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A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... George Lucas released this film and the collective hearts of the Star Wars fandom went "wah-wah". Sure, that reaction had already started with The Phantom Menace, but for all its faults, I think that film has some genuinely good moments and I think people still had a bit of hope that Lucas could turn the ship. But then this film came up, forcing people to face the inevitable and go "Holy s-h!t, this is bad". Little did they know what the future had ahead of them.
Set 10 years after The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones follows the attempts of the Jedi to stop an intergalactic war while also avoiding the spread of the dark side of the Force, which might have already infiltrated them. However, what is at the forefront is the relationship between Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and Senator Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman).
I was one of those watching this in theaters back in the day, and I don't think my opinion has changed much. Overall, I think that Lucas had a strong story arc for this trilogy, that was bogged down by bad scripts and CGI excesses. Most of the dialogue, especially that between Anakin and Padmé, is just terrible. Even the likes of Portman, Ewan McGregor, Samuel L. Jackson, or Christopher Lee can't help these lines sound convincing.
This performance issue is complicated by the second point, which is the CGI excesses. Unfortunately, Lucas went crazy with the CGI characters and the "green screens" which results in a lot of moments of actors interacting with "nothing". As a result, many interactions and moments result in stilted performances and clunky deliveries which can't be good at all when you pair it with bad dialogue.
Beyond the performances, the overall excess of CGI is extremely distracting. It's evident that Lucas had no reins about what he could/should do with the technology. There are a ton of things and characters that could've been done practically or through costume/makeup, but he chooses CGI just because he can. The result is a disjointed look (especially when you compare it with the Original Trilogy) that feels like a cartoon or a video game.
To make it worse, the film lacks the solid fight sequences that The Phantom Menace gave us. Obi-Wan vs. Jango Fett is probably the best, and Dooku vs. Yoda still gets a chuckle out of me, but the rest are just too busy and video-game-like culminating with two sequences that highlight this, both in the arena and the droid factory. It's just too much going on.
Overall, I still think there are some good moments scattered. Christopher Lee does his best to ham it up, McGregor still manages to hold his own, and Ian McDiarmid is easily the best actor in the whole trilogy. Unfortunately, it isn't enough to keep this afloat. I had always held this one as the worst of the series, which is probably why I hadn't revisited in a long time. But, impossible to see the future was, and little did I know what would come.
Grade:
STAR WARS: EPISODE II
ATTACK OF THE CLONES
(2002, Lucas)
ATTACK OF THE CLONES
(2002, Lucas)
"The dark side clouds everything. Impossible to see the future is."
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away... George Lucas released this film and the collective hearts of the Star Wars fandom went "wah-wah". Sure, that reaction had already started with The Phantom Menace, but for all its faults, I think that film has some genuinely good moments and I think people still had a bit of hope that Lucas could turn the ship. But then this film came up, forcing people to face the inevitable and go "Holy s-h!t, this is bad". Little did they know what the future had ahead of them.
Set 10 years after The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones follows the attempts of the Jedi to stop an intergalactic war while also avoiding the spread of the dark side of the Force, which might have already infiltrated them. However, what is at the forefront is the relationship between Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) and Senator Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman).
I was one of those watching this in theaters back in the day, and I don't think my opinion has changed much. Overall, I think that Lucas had a strong story arc for this trilogy, that was bogged down by bad scripts and CGI excesses. Most of the dialogue, especially that between Anakin and Padmé, is just terrible. Even the likes of Portman, Ewan McGregor, Samuel L. Jackson, or Christopher Lee can't help these lines sound convincing.
This performance issue is complicated by the second point, which is the CGI excesses. Unfortunately, Lucas went crazy with the CGI characters and the "green screens" which results in a lot of moments of actors interacting with "nothing". As a result, many interactions and moments result in stilted performances and clunky deliveries which can't be good at all when you pair it with bad dialogue.
Beyond the performances, the overall excess of CGI is extremely distracting. It's evident that Lucas had no reins about what he could/should do with the technology. There are a ton of things and characters that could've been done practically or through costume/makeup, but he chooses CGI just because he can. The result is a disjointed look (especially when you compare it with the Original Trilogy) that feels like a cartoon or a video game.
To make it worse, the film lacks the solid fight sequences that The Phantom Menace gave us. Obi-Wan vs. Jango Fett is probably the best, and Dooku vs. Yoda still gets a chuckle out of me, but the rest are just too busy and video-game-like culminating with two sequences that highlight this, both in the arena and the droid factory. It's just too much going on.
Overall, I still think there are some good moments scattered. Christopher Lee does his best to ham it up, McGregor still manages to hold his own, and Ian McDiarmid is easily the best actor in the whole trilogy. Unfortunately, it isn't enough to keep this afloat. I had always held this one as the worst of the series, which is probably why I hadn't revisited in a long time. But, impossible to see the future was, and little did I know what would come.
Grade: