As the last reviewer to see George Lucas's “Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones”, I’m happy to tell you that it rocks! It wasn’t the best “fantasy” movie in recent memory (compared to “Lord of the Rings”), but I really enjoyed it.
It’s amazing to see the differences in the quality of digital effects and animation in movies. In other movies, I’ve been disappointed in the digital effects, but not in “Episode II”! All I can say is that the landscapes, spaceships, aliens, etc. are visually stunning! Anyone who says that they should go back to models is nuts.
As you would expect, the action sequences are amazing in scale, scope, and frankly, number. Lot’s of stuff to keep you glued to the big screen. However, you really don’t have a choice but to concentrate, as I was pretty surprised to see the complexity of the multiple plotlines. Much more complex than the first trilogy! I saw “Star Wars” 17 times in the theaters when it came out in 1977 (I was 9 years old), but I don’t think I could have followed half of this movie at that age. At times, this movie is as much of a political drama as a Sci-Fi flick. Kind of like “The West Wing” meets “Star Trek”….sort of.
Some things I enjoyed… seeing the Empire forming at it’s earliest stages, and Yoda! I don’t want to give too much away, but let’s just say that Yoda’s no Muppet! And is it me, or is Natalie Portman cute? When did that happen?
I know that some folks have complained that if you never saw the first trilogy, you wouldn’t think that this movie was very good. Well, there may be some truth to that, but I think that was Lucas’s intention from the start. Knowing that the Empire will dominate the galaxy adds to your interest as you see Clone army for the first time. In my opinion, that’s why he juxtaposed the trilogy in the first place.
Now the down side. To me, the acting seemed kind of stiff, and apparently I’m not the only person in the country to say this. I blame it on the direction, not the actors. It seems clear that Lucas wanted to focus to be on the story and effects, and not on any gritty emotional performances. You be the judge…it really didn’t affect my ability to enjoy the movie. As a side note, I miss Han Solo and Chewie, anyone else? |
