their love and kiss as they enter the stadium. Before the 3 are killed, the Jedi come in and save them. Soon, the clone army is fighting in full force against the droid army, with Jedi leading the charge. Obi Wan and Anakin find themselves pursuing Dooku again, and in a brief fight, lose more than just the contest of blades. The now injured jedi lay at the mercy of dooku when Master Yoda intervenes. Unable to defeat him, dooku flees, and the Jedi retreat from Geonosis. The Clone War had begun.
The character development for everyone other than dooku and Kenobi is absolutely dreadful. Ewan Mcgregor is easily the shining star of the prequel films, and does an amazing job in his role as Obi Wan. The late Sir Christopher Lee is always a pleasure to see on screen, and he makes the perfect sith lord for Obi wan and Anakin to face. However, The dialogue Hayden Christiansen and Natalie Portman have to work with to develop Anakin and Padme’s relationship is dreadful. Both of them are decent actors, but this goes to show that even good actors can’t do much with horrible scripts. The angsty teen drama, along with Anakin’s hissy fit after murdering the sand people who killed his mother, just takes away from the movie as a whole. It was like whiny luke from episode 4 but far worse.
The scenery, like the other movies, was perfect. Star Wars always seems to nail set and location. The prop team did an amazing job with the clones and the jedi, and as always, the space battles were gorgeous. Overall, the film suffered from way too much time building Anakin and Padme’s relationship, and not enough, well, Star Wars.
Final Score: 6.5/10