| Star Wars: Episode II-Attack of the Clones |
| 2002, 20th Century Fox. Directed by George Lucas. Starring Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, and Christopher Lee. Voice of Frank Oz. Rated PG for sci-fi action and violence |
| Grade: A- |
| Review by Anthony |
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| The saga continues in the second installment in the Star Wars prequel series. Attack of the Clones takes place ten years after Episode I-The Phantom Menace. Anakin Skywalker, now a padawan learner, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, now a Jedi master and teacher of Anakin, are assigned to guard Amidala, no longer a queen but a senator whose life is in danger due to political strifes. This reunion leads to an inevitable romance between Anakin and Amidala, which produces complications since the Jedi are not allowed to marry. While Anakin escorts Amidala back to her home-planet Naboo, Obi-Wan discovers that a Jedi, who has been dead for ten years, had secretly been in charge of producing an unwarranted army of clones. As Obi-Wan sets out to find the cause of this army, Anakin returns to Tatooine with Amidala, prompted by Anakin's ominous dreams about his mother. Attack of the Clones shows us things that no previous Star Wars film has. The most notable of which is the first time we ever get to see Yoda masterfully wielding a lightsaber. This is in no small part due to the change in the way Yoda is presented: whereas before Yoda was somewhat of a muppet, in Episode II he is completely computer-animated. This allows a much more active Yoda, and the result is just plain awesome. From the moment Yoda pulls his lightsaber out of his robe, using the force mind you, you know that this is gonna be good. The movie also gives us for the first time not just a lightsaber duel but a scene in which Jedi after Jedi after Jedi fight in a gladiator-like atmosphere. This is one of the film's biggest and most action-packed scenes. Episode II also gives us more foreshadowings of things from the original triliogy. The most noteworthy of course is the beginning of Anakin's transformation. We see Anakin giving in to his anger and disobeying Obi-Wan more and more. By the end of the movie, he isn't completely angry or hateful; but these subtle precursors effectively foreshadow what he will later become. The movie has other precursors as well. For example, Boba Fett, the bounty hunter from the original trilogy, is here shown as a little boy. We also get to see Luke Skywalker's Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru (not yet married, but only dating at this time) and a brief glimpse of the read-out for the Death Star. These elements, minor as some of them are to the overall story, helped make Episode II more fun and interesting. Another asset to the movie is that R2-D2 and C-3PO are more like R2-D2 and C-3PO than they were in Episode I. Whereas in Episode I they just met and didn't really do all that much together, in Episode II they get into such comical, light-hearted situations as they did in Episodes IV, V, and VI. This made the movie more reminiscient of the original trilogy. Finally, it was good to see a movie in which both celibacy and marriage co-exist. The Jedi are not allowed to marry in order to fully and completely learn of the force without having to worry about a family (kind of reminds me of something else...); and as for the marriage...well, you can probably guess what I'm talking about. In a time where people want to abuse marriage and altogether get rid of celibacy, it was nice seeing both positively portrayed. |