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Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones
reviewed by Dan Heaton
The original Star Wars films have always
occupied a magical place for me in generating my love
of cinema. Viewing the first entry on home video in
the early '80s is one of my earliest memories of
seeing any movie. I witnessed both The Empire
Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi on the
big screen, and my adulation of this galaxy reached
new heights. What boy couldn't imagine himself as Han
Solo piloting the Millennium Falcon or Luke Skywalker
battling Darth Vader with the fate of the world
hanging in the balance. During my growth into
adulthood, my excitement for the series has barely
dissipated. I still can quote directly from the horde
of classic lines, and the story remains firmly
ingrained in my brain. When creator George Lucas
announced the release of three new prequels several
years ago, I waited expectantly for a return to the
mystique of Star Wars.
Unfortunately, Episode I - The Phantom Menace
is a major disappointment on almost every level. The
characters are extremely wooden and lack the vitality
of the original stars. The visual effects are
astounding, but so many exist that the story loses any
relevance. Lucas handles both the writing and
directorial duties, and he employs little skill or
inventiveness with either task. The dialogue is
terrible and even makes a young kid (Jake Lloyd) seem
even less intelligent than he should be. With the
glaring exceptions of the pod race, lightsaber battle,
and a few emotive moments from Liam Neeson, the
bloated film falls well short of expectations.
The buzz circulated by devout Star Wars fans following
the release of Episode 2: Attack of the Clones
exclaimed the idea that this film was a return to the
top form of the original trilogy. Jar Jar Binks only
makes a brief appearance, Jake Lloyd is nowhere to be
found, and the story corresponds more closely with
Anakin Skywalker's movement towards the dark side. The
roots of the Empire also begin to sprout, and even
Boba Fett has a minor role. Plus, this entry promised
more kinetic action and unbelievable effects. I
entered the theater with the positive idea that Lucas
would certainly not produce another clunker.
Once again, my expectations were much higher than the
ultimate result. While the story jumped from one
unemotional set piece to the next, my heart sunk
further to the floor, and I basically lost interest in
the final outcome. Yes, this film is a decent
improvement over its predecessor, but it still harbors
numerous problems that create a less-than-fascinating
viewing experience. Lucas has shifted his primary
focus from relating a tale to pushing the most
ambitious digital effects. The scenery is amazing, but
it often looks so fake that it's impossible to suspend
disbelief and actually enter this atmosphere. Instead,
we become spectators reduced to murmuring in awe at
the impressive digital creations. I have no problems
with Lucas aiming for the stars with his visual
effects. Unfortunately, he must balance the flashy
shots with believable characters with whom the
audience can identify.
Two prime examples of recent films that deftly combine
impressive eye-candy with a touching story are
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring.
Both movies stem from well-written literary pieces,
which bolster the depth of each character by providing
plenty of background. When Frodo (Elijah Wood) and
Arwen (Liv Tyler) flee on horseback from the deadly
Black Riders, we're mesmerized by Peter Jackson's
breathtaking direction and our interest in their
welfare. A contrasting moment in Attack of the Clones
has Anakin (Hayden Christensen) and Obi-Wan Kenobi
(Ewen McGregor) chasing a hired assassin through the
skies of Coruscant. While they perform unbelievable
feats of dexterity, their moves are so ridiculous that
it removes any suspense about their chances for
success. By the conclusion of this tiring and overly
long chase, my lone emotion was relief that it was
over. Harry Potter definitely aims toward
children, but it contains enough subtle jokes and
wondrous moments to please adult viewers. Supporters
may claim that Star Wars can be emotionally weak
because it's a children's film, but that reasoning
does not excuse sloppy plotting and wooden characters.
Luke Skywalker may not be a complex figure, but
humanity exists within him that does not appear in
Christensen's Anakin.
Attack of the Clones begins 10 years after its
predecessor with several assassination attempts on
Senator Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) - formally the
queen of Naboo. Jedi trainee Anakin and his mentor
Obi-Wan must protect her while trying to discover the
origins of these attacks. Meanwhile, a new threat has
arisen in the form of Count Dooku (Christopher Lee), a
powerful Jedi pulling the strings of a group of
Separatists. However, someone within the Senate is
also controlling the events behind the scenes for his
own devious aims. This "phantom menace" must be strong
in the dark side of the Force because powerful Jedi
like Yoda and Mace Windu (Samuel Jackson) cannot
discover his identity. The troubles with Dooku
culminate in the creation of an Army of the Republic
to crush the separatist factions. This group of
super-power clones appears to fight on the side of
good, but they also bear an eerie resemblance to the
forces of the Empire in the later films.
Following several close calls with Amidala, Obi-Wan
travels to a remote planet to hopefully discover the
source of the threat. Meanwhile, Annakin joins the
attractive senator at her home planet for the required
romantic moments. Obviously, they must get together
sometime so Luke and Leia can exist. Considering the
importance of this relationship, it is surprising that
Lucas recycles so many tired cliches during their
courtship. Portman is a solid actress, but she can do
nothing with dreadful lines that induce more groans
that emotions from the audience. Any momentum
generated by the early scenes grinds to a halt and
reveals Lucas' disinterest in crafting a clever
script. Christensen lacks a strong presence, but he
could have sneaked by with more interesting dialogue.
Obviously, few Star Wars fans enjoy the films
because of the complex love stories, so these problems
are not a shock. They want to know if the action
scenes and effects are amazing. Well, the answer is
more complicated than just a simple "yes" or "no." The
visual shots are unbelievable and display remarkable
worlds of striking colors. Especially interesting is
the foggy clone lab visited by Obi-Wan. It features
strange beings looking oddly similar to the aliens in
Spielberg's A.I and Close Encounters of the
Third Kind. Also, the skies of Coruscant are
filled with strange ships piloted by all types of
foreign creatures. The battle scenes contain several
new inventions, including the amazing
delayed-explosion missiles shot from the mercenary
ship of Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison). The lightsaber
finale contains some nasty attacks from the
79-year-old Lee, who shows his younger enemies who
really knows how to fight. Plus, this battle also
showcases the agile, crowd-pleasing moves of
everyone's favorite little green Jedi.
Even though it includes some fine moments, this story
ultimately falls because it relies too much on flashy
effects. Lucas ambitiously tackles complex political
schemes, but he forgets to inject any human energy to
the proceedings. The script is not technically simple,
but it remains too basic emotionally. The mechanics of
the plot tug the characters to numerous locales, but
their motivations do not spring from any substantive
core. Plus, the visual effects are so numerous that
they eventually become distracting. The original
trilogy did not rely on cartoonish tricks to keep us
entertained. The recent films move so far in the
unreal direction that our suspension of disbelief
nearly dissipates completely. It works as a collection
of impressive scenes, but does not succeed as a
memorable complete product.
Issue 10, July 2002 | next article
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