Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

• Cert:
• Running time: 142 minutes
• Year: 2002
• Released: 16th May 2002
• Widescreen Ratio: 2.35:1

Director: George Lucas

Cast:

After the disappointing return of Star Wars to cinemascreens with The Phantom Menace,back in 1999, expectations were decidedly mixed forthe second instalment of George Lucas new trilogy of prequels.Thankfully for fans craving the magic absent in Episode I, Attack OfThe Clones generally delivers the goods.

Episode II is set ten years after the events of “The Phantom Menace”,with Senator Amidala, now the ex-Queen of Naboo (Natalie Portman)embroiled in an assassination plot against her. Two Jedi Knights areassigned to protect Padme – Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (a now bearded EwanMacGregor) and his young protege Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen).

The plot is more satisfying than Episode I’s, with the politicalmachinations kept to a minimum and the emphasis finally returned toaction, adventure and romance. Freed from having to introduce everycharacter to the audience, Lucas and co-writer Jonathan Hales‘screenplay rattles along with far more gusto than the meandering”Menace”. It also helps that the screenplay has definite subplots tobreak up the narrative with MacGregor engaged in a “Star Wars”-styledinvestigation, while Christensen and Portman act out the romance thatunderlines this instalment’s modus operandi.

Of course, the romance is pure fairytale and idyllic, although “StarWars” has always worked with pure emotions. In Lucas’ tales the universeis black and white, with few shades of grey. Some may criticise theromance for being soppy, or unrealistic, but that’s to undermine thevery basis of “Star Wars” and its take on the universe. “Star Wars” hasalways been a fairytale and fairytales operate on basic emotions andpatterns of behaviour designed to move the plot forward in the fastestway possible.

The acting is the familiar “Star Wars” brand of half-wooden acting andstilted dialogue, still lacking the comparative spark of the originaltrilogy. However, despite Lucas’ insistence on recreating the thespianstyle of 1930’s sci-fi serial adventures (at least that’s his officialexcuse for the acting techniques) the actors give far more satisfyingperformances than in Episode I.

Ewan MacGregor is perhaps the most notable actor, bringing a far morebelievable rendition of a younger Alec Guiness to the role of Obi Wan.The beard must have helped, because MacGregor is perhaps the mostenjoyable person to watch in “Clones” as he’s clearly enjoyinghimself immensely and gets a lot of the best lines.

Hayden Christensen makes a likeable double-act with MacGregor, withtheir sparring one-upmanship instantly adding twice the characterchemistry there was in Episode I. Of course, Christensen is playing ateenaged Anakin Skywalker, who will one day (in Episode III, actually)become the villainous Darth Vader. To highlight this, Christensen playsAnakin as a well-meaning but arrogant youth, already harbouring abelief in dictatorships and unable to control his vicious temperament.

Natalie Portman is charming throughout as Padme, thankfully able toactually play a character instead of just a monotone-voiced fashionaccessory she endured throughout the previous instalment. Here, Padmetakes on the plucky heroine role – unseen since Carrie Fisher playedPrincess Leia – while also being the embodiment of feminine charm andbeauty the rest of the time. Sadly, all the actors are cursed with baddialogue and inane moments in “Star Wars”, but Christensen and Portmankeep the romance just about believable – for a fairytale, anyway.

Samuel L. Jackson makes a welcome return as Mace Windu – and gets to makemore of an impact this time around thanks to greater screen time andsome real action to take part in. However, Jackson’s presence remainsunfulfilling, with his signature hard-assed attitude only showingfleetingly at the end. Let’s hope Episode III finally unleashes thelevel of coolness he was undoubtedly employed to deliver.

Ian McDiarmid is sadly sidelined this time around, with the head villainrole going instead to Christopher Lee as Count Dooku – an ex-Jedi whohas turned to the Dark Side. Lee is as impressive as ever, bringingquiet bravado to his role and a seething intelligence. Lee is already acinematic legend in such roles, and physically holds up well against hisyounger opponents. The climactic lightsabre duel lacks the gymnasticenergy of Darth Maul’s three-way bout in “Menace”, but is stillimpressive.

As with “The Phantom Menace” the special effects remains the mostextraordinary aspect to the movie. Episode II excels in all areas,managing to eclipse Episode I with ease in all technical areas -difficult as that may be to imagine!

Indeed, the effects aren’t a quantum leap forward (only 3 years haspassed between films), but they’re far more abundant and striking.Episode I had the occasionally duff moment, while there really isn’tanything in Episode II to gripe about too much. Lucas has total freedomof his imagination and command of the camera here so anything ispossible.

Locations are expansive, vivid and imaginative, vehicles and buildingsare impressively designed, while the huge variety of CGI creatures arealmost completely lifelike at times. As with “Menace” the movie is adelight to behold, and the days when an indistinguishable CGI charactermeanders across the screen with nobody realizing is not far away itwould seem! The effects truly transport you into the “Star Wars”universe unlike any previous movie has been capable of.

Of course, an effect foremost in peoples’ minds this time around is thefully computer-generated rendering of Yoda. Indeed, some of hissequences are better executed than others, but on the whole the ‘CGIYoda’ is a convincing piece of work from ILM and light-years ahead ofthe puppet used previously.

Yoda’s already notorious lightsabre duel with Count Dooku is a dazzlingdisplay of perfectly executed CGI wizardry. You’ll believe a Muppet canfly! Seriously though, the Yoda/Dooku duel is over far too soon, but thebuild-up to it and the actual action itself is mesmerising, and you’resure to have goose bumps breaking out all over. Extremely impressive.

Likewise, the sound is beyond reproach. John Williams‘ score is back onfirm footing after the shaky “Menace”, with even a few of the classicsoundtrack themes joining the sound mix. There’s no denying that “StarWars” only ever really seems like “Star Wars” when the familiar classictrilogy music kicks in across the speakers. Here’s hoping Episode IIIwill totally bridge the gap between the prequels and the original filmsin musical terms.

Episode II is a success, but not without its flaws. The story isn’t assatisfying as it alludes to being throughout the first half, and theacting remains off-kilter. But importantly, it should appease those”Star Wars” fans that felt totally betrayed by the promise of “ThePhantom Menace”. Non-fans may lose the significance and foreshadowing ofevents set-up in this film, but nobody can deny Episode II fails toentertain and deliver a magnificent 2 hours 20 minutes of escapist fun.

Yes, the prequels still remain too serious-minded compared to thegung-ho antics of Han Solo’s crew, but Episode II is a real step in theright direction. Already, plot threads are being pulled together, eventsare progressing (including a startling revelation for aficionados latein the film!), the characters are finding their feet, the comedy elementreturns quite successfully (particularly with C-3P0’s mishaps), thedescent of Anakin Skywalker now seems more plausible, and there’s farless of Jar Jar Binks to endure!

Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones should reaffirm mostpeoples’ love of “Star Wars” and its power to entertain and enthral withan impressive palette of effects, locations, sound, and deep-rootedmythological constants. I even quite like the title…

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PERFORMANCES
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SPECIAL FX




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