*** Official "STAR WARS EPISODE II ATTACK OF THE CLONES" Review Thread (1 Viewer)

[Tino]

Just got back from a midnight showing also, with fellow HTF'er Dana Fillhart.
A few thoughts while I am still awake.
Well, it was better than Phantom Menace but I would stop short of calling it great. It definitely had a few problems but on the whole was a very good film that advances the story very nicely.
The love story aspect didn't work that well and did indeed slowdown the film a bit IMO and the acting between Hayden and Natalie was uneven during these scenes, with unintentional laughter at some points.
The first half was a bit dull, but there was a lot of story being told so I am willing to forgive it for that. Some of the early action scenes worked great such as the Coruscant chase and some not so great such as the asteroid chase.
However the film really kicked into gear in the second half and became truly exciting with great action and awesome visual effects.
Overall I was pleased and would rate the film a solid :star: :star: :star: for now. It's a bit late and I am tired so I may add and change this review after some more thought.:b

 

[Terrell]

Well, in my opinion this film obliterates TPM in every respect. It's not a perfect movie, though I wouldn't know what that was anyway. As for the first half, I didn't find it boring at all. I'm glad Lucas slowed down enough to tell a story rather than assault us battle scenes for two plus hours. Why is there a need to always have things speed up. The acting was far better than some led me to believe. Hayden was shaky in a few scenes. Also, there were about 3 corny lines during the love story. Other than that, it was incredible. This is most definitely a Star Wars movie.
Great story, great action, new worlds, good drama and suspense, a real sense of danger, good character buildup and development, fantastic lightsaber duels, a love story that was believable, and a dramatic ending. What more could I ask for in a Star Wars film? I had a blast.
:star: :star: :star: :star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
I know this is a crappy review. It's late, and I'm not good at writing reviews anyway.

 

[John Hergenrather]

I too just returned from making the pilgrimage to the midnite showing. I went with my wife, our 3 young children (4,5, and 8) as well as one of my best friends. The kids loved it as did my wife and I. Mark - my friend hated it. He talked about predictability and plot and ... I don't understand him, but then he's never professed to be any kind of Star Wars fan. In fact he saw Phantom Menace for the first time when we watched it tonight before AOTC.

As far as the movie goes, I was completely and totally enthralled! The visuals were amazing - this movie will need to be seen repeatedly to take it all in.

One of the most interesting things was a comment my 8 year old son made early on in the movie - "Dad, this sound stinks!" I guess he's spoiled at home!! The audio got better as the movie went on - or maybe I got lost in the rest of the movie and just didn't notice. Either way - I can't wait to get it on my system here at home!!

Another small gripe was some of the cgi - especially at the end when the stormtroopers are loading on to the ships - it kind of looked completely animated - almost like a Titan AE scene. I understand that cgi isn't yet what George envisions. It really didn't detract from the overall impression that I got though.

My next goal will be to get to a digital theater and see it that way. I definitely noticed film grain through several scenes in the movie. I'm curious to see how much better the digital print will be. Anybody know of the closest digital theater to Northern Virginia??

If I sound like I'm complaining, I apologize. I really did love this movie. I will see it again multiple times. Star Wars was the first movie I remember seeing when I was a child (about 6 years old) and I've been hooked ever since. I just thought I'd point out a few things that did bug me about this one - and most of it had to do with presentation, not the movie itself.

Anyway - that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

John

 

[Blu]

I really really liked Episode 2!

After seeing 2 you can really tell that Episode 1 was pure setup. While I thought 1 was good but not great, 2 rocked!

I think that 3 will be very very dark. Dooku was a great character and I enjoyed seeing Christopher Lee do a tremendous job! Now Cushing and Lee have both been the Saga!

 

[Duane Robinson]

Just came back from the 12:00am screening and my jaw is still somewhere on the sticky floors of the theater I saw it in. HOLY SH...aving cream, this movie kicked so much ass I should be filing assault and battery charges against it. I went virtually spoiler free for this movie except for a few things and the only advance review I read was Ron's and I'm glad I did. I actually liked TPM despite its numerous flaws but I absolutely love this film. It has it's flaws too and its bad moments but comparing the bad times to the good is like comparing an ant to an elephant. Everything about this movie screamed Star Wars... just the way it should. There are a lot of moments in the film that just evokes memories of similar scenes in the OT and just wraps you up in the universe like a warm blanket on a winter night.
The action in this film is off the charts. Just seeing a whole squad of Jedi whipping out their sabers (that didn't sound right) with different characters using different styles was just too much. Seemed like Lucas had reached into my dreams and pulled out one of my most played scenes and brought it to the screen just the way I imagined it. And finally getting to see why Yoda is the master was worth the price of two tickets just by itself. My damn head nearly exploded when I actually witnessed that. That was one of the things I spoiled myself for and thought that I wouldn't be impressed since I knew it would happen and would instead spend my time looking for flaws in the scene. WRONG!!!! I was nearly blown out of my seat just taking this in and couldn't even fathom looking for flaws in the way it was brought to the screen. In my opinion it was perfect. I'll definitely be seeing this in the theaters at least 2 or 3 more times and eagerly awaiting the dvd for continued rewatching. One major problem I have with this movie is that Episode III doesn't come out tomorrow. Now I know how you guys who saw the OT, especially ESB, in the theaters felt having to wait a couple years to have the story continue after having your ass kicked by a damn good film and being left with an ending that leaves you begging for more. On well, I'd rather have a movie that MADE me want to wait for the next installment instead of one that left me apathetic about the whole thing.
One thing I noticed about this movie is that it had to have the most beheadings in a Star Wars movie or any other PG rated movie I've ever seen, not that I mind. The more beheadings the better my grandfather always used to say. But it's just amazing how much Lucas can get away with. I also saw the Matrix: Reloaded trailer before this one and all I can say is 2003 is gonna be just as good a year at the movies as this year has turned out to be.

 

[Steve_Tk]

I enjoyed it, definitly seemed like a Star Wars. If the 3rd is like this then rest assured TPM will not seem like it has any place with the other 5 movies.

 

[Chris]

It's late, I'm tired, brief review:
I would disagree with others and say I thought the first hour of the film was far better then I expected; I thought the lovestory was well played, and I thought it setup the characters well. It definitely helped flesh out Anakin as more then a 2 dimensional character, and gave a lot of good foreshadowing as to the future.
I also thought that certain elements in the first hour were incredibly telling, and it presented what I thought was some of the better "story elements" of Star Wars.. along with some great chase sequences, and actually pretty good chemistry between the characters.
The second half had a few moments that made me say "huh" but there were some fantastic elements as well.. as well as odd situations that, in looking back (knowing what is ahead in the OT) certainly seem both prophetic and troubling..
Their were moments in the second half that were true, fantastic, SW swashbuckling. Complete with elements of the best of these kinds of films.
:star: :star: :star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
It is easily worth the price of admission, and probably worth a second look after that.. there were a few moments I noticed that stood out:

When Anakin stands outside of the hut on Tatooine and talks about going after his mother with Padme, his shadow casts a very "helmet" look...
If you are wondering about whether or not it is worth the price of admission, the answer is: YES. Easily the best SW since ESB, probably the second best of the series.

 

[Tom Oh]

I saw it last night and I have to agree with AJ on this. Yes, it is better than TPM but lags far behind ESB and TNH. While Dooku was a badass, I much prefer Darth Maul. Also, most of the Dooku fight scenes were long shots to use a stand in with cuts of close-ups using Dracula. I'm sure that this was the only way to handle it since Christopher Lee is pretty old. I saw the film in HK where the crowd was absolutely quiet and dead except the Yoda scene at the end. Obi-wan was cool but Anakin got annoying. This one rates as the 3rd best in the series. :star: :star: :star: /:star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

I thought long and hard about what I would post for a review of Attack of the Clones. I think the best thing I can do with you all at this point is share with you an e-mail I've sent to my brother, who could not join us at the midnight showing this evening. He requested a spoiler-free review to whet his appetite for tomorrow evening. I think it sums up how I feel.

Scott;

So, how do I go about explaining Attack of the Clones to you? And what do I say about it without giving away any spoilers?

Let me just put it this way: There is no conceivable way in my mind that you are not going to be able to walk out of that theater on your initial viewing completely amazed by what you have just seen.

Lucas nails this one. The texture, the tone, the characters all work perfectly against each other. The film begins on a down note, and steadily declines from there. Although we are given a few comedic moments or relief, we come away with a heavy sense of despair. The shadow of the Dark Side falls in this one, and Episode III is shaping up to be very, very bleak.

You will absolutely love how all of this starts tying in together with the original trilogy. Plotlines and relationships between certain characters are explained. You really do begin to see where everyone came from, and how they all got to where they were in A New Hope.

As I predicted, the film moves at a speedy rate, but it never feels like you're moving too fast to take it all in. This movie must tell a very large story in a short amount of time, and it's amazing that they told it all in less than 2.5 hours. I was amazed to find myself at the end of the film so quickly, even though it is the longest of all the Star Wars movies. It just never gets bogged down.

Visually, the film is as impressive as you would expect from seeing the trailers. However, I may have to agree with Roger Ebert about the quality of the image. Often times, the picture looked fuzzy, without much detail. When I see the film again, I will want to see it at a different theater, just in case there was a problem with the one in Apple Valley. (There was a weird glitch in the sound, which leads me to believe that this may be the case.)

The performances were all great. I really loved the scenes between Obi-Wan and Anakin. You can feel real tension between the two of them every time that they're together. Obi-Wan is the head-strong master, and Anakin is the apprentice with an agenda of his own. The romance scenes between Anakin and Padme come off really well, a lot better than I had expected. Sure, some of the line are cheesy as hell, but you can hear an earnestness in everything they say to one another. It's not the greatest love scene ever put on digital film, but it works well enough to bring these two stubborn lovers together.

There is one scene, however, that will completely floor you. It's a scene where Anakin allows his feelings to get out of control and he looses it. It's a dramatic moment and I won't tell you when it happens, but it is very dark and Hayden Christenson pulled it off tremendously. You can just feel Darth Vader coming out of him at that moment.

There's really so much to talk about, I could go on and on with this letter for hours, but I'll leave it at that for later. I'm sure we'll want to talk about this movie a lot after you have seen it. And believe me, you will need to talk to someone about it afterwards.

Oh and one more thing before I go: Yoda is amazing!

 

[Jay W]

Very impressed I was .
Nothing much more to add, a lot of thoughts have been echoed in this thread but I felt it got the trilogy back on track. I found the much critisized banter between C-3PO and R2 very entertaining actually, reminded me a lot of the original trilogy. The romance had a few moments that made me groan but overall they did pretty well. Acting was solid, Hayden was much better than I thought.. shrouded his anger and rage very well. Excellent!

 

[Dan Keefe]

After seeing this movie last night...I call it above average at best. It did an excellent job of setting up the next film but NOW I HAVE TO WAIT THREE MORE YEARS!! It just seemed to drag until the last half hour. The battle scenes are impressive but there is just too much going on...In the battle, I found myself looking for the characters I cared about. It looked cool but I agree with Grusons post, not much drama... I personally thought the love story was the best part of the film. Other than that I thought there was way too much emphasis on special effects and weird creatures popping up all over. With the exception of Obi Wan, there wasn't much character development.

Spiderman still gets my vote for movie of the year

dan

 

[Chuck Mayer]

I was very conflicted about this film.
And after reading these many reviews, it seems the problem is with me. It's like seeing a bus go by, full of your friends having a big party...but you aren't on it. And you don't know why.
I tried very hard to love this movie. And the good news is: most everyone else here loved it. But I did not. It took most of my goodwill for me to like it. Maybe I read too many reviews (good and bad), maybe I got too old, and my reaction makes me sad. I kind of feel like I failed.
I could not imagine a more disjointed movie. There were some great moments, but the remainder seemed pedestrian. There were too few believeable interactions between characters...too many times we are told something we should have been shown.
Here's what I really liked:
- The opening shot of Padme's ship coming to land, beautiful
- Dexter and his whole scene
- The star map (if not the scene)
- Obi-Wan and Jango TALKING (the fight scene was basically in the trailers)
- Most of Anakin on Tatooine
- The scene with his mother was quite good
- Obi-Wan and Dooku TALKING
- The beginning of the Droid Factory scene with Anakin
- The Republic Gunships IN the arena
- Obi-Wan, then Anakin, vs. Dooku
- The wedding scene
I also thought the Yoda fight scene was well done, although again, not my preference.
I know I am in the vast minority (and that's good), but I felt it was poorly scripted, directed, and edited. There were a few decent lines, but little in the way of honest human communication. The one-liners were pretty bad as well. I just didn't care for any of the characters, not even Yoda. Dooku was decent, but not great. The action came too much, too late. I don't expect Shakespeare, but I did expect to care about the players.
But I will say this: when the main characters lightsabers were on, it felt right.
The bad news: my wife HATED it, and the audience gave sporadic applause when it ended. It was pretty silent on the way out. But that could be me projecting. Maybe they were in awe.
Your mileage may vary, and I hope to see my friends in the Saga discussion thread. I'll be good. At some point, I'll catch a DLP show. I have a ticket for today, but I don't know if I want to see it again so soon.
Take care,
Chuck :frowning:

 

[David Echo]

Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Clause!

Chuck, I'm very sorry you and your wife came away not enjoying the film. I have not yet seen it myself. I AM very happy and pleased with the fact that you came here to this forum and talked honestly and openly about your reaction to the movie.

I had planned on posting something to the effect that people who had already bought tickets for multiple screenings for EPII not post until they had seen the film that many times because they had obviously already made up their minds to like it whether it was good or not and so their 'reviews' really wouldn't mean much. But I didn't quite feel like being that badly flamed.

However, Chuck, hearing that you have tickets for today that you are considering not using because you feel so disappointed(?) with the movie is like music to my ears. People in real life, like those in films, are defined by how they act not by how they SAY they are going to act.

Thank you for your review Chuck. It's among the best I have read on this Forum.

Dave

P.S. I've wasted enough space in the Review thread with this but will gladly talk to anyone in the Discussion thread who wants to deal with Chuck's review.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Saw this at the midnight showing last night as well.

The 1st hours drags. I found Hayden Christensen's acting to be awkward and painful and unnatural. I could not root for him at all, even when beset by tragedy (which was handled so clusily by the script and the convenient timing of it all and sheer lack of logical progression within the story, plus the casual shierking of his Jedi duties made me roll my eyes. The writing for Anakin's character is perfunctionary, not relevatory, a mistake that Lucas and Hale make in this film. Sure, the fans know the backstory, but actually seeing it unfold was unimpressive in my eyes to the script and timeline.

I did like what they did with Padme's character in that she does become a fighter within the framework of the story, which will lead her to a prominent position in the leadership of the rebel forces in the next film.

Obiwan's "James Bond" secret agent sidestory as he discovers the truth of the clones is remarkably goofy and implausible (but you just go with it to get to the meat of the story). He did not did a good job with grounding the foundation of Anakin into the order of the Jedi, perhaps they are right, Anakin was too old, too wild to become a Jedi, a mistake that will cost the Republic.

Mace Windu was more or less wasted in this film, I know no more of him than I did from the 1st film. Yoda was a revelation in the second half. Jar Jar was understated, but his speech pattern is still pretty painful to listen to (but I miss the more exhuberant Jar Jar from the first film).

The main villian introduced is Count Dooku, flat out horrible name for a villain. Everytime his name was spoken I mentally inserted "Dookie" and had to laugh. Dooku as a character/villain was a force to be reckon with, though.

The 2nd hour had more action, and tons more CGI and explosions, but I didn't get the urgency of the situation at hand, the tension was never ratcheted up a few notches in the various confrontations and battles within the conflict. I think the problem is knowing who will live and who will die leads to the inability to provide the dramatic tension within the 2nd hour to make it memorable.

I don't think there's that one great moment in this film, it plays a bit too even, a bit too safe, without a truly awesome turning point.

I thought the music was too intrusive in the film in many spots.

I did enjoy the interplay of R2D2 and C3P0 (did they meet in Episode I?). C3P0 is quite funny in the 2nd hour during the battle.

I give the film a grade of B- or 3.5 stars out of 5.

 

[Matt Stryker]

Saw it last night at midnight showing. First impressions:
Film presentation looked like absolute crap. Huge scaling artifacts (blockiness in dark scenes, sound familiar?), poor blacks, and an overall murky look. For those of you that have a chance, I'd wait and see this in DLP theater.
I'm with Chuck on this one. After reading Ron's review, I was very enthusiastic about the film, and it certainly had its moments. Unfortunately, this film cannot IMHO stand on its own as a good picture; too many "in-jokes" and ironic lines and pretty much zero character interaction. And the CGI ranges from neat (spaceships, city at night) to awful (live people riding on CGInimals, Yoda). When will film makers realize that when a practical (or even optical) effect will work it will look better? Hopefully soon.
The last two reels are worth the price of admission, but on the whole I feel let down far more by this than even TPM. Hopefully Lucas will hire a competent writer for the third one.
:star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star:
I will get the DVD in November, the transfer should be good. But I think for the time being, film is still king and digital has a ways to go.

 

[Dean DeMass]

Me and a friend went to the Midnight showing last night. My theater had 4 showings last night and all of them were sold out. The theater we were in erupted in cheering for the Fox logo, the Star Wars logo, Yoda in the hanger, and most importantly at the credits. Everyone in the theater loved Lucas' new film, including me and my friend.
We were both blown away by the effects and the foreshadowing of things to come. I thought Hayden was fine. Ewan was tremendous, he is Obi-Wan. Lee was also great as Dooku, and I felt Natalie was more comfortable in this film than the last. I had no problems with the script and Lucas' directing was a bit better than his last effort. I loved the 3PO one-liners and Jar-Jar was in it for no more than 6-7 minutes. I am one of the few who actually liked Jar-Jar and his role here is very subdued here.
The love story played out better than I thought and the battle scenes played out even greater than I knew they would. The film is just beautiful to look at. From the 1st scenes of a cloudy Coruscant to the wonderful water world of Kamino. I also loved seeing Tatooine at night. We only got a glimpse of it in TPM, but we really get to see it here.
My vote for the most beautiful scene:
The 1st time we see Pademe in that tight white shirt. I didn't realize it got so cold on Tatooine.

As of now, I rate Attack of the Clones just behind Empire Strikes Back (this may change with more viewings, it may become my fav). I have a feeling Episode III may be the best in the entire series.
Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones
:star: :star: :star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star:
-Dean-

 

[Brian Kaz]

Caught this movie last night. The first half of this film felt much different than a Star Wars film, but in a good way. The diner scene, the nightclub scene and the greetings at the beginning all felt strange and new.
The second half? Pure Star Wars.
I didn't have problems with most of the negative things said about this movie. I thought Hayden was great and the love story was more effective than I thought it was going to be, even with the cheez dialogue. Obi Wan's side story was interesting and exciting and the last 45 minutes - PURE BLISS! Most of the FX were amazing and the action was much more dynamic than all of the other SW flicks. I was surprised by all the dark elements. This movie was definitely pushing it's PG rating.
It's hard to say exactly where I stand with this film, I need to see it again. For now it gets :star: :star: :star: 1/2 out of :star: :star: :star: :star:
P.S. Some of the early scenes looked fuzzy. I really want to see if they come off better on the DVD.

 

[Chris Atkins]

Rating: * * * * (out of 4)

Go see this movie. As soon as possible.

George Lucas has crafted one of the most memorable Star Wars films of all time, and perhaps the best.

Attack of the Clones plays like a mix between "A New Hope" and "The Empire Strikes Back." It has the grand spectacle of the former and the personal, psychological feel of the latter.

Hayden Christensen turns in the best acting performance *ever* in a Star Wars movie with his portratal of Anakin Skywalker. And George Lucas directed him perfectly. Christensen is the Anakin we always thought we would see: hopeful and adventurous and yet also dark and brooding.

The first 45 minutes of the movie moves very slowly, just like the first 30 minutes of A New Hope and the middle 45 minutes of Empire. But there are some real gems in the opening reels, but be wary of some corny dialogue.

I saw this movie in mixed company....2 guys and 2 gals. Both the guys were big Star Wars fans and the gals were passive fans at best.

All liked the movie and all agreed that it was the best or second best Star Wars movie ever.

Get thee to a theater.

 

[Dean DeMass]

Brian,
I forgot about the diner scene. I loved that scene. The nightclub was also fantastic. Damn, I loved this film.
-Dean-

 

[Kevin Coleman]

I saw the movie at the 12:01 showing this morning and thought the movie was pretty good. The love story scenes were REAL bad but I think the rest of the movie more than made up for it.
I was however dissapointed in the picture quality. The lack of resolution that resulted from videotaping this digitally was readily apparent. Especially on distance shots. I really think Lucas is rushing to digital too soon. We need higher resolution DLP's that at least come closer to having the full resolution of 35MM. The screen I saw it on was about 68' wide and there is just not enough resolution there for a screen that large. I love HDTV in my house on a 92" screen it looks great. But on a 68' wide screen it is just not enough when compared to a good 35MM film print.
Kevin C.