Trading away the dull politics and childish humor from the first film for a forced romantic plotline and over exaggerated drama – Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones suffers from the same big problem as the first film, a complete lack of vision.
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones continues the journey of Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi as they face the sith lord Count Dooku.
Rinse and repeat, or in the words of George Lucas himself “it’s like poetry, they rhyme” – unfortunately Episode II – Attack of the Clones not only rhymes the flaws of its predecessor, it exacerbates it into something far more irritable; a corny romance. Arguably the most frustrating part of this films construction is that there are countless ways this story could have been written better – from the degradation of Anakin’s psyche, to the first signs of his inner hatred; it really is a true shame that this film didn’t take a far more psychological route with its characters. Wasted potential.
While this film stands in infamy for its needlessly excessive use of CGI, headache inducing romantic storyline, and shaky fight choreography; there are however some notable technical improvements made over The Phantom Menace. Visually the special effects had improved across the board, not much can be said for how it’s utilized through – employing the use of CGI clones has guaranteed this film a spot in the “movies that age horribly” category, and it truly is showing its age now. Nothing had improved stylistically apart from a few more physical locations than green screens, though these locations were only briefly used and so marginal that green screens felt like they were ever-present. While the famous Yoda fight scene is burnt in the brains of everybody who witnessed it in the cinema, there are however some admirable moments of quality throughout, Dooku’s character could be regarded as dull, but he is style over substance if that remains true.
The Attack of the Clones may very well be the worst Star Wars film ever made, there was so much room for this trilogy to be a fascinating story. While the prequels have given birth to plenty of content and humor in pop culture, what little it does right just gives it the edge over The Phantom Menace, just.
4.0/10
Anakin Skywalker would not have lost his arm and they could have gone back for Padme.
I honestly think that Mace Windu and Yoda should have confronted Count Dooku.