THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
When George Lucas brought back Star Wars through a prequel trilogy, it got rocky due to the lackluster known as The Phantom Menace. Thankfully, he stepped things up with Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
PLOT
The film takes place ten years after the Battle on Naboo. An assassin attempted to take the life of Senator Padmé Amidala during her visit to Coruscant, planning to vote on a motion to create an army to assist the Jedi Council against the Separatist movement, now led by Jedi turned Sith Count Dooku. After the assassination attempt, she is protected by Jedi master Obi Wan Kenobi and apprentice Anakin Skywalker as security. They do find and subdue the assassin Zam Wessell (Leeanna Walsman). Before they could get an answer on who was her employer, she is killed by the said figure. Kenobi is then instructed by the Jedi Council to find the bounty hunter while Anakin is tasked to protect Padmé and escort her back to Naboo. Kenobi’s leads take him to the planet Kamino, in which he discovers a clone army is being produced for the Galactic Republic under the name ‘Sifo Dyas’, a deceased Jedi Master. At Kamino, he meets the genetic template Jango Fett, who has a cloned son named Boba (Daniel Logan), and only admits that the clones were originated from a man called Tyranus. The Jedi quickly deduces that he is the bounty hunter when recognizing his armor. They do briefly fight each other, but the bounty hunter flees to Geonosis. However, Kenobi is able to follow him there thanks to placing a homing beacon on his ship. There, he finds the main employers to be the Separatist movement, who are developing a new droid army. Just when he transmits his discovery to Master Yoda, he is quickly apprehended by Dooku. The Sith explains his role in the Confederacy of Independent Systems’ formation and his master is largely in control of the Galactic Senate. On Coruscant, Senate Representative Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best) proposes a successful vote to grant emergency powers to Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, allowing the clone army to be authorized. As for Anakin, he and Padmé fall in love during their time on Naboo. Their relationship would be dangerous as it is forbidden for Jedi to have such attachments. In between their romance, Anakin has troubling visions of her mother Shmi (Pernilla August) in danger. So he and Padmé, along with the astromech droid R2-D2 return to his home world of Tatooine to save her. There, he reunites with his protocol droid C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), but he meets the family his mother married, the Lars family that includes: her husband Cliegg (Jack Thompson) who freed her from slavery after buying her from Watto (Andy Secombe), his son Owen (Joel Edgerton) and his girlfirnd Beru (Bonnie Piesse). Cliegg explains that Shmi was recently abducted by Tusken Raiders and is likely dead. Determined to save his mother, Anakin does find her at the Tusken campsite, only for her to die in his arms. Enraged, he massacres the entire tribe before burying her. When he shares with Padmé what he did, he vows to protect everyone he loves. When they get Kenobi’s message, they head to Geonosis to save him, only to be captured by Jango in the process. Dooku sentences the Senator and both Jedi to be executed in the hands of three dangerous creatures: An Acklay, a Nexu and a Reek. However, they avoid demise thanks to being rescued by a battalion of clone troopers, led by the Jedi Council, including Masters Yoda and Mace Windu. During the hellacious battle, Windu is able to slay Jango in front of his son Boba. Anakin and Kenobi attempt to intercept Dooku, only to be defeated by the Sith as he injures the master and severs the right arm of the apprentice (which would later be replaced with a prosthetic hand). Yoda challenges him as well, only for him to retreat, which allows him to give his master the plans for a super weapon (The Death Star). The film ends with Anakin and Padmé secretly marrying on Naboo, with R2-D2 & C-3PO as witnesses, whereas the Jedi Council acknowledge the beginning of the Clone Wars after accepting the news that Darth Sidious is within the Senate.
THOUGHTS
The best way to discuss this film is through Pros and Cons.
PROS: Considering that I wasn’t super impressed with The Phantom Menace, I admit to feeling skeptical on how this was wanna go. So once I made time for this one, I am relieved to say that I enjoyed this one. Lucas steps things up by getting to answer some minor questions we never thought would be asked (Boba’s origin and how Anakin lost his right hand) while setting up the big event we didn’t think we’d see (The Clone Wars). Thanks to this, we’re still invested in the much obvious buildup. Because of this, it makes all the action and improved visual effects worthwhile. By the time you get through every sequence in the Battle of Geonosis, you will be completely satisfied with the end result. Truthfully, the main reason this movie works out because it cleverly explores the paradoxical debate between duty and desire. It calls out on if our responsibilities outweigh our wants and if they are worth it in the long run. All of this is cleverly explored in the perspective of young adult Anakin Skywalker. Hayden Christensen shows him to be an extremely emotional person, which can make him look like a wimp but in reality, it expresses exactly how passionate he is for people he cares about and how idealistic he sees himself with his power. Because of how his life differs from others, he feels like an outcast which only riles him up. Although being ruthless to those who take what's his, which foreshadows his path to becoming Vader, the good in him is stronger because the decisions he makes are more selfless than selfish. Natalie Portman once again leaves a good impression as Padmé for being brave enough to defend her friends and remaining headstrong for better or worse. Despite seeing the dark side in him, she still falls for him as he does for her because they think the good outweighs the bad as they both see how selfless they are. Ewan McGregor is able to excel in the role of Obi Wan Kenobi for still being thoughtful to his protege, yet slightly pretentious. This is proven whenever he chooses to be overcritical towards Anakin, yet still sees the potential in him. We still like him here because he remains honorable to the right cause and refuses to be convinced to do wrong. The biggest improvement this movie gets is the stronger presence of Yoda & Windu. Samuel L Jackson is able to make Windu another separately iconic Jedi not for having a purple lightsaber, but for being the most perceptive. Like Yoda, he is someone who has to be cautious with every wise decision in order to prevent things from going out of proportion. So when he joins in on the action, it is safe to say that it didn't yet. Aside from Frank Oz's fantastic vocals, the visual effects were at their most effective when it came to Yoda as we were finally able to see him in action as a Jedi. The most interesting thing about him is that despite using a cane when walking, he uses the force when he duels to balance himself, which I think is the most creative aspect of his abilities. Aside from that, he is still a standout character for being the most thoughtful. Despite being a strict leader, he cares for every Jedi brethren and when he feels the darkness in Anakin,it pains him to feel what he is feeling. Not once did I expect to see the origin of Boba Fett, but it was a treat to see it start here, which continued through The Clone Wars series. Not once did I expect him to be a clone of another bounty hunter, but it makes sense why he would be so skilled as he grew up. In his given time, Temeura Morrison made Jango an interesting figure by making him mostly analytic with every decisions. Whoever hires him, he cares deeply on succeeding his tasks, which makes him fairly formidable. It made sense for the clone army to be designed off of him because due to not being one with the force, it makes each clone as loyal as possible. He chose to get himself a cloned son because he wanted his legacy to carry on and lucky for him, it did in a big way. Ian McDiarmind is still cleverly great as the deceptive Palpatine, who is playing everyone like a fiddle as he is getting exactly what he wants, making the signs are align that he is Darth Sidious. In the meantime, he has an apprentice who is more successful than the last. The late Christopher Lee makes a big impact on making Dooku the most cunning Sith to ever see onscreen, which only results out of confidence for things to go as planned. And with that kind of mindset, it only makes him more dangerous than other Sith out there. The most interesting about him is that despite being on the wrong side, he still has empathy for the side he's against. He sees himself stronger as a Sith, but wishes to have his protege Qui Gon at his side. In the end, he is still loyal to his new cause and is past the risks and obstacles that will come his way.
CONS: Even though there are many things that make this film better than The Phantom Menace, it still had a lot of issues that hold it back from the greatness it’s supposed to shine. So first off, why would Zam wait until Padmé’s ship was deboarding to go forward with attempting the assassination? I’m not trying to root for the bad guys, but you could’ve guaranteed success if it was done mid flight. And why does Kenobi go after the drone? That is something Ani should’ve done since his love for Padmé makes him more determined to get the job done. Because of that, it’s so hypocritical to see his master dislike him for taking the jump to pursue Zam. And when did Jango follow what was going on with Zam and the Jedi? I know we want it to be more surprising when we see him, but it’s not like he flew over the whole conflict, otherwise he could’ve crashed into somebody. Also, why exactly is Jar Jar qualified to be a senate representative? I know this mostly writes him out of the story since he sucks, but again, he did so bad last time and proved to have no legit qualities. So I don’t understand why Padmé didn’t pick someone like Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits). It is convenient for Kenobi to find Kamino because the clone army will help Palpatine overthrow the Jedi, but why would the people of Kamino not know the exact Jedi that would visit them? Obviously, The Clone Wars series confirms that Dooku killed Sifo Dyas and orchestrated this, but shouldn’t there be some verification on who would visit? One verification and it would’ve not taken so long to deduce that the clone army was part of the Sith’s plan. I’m sure Jango is smart in his line of work, but it wasn’t smart of him to not hide his goddamn armor. Boba closes the closet door, but the damage is done dude. It is tense when the Jedi chooses to get into a fisticuffs with him, but he could’ve just used the force to push him down and he would’ve been arrested, rather than dying in front of his kid. And how did it take a decade for Ani to visit Tatooine? I know Jedi are supposed to avoid being emotional to be better warriors, but I’m surprised Kenobi didn’t give him at least one trip to calm him down. In the end, he was bound to find out what happened Shmi. I am surprised that The Lars family would be Ani’s step family, but shouldn’t that have made it a giant risk to have them raise Luke? I gotta say this because since it took until New Hope for them to be in danger, I’m surprised that Vader never visited. It is a clever tie in for Kenobi to encounter the Separatist movement who predictably plotted the attempt on Padmé’s life, but how did Dooku not sense him and not even Jango be near to spot him? I know the force is complicated, but I do feel like it’s make sense for a former Jedi to sense something before the Geonosians did and the bounty hunter should be protecting his employer 24/7. I laugh on how well C-3PO knows R2-D2 because they haven’t known each other that long. They only knew each other for two days before being separated for a decade. So that was a lame way to try to make a fourth wall break/callback for the OG trilogy. Trust me when I say I love the climax that starts with the Battle on Geonosis, but I am so thrown off of how the Jedi are able to block hundreds of shot when circled and Padmé doesn’t get hit at all. And yes, I do admit it was cool to see Yoda in action when dueling against Dooku, but why didn’t he finish him? Yes Dooku distracted him with a pillar that almost lands on Ani & Kenobi, but Yoda could’ve thrown that pillar at his ship and he likely would’ve died. In conclusion, Attack of the Clones has its moments of stumbling, yet finds a way back up to the top and brings back the positive reception the franchise deserves. If you were highly disappointed with The Phantom Menace, I promise that you’ll be satisfied with this one.
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