Rgirvan44
Posts: 18882
Joined: 10/3/2006
From: Punishment Park
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Ten years yesterday, Attack of the Clones was released. Let us celebrate the best thing to have come out from it. Here is to another ten years of the review being constantly brought up, in what is now known as Hewitt's Law!
Attack of the Clones
Ten years after The Phantom Menace, the Galactic Republic is under threat from charismatic separatists, forcing Naboo Senator Padme Amidala to seek protection in the guise of Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker, while Obi-Wan Kenobi discovers a secret Clone Army…
In 1999, this very magazine awarded The Phantom Menace four stars. Going by that rationale, Attack of the Clones deserves, oh, twenty. Pity we can only give five. OK, Clones isn't the greatest film ever. It's not even the greatest Star Wars film ever, falling short of close relative The Empire Strikes Back. Yet it outstrips TPM completely, gives Return of the Jedi a run for its money and Steven Spielberg thinks it's better than A New Hope. Make no mistake, Star Wars is back.
For a man supposedly oblivious to TPM's critical pasting, Lucas' fifth instalment feels like it was made by a fanboy committee. There's more action, more humour and more humanity (McGregor's Obi-Wan is more confident and cynical; while Portman's Padme is less regal; more sexy). On the flip-side, there's no midi-chlorians and - hurrah! - barely any Jar Jar. Meanwhile, obviously suffused with confidence again, Lucas directs capably, showing off his visual skills (breathtakingly beautiful shots are legion), while letting the increasingly dark story develop unhindered.
TPM may have been just for kids, but thanks to its frequent decapitations and murky tone, Clones skews a lot older. It's not as simple as white hats, black hats anymore: the proto-Stormtrooper Clones are here - oh, the irony! - led into battle by Yoda; while - in a burst of mischievous genius - the loathed Jar Jar inadvertently sets in motion the Clone Wars. Lucas also bravely consigns his nominal baddies -
Jango Fett and Christopher Lee's imposing Count Dooku - to the background, allowing him to focus on Anakin's fall from grace. [Spoiler warning!] The Tusken Raider slaughter and Anakin's subsequent hate-fuelled confession is the most emotionally-charged Star Wars sequence since Empire's climax; thankfully the glowering, preening Christensen delivers a suitably tortured performance. Episode III awaits.
It's not all perfect: the central romance never escapes its plot device origins; the dialogue is still clunky, non-fans might get horribly lost, and the mid-section lacks a little pace. As for ILM's remarkable wall-to-wall CG (most of the walls are CG) such hyper-reality means AOTC occasionally resembles the most expensive Babylon 5 episode ever made.
Then again, the climactic battle, featuring Jedi's kicking-ass and - hey! - clones attacking, is a mind-boggling fusion of technology and entertainment that eclipses anything seen before in the fantasy genre. Hell, in any genre. And then, along comes Yoda's astonishing, crowd-pleasing battle with Count Dooku. A showdown that is - inarguably - the Star Wars saga's greatest single moment, and for that, all past indiscretions are forgiven. Welcome back, George.
Our lack of faith was disturbing, but Clones is the anti-Phantom Menace - funny, complex and enormous fun. See it, and start queuing again. This time for Episode III.
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It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.
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Happy 10th Birthday Attack of the Clones Empire Review - 
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