Review: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

A decade after the events of “The Phantom Menace”, the now Senator Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) must deal with an assassination attempt on her, as well as political unrest involving a separatist movement. Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) are assigned by the now Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) to protect the former Queen of Naboo once more. Anakin travels back to his home with Padme and the intense young man professes a romantic interest in her (behaviour frowned upon for a Jedi), whilst also attempting to locate his mother (Pernilla August). Meanwhile, Obi-Wan investigates the assassination plot which leads to an off-the-grid planet, and a rogue Jedi who has been secretly amassing a clone army. Temuera Morrison and Daniel Logan play bounty hunter Jango Fett and his scowly son Boba Fett, Christopher Lee plays Jedi master Count Dooku, whilst Aussies Jack Thompson and Joel Edgerton play Cliegg Lars and Owen Lars.

 

So, I managed to glean a fair share of the same enthusiasm I had in my initial midnight screening of “The Phantom Menace” in 1999 some 17 years later, and now I’ve revisited this 2002 film from director George Lucas and co-writer Jonathan Hales (“Loophole” and several TV endeavours with “Young Indiana Jones” in the title), as well. I didn’t like it as much as “The Phantom Menace” to begin with, and I must report that yes, I have indeed removed it from my Top 200 films of all-time. It’s still a really entertaining film with a lot to enjoy, but there’s definitely a diminished level of emotional investment from me in this one.

 

FX-wise, I think this one holds up even better than “The Phantom Menace”, even if the ships look too pristine for my liking. They just don’t look lived-in, as I think they really should. The cityscapes are particularly wonderful, though the green screen is once again variable in seamlessness (The arena scene in particular is hard to look at for this reason). However, just as with the previous film, and in fact probably more so, there’s just too much CGI. The actual plot in this film I think is somewhat better than “The Phantom Menace”, but is quite badly let down by pacing, dialogue, and acting, the latter two were much lesser problems with “The Phantom Menace”. The Obi-Wan investigation side of the plot is particularly interesting (despite the transparency of the mystery), and in this section we also get one of the film’s better performances by the inimitable and enduring Sir Christopher Lee as Count Dooku. He hasn’t got as much to chew on as Peter Jackson and JRR Tolkien gave him in the “Lord of the Rings” films, but nonetheless he lends the film class, menace, and presence. I did have to chuckle, though, that the character of Count Dooku is meant to have mysterious intentions, but is played by one of cinema’s most enduring and effective players of screen villainy. Ewan McGregor does an even better Alec Guinness impersonation than in the previous film, and he gets the best line of dialogue in the entire film directed at Anakin: ‘Why do I get the feeling you’re going to be the death of me?’.

 

Ian McDiarmid is once again excellent, the acting highlight in the role of a character who may be Darth Sidious, but is clearly insidious. He, not Vader is the true top villain in the “Star Wars” universe. Hayden Christensen copped a lot of flak for his performance in this, so thankfully there’s “Shattered Glass” to prove the guy can genuinely act a bit. At the time I too was critical of his performance, and looking at the film again in 2016, I think I might’ve been a tad harsh. It’s not a great performance, but I actually think Christensen at least has a good understanding of his character. He subtly plays Anakin for the moody, mopey teen he is, while hinting at the darkness that will eventually corrupt and consume him. He’s not exactly consistent, but there are times when he really nails it. The main problem is with the romantic parts of the film, and boy are there all kinds of problems with this side of the film. Staying with Christensen for a moment though, he gives off creepy stalker vibes towards Padme, which in theory makes sense. Watching it play out though, is all kinds of awkward given that Natalie Portman’s Padme is eventually meant to have some kind of romantic pull towards Anakin while they tip-toe through the CGI meadow and talk about coarse and grainy sand in the worst dialogue George Lucas has ever written (I couldn’t defend that dialogue back in 2002, and no way in hell am I defending it now, either). Lucas completely fails in selling us on Padme’s side of the love story, not helped by a Natalie Portman performance that suggests she’d rather be anywhere else but in this movie. She’s flat as a tack, and even Christensen comes off better, at least in his moody and dark moments. A pre-Hollywood Rose Byrne looks like she knows she could do a better job than Portman. Yes, Portman is a better actress, but you don’t have to be a great actor to give a good performance, and I’ve seen plenty of great actors give poor performances. Portman’s a good actress who gave three poor performances in these films that stick out like a sore thumb. I just don’t think she really appreciated this franchise enough so that her resentment/boredom with the script affects her overall performance. I ended up resenting the cutaways to the Anakin/Padme romance, because it’s such a flop and drags the film down in terms of pace, too. Also, I’d like to point out that anyone who complains about the occasional Kiwi or Aussie twang in this film is clearly nit-picking. It’s set in outer space, so who cares what accent they’re using anyway? And hell, I was too busy laughing at Matt Doran’s hilarious cameo with Obi-Wan at a bar, to take any notice of what his accent was like.

 

Like “The Phantom Menace”, Lucas manages to bring this one home strong through the climactic battle and the two duels. The Yoda vs. Dooku duel for me is the unquestionable highlight of the film, and in fact one of my favourite moments in any “Star Wars” film. The first duel is very good, but the Dooku-Yoda duel is exciting, amusing, a little weird, and above all else, completely cool. It was a particularly nice touch to add some very Dracula-esque facial expressions from Lee, not to mention that his lightsabre has a curved handle allowing Lee to wield it like a regular duelling sword. Meanwhile, if the best scene in the whole film is the Dooku-Yoda duel, one of the more memorable moments in the film is definitely the fact that serial pest Jar-Jar Binks (whose presence is thankfully lessened in this film and particularly the next) is basically the cause of the catastrophic turn of events. It’s Jar-Jar’s fault! Brilliant. Less brilliant is the conveyor belt scene, easily the worst moment in the film. It’s too jarringly comedic and doesn’t look very convincing on an FX front, either. Pretty regrettable to be honest.

 

John Williams’ music score this time out isn’t quite as memorable as his score for “The Phantom Menace” but is still solid. The best moment is one of the quietest, as the Imperial March plays as Yoda senses a disturbance in the force, playing a little louder soon after.

 

Make no mistake, there’s some great stuff in what is ultimately a good-to-very good film. However, this film doesn’t mean as much to me in 2016 as it did in 2002, and the rating reflects this. The dialogue is abysmal, the pacing too slow, there’s an overreliance on CGI FX, and the performances are variable. When this film is great, though, it really, really is, and any live-action “Star Wars” film that has Christopher Lee among its cast can’t be anywhere near bad.

 

Rating: B