Star Wars - Episode II: Attack of the Clones

-Story-

What can one say about Star Wars. In some ways it’s a fantastic story. It’s inventive, unique, and has been very well fleshed out over the years. In other maybe more immediate ways though, particularly of the new series of prequels, the story is very weak, the dialogue heavy handed or insipid, and the computer graphics overshadow and distract from virtually every scene. I should state now that I do in fact really enjoy the Star Wars films. Everything from the books to the action figures and comics has at one point or another fallen into my grubby paws. So as much as I want to try and be a critical objective observer, I simply can’t. Although, I would suppose that no one is going into this film without some preconceptions; I just want my bias to be clearly stated. I do generally speaking see the good side of films rather than the bad, and I will most likely remember films that are dear to me in a favorable light.

That said, the story of Attack of the Clones has some very interesting elements to it that I think deserve recognition up front. Even the casual reviewer seems to watch these new films and whine about how it lacks the depth to the original series and how the dialogue is so very poorly written. And while I see the value in comparison to the originals, this film must be judged by different standards than those classics. It’s not 1978 anymore; let’s face facts people, the original Star Wars film would not get made today. It simply isn’t what people want anymore. What we should appreciate in these new films, especially in Attack of the Clones, is the reverence with which they treat the original. It plays by the same rules as the original films, it isn’t bastardizing the fabric of the Star Wars universe. And in many ways it lives up to any other story told in this special setting.

The plot as a whole revolves around Anikin Skywalker. An apprentice Jedi Knight (pad wan), he is a rough-spoken, somewhat delinquent teenager. He disregards the wishes of his master trainer, and friend Obi Wan Kenobi on more than one occasion and is thrown into a complex and not wholly revealed political situation involving a woman from his past the beautiful Senator Amidala. When last we saw her, in The Phantom Menace she was queen of the lush world of Naboo, as Anikin was a freed slave boy from the desert world Tatooine. Since the last film a few things have happened. The queen is now a Senator in the Galactic Republic, and leader of the opposition party. Anikin has spent the last six or seven years training to become a Jedi under Obi Wan. The Jedi order as a whole, although in casual observation appears strong, is slowly loosing ground to a mysterious dark Lord of the Sith, the elusive Darth Sideous. And events are about to come to a head after an assassination attempt is made on Amidala’s life. The Jedi, Obi Wan, and Anikin are brought in to unravel the mystery and find out who or what may be behind the insidious plans of the likes of ruthless bounty hunter Jango Fett, and another evil Jedi, Darth Tyrannus. Mystery follows mystery as Obi Wan starts to get to the bottom of a plot that will most likely end in and possibly bring about the destruction of the Republic as a whole.

Ok, so it is a little bit confusing. But don’t worry, everything hasn’t been revealed yet. We’re not really supposed to have all the pieces to the puzzle yet. By knowing the eventual outcome of these proceedings (as seen in the original Star Wars trilogy; parts IV through VI), the viewer has a special insight into the character’s motivations that is a rare treat. Unfortunately, because we do know the outcome, we’ve already scripted it to some extent or another, in our minds. So when we see something that we disagree with we shout ‘Why would he behave like that?’ or “That’s not how it should happen’. Well, guess what folks, this isn’t our vision, this isn’t our story, this is George Lucas’ tale. And what he says, goes. These films are cannon of his universe; what happens, happens. This attitude often leads people to complain. Admittedly the plot is convoluted, but I respectfully will reserve my opinions until the third and final installment of this trilogy has been presented before making judgments in that regard. I don’t think it fair to diss a story that hasn’t been finished yet.

Admittedly, the dialogue is fantastically bad at times. In particular the love scenes between Anikin and Amidala (or Padme as she is also known) were very poor fare. The writing is simply awful. I can’t ever imagine that people in love would talk like this. They should have taken a few tips from Shakespeare, these romantic moments demanded subtlety; what they got was melodrama.

What was done well with the story though was some of the smaller elements. These weren’t all very apparent, but to the serious fans of the series they really made a difference. Darth Tyrannus, has the plans for a terrible Galactic Space Station. Of course, we all know that these are the plans for the eventual Death Star. Also, we get to meet the younger version of Luke Skywalker’s one day to be guardians ‘Uncle Owen’ and ‘Aunt Beru’. We get to see some simply amazing action sequences. In one of which we learn how Anakin lost his arm, as seen in Return of the Jedi. We get to learn of the small, but significant beginnings of probably the fans favorite cult figure from the films, the ferocious Boba Fett. These, and more, provide the simple pleasures of the film. Perhaps Lucas was playing to the fans. Of course everyone wanted to see Yoda fight, and so he gave it to us. I don’t honestly see that there’s anything wrong with giving us what we want. So, the plot is convoluted, so the dialogue is weak. I for one am thankful that a director listens to his fan base. And when it comes down to it, this entire series of films is designed to play like an old time serial. The story was never supposed to be life changing, it wasn’t meant to be taken too realistically. This is a Fairy Tale. And if you don’t believe me, just look at the opening line of the entire film set “A long time ago, in a galaxy, far, far away…” Let’s take this film for what it is. It’s an entertaining piece of cinematic fiction. It’s a popcorn film, a date film, an afternoon matinee. And for that I think it fills it’s role quite well. Lucas may have problems writing more serious stuff than this; but if this was heavier, people would be even harder on it. This is a decent, not great story, that furthers a complex plot and treats us to some fantasy and fun along the way. I say good job. Attack of the Clones isn’t exactly what I imagined, but that’s ok. It does what it sets out to do, in the simplest terms just to entertain.

Attack of the Clones has a pretty interesting look on a whole. That’s not to say it’s great or anything. This is a pretty brilliant and flawed film overall, but for the most part I can’t help but be impressed by the look of this film. You’ve really got to start by looking at the Computer Graphics. To put it simply, they are spectacular. But that’s also part of the problem. Virtually every single shot (I believe I honestly heard a figure around 90%) has an element of computer effects in it. Everything from the lush backgrounds, to many of the characters overall are computer generated images. It’s really amazing that technology can go so far. And Lucas has always been a big booster for the latest and the greatest gadgets in his work; but here it is really just sometimes too much to handle. Much more than even in The Phantom Menace the CG here is layered into everything. And frankly, it’s rather distracting. I know that CG has come a long way, but it just isn’t quite there yet. Most, but not all, of the time you can still tell what’s CG and what isn’t. And that is where the difficulty begins. ILM has obviously worked very very hard on this but in the end, it just doesn’t quite cut it.

You can’t look at all these Graphics though and not marvel at the astounding design of the film. This is an epic job, the creation of vibrant, full, and hopefully believable worlds fell for the most part to Doug Chiang, the director of concept design. Now what a fantastic job that must be; and Chiang has really come through here splendidly. Although he started this job on Phantom Menace he has really perfected it here. The aliens are marvelous, the backgrounds lustrous, but I was personally most impressed with the ship and other technological design. I could never really wrap my head round why in The Phantom Menace all of the spacecraft looked like they were made in the 1950s. Now I’ve heard the explanation that the Galactic Republic at the time of Episode 1 was going through a kind of artistic renaissance, but that really never washed with me. In a galaxy like this one, change would come slowly. Spaceship design wouldn’t change that fast. The years between the Episode 1 and Episodes 4 through 6 are just too short for that much of a difference. Thankfully, Chiang has brought us far closer to the kind of spacecraft and machinery that birthed The Millennium Falcon, and Imperial Star Destroyers. The change over the six or seven years between Episode 1 and Episode 2 is remarkable. Attack of the Clones presents wonderful fusion of the new and the old. This being an in-between story, we go to great lengths to see some of the ships that are obviously going to turn into the Imperial fleet. The coolest of which in my opinion are the prototype At-At walkers (those are the big ones seen in the battle of Hoth, SW:ESB). Aside from this we get to see the beginnings of Stormtroopers in the Clone Army that shows up near the end of the film, and a host of other little nuances that are really nice treats for the fans. Simply put, this is excellent work.

I’d like to also mention the fights. One of the great things about The Phantom Menace was the fighting. I didn’t think anything could beat that Darth Maul fight at the end of that film, but here Lucas has once again, outdone himself. The fight scenes in Attack of the Clones; be it the subtle but disturbing gleam in Anikin’s eye as he brutally attacks the Tuskin Raiders on Tatooine, or the sprawling gladiatorial scene on Geonosis, or Obi-Wan’s show down with Jango Fett. We are consistently treated to a wondrous display of swordsmanship. Admittedly some of the space battles left something to be desired. The chase scene at the beginning through Cosscurant, and Obi-Wan vs Jango Fett in the Asteroid field were fairly weak efforts that went on far too long. But on a whole the ground battles were exactly what the fans wanted. We get hundreds of bloodthirsty warriors taking on dozens of Jedi in an all out fight to the finish. Mace Windu finally gets to flex his muscles, and we really get a proper taste of the Jedi Order’s skill; giving much more insight into how and why they are known as the protectors of the galaxy. This film shows the Jedi at their finest, their strongest; and we (rightly so) can see just how far they have fallen in skill with lack of proper training by the time Luke becomes a Jedi Master. The biggest treat in the film though has to be the final showdown between Darth Tyranus and Jedi Master Yoda. This is the fight everyone has been waiting for, and it doesn’t disappoint. Yoda, in one of the better CG sequences jumps, twists, turns, and basically bounces all over the place as he spins blindingly around with his lightsaber. I hear they even had to CG Christopher Lee’s head onto a stunt double for this fight, as it was too quick for the aged actor to keep up with. But without a doubt this is hands down the coolest fight scene in the entire series to date. I think the only thing that might top it is the inevitable show down between Obi Wan and Anikin in Episode 3. But until that happens we can rejoice that we’ve got some truly amazing action here.

Finally, I cannot forget to talk for a second about the music. John Williams returns with a very strong score. The refrains are, of course, the same as the original trilogy. And admittedly some of the individual themes lack the sheer thrust of 'Duel of the Fates' from The Phantom Menace, but we are still treated to some really awe inspiring compositions. What I really loved though was the sound mixing. We can hear the slightest strains of Darth Vaders theme as Anikin races across the desert on his way to save his mother in a bloody battle. The powerful vision of the Clone Army preparing for battle - bring out the Imperial theme song, and the viewer is forced to acknowledge that this grand battalion will undoubtedly become the galactic army. These hints are what really make the music work so well. They are powerful and call upon a history, they regale us with burgeoning love, and engage the viewer into all the action. Williams has once again proven to us why he is the greatest film composer ever.

Thankfully Lucas and Co. were pretty smart when they began casting actors for The Phantom Menace. They assembled a very talented group of actors together that were not unknown by any means like the with the original trilogy, but actors that are respected for their talents and hip enough to be accessible to the younger generation. Of course Liam Neeson and Ray Park are gone with this second installment but we are still treated to some fine actors in Ewan McGregor as Obi Wan, Natalie Portman as Amidala/Padme, Sam Jackson as Mace Windu, and the revered Christopher Lee as Darth Tyrannus. They all perform fairly well; although the dialogue is rather weak. Ewan McGregor has obviously worked very hard on his swordplay skills and it shows here. They are believable, which is a fair compliment for a fantasy film.

The real challenge for the casting director, Robin Gurland, must have been trying to find the actor who could play the young, and disturbed Anikin Skywalker. They needed someone young, handsome enough, and someone who looked enough like Luke and Leia to reasonably be their father. But they also needed to find someone who had a dark side, the capacity for brutality had to come across in their actor. What they found was Hayden Christiensen, a young Canadian actor with a rather short screen history. When I found out about the casting for this part I went right out and saw Life as a House,which I would highly recommend to everyone, to eye up the new Anikin. And I must admit I was thoroughly impressed with Christensen. I’ve heard people complain that he didn’t do the part justice, well I would have to disagree with that. The script didn’t do the character justice, there is no doubt about it; this guy can really act. After seeing Life as a House, another film in which he pays a brooding disturbed teenager, I had pretty high hopes for Episode 2. Honestly, the things that disappointed me about this film didn’t at the end of the day have very much to do with Christensen at all. He played the part to the best of his ability and I think really makes an excellent disturbed Jedi Knight.

Finally we’ve really got to talk about George Lucas. Now Lucas has had a pretty interesting career, but there’s one thing people should keep in mind when talking about him. He is not a great director. Oh, that’s not to say he isn’t fantastically talented at lots of things. I really respect how he has pushed filmmaking technology to such fantastic new heights, and his producing credits are very impressive, but in terms of directing, he has never really been very good. American Graffiti probably his best known non Star Wars film was made for a pittance back in 1973, and even by those standards, it wasn’t really groundbreaking. I mean people look at that film now and say they can see his genius burgeoning, but honestly, the film is alright as a simple story, but would I give this man credit for being a world class director? Would you? No, of course you wouldn’t. Thankfully Lucas realised that his real strengths lay in producing, where he quietly spent the last 20 or so years. Now he’s back to directing, and it’s like people forgot that he was never really that good to begin with. These stories mean so much to so many people that it’s going to be impossible to satisfy everyone; and so Lucas has focused on doing what he knows how to do, play out a complex story under simplified circumstances. These new Star Wars films are aimed at the kids, and at the fans. I think he has thoroughly succeeded on both counts. People might whine about how much they hate Jar Jar Binks, or that the dialogue is garbage, which at times it is, but give the man a break, these films are wonderful pieces of fantasy. They’re not the Holy Grail, they’re not Citizen Kane, and they don’t pretend to be. The Star Wars films are serial entertainment at its finest. They’re popcorn and date film. Lucas has created a marvelous piece of entertainment that will keep kids interested and engaged, like no other films can. He has done a great job and I for one am very happy that he’s is back in the director’s chair; showing us his vision of what this story really is. I hope he keeps up the hard work with Episode 3, in 2005. Kudos.

Well, if you’ve made it this far into the review then I applaud you. This is definitely the longest I’ve ever rambled on about a film on my site. I’m glad I did though, for me it’s very therapeutic to try and organise my thoughts into some kind of structure. In the end I really did like this film. Sure it had problems, but I got past them. Try to look at it like this: Star Wars is the biggest film franchise in the world, you can’t make something everyone will like. So just take it for what it is and let that be enough. This is an excellent installment into the Star Wars series and I’m really glad Lucas is here to make them for us. Thanks for the time.