STAR WARS EPISODE II – ATTACK OF THE CLONES

Review by Jonathan Hicks

It seems strange to me, now, but a few months ago I was having a good belly laugh about the ridiculous title George Lucas had given his new Star Wars film. As quick as a flash, the film was upon us, and suddenly I found myself agreeing with the content of the film and the applicable title it had been given. Still sounded daft, though.

I’d done myself a favour with this movie. I’d purposefully avoided spoilers, advertisements, rumours and pictures out in the Star Wars fan domain. I’d steadfastly ignored comments, patiently ignored opinions and slapped down people who wanted to do nothing but go on about how excited they were about seeing this movie.

You see, I’m not a big fan of Episode 1. Oh, there are some enjoyable things in there, such as the pod race and the immensely satisfying Lightsabre battle, but the film just wasn’t put together very well, with an uninspiring story and even more uninspiring performances. I was quick to defend the film – I am a Star Wars fan after all – but then I realised that if the film was as good as I was making it out to be, then I shouldn’t have to defend it.

There are people who don’t like Episode II – Attack of the Clones. And I don’t care. Because I enjoyed the movie so much I didn’t feel as though I should have to try convince them they’re wrong.

Everyone says that ‘George Lucas is back!’ But I’m not really convinced he actually went anywhere. The great thing about Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope was that it had to stand alone – it wasn’t sure of a sequel, so Lucas made it as good as he could. When Lucas knew he was going to make the next two Episodes, V and VI, he made it a two-part affair. Good job. Now, he comes to the new Episodes, I, II and III, and he has the luxury of knowing he’s going to make all three movies. The first one is successful, but that’s thanks to hype and marketing. The second one doesn’t rely on burgers, soft drinks and action figures – it just comes out as a film.

And what a film.

It’s as if George was just flexing his muscles, accepting the fact that he hadn’t directed in twenty years and had to get used to all this new-fangled movie-making technology. It’s like he bit his teeth on Episode I.

Because Episode II is, simply, an excellent Star Wars movie. It’s got what you’d expect – blaster fights, starship chases, Lightsabre battles – and things you don’t expect – a menacing tone, troubled ‘heroes’, a link with the original trilogy so strong it’s amazing.

I’m not going to bore you with a ‘story synopsis’. Just know that this is set ten years after Episode I, and Anakin Skywalker is a late-teens Jedi student, with an attitude.

So, first of all, what did I think of the performances? I wasn’t disappointed. Ewan McGregor was fine as Obi-Wan Kenobi, looking a bit older with the beard, apparently a little more confident, and he’s dropped trying to emulate Alec Guinness’s voice, which is a boon. There’s an edge of power and an edge of humour, a great mix when he’s playing opposite Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker. Ewan carries these scenes, as Hayden seems a little overawed with the responsibility of playing a cinema icon as a young man. His delivery is fine, but his actual presence on screen doesn’t really have any major impact until later in the film. He’s not a bad actor, but you can’t help but think that two or three extra takes so that he could relax a little would have helped. His attitude seems to be the same whether he’s playing opposite Ewan or Natalie Portman. Natalie seems a lot more relaxed now that she’s playing a Senator without the need for over-bearing headdresses and clothes. Her tone is lighter, her performances good in both low-key and high-action scenes. She sits well on-screen with Hayden, her soft demeanour a strange contrast to his downcast visage. The only bad scene between them is when they sit before a blazing fire and Anakin reveals his feelings for her – it gets about halfway through his little speech of the heart and I couldn’t help but think ‘shut up, kid, you’re making an idiot of yourself’. The romantic scenes are effective but do feel a little overdone.

Samuel Jackson – well, what can we say? It’s Mace Windu’s time to shine, and his calm presence followed by his ferocious ability are startling and, dare I say it, cool. Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine does his deceitful performance well, basically mirroring his excellent delivery in Episode I, but, as the tone of the film is darker than the first, it does feel somewhat better suited. Christopher Lee doesn’t really get the time to shine, but his presence serves its purpose and you can’t help but be impressed by his low voice and menacing attitude.

And what of the other characters in the film? Well, Jango Fett is well used and, unlike Darth Maul before him, wasn’t given the ‘top billing for a non-major character’ treatment. He wasn’t advertised beforehand as a huge player, and was then given three or four lines and about ten total minutes of screen time. The scenes involving Jango are great. There are several other intermediate characters that keep the story going, and don’t really have a huge impact in the scheme of things and these are fine. Even Jar Jar Binks isn’t as annoying, although his involvement is bigger than anyone would have imagined, considering his limited screen time. The Lars family are a nice addition, adding yet another link to the original trilogy, and it’s nice to see Watto again.

But the thing that excited me was seeing the two ‘droids, C-3PO and R2-D2 getting into their bickering and accidents once again. This is something that Episode I was sorely missing, the first meeting of the two machines wasted, but here we have them both in trouble, in disagreement and invaluable to the Star Wars genre. It was a real treat.

And Yoda? Well. Suffice to repeat the phrase bouncing about the Internet and the cinemas as a whole. Yoda kicks ass. ‘Nuff said.

So, let’s get to my favourite bits. Every scene of conflict is excellently paced and exciting, especially the asteroid field chase and the final huge battle. In the final battle, the illusion of ‘being there’, as the shots followed the action as if someone chased after the danger with a hand-held camera, really put you into the thick of it. Awe-inspiring. The effects of ILM have done something I am always amazed by – they’ve surpassed their own ability to shock and amaze. Look out for the arena sequence. Excellent.

The banter between Obi-Wan and Anakin is very revealing and entertaining and overall the film has something that Episode I was sorely lacking – humour. The odd comment, look, fumble. Well placed and not overdone.

And did I mention that Yoda kicks ass?

The bits I didn’t like – The romance scenes, two of which were quite pleasant, the majority of which were cringe inducing and somewhat dull. Some of C-3PO’s comments were belly laugh material but a bit bland on subsequent viewings. There are a few bad pieces of dialogue; some obvious ‘this is what’s happening’ monologues and some stuff that just made you want to look at your watch. Although the performances were fine, Hayden Christensen looks like he might need a little while longer to get used to acting in front of a blue screen. In some scenes he looked downright uncomfortable. He certainly looked the part, but didn’t sound it. Saying that, his ‘revelation to Amidala’ scene on Tatooine was quite good, as he admitted his actions to her. Powerful drama. Still, he did his job and said his lines, which, in a Star Wars film, are pretty much all you’re required to do.

I think I did myself a favour with this film by avoiding all the pre-release stuff. I avoided trailers, write-ups, and screen shots. I avoided word of mouth and asked for my Star Wars savvy friends to not talk about it. That’s the mistake made by Episode I – so much pre-release material floated about for so long that potential viewers had almost built an entire movie in their heads, the way they wanted it to be.

Attack of the Clones, however, didn’t suffer from any of that for me. As daft as the title is, what I saw was Star Wars doing what it does best; entertaining the imagination.

I don’t like marking my reviews, so I’ll just say I came out of the movie 85% satisfied.