Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones Review

  In my review for The Phantom Menace I noted that while the film had flaws it overall was a enjoyable film. However in regards to Attack of the Clones the flaws are too much for the film to be saved by the good things about it. Before I delve into what this film gets wrong I'm going to focus on the positives. Like Episode I Attack of the Clones has a strong start. There is a assassination attempt on the former queen of Naboo and now Senator Amidala. This attempt leads to the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and his padawan Anakin Skywalker to be assigned to protect her. There is some fun material here as the Jedi have to chase down a bounty Hunter that once again attempts to kill Padme. There is even a humorous scene with Kenobi at a bar where he mind tricks a drug dealer. In the same bar he also cuts off the arm of the bounty hunter who is subsequently killed by Jango Fett. All of this overall makes for a strong start to the film. However that start does not carry into the next part.

    The Strong start of the film leads into the two main story lines of the film. Obi Wan Kenobi is tasked to find out more of the mysterious bounty hunter(Jango Fett) while Anakin is to go to Naboo with Padme to keep her safe. Ewan McGregor is vastly underused in Episode I and he really becomes one of the best parts of the prequels in this film.  The Kenobi storyline continues the biggest strength of the prequels and that is world building. During his investigation he goes to the Jedi Archives, a young padawan class, a diner in Coruscant, and to a new planet Kamino which becomes very important to the Star Wars universe. Each of these things by themselves aren't much but together they help the prequels contiue to paint the larger picture of the Star Wars mythos and take us to places we have previously never seen in the films. In Kamino we are introduced to the Clone Army. More political mystery is created here due to the fact that the Kaminoians claim that this army was created for the Republic by Jedi Sypho Dias. However the Jedi have no knowledge this. This is just another puzzle piece in the scheme of Palpatine(the emperor) that won't be fully solved until the end of Episode III. At kamino a sort of orgin story is created for the classic character Bobba Fett. The Clone Army was built with the DNA of Jango Fett and Boba was created to be his son. After Kenobi realizes that the Bounter Hunter he is looking for is at this planet he seeks him out. They have a well done fight and Jango and Boba get away but not before a tracker is placed on their ship. Kenobi takes chase and one of the coolest sequences happens around the orbit of another new planet Geonosis. As each ship dives and ducks around the meteors in orbit of the planet Jango places mines that have great sound design when they explode. Kenobi tricks the Fetts into believing that he dies in the explosion and follows them down to the surface of the planet. It is here where he sees the formation of the Separatist movement and sends a call to the Jedi Council to inform them of the plot against the Republic. It is than that he is captured. 

   All of this storyline makes for a tale of intrigue, action, and mystery. While all of this is happening we are also being treated to the storyline of Anakin Skywalker. It is this portion that really brings the film down. Hayden Christensen is now playing the role of the future Vader and frankly he is a miscast. While he can't be the only person to blame for the poor characterization of his character he certainly is a part of the problem. His storyline consists of poor dialogue and interactions during a budding romance between himself and Padme. What could have been an interesting forbidden love story turns into a poorly writer and meandering tale. None of the scenes at Naboo are very interesting even with the beautiful locations of the planet. Perhaps with a better actor and writing these scenes could be good but that is not the film we got. There is a glimmer of a good story duing Anakin's portion of the film. At Naboo he starts to have dreams of his Mother on Tatooine. He believes her to be in distress and returns to his home planet to rescue her. He finds she has been take by Tuskan Raiders(Sandpeople). He finds her only to have a short goodbye as she has been tortured by the Raiders and succumbs to her wounds. In a fit of Rage and one of the darkest and best handled part of his story in this film Anakins kills the Raiders. It is a powerful moment and a good foreshadowing of the downfall of this Jedi. However even this small bright spot in Anakin's storyline is short lived. Soon after Anakin is telling Padme what he has done. What could have been a great scene about what he fears and his anger is turned into whinny barrage of poor dialogue. I understand what the scene is trying to convey but the execution of it is just not there. It is another instance of me wondering if it could have been better with a different actor. It is than that Anakin and Padme receive the message from Kenobi and they go on to try and save him in the last portion of the film.

    There are some very cool moments in the last portion of the film on Geonosis and the ending has major ramifications for the future of the Star Wars universe. Once Anakin and Padme get to the planet they discover the factory for the Droid army being built for the Seperatist. There is a sequence here that becomes too over the top with C3P0 that almost gets to the point of his character being annoying as Jar Jar Binks in Episode I. Who thankfully is barely in this film. Anakin and Padme are capture and alongside Kenbobi are sentenced to death. Right before they are executed an army of Jedi and Clones come in and save the day. It is a grand battle and full of spectacle and is very enjoyable. On the other hand there is a feeling that perhaps this is too much. That a lot of characters that are one the screen have enough context or back story for us to have any true connection with. There has to be a balance of spectacle and characters and this sequence leans to much to the former. During the battle there is a great duel between Dooku, Anakin, and Kenobi. Dooku proves to be too much for the two and chops off Anakin's hand. Before Dooku can deal a killing blow however Yoda comes in to save the day. It's the first time we see this Jedi in action and it's a cool moment. Like many villains in Star Wars Dooku escapes and thus begins The Clone Wars. 

  Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is the weakest film in the Star Wars saga. While there are things about it that are enjoyable, Ewan McGregor does his best, it overall falls vastly short of what it is trying to accomplish. What was suppose to be an interesting tale of how Anakin becomes Darth Vader gets turned into a poorly done romance story with a side mystery. Whenever I am re-watching the saga this is the film I tend to dread watching. So while you have to watch to understand future plot points of the saga it is a movie that I would not recommend watching more than once.