Star Wars Episode II:
Attack of the Clones
Resurrected, "Star Wars" is.
Okay, perhaps any reports of the death of a six-part epic whose last
installment grossed around a billion dollars are a bit exaggerated. But
after watching "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace," many
were ready to write an obituary - if not for the series, at least for
its entertainment value. George Lucas had taken over directorial and screenwriting
duties in addition to his role as special-effects guru; everything that
required special effects to work really well thrived, and nothing else
worked at all. If you were determined to enjoy it, it was enjoyable, but
it was indisputably a mess.
But in "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones," Lucas
addresses the problems of "Episode I," and simply by righting
the wrongs comes up with a rousingly fun film, full of quirky images to
capture one's fancy, rousing battle scenes and even some intriguing moral
deliberation. "Episode II" can stand with its most illustrious
predecessors, and stand over the grave of "Episode I."
Ten years after "Episode I," the now-teenagedAnakin Skywalker
(Hayden Christensen) is bridling under the strict Jedi tutelage of Obi-Wan
Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). His bridling is inspired in part by an overripe
passion that once-queen, now-senator Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman)
of Naboo sparked in him in the last film.
Meanwhile, Obi-Wan flies across the galaxy to uncover the fiendish machinations
of the mysterious Count Dukoo (man's villain Christopher Lee), who is
marshalling separatist forces with the aim of splitting the Republic,
and finds that Dukoo's conspiracy has extended its reach in strange and
subtle ways. Anakin must protect the senator, which is easy for him to
want to do, but he must also figure out how to protect Obi-Wan, the Jedi
and the Republic against a threat of unforeseen proportions.
With the help of co-screenwriter Jonathan Hales, Lucas's script manages
to avoid the laughable lines and cardboard characterization that marred
"Episode I." This allows the actors to actually act, rather
than grapple with the obstacles of the screenplay. And act, some of them
do.
McGregor still hasn't quite figured out how to look at the faces of computer-generated
characters, focusing on spots about a foot behind their eyes, and he doesn't
command much authority when spewing rebukes as Anakin revels in and occasionally
overreaches his formidable Jedi talents.
But Christensen delves surprisingly deeply into troubled young Anakin.
He seems to twist into a little tense knot whenever he appears on screen,
full of gnawing ambition, brash awkwardness and an intense ambivalence
about what to do with his talents, which he can only intermittently put
into words. His pursuit of Padmé is not blissful; it has the desperation
and slight tinge of anger common to talented people caught up in an unyielding
love. In short, he's ripe for the transformation we know is coming.
Still, when you see the gorgeous Portman bathed in warm sunlight and
wearing a backless sundress, you know love will blossom between Padmé
and Anakin. But Padmé tenses up around Anakin too, and (you get
a sense) not just because she kinda might like him, but because she has
a hard place in her character too. Their love story avoids causing nausea
not because Lucas or composer John Williams hold anything back in sugaring
it up, but because Portman and Christensen keep it from going down overly
smoothly. It's a nice accomplishment.
Nice, but inessential. The single most important job of actors in "Star
Wars" movies is to act just well enough that you can enjoy the visuals
without cringing, and Lucas decorates the screen with everything he can
think up. While static scenes betray their computer origin with a telltale
artificial shimmer, you won't notice any such defects during the chase
scenes, which zip and zoom and swerve at velocity enough to give anyone
goosebumps.
Some computer-generated aliens populate this film, but "Episode
II" is thankfully dominated by the human element. No new reprehensible
racial stereotypes disguised as offworlders are introduced, and Jar Jar
Binks talks in his utterly misguided patois only long enough to set the
scene for his eventual comeuppance. Lucas has also included a wealth of
visual detail for obsessives to unpack (what are those sports playing
on the viewscreens at the bar?).
And the final thirty minutes or so, in which a squadron of Jedi knights
wields a veritable thrumming forest of lightsabers against an evil droid
army... These are the kind of scenes you attend action fantasies hoping
to see: endlessly inventive, intensely physical, endearingly quirky, and
graciously prolonged for your ever-increasing viewing pleasure. Oh, yes,
and Yoda only looks slow.
Admittedly, some dialogue is still stilted, Williams' score is routinely
overwrought, and Samuel L. Jackson remains criminally underutilized. But
"Attack of the Clones" is good enough, and so vastly better
than its predecessor, that these objections are swept away. It is a pleasure
to be able to tell you that the movie you all want to enjoy is just about
as enjoyable as you could want it to be. May the Force be with you as
you stand in line; hard to get, these tickets will be.
THE ONE AWESOME, EXTREMELY PROFANE SCENE NO "STAR
WARS" MOVIE WILL EVER, EVER HAVE
Obi-Wan: Mace, which of these is your lightsaber?
Mace: It's the one that says "Bad Motherfucker" on it.
(cue surfer music)
This is another one where almost everyone disagreed with me. I stand
steadfast by my opinion here as well. For one thing, retreating is for
suckers. For another thing, intelligent people can disagree about the
merits of artistic opuses. For a third thing, it seemed like most people
were either fated or determined to dislike the film; disappointed devotees
set standards way higher, in my opinion, than they had set for Episodes
IV through VI, and this film failed to live up to those elevated canonical
criteria. Meanwhile, most of the "real" movie critics seemed
obliged to note for us that they hated all the Star Warses except
"The Empire Strikes Back," which seems a singularly ungenerous
position to take as well. Whatta mess. I just hope no one who would have
enjoyed the film was discouraged by the other bad reviews, although judging
from the box office I don't think that was a big problem.
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