Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

Set against the background of political conflict, Obi Wan investigates the source of an assassination attempt whilst Anakin and watches over Padme.

The film starts off interesting with some scenes of mystery and intrigue that hook the attention. Unfortunately it slows down in the middle with some unnecessary sequences and others with too much static dialogue. When spectacle does occur it is mostly good but nothing interesting links them together other than characters blandly talking. However, It finishes strongly with a sequence of exciting moments and big nod to what is to come.

Overall the plot is somewhat better than Episode I, but the mistakes made in the previous film hurt Episode II. Count Dooku is introduced as a new villain, but as good as Christopher Lee is you can't help but lament over the Darth Maul's absence, a missed opportunity to give his character more contribution to the overall story. Lee's presence always feels like a reaction to fill a void, particularly as his character was never referenced in Episode I.

That said, the climactic lightsaber spectacle is noted for being the one that shows Yoda in action for the first time in the franchise. It's spine-tingling as you see him limp to centre stage and then explode into action. Unfortunately (and I hate to be a killjoy again) the timing is off. It would have been better to have waited till Episode III to make his duel with the chief villain that much more special.

A big positive is the sequence of events shown on Tatooine with Anakin, his mother and the Sand People. This is a pivotal moment in his character arc and is done exceptionally well. The dialogue between he and Padme in the subsequent scene where he confesses his actions could have been better but it is thankfully lifted by another masterful John Williams composition.

The films of George Lucas have been widely criticised for bad dialogue and not without merit. The romantic scenes in Attack of the Clones are now infamous for their lack of chemistry and poor dialogue. It probably didn't help that Episode I showed Anakin as a child and Padme as a young woman. If they'd shown us a distinctly more mature and emotionally strong Anakin, perhaps we could believe there is an attraction, but he behaves like a creepy, spoilt teenager, lustfully gawping at the first girl he's ever seen. Soon they find themselves in a sequence of tranquil locations where nothing else actually happens other than bland dialogue over picturesque backdrops. This also hurts the pacing of the film as everything slows down for these scenes to play out. What Lucas should have shown was Anakin and Padme going through something interesting together, then let their love develop out of that. Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman are good actors but unfortunately have poor material to work with.

Other performances are good, particularly Christopher Lee, Frank Oz, Samuel L Jackson, Anthony Daniels and Iain McDiarmid.

The special effects as you can imagine are epic and all you would have wanted the Clone Wars to be. The scenes on Coruscant are a welcome change from the type of backdrops seen in the previous four movies.

Much like The Phantom Menace there are some inspired moments, but Attack of the Clones was another wasted opportunity.

Episode II of the Star Wars saga, "Attack of the Clones" had the misfortune of following the poorly received first instalment. The good news is that it corrected most of the problems that plagued the first movie. While still not in the same league as the original trilogy, it was nevertheless a step in the right direction.

Several cast members from the first movie returned and, thankfully, stars Ewan McGregor & Natalie Portman fared much better this time around. Additionally, Christopher Lee provided a strong villainous presence that was sorely lacking from the first movie. Hayden Christensen stepped into the role of Anakin Skywalker and he at least did better than Jake Lloyd, though that's a case of damning with faint praise. Admittedly, though, his character wasn't written especially well, so it wasn't all his fault.

Speaking of writing, this time around George Lucas had the good sense to work with someone else on the screenplay. While the dialogue is still a bit stilted at times, the improvement is noticeable. Lucas also occupied the director's chair once again, with satisfactory results.

From a technical standpoint, the movie is highly accomplished, even though some of the profuse CGI is overly ambitious. In any case, the visual effects ended up being the source of the film's sole Oscar nomination. As usual, John Williams's score was also a highlight.

However, perhaps the most important difference this time around is that story is much more engaging as it really begins to set the stage for Anakin's inevitable transformation into Darth Vader. The movie's romantic elements may be awkward at times but, overall, the script does a pretty good job of balancing action and laying the foundation for the events to come.

Ultimately, I think that "Attack of the Clones" is underrated. It does have some problems but it managed to set the trilogy back on the right track. Thankfully, the concluding chapter would continue this upward trend.

First off the movie had some good aspects about it. For one the relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin was phenomenal. They were emotional and comedic at the same time. The second thing is the action. This movie was very action packed and the choreography in the fights were very good. The conflict was nice as well I just wish they didn't have as many sub-plots. I didn't like how unnecessarily long this movie was, it felt like 3 hours. Some scenes didn't need to be included and I didn't like how they made it seem as if Anakin was obsessed over Padme but other than that their romance was believable and cute. The acting was strong although sometimes it came off as bland. The beginning tried to be serious but ended up looking like a joke. The movie was pretty good overall but could've done better.

I just watched this on DVD last night, having seen it in the theatre. I was very disappointed when I watched the scenes that had been cut, as they fleshed out the story a lot more than the final cut. You learned more about the wasp creatures near the end of the film and why Dooku enlisted their help. Padme's character was a lot more established as well in visits to her parents house and in a confrontation with Dooku.

Many people have commented on the wooden acting of the two leads, which I somewhat agree with, but Christensen is not that bad an actor, and neither is Portman.

The problem with both this film and Phantom Menace is Lucas' dialogue. He writes lines which no actor, even in a fantasy movie, can say without sounding like they're reading them off of cue cards. This can be excused when the line is SF technobabble, but when it's supposed to be intimate romance it comes off as clumsy, forced, and utterly unbelievable. Considering that we KNOW the ultimate fate of each of these characters, these make scenes where they are put in peril uninteresting, since you already know they'll survive. Lucas really blew the chance at creating highly developed, memorable characters in my opinion.

In addition, both this and Phantom Menace sorely miss a solid supporting cast to the two cardboard character leads. Where is the Han Solo/Chewbacca/Lando of these movies? Watching the original trilogy, the chemistry between Han and Chewie gives the movies a much broader appeal than the soap opera Skywalker saga. Imagine the original trilogy with only Luke and Leia as the two main characters -- it'd be far less interesting!!!

Ewan McGregor is given a lot more to do in this film as Obi-Wan, and he acquits himself very well, although I think the scenes on the clone world would have been much better if he had been accompanied by Mace Windu. We almost always see Jedis travel in pairs, until Kenobi's solo visit. Christopher Lee does well in the limited screen time he's given. Samuel L. Jackson gives a one note performance as Mace Windu ... we're never convinced that he's as powerful a warrior as he's said to be. And when a CGI Yoda is the most expressive character in the film, you know something's just not right.

Lucas has really painted himself into a corner to deliver the goods in Episode III. In my opinion, to tie up all the loose ends he's created between Phantom Menace and this film, Episode III might have to be 4 hours long.

In summary, this is a decent film for fans of the Star Wars saga, and certainly better than Phantom Menace, but it still doesn't break much new ground. Compared to the colorful entertaining space opera of the first trilogy it's rather dull and predictable. Hopefully Episode III will give Star Wars fans a movie that can be held up to the high standards of the originals.

The continuation of the second Star Wars trilogy, which is the first in chronology.

A really important part for the story, a lot of new things, the development of character relationships, a lot of epic and drama.

Like the first part, this one was not particularly accepted. Nevertheless, I think that it is not worthy of so much criticism, in particular from the West, because both "The Hidden Menace" and "Attack of the Clones" are really good films for the history of star Wars, and the number of advantages here is a clear plus, unlike the cons. And I think that the whole haight is connected only with high and long expectations!