Star
Wars, Episode 2:
Attack of the Clones
Reviews
by : Eric
Barker Gareth Von Kallenbach
Starring:
Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Natalie
Portman
Directed by: George Lucas
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After a failed assassination attempt
by Trade Federation spies, a Jedi knight and his apprentice
are assigned to guard a senator’s life, setting in motion
events that will transform the galaxy “far, far away.”
The second
installment of the Star Wars “prequel trilogy” is a
return to the action-packed, thrill ride aesthetic of early
Lucasfilm classics like The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), updated afternoon
movie serials filled with good old fashioned derring-do and
hairbreadth escapes, distinctly American wise-cracking, memorable
swashbuckling and big dollops of adolescent romance glossed
with the latest in hi-tech moviemaking. Though Attack of
the Clones lacks the sheer quantity of wry one-liners
that helped make the first trilogy such audience pleasers,
it is dense with all the other ingredients we have come to
expect from the George Lucas enterprise: a menagerie of new
space monsters, imbued with their own idiosyncratic personalities;
gee-whiz gadgets that seem to come from a real world; extraordinary
vistas blending pulp fiction artwork and film design from
several decades; and exuberantly staged, complex action sequences
balanced on a thin edge between slapstick and ballet. It may
be a mindless entertainment, but it’s a mindless entertainment
with texture, self-effacing wit, and most important, a joy
in popcorn moviemaking that informs every frame.
The story in this episode is more linear than that of its
immediate predecessor, The Phantom Menace, and more
involving. With most of the previous film’s clumsy exposition
out of the way, Lucas and his co-writer Jonathan Hales (The
Young Indiana Jones Chronicles) are now free to plunge into
several layers of galactic intrigue, following a matured Obi-Wan
Kenobi on a James Bond-style investigation to a couple of
uncharted planets of impending doom, while his apprentice
Anakin stays behind to guard the former Queen of Naboo and
wastes no time trying to woo her, violating his Jedi training
not to form attachments. As Obi-Wan jaunts about the stars,
uncovering portentous conspiracies, including a bizarre clone
factory run by Spielbergian aliens, young Anakin faces the
first serious tests of his commitment to the Jedi. He ultimately
fails, as we know he must, in one of the most disturbing sequences
to be found in any Star Wars movie.
It is true that much of the love story between Anakin and
Amidala is clunky and hurried, just as the romance between
Princess Leia and Han Solo in other chapters was filled with
banter from the playground rather than adult give-and-take.
But none of this is the fault of the actors: if Natalie Portman
seems stiff, as she has been accused of being in these movies,
it’s because her character Padmé is straight-laced and inapproachable,
and rightly so, Lucas typecasting the young beauty as a public
figure, mature beyond her years, trying to maintain her icy
mask in private. And if Hayden Christiansen seems too callow
or melodramatic (again, to some critics) it is because he
is a professional, showing up for work and playing the character
as written. He is also infusing the growing figure of Anakin
with a shivery combination of James Dean-like angst and Norman
Bates-ish fits of rage (a trait which, as the initiated know,
can erupt without warning into a particular kind of unpleasant
Dark Side).
Lucas
has never been a very good director of female-male relationships
(his most convincing love stories remain the interwoven teen
pairings in American Graffiti, 1973), but since when
was Star Wars about romantic love, anyway? The Anakin/Padmé
subplot is just necessary white noise to explain how Luke
Skywalker and his sister Leia got here, a concession stand
break during the main project: charting Anakin’s fall from
grace against a background of intergalactic conflict, and
all the while creating enough audio/visual stimulus for three
average summer movies. Maybe four.
Attack
of the Clones overflows with the things George Lucas has
always done brilliantly: the musical rhythms of film editing,
a peerless mastery of movement, color and composition, a spatial
grasp of sound as its own kind of drama, and an eccentric
fascination with the suspect, ghetto genres of movie history.
Thanks to the advent of digital visual effects in the last
decade, largely developed by Lucas’ own staff at Industrial
Light and Magic (ILM), it is now possible for George to just
wander around in whatever landscape he decides to invent.
Mostly, that turns out to be encyclopedic, surreal-o-comic
murals of 20th century pop culture, with sidebars about the
ways in which fascism has subverted democracy in the last
sixty years. But make no mistake, Lucas is a toy maker at
heart, and a passionate designer of bigger and better roller-coasters,
an overgrown kid playing with a medium Orson Welles called
the best erector set a boy could ever have.
Harold
Pinter it ain’t -- it isn’t even decent H.G. Wells -- but
Attack of the Clones is terrific E.E. “Doc” Smith (see
Notes), by way of Ray Harryhausen, Albert “Cubby” Broccoli
and John Ford. For the first hour and a third, the movie canters
along, unveiling an atmospheric set piece here, another there,
punctuated by a couple of good shocks and at least three chase
scenes to rival anything in the Star Wars canon, and then
the whole show breaks loose in an incredible final hour of
sustained action, suspense, comedy and eye-popping spectacle.
The series’
veteran pratfall artist C-3PO (the delightful Anthony Daniels)
returns to his rightful place as the principal Fool, always
out of the loop, always chasing after R2-D2, and winding up
in a hilariously choreographed running gag with his detached
head; the three main protagonists, Anakin, Padmé and Obi-Wan,
are brought back together, only to jump from one frying pan
into another above ever escalating fires, facing an out of
control droid factory and several nameless, oddly beautiful
space beasts, until the whole stew explodes in an honest-to-goodness
Jedi battle against the forces of evil, with light sabers
flashing everywhere, lurid red smoke blotting out the horizon,
and darkness about to fall. Whatever else can be said about
the quality of the film’s writing, which is fun just as often
as it is bad (and that, perhaps, on purpose), Attack of
the Clones is the work of veteran moviemakers who know
how to end their story in style, a relief, frankly, in an
era when most “event” movies seem to be infinitely better
during their first half than they are in their second.
Ewan McGregor
once again turns in a subtly conceived, younger version of
Alec Guinness‘ Obi-Wan Kenobi, delivering his lines in the
old maestro’s cadences and tone, and turning back the clock
on his physical mannerisms as if they were second nature,
while Samuel L. Jackson is finally allowed to skirmish, both
verbally and physically, which he performs with his own patented,
stentorian, street panache. And the hitherto unknown Christiansen
is a young man to watch, mark my words; he carries the shadow
of Vader around with him in every scene. (Watch his shoulders.
The kid acts with his shoulders.)
Ms. Portman
still has more outrageous costume changes than Liz Taylor
in Cleopatra (1963), but this film also casts her as
a contemporary adventure heroine á la Princess Leia, whose
mother, afterall, she is supposed to be, getting to show some
girl-power moves along with the charm school poise, and even
making with the occasional joke as well as the yearning starry-eyes.
But in
the end, Attack of the Clones is Master Yoda’s movie
(or as a friend of mine quipped, it’s Yoda-rrific), the most
loveable, quotable Little Green Man in all of sci-fi coming
unshackled at last from the limitations of mere puppetry and
set into digital motion (watch your knees!). Master Yoda steals
every scene he is in, a great tribute to animation director
Rob Coleman and his team of craftspeople, and of course, to
Frank Oz, who still creates the elder Jedi’s widely imitated
voice.
Astounding
visual effects; fabulous production and costume designs by
Gavin Boquet, Doug Chiang, and Trisha Biggar, blending many
sources, from the 1930s to the 1980s, into a startling dream
universe. And yet another great John Williams score, weaving
some eclectic new themes into an increasingly powerful, resonant
use of his established Star Wars catalog.
Undoubtedly
a pure boys’ movie, and perhaps best appreciated by Space
Opera aficionados, but this one is a keeper, sure to be critic
proof.
“Lucas
has got the tone of bad movies down pat.”
-- line from a review of Star Wars (1977), which George Lucas
now wears on a favorite T-shirt once a week during every shooting
schedule.
Notes:
THE FATHER
OF SPACE OPERA: E(dward) E(lmer) Smith (b. 1890, d. 1965),
nicknamed “Doc” because his early by-line included a PhD after
his name, was the first pulp writer to give thoughtful, in-depth
treatment to the kind of galaxy spanning epics that became
known as Space Opera, of which both Star Trek and Star Wars
are the heirs. First published in the magazine Astounding
Science Fiction during the Great Depression and WWII, “Doc”
Smith’s Lensman novels were multi-generational, hyperspace
sagas, centered around a hero with heightened “psi” powers
who continually discovered an ever darker structure within
the structure of things, and on an ever more cosmic scale.
Famous for their hokey dialogue, revelations in super-science
and mind-boggling canvas, the Lensman adventures became bestsellers
when they were reprinted in the 1970s, right around the time
George Lucas was researching his big screen odes to Flash
Gordon. The books are currently hard to obtain, but they are
still out there somewhere, easiest to find on the Internet.
Diligent explorers should begin with Galactic Patrol
(1937).
TALK ABOUT
YER POSTMODERN COLLAGE: Christopher Lee, who plays the film’s
turncoat Jedi, Count Dooku, is eighty years old. His 53 year
career as a titan among B-movie stars includes skillful portrayals
of Sherlock Holmes, the Frankenstein monster, and a still-scary,
iconoclastic Dracula. His light saber duel in Clones was a
little too strenuous for a man of his advancing years, so
the ILM techs scanned his features into a computer, making
a 3-D virtual model of his head and grafting it onto a stunt
man’s body in certain shots. Mr. Lee also lent his iconic
face and mellifluous basso voice to last year’s first installment
of The Lord of the Rings, portraying the (ahem) traitorous,
wispy-haired wizard Saruman. Rent The Horror of Dracula
(1958), where Lee is teamed with his longtime straight man
Peter Cushing, who played Grand Moff Tarkin in the first Star
Wars film.
MYTHIC-SCHMYTHIC:
Like all Star Wars extravaganzas, Attack of the Clones is
rife with allusions to George Lucas’ influences. The attempt
on Padmé ’s life in her chambers, for instance, recalls a
suspense sequence in Ian Fleming’s Dr. No (both the 1958 novel,
and the 1962 movie). Lucas borrows the lighting, set design
and shot selection from the Bond film, as well as the situation,
while in the subsequent chase through the cityscape of Coruscant,
he suddenly switches gears, continually quoting and expanding
on the visuals of Blade Runner (1982), a film for which ILM
designed the groundbreaking effects. Meanwhile, the planet
of Coruscant itself is part of an intricate, on-going allusion
to Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novels (1942-48), which take
place on an array of strange worlds, including Trantor, a
globe covered by centuries of urban growth and multilevel
air traffic.
There
is much more throughout the movie, such as a finale that may
or may not spoof Gladiator (2000) while it salutes
First Men in the Moon (1964), but which certainly mimics
specific shots from Ben-Hur (1959), untold confrontations
from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars fantasias,
the Flash Gordon comic strip, naturally, and Ray Harryhausen’s
many experiments blending live actors and mythical creatures
using stop motion animation.
My favorite
allusions this time around come during Anakin’s journey into
the Sandpeople‘s village, a pointed repetition of shots and
tropes from John Ford’s Western classic The Searchers
(1956). Not only does Lucas draw visual parallels between
Anakin and the earlier film’s Ethan Edwards -- a legendary
movie character whom culture critic Greil Marcus described
as “a walking Judgment Day ready to destroy the world to save
it from itself“ -- Lucas then inverts the meaning of the original
film‘s climax, uncovering the many conflicts beneath its surface
of heroic adventure. Other films and books alluded to in this
episode: as always, H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds
(1898) and E.E. “Doc” Smith‘s Lensman series (1934-1948);
plus, Cecil B. DeMille’s The Sign of the Cross (1932),
Leni Riefenstahl’s 1935 documentary of the Nazi Party congress,
Triumph of the Will, Danny Kaye’s The Court Jester (1956),
Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Roger Corman’s horror-comedy
The Raven (1963), as well as the first Star Wars
trilogy and Lucasfilm‘s Indiana Jones series (another
set of hyperreal allusions all their own).
-Eric Barker
In
1999 George Lucas brought the first of three new Star Wars
films to the screen. Amidst hype and expectations never before
encountered for any previous film, "Star Wars Episode I: The
Phantom Menace" was released to a rabid public and was met
with mixed reactions by fans and critics. Many viewers cited
the child like tone of the film, and did not like new characters
such as the clownish Jar Jar Binks and Nute Gunray as they
paled when compared to the characters in the original series.
Nevertheless, the film went on to gross over $400 million
at the American Box office alone and gained millions more
in merchandise sales.
The problem
in many ways was that the film was a victim of the previous
films success. It had been 17 years since audiences had last
seen a new Star Wars film, having only books and comics to
further the series in the meantime. With the promise of a
new series fans expected a continuation of what they had grown
to love from the original series. The problem with this thinking
is that the new trilogy occurs in a different time, and setting.
The new series follows the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker
as well as the fall of the Old Republic as well as the Clone
Wars and the demise of the Jedi. Lucas knew he had three films
in which to tell his tale, and I believe that the first film
was nothing more than an introduction to characters, situations,
and places in order to delve into a deeper and darker storyline
in the next two films. It should also be noted that since
the new series centers on Anakin Skywalker, the tone of the
films likely would reflect his age. For example he was a child
in the first film, so the tone went accordingly. In the second
film, he is a young man, and as he has the trials of growing
into adulthood and learns the ramifications of decisions he
makes as well as from his mistakes, the film has a more mature
theme, as it is a coming of age story in many ways.
Awash
in speculation, conjecture, optimistic hype, and plenty of
secrecy the second chapter of the Prequel trilogy "Star Wars
Episode II: Attack of the Clones", went into production roughly
a year after the debut of the last film. The Internet was
abuzz with casting rumors, alleged storylines, and pictures
from the closed film sets and fans spent the two years plus
production time of the film speculating how the new film would
fit into the series. Would it fail to live up to expectations
for some as the last film did, or would it soar as Director
George Lucas was no longer shaking of the rust of a 17-year
sabbatical from directing and has a established premise and
characters?
I have
been a huge fan of the series ever since that Imperial Star
Destroyer zoomed across the screen back in 1977. My then nine-year-old
imagination was sparked by the images of the series and in
many ways, that series fueled my love for films and prompted
me to start writing about the genre back in my Prep School
days, and has continued to this day. I rode a fine line between
wanting to know about the new film, and not wanting to learn
everything there was to know. I posted an outline of the story
as I understood it to be a year ago, but I refrained from
reading the book or learning more about the film until the
press screening, as I wanted to have some surprises much as
I did with the first film. So while I did go in with a general
outline of the events of the film and a desire to see just
how accurate the information given to me was, I was ready
to be taken away to that Galaxy far, far away.
"Attack
of the Clones" is set ten years after the events of "The Phantom
Menace" as the Republic is continuing to crumble amidst internal
strife and ineffective and corrupt political leadership. Facing
a new threat from a separatist named Count Dooku (Christopher
Lee), who is leading systems to break away from the Republic,
The galaxy finds itself on the brink of war. Into this backdrop,
Senator Amidala (Natalie Portman) of Naboo travels to the
Galactic Capital of Coruscant for a Senate meeting on how
to deal with this crisis. Amidala avoids an attempt on her
life upon her arrival and is put under the care of Jedi Knight
Obi Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), and his apprentice Anakin
Skywalker (Hayden Christensen). Anakin has not seen Padme
since she was serving her people as Queen Amidala ten years
earlier and is captivated by her. Amidala sees Anakin as the
little boy she knew years ago and even refers to him by his
childhood moniker of "Annie". Subsequent attempts on Amidala's
life lead the Jedi to uncover a darker plot that threatens
not only Amidala, but the entire galaxy as well. It seems
that a large clone army is being created on the water planet
Kamino, and this event can only be seen by the Republic as
a prelude to war. Further confounding the issue is the fact
that the planet is not on the Jedi galactic map, and it seems
that someone has erased it from the archives. Mace Windu (Samuel
L. Jackson) and Yoda are even more concerned as they realize
the Dark Side of the Force has made it harder for the Jedi
to see what is happening in the galaxy, keeping them from
seeing the construction of the clones in advance. It is against
this backdrop that Anakin and Amidala begin to fall in love
despite her misgivings as she has a duty to her people to
serve them in a time of crisis, and the fact that Anakin is
strictly forbidden to have close relationships as a Jedi.
Their courtship takes the two lovers to her home world of
Naboo, Anakin's home world of Tattoine and to the desolate
planet of Genosis for the films spectacular climax.
I do
not wish to give away much of the film as the joy of this
film is discovering the plot as it unfolds and watching the
love blossom between the two characters against the backdrop
of war. The fact that we know what is to come for Anakin in
many ways makes his love for Padme even sweeter as it is something
that is his, and he has lived a life of servitude and isolation
and is starting to find himself for the first time and questions
authority figures and rigid structures in an effort to express
himself. It is bittersweet to watch the future Darth Vader
romp with herd animals and playfully tease Amidala in a grassy
field as we see the kind and caring person that is within
him.
Christensen
and Portman are fantastic as they have an electric chemistry
between them that makes the their relationship not only believable
but heightens the tension of the film as the audience knows
that the quiet moments for the two lovers share are to be
cherished in the face of the brewing storm. I was reminded
of the works of Shakespeare, as the theme of forbidden love
set against great conflict was evident.
Of course
this would not be a Star Wars film without action and rousing
special effects and the artists at Industrial Light and Magic
have once again set the standard for others to follow as the
film is a visual marvel. A rain-soaked battle between Obi-Wan
and Jango Fett (Temura Morrison), is a frenzy of images and
moves that combine visual style with action movies worthy
of the best fight sequences in film history. In a bold move,
Lucas pauses the battle briefly only to resume it soon after
in a space setting as the two combatants take their battle
to the skies. It is a sequence that will leave audiences exilherated
and breathless but as good as it is, it pales when compared
to the epic battle at the films conclusion.
McGregor
gives a tour deforce performance as Obi Wan, as he blends
the wisdom and compassion of his character, with the fierceness
and loyalty that he displays as a warrior battling for the
Republic. You can see the love he has for Anakin and his turmoil
to instruct Anakin as he grows into a man just as his mentor
Qui Gon Jinn did for him tempered with the strain of his duty
to the Republic. Obi wan does not believe Anakin is ready
for a mission on his own as he worries about his student's
impulsive nature, yet is eager to see him grow and succeed.
Christopher Lee is solid in an all to short role as Count
Dooku, he is a man who is charismatic as he is malevolent,
and is a character that has a complexity about him waiting
to be released. There is more to this character than is first
shown, and he may indeed hold the key for the events to come
in the third film, as there is some ambiguity as to what his
true intentions are. The controversial Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed
Best) returns but in a much smaller yet very significant role
as his clowning around is eliminated leaving the two druids,
R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) to provide
some of the humor in the film. Hayden Christensen is fantastic
as Anakin as he combines an irreverent and impulsive nature
with a warm and caring persona. The storm of anger and passion
is clearly on display in his face and in his body language
as he portrays Anakin as a frustrated individual who believes
others are holding him back due to jealousy. He is capable
of great tenderness, humor, and loyalty, as he claims Obi
Wan is the closest thing to a father he has, yet like a young
adult in turmoil, he blames Obi Wan for telling him things
he does not want to hear or do. The demanding role is played
to perfection and serves notice that Christensen is a rising
star. Lucas and co-writer Jonathan Hales have answered the
criticisms of the past film by crafting a thriller that is
complete with romance, action, good characters, and some memorable
moments. The only real complaints I could issue against the
film is that of wanting to see more of certain characters
such as Dooku, and Jango Fett, and that the issue of Anakin's
mother seemed like a throw in as it was all too brief. The
pacing of the film is solid and Lucas gets solid performances
from the cast.
In summary
"Attack of the Clones" delivers the goods. The political turmoil
of the plot is a rich and pleasant surprise as it elevates
the entire film and provides a maturity and sophistication
to the story and characters that was not present in the last
two films in the series, and makes the film easily the most
mature themed film of the series, and easily the best film
of them all.
-Gareth
Von Kallenbach
Gareth@nwlink.com
http://www.nwlink.com/~gareth/sknr.htm
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