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I hadn't planned on seeing Star Wars Episode 2: Attack Of The Clones until perhaps 2 weeks after opening day release, but a surprisingly moderate crowd at noon compelled a friend and I to watch the film today.
Some thoughts on the film. The good and the bad. First, the bad points.
The bad:
(1) Computer Generated Imagery Overkill
While CGI has done wonders for special effects, one is left with the impression that Attack Of The Clones is mostly computer imagery with a few humans added in the movie. In a few scenes, the CGI isn't very convincing: when Anakin is riding an animal on Naboo and falls down, for example.
(2) Yoda
This is closely related to the first point.
In Attack of the Clones, Yoda was exclusively a computer generated image.
While understandable for some of the film (lightsaber duel with the Count), at times it looked absurd (the meeting with Supreme Chancellor Palpetine). The film would have been better served had Yoda been portrayed using a puppet for some scenes.
(3) The Romance between Anakin and Padme.
The dialogue between Anakin and Padme was corny in the extreme. At no time was I convinced of a genuine love interest developing between them. Contrast this with Leia and Han in The Empire Strikes Back and one sees the enormity in the difference. Natalie Portman only confirms how horrid a choice she was for a role in the Star Wars saga.
(4) Slow Development.
The movie moves at a seemingly glacial pace for the first hour. Much of this time is used to establish the plot, but one wonders if Lucas loses some of the audience for the much improved second half of the film.
The good
(1) Count Dooku (Darth Tyrannous)
Here is a Sith worthy of the name. This villian was genuinely powerful as evidenced by his relatively easy handling of a Jedi Knight (Obi-Wan) and a powerful Padawan (Anakin). Christopher Lee must be commended for a first rate effort.
(2) Jar Jar's diminished role
Jar Jar Binks had perhaps 5 minutes of screen time. Lucas apparently heard the howls from Star Wars fans. It was perhaps fitting that Jar Jar was the one who proposed extending emergency powers to the Supreme Chancellor.
(3) Anakin's meeting with his mother.
This scene really does an admirable job of conveying the simmering fury within Anakin. When he finally finds his mother, it is too late to save her life. He unleashes his anger indiscriminately on a Tusken Raider outpost, with women and children among his victims. Good foreshadowing of his eventual path down the darkside of the force.
(4) The Gladiator Battle.
This truly gigantic clash makes waiting for the movie to develop nearly worth the trouble. Jedi, droid fighters, and clone warriors battle in a hyper free-for-all that puts the " T " in thrilling.
(5) The story.
Although executed unevenly, the story is a well conceived. One can appreciate how manipulative Darth Sidious/Senator Palpatine is when one considers that he helped to instigate the separatist revolt which he then uses to bolster his authority in the Republic. The Republic is corrupted from within and will transform into The Empire with almost no one noticing.
Thus concludes some of my initial thoughts on Attack Of The Clones. Perhaps others will care to comment and offer their own insights.
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