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

[FredHD]

Let me preface by saying that I am a Star Wars fan.
This is an honest criticism of my experience with this film.
When I saw TPM, I thought Lucas' advancement in FX were great. Everything looked great, but poor writing and directing ruined it for me. The action sequences met my expectations, but dialogue scenes and character and story development were abyssmal.
Well, not much has changed.
AOTC had great action sequences and FX, although some of the action sequences were almost ruined by corny, tossed-in dialogue. The lightsaber sequences were wonderful, YODA IS GOD, but I wanted to see more of Anakin's piloting skills exhibited. The one city chase scene in the speeder paled in comparison next to the one in The Fifth Element. The battle scenes were well executed, however I felt inundated with the amount of CGI. There was almost too much going on and at such a brisk pace that it was hard to see everything. I felt that some of the extra effects could have been left out and Lucas could have spent more time developing characters that I cared about.
I felt that the romance between Anakin and Amidala was flat. There didn't seem to be very good chemistry between Natalie and Hayden. In a good romance story, the viewers have to want the two people to get together. Lucas failed to make me care. An example of what I mean is the show "Friends". We don't know if Ross and Rachel will get together, but we want them to and we know they are meant to be together. Maybe it's just me, but they didn't match well at all. They are two talented actors, but is seems Lucas failed to give them much direction. As someone else mentioned, Mace Windu could have benefited greatly from some more character development. We know he's a bad ass mofo, but we don't really get to know him.
As far as the technical aspects of the film:
The sound was hard to analyse. The theater I saw it in was your generic megaplex large auditorium. It was an SDDS screen. The sound there was moderate. Nothing spectactular, I'm sure it would sound MUCH better on most of our HT's.
The CGI effects as I mentioned before were great, but too much at some times. The choreography of lightsaber fighting and battles was exceptional. Yoda was the best, he looked like Sonic the Hedgehog spinning around.
My main concern technically was video noise. There was a lot of it in the "darker" interior scenes. I'm sure that seeing it in a DLP screen would make a great difference, but some scenes lookind like crap. One shot would be fine, but the other angle would be horrendous. My worry is that until exhibitors embrace digital technology completely, films shot digitally and transferred to film will suffer the same fate. I hope this is just the case of a bad print.
Overall, this film wasn't as bad as it could have been. The FX and action sequences saved it from failing miserably, at least in my eyes. I just feel that good writing and directing beat FX and fight choreography any day of the week.
BTW, the John Williams score was well done as always.
No Jawas were harmed in the writing of this criticism.
:star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
BTW, I always wondered why Luke was so whiny. Know we see that he inherited it from his daddy.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

I need to see this tomorrow in a THX theater before I lock down my opinion. I didn't see it in the best theater last night, and that may have affected the picture quality quite a bit.

My preliminary opinion is that Digital is even worse than Super35. CCD "grain", video noise etc etc

They need to build some anamorphic lenses for these cameras FAST if they hope to have a prayer of rescuing the resolution of the film. Later scenes looked a lot better ,but ouch. Bad bad bad

 

[PhilipW]

Well my take is probably going to be different than alot of the others I've already read.
Never once did I attempt to see how long the movie had been on. Very well paced. I actually enjoyed the first part (upto the final battle) possibly more than the final battle sequences (excluding any scene with a lightsaber). I did enjoy the story being told, although I wished he had stay with one aspect a little longer before moving back to the other. Seemed like it kept going back and forth too quickly.
I thought Hayden portrayed Anakin great. The brooding and rebellious attitude was superb. He is also portrayed Anakin's arrogance very well. I thought the romantic scenes between he and Natalie were decent. I think it was intentionally a little forced because she is not supposed to be comfortable with him in a personal way. Not until the end does she profess her true feelings that she had been suppressing the whole movie.
Ewan McGregor is Obi-Wan Kenobi. I thought he was great. The off-handed remarks were delivered as well as any in all of the other SW movies. His handling of Anakin is also top notch. I thought they were going to go ahead and start the big fight right there on the troop carrier. Great conflict.
The parts that bothered me has been mentioned that in the final battle we see all of this great action but no one of interest. Only the major characters pointing things out and then being shown what they were talking about. Mace was given 5 special commando units. What did he do with them? That was the last we heard of it, so why put it in at all. In the original Death Star battles we were not only pulling for Luke and Lando, but also for Wedge and other members of Rogue squadron. Even most of the Jedi sequences were of Jedi we had a glimpse of but couldn't tell you one from the other.
I didn't really expect GL to develop Mace into a main character. Sam L went and asked GL to be in the movie. GL said alright and in it he his. I never expected a big backstory for Mace. It just that Yoda has to converse with someone so might as well be Sam L.
I'd rank this movie up there with ROTJ and EMPIRE but I actually prefered ANH the best.
:star: :star: :star: :star: ½ out of :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

BTW, the John Williams score was well done as always.

Unfortunately, his score was butchered for this film. Most of the action music at the end is just tracked in music written for The Phantom Menace.
I'm going to agree with Chuck on this one. I went to the midnight screening, and I had tickets for the 12:30 show this afternoon, but I'm passing on it. This is the first Star Wars film that I am not seeing at least twice opening day since the release of the SE's (though in truth, I only saw Return of the Jedi twice in a day to get a free action figure ).
This was a lousy film. Poorly paced, poorly acted and poorly written. Pacing is something a Star Wars film should not have a problem with, and that makes this film even more frustrating. The original film had a breakneck pace. Once it started, it never let up. Attack of the Clones never starts. It just sort of meanders.
The love scenes are unintentionally funny. When was the last time you flirted with a girl by contrasting her with sand? And didn't some of Anakin's dialogue come off as stalker-ish? This is going to win over Amidala? Was John Hinkley a script doctor on this film?
As for the much talked about Yoda scene it came as to little, to late. The film was a mess for the previous 2 1/2 hours, and now I'm supposed to watch a character that can barely walk jump all over the place? This is the big pay off after I've already sat through 2 1/2 hours of boredom? By this point I just didn't care at all about anything in this film.
There were some decent moments in this movie. The tour of the clone facility was well done. Also, Hayden Christensen shows that he can act in a scene where he gets very upset with what he's done.
I could go on and on about why this was a let down (the inept asteroid chase, using classic characters as unfunny comic relief) but it just frustrates me more and more. It will be a shockingly easy 3 years until the next one. I never thought I'd say that.
Neil

 

[MichaelD]

Okay guys, I went and saw the movie last night with my wife. I have very mixed feelings about the movie. There are many things I like about the movie, but as of right now, I don't know if I truly liked it.

First, THE GOOD:

Ewan Macgregor is Obi-Wan Kenobi. He was easily the most charismatic person on screen. He had good lines, delivered them well, and his storyline was fantastic.

Yoda. He just seemed a little off to me. I know he is complete CGI this time and his face seemed to move a little too much, especially his mouth. However, this does not detract from him being a bad ass mofo. The fight between him and Dooku was very well done, with quick cuts and fast paced action. I thought it might look cheesy but it was great.

Count Dooku. Christopher Lee was great also. It's a shame that he wasn't in the movie much. When he was on screen you felt like he owned the room. And for a man in his 80s, he was very adept with his lightsaber.

The final battle. The clonetroopers looked great, the pacing was very good, and the explosions looked and felt so real.

The speeder chase. Lotsa fun.

and now for the inevitable BAD:

The love story. It did nothing for me and it wasn't very believable. The dialogue was absolutely horrible. Also, and my wife pointed this out to me, Padme is a very grounded, level-headed character. My wife didn't believe for a second that Padme wouldn't berate him, or feel aghast at what he did to the Tusken Raiders. Instead, 30 mins later they are getting married. I just felt that the development of their growing love sucked. I know they were together for more than a day, perhaps a couple of weeks, but the pacing of the film made me feel that it all occurred in a day or two, and that definitely took away the plausibility of the romance.

The CGI. At some points it was great, at others downright awful. R2 looked great flying around. 2 of the 3 monsters in the battle arena looked great. Dexter looked pathetic. The Kaminoans looked bad as well, as did the cloning facility. It continually pulled me out of the story. And I guess that is one of my major gripes. Episodes 4-6 felt real to me, because there was no CGI. The actors were in real environments, whether it was out in the desert or on a soundstage. In this movie, whenever they would run places, like left to right across the screen, I just kept imagining walking across a green screen background. But this is as much a fault of mine, because I can't get past that.

Natalie Portman. She was woeful. She seemd like she was just going through the motions. She displayed no emotion or presence like she did in The Professional or even Anywhere But Here. It seems like she just wants to get the films over with and move on.

The pacing. The film seemed very disjointed to me. Maybe it was because I disliked the love story so much.

I guess my biggest gripe is that everything just felt forced. I mean we all know Padme and Anakin get married, and it just feels like Lucas just threw it down our throat instead of developing it.

I don't know. The parts I liked I really liked. But some of the parts that I hated I couldn't get over. But of course I remember when I was a kid, I would fast forward through Dagobah in ESB, and now that is one of my favorite storylines.

I am going to see it tonight with a bunch of friends, last night was just a whim, so I will let you guys know if my opinions have changed at all.

 

[Mark Hobbs]

I'm deleting my (somewhat) negative review after seeing the film a second time. The second viewing was MUCH more enjoyable than the first for me.

I would rewrite the review, but everyone has said everything already anyway.

This movie is a 9/10 and the best (2002) movie I've seen this year.

ANH - 10/10

ESB - 10/10

AoTC - 9/10

RoTJ - 8/10

TPM - 7/10

 

[Caroline_T]

I have to admit, I did not really like the movie after seeing it at midnight last night. Almost all the acting seemed so flat and the action scenes seemed very even. I kept laughing at scenes that were supposed to be serious, because they just sounded so corny. Also, the sound in my theater was not the best so I am going to give it another chance today in a better theater. And I agree with the others that say the movie looked really bad on film. Maybe seeing it from a digital projector would help, but I'm not very optimistic. I was relatively bored throughout the first half and the fight scenes at the end barely made up for it. I came out the theater feeling a little dissappointed. But I'm willing to give it another chance. It took 3 times for TPM to grow on me to the point that I accepted it as a Star Wars film. I'm sure this one will too.

 

[Jeff Pounds]

I feel much the same as Michael.
I think my biggest concern of the prequel trilogy (so far) is that the main characters haven't spent all that much time together.
The original trilogy was the story of Luke, Leia and Han. The prequel trilogy should be the story of Anakin, Obi-wan and Padme, which it has been so far, but how well do we know these characters?.... enough to care?
The big problem is that using a different actor for Anakin and having such a big time sequence gap between Episode I and Episode II, the two main characters, Anakin and Obi-Wan don't feel like the same characters. We only know that they are the same characters because we are told that "this is grown-up Anakin" and it's Ewan McGreggor playing Obi-Wan.
It's like we're just being introduced to these characters, even though we've been through one film with them already.
Contrast this with the OT...by the time ESB came around, we had already "been through the fires" with Luke, Leia and Han and felt that we knew them well -- and cared about what was going to happen to them.
I still feel like I'm getting to know the young Obi-Wan, Anakin and Padme, and we are 2/3 of the way through the prequels.
All of that said, there were parts of this film that I enjoyed tremendously. I loved the banter and bickering of Obi-Wan and Anakin, and I loved this nearly coming to a head in the transport after Padme fell out.
I loved Hayden Christansan playing Anakin as an impatient, arrogant, reckless Jedi.
Although Natalie Portman has received much criticism, I really liked the way she portrayed Padme as an aloof, almost snobbish Senator to Anakin's constant advances.
And, like most everyone else, I loved the tremendous chase through Couroscount (sp?), the droid factory scene with Anakin and Padme, and of course the climactic battle scenes.
The love scenes were pretty bad, and I didn't like having the whole thing rushed and jammed down our throats. Why couldn't they have just been "getting to know each other" so to speak, and have the wedding take place in between Episode II and III?... it seems like this would be an easy event to include in the opening scroll of Episode III, and it would have been much more plausible.
Overall though, I found the film to be more enjoyable than the Phantom Menace.... it definitely had more joy and spirit, which is moving in the right direction.
I give it :star::star::star: out of :star::star::star::star::star:
For reference (out of 5 stars)
Empire Strikes Back: :star::star::star::star::star:
Star Wars: :star::star::star::star:1/2
Return of the Jedi: :star::star::star::star:1/2
Attack of the Clones: :star::star::star:
The Phantom Menace: :star::star:1/2

 

[Seth Paxton]

AOTC 8.5 of 10
What a dramatic improvement over Phantom Menace. While this film still has flaws and has the look of the "new" trilogy more than the originals, it plays very well as a modern blockbuster.
Let me throw out the negatives first.
1) the CGI often looks animated. HOWEVER, this didn't really bother me because just as with Spider-Man the usage seemed to serve the story extremely well every time. I never felt a moment that was "look, we can do CGI".
There are moments when it is used for spectacular showy shots, but they fit with the narrative quite well and serve its purpose.
2) Sometimes there are moments of stiff dialog and some of C3POs jokes are too corny. HOWEVER, C3PO also has several of the funniest moments when they are just letting him be himself. If only they had backed off toward the end and let the humor come naturally rather than forcing a few extra corny jokes in because the natural stuff that is there if classic C3PO stuff.
3) The story is dense which keeps the film from flowing like a Raiders or Empire. I don't think it should be changed but with all that must be said it doesn't whip along like those superior films.
The GOOD
I found Hayden to be a MUCH better actor than I had expected for the role. The script was very solid most of the time and gave some depth to his conflicted character. He is played as good with potential bad very well, so that you can see why everyone still likes him but also how he is going to turn. I thought Hayden handled his scenes very well. I simply don't understand the complaints there.
I loved many of his scenes with Ewan (who is just as great here as he was in TPM). Portman sometimes comes off a little stiff but at other times is pretty solid. Probably depended on the dialog.
The story itself is very interesting and pretty dramatic. Not as dramatic as ESB or ANH but pretty solid. I enjoyed the story being told and felt like the Tatoonie tie-in seemed more appropriate with this new storyline.
By now you probably know that Yoda will wield a saber. I like that part. But the most dramatic part for Yoda comes a bit before that. It's a Star Wars moment that drips in irony and I loved it.
I don't understand some of the acting and script complaints I've read because I found the dialog to be worlds better than it was for TPM and almost up to par with the OT. I think that if the film didn't have to cover so much territory that it might have been able to match the OT.
But again, this is the NEW trilogy and so you must adjust to seeing a lot more CGI and a brighter world. You will find a few moments that do have the visual look of the OT though. I was pleasantly surprised by that fact. The grain complaints especially kill me on that aspect. ESB and ANH were definately grainy and I always thought that look was good. I felt that Lucas BROUGHT BACK that look that was missing in TPM and I would call that a good thing, not a mistake.
Lucas was smart to get script help as I think it shows. In many ways this film felt STRUCTURALLY a lot like ESB, including a couple key moments involving body parts of 2 different characters. And I simply like the narrative structure to this film, at times linear, other times parallel, and all with a better eye toward the overall agenda of the film.
Maybe a 2nd viewing will make me like it less, but I feel very happy with what I saw at this point.

 

[Chris Bardon]

Just got back from the film, and had to post an opinion somewhere about it. After reading everyone else's reviews though, it seems like most of the comments I wanted to make have already been made. Two things I wanted to bring up though:

-The dialogue was horrible (mostly in the love scenes), but I'm not sure if it's bad writing or bad acting that's throwing things off here. A couple of Anakin's speeches just seemed WAY too forced.

-Did anyone else notice that the score seemed more subdued this time? There were quite a few parts that had no music at all, which seems very uncommon for a Star Wars film. True, in a lot of cases the music is drowned out by the sound effects, but there is always a musical undertone there.

Otherwise, I enjoyed the movie, but thought like some of you that it dragged in the middle a little too much. There could have been about 10 minutes trimmed from this section of the movie, and I think it might have played better. Still, I'll go see it again, I'll buy the DVD, and all will be right with the world.

 

[Adam Sanchez]

Even though I hadn't planned it, I saw it last night at midnight. I work 5 minutes from a theater and went to see if they would have tickets on my break and they did. I have tickets for my girlfriend, her son, My Mom, and Step-Dad for Tomorrow at 9:30.... but I just couldn't wait.

I absolutely loved the movie. I didn't want it to end! The more I think about it, the more I loved it. I can't wait to see it tomorrow with everyone and see how they react.

Seriously I wonder if the people here who gave it such a negative review saw the same movie I Did?

I thought the acting was great, I took to Hayden as Anikin immediately. The pace was good and the love story didn't bother me one bit, he did a fine job. I was surprised to learn that this movie wasn't really the clone wars and that it will spill into episode III. I totally thought this movie was going to be all of the clone wars. Also, as far as I could tell, are the clones "Good?" That was another surprise.

Excellent movie. 4 Stars all the way.

 

[Brian Kleinke]

I thought it was a fine Movie and I enjoyed watching it. Some parts seemed very cheezy to me, and some of the love story was just bad.
But reguardless I had fun watching it and will likely see it many more times. And I'll agree with everyone else... Yoda RULEZ!
Brian

 

[Jeff Williams]

I agree with some of the negative aspects of the film, but the positive aspects vastly outweigh them. The love story was very intense for a Star Wars movie, but it plays so much into the overall outcome of the saga. The dark side is very present in EPII. I won't give the scene away, but the one that involves Anakin, his mother, and revenge is by far the best example of the dark side being prevalent. I really felt its presence during the scene. Altogether, absolutely loved the movie!
For the technology behind it, who says digital cameras can't produce an image equal or better to that of film. I saw EPII on the largest screen in my area and I thought it looked amazing. I'll have a chance on Monday when I go out to NYC to see it in DLP. That I can't wait for. I bet it looks beyond amazing.
Well, there's my two cents. I loved it and if you enjoy star wars at all, you will love it too.
:star: :star: :star: :star: 1/2 out of :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
Jeff

 

[Joseph Young]

Seth,
100% agreement w/you
Hayden and Portman, notwithstanding having to utter some pretty innane lines, are also portraying individuals who have given up their lives for transcendant causes, who have, in effect, buried their rogue-ish HanSoloisms deep beneath the surface. Their behavior and delivery almost reminded me of a cracking facade, strained bemusement and fear in the face of a crumbling Republic.
I am probably one of the few people (in the world) who did not feel the Yoda scene was a highlight. In fact, I felt it was too gimmicky. It was a series of money shots, fulfilling the fantasies we all had of seeing what Yoda was capable of. It just didn't 'do it' for me though. Many of Yoda's finer moments were in contemplation, I thought.
I'm a freak, I know. 99% of the reviews I've read all basically say, "Stiff acting, boring exposition, but YODA ROCK$$!!!!" I just don't agree. I was fascinated by the theme of obsession and longing running through the love story.
George Lucas has described AOTC as a 'simple love story.' I think that this statement caused people to expect a traditional, natural 'courtly love' element, much like Leia and Han's gradual blossoming romance (which we can all assume in the movie universe, develops into a healthy relationship). But Padme and Anakin are a different story altogether. I think we are supposed to question their motivations for getting together, and I think beneath it all, there is a huge lesson about obsession, compulsion, and letting go (or better put, not being able to let go ).
Padme has spent her entire life forsaking emotion for selfless political duty. She is a fragmented soul and desperately needs to feel need, the intuitive, reckless kind.
Anakin has spent (almost) his entire life forsaking the idealistic attitudes and memories of his youth, for the Jedi Order. He is a fragmented soul.. being torn from his mother, and being trained at such an older age, is why he is the way he is. He is still destined to bring 'balance to the force,' but he is also destined to betray himself and those he loves first. I can't think of a better definition of 'tragic.'
Both Padme and Anakin are in love, but mainly because they are unable to function sturdily under the auspices of the weakening Republic. Their inability to ultimately 'stay the course' is not a mistake per se, but a natural reaction to the growing fear and desperation brought about by the impending dark age. Padme herself says it: "Our lives are going to be destroyed anyway." This is her ultimate justification for giving into passion and holding onto this dream of someone like Anakin needing her so much, needing her in a way that causes her both unrest and arousal.
That they fling themselves together is not a mistake, since their actions give birth to Luke and Leia. But this is not Han and Leia. This is two people, on the brink of war with themselves, on the brink of personal collapse, who find in a very short time that they need each other. It happens to people all the time, and I personally find it profound.
I can either choose to dwell on all the things that the film didn't spell out for me, all the moments that I was 'denied' due to Lucas's inability to craft a better movie, etc.. Or, I can take what he gave us and analyze it a bit below the surface. There's a lot to be found.
Rating: :star: :star: :star: 1/2 [rant]out of[/rant] :star: :star: :star: :star:
Cheers all,
Joseph
ps. I saw AOTC on film, not digitally. I did find the picture a bit indistinct. I am fortunate enough to have two digital theaters in my area, so the next time I see it it will be digitally. I will be sure to post my findings as soon as that happens.

 

[Andrew_Ballew]

I found this installment to be better than Episode I, but still pale in comparison to the original trilogy. To give it credit, though, I was very pleased with the larger than life graundeur, and the pervading sense of darkness throughout that is much more in-tune with the original trilogy, especially Empire.

Apart from the dashing special effects and action sequences, the actual character development and interaction is quite dull and flat. The dialog and plot is informative, and is interesting from the epic's historical persective, but is essentially lifeless. There is nothing in the dialog that is memorable, save a few tounge-in-cheek remarks made by Kenobi. Simply put, these characters are boring. The colorful personalities of the likes of Han Solo, Chewie, Leia, Luke and Lando are nowhere to be found in this installment.

The love story seems to seriously interrupt the flow of the movie, and is very cliche'd to say the least. I felt the first hour or so of the movie to be agonizingly slow, despite some impressive CGI action sequences.

At first I was also disappointed at what I considered to be an abrupt ending, that left lots of loose ends so untied that I was truly wondering what the heck was this mess of a movie, but in hindsight I realize that this is one of the movie's stronger points, and obviously is intentional. It is just too bad that we will have to wait 3 years for the resolution, although there are some very believable summaries of the potential content of Episode III avialable elsewhere on the net. Once again, this installment was very Empire-like with a very open unresolved ending, but somehow still did not quite capture the same magic that left you satisfied despite a delayed resolution.

All in all, I give this one a B-. For reference, I rate Episode I a C-, IV an A, V an A+, and VI an A-.

Andrew Ballew

UPDATE-

From a technical standpoint, I must say that I disagree with some others on the quality of this print. On the moderate sized screen at my local cineplex, the clarity and resolution of the movie was STUNNING! I have never seen a more beautiful movie. It of course still suffered from some mild film grain and dust-specs, but overall was unbelieveable. I would love to see this in pure digital. Too bad the sound in my local theater was lacking. They obviously were playing the Surround EX cut of the movie, but the levels were so low it was less than thrilling.

 

[Dan Brecher]

I'm happy to admit Attack of the Clones was to me, a damn near perfect combination of dazzling visual effects and a story that was both incredibly entertaining and exciting. One 35mm and two DLP viewings later I feel officialy Star Warsed out, but in the best possible way. I'm probably not of the state ot mind to pen a giant epic review I had initialy thought likely.
I remain a Phantom Menace fan, but to look at Clones is to wonder if Episode I did not have imposters filling the shoes of Lucas' directing abilities and Ben Burtt's editing abilities because the finished results in both departments are quite frankly, vastly different.
Script wise, I find the combination of well timed humour, romance, chases and battles to be incredibly well placed throughout the story, and the overall pacing is spot on! Where Phantom had us back and forth all of the galaxy, stopping at Coruscant for a few sconds before darting off to Naboo within the span on 10 mins, Clones is selective regarding as and when we are allowed to move back and forth between what are for the most part, two main stories, those of Anakin and Padme's blooming relationship, and Obi Wan's investigation into an attempted assasination. The climax of course brings out heroes together for one huge battle in which Yoda truly sends in the clones.
Returning faces of the cast from Phantom Menace are now much more at home in their roles, and you sense this almost instantly, most notably with Ewan McGregor in his first apperance with Anakin during a scene on Coruscant. Nothing seems stiff or (excuse the pun) forced this time round, they know how Lucas works, they know the process and they appreciate the better script and story.
The disturbingly beautiful Natalie Portman is again, obviously more at ease in the role of Padme this time. The character is far more free thinking, and save for the odd moment, she turns in a very good performance, especially so when she plays in contrast to Hayden Christensen. She's also handy with a blaster!
Veterans like Christopher Lee and Iain McDiarmid are of course, on fine form, Mcdiarmid obviously taking great joy in his continuing portrayal of Palpatine. He knows this character inside out, often fooling me to the point where I'd think he knows more about Palpatine than even Lucas does. He remains ever graceful yet dubiously suspicious.
Second to Mcgregor of the "younglings" in the movie, Hayden Christensen puts in a stellar spot on protrayal of a further angst ridden Anakin. The Hayden bashing seen in many reviews bemuses me... When I saw him on the london stage last month in the exceptional play 'This is our Youth' he instantly impressed me, but I freely admit I had a slight reservation in regards to his possible AOTC performance in that it might have suffered as Ewan's did in Phantom and for the same reasons... Of course, I was wrong to have such fears, as Hayden does the job of combining a dashing young hero, a romantic and over confident egotistical brat into one. In my eyes, he brings a dash of Han Solo wit to his character.
Two scenes especially see Hayden take Star Wars to an emotional level we have never seen before, and his performances are honest and rather moving. One scene especially, a scene in which he tells Padme of a mistake he has made, is a truly exceptional scene. The music combined with his delivery of some excellent dialogue in this one moment will never cease to take my breath away and leave the hairs on my arms standing on end.
On a technical level, Clones naturally delivers. Whilst one may instantly realise CG sets, ships and vehicles as being just that, you soon forget and near instantly see Yoda as Yoda, see Geonosis as Geonosis and see the republic gunships as republic gunships. The CG is quite frankly mind blowing, with the overall scale and attention to detail being just incredibly overwhelming to say the least. Seeing the movie DLP brings out the best in both the effects and the sound (though I remained satifies with the 35mm release).
The sound is truly exceptional. I can see many feeling Phantom was better, but in comparison Phantom sounds louder and just too full of sounds, where as Clones gets the mix spot on. Surround action was pefect, LFE was always in the right place and of the right depth. The mix is a stellar job.
My main dissapointment is in the film's musical score. I feel the music, which sees itself being subject to countless edits to practically every cue recorded for the movie, was presented far better on the released album than it actually was in the movie. Whilst sure, the musical edits were not as jarring as those done in Phantom Menace, much of the re-placement, looping and cutting of score made no sense to me whatsoever and is somewhat of an insult to John Williams. AOTC was the one Star Wars movie he had written the most music for, and I'd say we hear only about ten percent of it in its entirety as written. Tracks 12 and 14 on the CD were barely used in the movie at all, instead replaced with looped cues from the Phantom Menace score.
The music remains an integral part of the movie however, it helps move things along nicely, it's just not overly memorable as heard in the movie...except for one cue (which is not on the CD) and is an absolute delight. A combination of the haunting emperor's theme followed by the imperial march during a scene on Tattoine with Anakin & Padme which I speak of above.
Attack of the Clones is my favourite Star Wars movie. Is it the BEST? I think Empire remains the best, but in terms of pure excitement and entertainment, no other Star Wars movie comes close to matching EpisodeII on such a scale.
Most of you know I was predicting a three and a half star rating from myself, but Lucas has truly surprised me even though I had read various drafts of the script prior to the movie's release and pretty much knew what to expect. I have been surprised on an editing, directing and acting level like I never expected. After the midnight viewing last night I was ready to give it four stars right off the bat, but I waited.... Seeing it twice again today confirmed I have no regrets in sticking to that rating!
:star: :star: :star: :star: /:star: :star: :star: :star:
Dan

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

Quick review:
It's a sequel to The Phantom Menace. Visually dazzling - 10 times better than TPM. Dramatically, however, it still feels like a retread with no real sense of pace. The middle third is tedious beyond belief! The cast is a real mixed bag, but Christopher Lee is great as Count Dracula (sorry, "Count Dooku"). John Williams' score is ruined by the slap-dash editing and the sound mix - why did they bury great music under so many loud sound effects (the chase with Zam is the worst example of this).
Film presentation was on a 40-foot screen and looked fine, no obvious artifacts to me. I'll bring my son to a digital theater to see it for the second and final time.
:star: :star: 1/2:star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star: Worth seeing, though, for the visuals alone.

 

[Richard Harvey]

The Good:
- Great action sequences which have been discussed here at length.
- CGI aliens; much more variety and more believable than before.
- Explosion sequences, particularly in the asteroid belts.
- I thought Christopher Lee did the best job of anyone in this film with the material they were given. Of course, I would have loved a character on the lines of Darth Maul in this movie, but Lee's character fit pretty well.
- Hayden was much better than I had hoped for; in particular, his rage on Tattooine was a good look inside Anakin's persona.
- The environments were as lush and detailed as you would expect from ILM.
- Great sound effects.
- Natalie Portman in a half-cut top on a cold set.
The Bad:
- I saw this on a DLP screen, and although the picture itself was rock solid and free from scratches or blemishes, there were many times I could clearly see the pixelization on the screen. I'm curious how this translates in theaters with traditional print film.
- I agree with others that William's score seemed very out of place in spots, and in some cases didn't seem to match up at all with what was happening on the screen.
- No new characters are fleshed out, and I felt nothing for the Jedi council or their predicament. Actually, I felt no emotional attachment to pretty much anyone in this movie, which is not a good sign.
- There are many slow points throughout the movie, at one point stalling the entire movie for a good 10 minutes.
- Not enough "stars" in Star Wars. I mean, episodes IV-VI had significant scenes with massive space battles. Almost all the action here takes place on terra firma, and there are only some many ways you can swing a saber to keep things interesting.
- Some of the chase scenes (particularly the city chase) are simply too long. Thankfully, we didn't get caught in a 14-minute pod race.
The Ugly:
- Atrocious script. Lucas really, really needs to swallow his ego and pride and hand the writing reigns over to someone else. He should stay the visionary, but let someone else actually write the script. It can't get much worse than this, and I know no other studio would have accepted a script like this on such a high budget film.
- Bland acting. I would be tempted to rake Portman, McGregor, Jackson, and others over the coals here for such absolutely poor acting, but I really think most of them did the best they could with a third-grade script. There is no emotion and no memorable moments. Maybe standing on a sound stage with a blue screen behind you simply isn't condusive to acting.
Overall, the good makes up for the bad, and this ends up being a keeper. No, it is not even in the same league as IV or V, but personally I'd rank it even with VI and certainly well ahead of I. It's a fun summer movie, so go in with low expectations on the acting and dialogue and you'll probably have a good time.
:star: :star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[todd stone]

AWESOME MOVIE! THE MAGIC IS BACK!I also saw it on a digital screen, ROCKED!
:star: :star: :star: :star:
but what was with the scene where portman falls out of the ship into the desert all injured like, and a trooper goes, "you ok?" and shes like "yes" and gets up with no problem. BAD ACTING

 

[Paul Jenkins]

Quick review here as well, want to catch it a second time before compiling all my thoughts.
I loved this movie. 5/5 from me. I suppose I'm wired different from a lot of people because I thought the acting was great, especially Hayden and McGregor (and Yoda commanding the clones!) I totally bought the love story, could see Anakin's continuing decline into the dark side [which, I was surprised, didn't start in this movie but between EpI and II, especially w.r.t. his relationship with Palpatine]. Padme was played well by Portman, the arena scene with her was great. The beginning of the R2/C3P0 relationship was fun as well. Not a weak scene in the movie to me, and the most powerful, to me, was the scene were Anakin tells Padme about the Tuskins.
The visuals were breathtaking, as I expected. The picture quality on a film, not DLP version, was outstanding, not sure what others have seen, but the print I saw was as good as any 35mm print I'm used to watching at the movies.
The is no other film that can touch this w.r.t. the CGI and visuals IMO. It is immaculate.
I'm off to check for tickets to the late show, I know the DLP theater is sold out for a couple days, so I'll have to catch in there next week.
Finally, I fully went into the movie expecting wooden acting and was more critical than I wanted to be, especially in the first 30 minutes. I eventually relaxed and just watched the film, rather than sitting trying to critique every thing, which I tend to do after reading so many reviews of a film. After I got out of my initial funk, I was transported into another galaxy, far, far away, which sure was nice for a change