17/05/02

Ok, last night I went to see Star Wars Episode II, and now I though I’d review it for the small number of people who read this page. Now having done Film Studies people expect me to have seen every film ever made, and recoil in shock when I say I didn’t see it. In University watching films is part of my course, but out of that I only watch films that I want to see, no matter how much a friend will tell me how good a particular film is, I’ll only ever watch it when I’m in the right mood.

Also I could go deep into Attack Of The Clones using all kinds of film terminology such as "mise-en-scene" and shit, but I’m not going to because I don’t want to sound like a dick or as if I watched the film that closely. But having done Film Studies there are now two sides to my film viewing personality.

Attack Of The Clones begins with the usual yellow writing introduction, I’m glad Lucas didn’t feel the need to make the intro full of special graphics or shit, it’s a simple thing and it keeps the film in line with the rest. This episode charts the beginning of the downfall for Anakin, we don’t see his turn yet, but Lucas lays the foundation or everything.

I’m not going into great detail about the film itself, as no one wants that. So I’ll break the film down:

Plot: There is still a lot of things going on in the film that you need to be aware of. Unlike the first film where you know what the hell is going on this film like the first one has a lot of politics going on, and it does get too much sometimes. But essentially the plot is good, the films moves along well as we move from one part of the galaxy to the next.

Acting: Ok, it’s not perfect. In fact I still have my doubts over the choice of actor for Anakin, but as I can’t come up with a suitable replacement, I’ll reserve my judgement until Episode three.

Natalie Portman puts in a better performance than before, and the "romantic" scenes were almost believable. Actually come to think of it Hayden Christiansen wasn’t that bad, he played the cocky kid well, and even got me riled up later on in the film when he returns to Mos Eiseley.

Ewan McGregor rocks. While in the first film we had to see him play the student Obi Wan really gets some funny dialogue and McGregor really does make the film so much better than it’s predecessor.

All the other roles are done well, Jango Fett, Yoda (more on him later) and Senator Palpatine. Special nod also goes out to Christopher Lee who does really well as Darth Tyrannus/Count Dooku, even though his role in Lord Of The Rings really is quite similar to this one.

But, and there is a but I do take some issue with Samuel L Jackson. Now he is one of my favourite actors, and that’s why I found something missing from his performance. Now in truth as Mace Windu he is rather good, he has his own kick ass light saber and carries his performance well. But I have also seen Mr Jackson in interviews, and his perfect turn in Pulp Fiction, and as a big fan of his it was hard to see him go an entire film without saying "Mother fucker" at least once. Which is why I’ll be putting some special quotes at the bottom.

Effects: These were brilliant, the city at the beginning was crying out "Blade Runner" but that didn’t bother me, the effects were the best I’ve seen, at least on a par with LOTR. That said on an ethical note I’m not a fan of the methods used where pretty much every scene (discounting the scenes shot in Tunisia) use blue/green screens.

And this is where some of the actors clearly had problems. Now I’m not sure how to explain this correctly but when you watch it, it will be plain to see that the actors are talking to thin air, where the characters are computer generated.

Also in some of the scenes (and this will sound really picky) you can tell that they are not real, whereas the on the whole the effects are very polished there are certain things that don’t sit right.

Action: Superb, the best bits of the film, the high speed chase that takes place in the beginning, the asteroid chase, the epic battle sequence at the end, and the crowing moment of the entire movie: Yoda’s light saber battle. It had the audience laughing I’ll not spoil too much but it certainly is the most memorable thing of the movie.

Wrap-Up:

The films is really good, other than a few things that only a Film studies student and a Samuel L Jackson fans could take issue with the film easily rivals The Empire Strikes Back, even though it has none of the ‘shock’ of that film. There are even glimpses of comedy, especially with C3PO and R2, and also Obi-Wan has some really good lines.

But the thing that really makes this thing worth at least two showings is the action scenes and the little things, the references to the other four movies, and also the sight of the child Boba Fett. The third one has a lot of things to cram into it, we have the birth of the twins, the turn of Anakin, and his descent into the black suit, the fall of the Republic, the Clone Wars and what would appear to be the death of the Jedi’s and sadly Sam Jackson with it.

(Please note that no mention was made to Jar Jar Binks intentionally, while he is in the film for only 10 minutes he still annoys the tits out of me.)

Dialogue that Samuel L Jackson should’ve had in the film:

"The Force Mother fucker do you feel it?"

(To R2) "Go on beep! Beep one more time mother fucker, I dare you I double fucking dare you beep one more time!"

"What does Jabba the hut look like?"

"A purple Light saber, when you  absolutely, positively have to kill every mother fucker in the room"

(Yoda to Mace Windu)

Yoda: You know what they call a hyper drive in star trek?

Mace: No, what do they call a hyper drive in Star Trek?

Yoda: Warp Engine.

Mace: Man that’s fucked up."

Have a Foam Filled Day!

© Paul Hunt 2002