Rating: 6/10
Review date: May 19, 2002
The saga continues in the second episode of Star Wars where Anakin Skywalker has matured to be a young man with Obi-Wan Kenobi as his mentor. Anakin soon falls in love with Senator Amidala after a failed assassination attempt while Obi-Wan Kenobi searches for the truth behind the growing separatist movement that is increasingly threatening to the Republic�
I have a mixed feeling about this movie since there are some aspects that I hate from it yet there are also some others that are alright. I know Star Wars fans are going to slaughter me for giving this movie a seven but I digress so let�s get on with the review�
The first thing that blows me away is Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker. His expression of rage and hatred is so strong and you can just feel the gradual formation of Darth Vader taking place.
Natalie Portman as Senator Amidala plays her role really well especially during the romance scenes with Christensen. However I find that the dialogue is a little over-the-top for me; even though I believe that we all said those things at some point in our life, I feel that it is rather unnecessary to go to that degree. You can imagine what it was like because most of the audience literally broke out laughing during one of the romance scenes�
The plot itself was rather empty as not much is revealed aside from some hints on the coming episode regarding the birth of the evil Galactic Empire.
Aside from that, I have to say that the special effects are amazing especially during the scene where Anakin and his mentor are chasing the assassin who tried to assassinate Senator Amidala. It almost feels as if I�m sitting in one of those virtual reality theaters in Universal Studio; too bad the seats aren�t moving�
The action scenes are excellent as well with my favorite being the parts where Obi-Wan Kenobi is fighting with Jango Fett and the war between the Republic and the separatists near the end.
Attack of the Clones, in my opinion, has a great potential to be better if George Lucas would have pushed it further. It seems as if he is confused on how to convey all his ideas into the movie which I think resulted in a rather mediocre result.
The least I could say is that Attack of the Clones is fortunately far better than its predecessor, The Phantom Menace, which I think is a major disappointment to everyone. It has a more mature feel to it and of course, a more engaging lightsaber duel towards the end which also features Yoda wielding his lightsaber for the first time.
Star Wars fans will undoubtedly be absolutely thrilled by this movie but it will only be another average movie with decent storyline and great special effects to go along with for the average movie goers.
Memorable quote: �I truly, deeply love you��
-Natalie Portman as Senator Padme Amidala-
(c) 2002 Martin Taidy