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Star Wars: Attack of the Clones

In comparison to “The Phantom Menace,” the newest movie in the Star Wars saga is a vast improvement to its predecessor. George Lucas took much more time smoothing out the flow of the story down to the gigantic fighting scene toward the end of the film (compared to the choppy break-away battle scenes of the last movie). Not to mention, I was impressed with Hayden Christensen’s portrayal of Anakin Skywalker.

The story takes place 10 years later where things have changed dramatically for the republic. Queen Padmé Amidala (played by Natalie Portman) is now a senator on her way to Coruscant for a very important vote on whether to create an army to deal with the Separatist movement within the Republic. When she arrives, she is met with an attack on her life in which one of her doubles is killed in her stead. After a second attempt upon her life (stopped by Obi-Wan and Anakin), the Jedi Council determines she must return to her home planet of Naboo for safety’s sake and assigns one of their own to protect her: Padawan learner Anakin Skywalker.

During the course of the movie, along with the many other events that take place, a love story develops between both Anakin and Padmé. I was pleased to see Natalie Portman leave behind her rigid persona as the Queen from the previous movie and give a much more animated performance. As for Hayden Christensen’s work, I was pleasantly surprised at how well he captured the angst and personality of a young Anakin Skywalker. Between the two actors, I felt that there was enough chemistry to make the romance seem believable. Well, almost anyway.

The only thing that made me wince during their parlay was the the script. Although none of the Star Wars films will ever be mistaken for Shakespearean art, the fact remains that George Lucas’ skills rely on his imagination to bring the fantasy to life through his special effects and not on his literary skill. Although he had help with the script for this movie, you can tell that he had a huge input on the dialogue. In this aspect of the film, delegating the screenplay to a capable writer would have made much more sense.

Beyond the dialogue, I felt that the story carried the audience well into the mystique of the genre. We are introduced to the creation of the clone army, the background of Boba Fett’s unique heritage, and much more of Mace Windu, Yoda and the other Jedi from the previous film. Unlike the last film, Lucas spent more time concentrating on the story at hand and spent a longer period of time between scenes so that the audience had the chance to really take in the film’s events. Even the huge battle toward the end, which is simply spectacular considering the special effects involved, took great steps to bridge the gaps between the arena to the final showdown among the Jedi and Count Dooku.

The film should please most Star Wars fans with the artistic vision that is expected of George Lucas. Beyond the conversation, the special effects and the events of the story should keep the faithful fans riveted throughout the performance.

--Gary Reynolds, Wizard's Keep staff