Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (Questions and critique)

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TheTenaciousOne's Avatar
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11-20-14
Hey everyone, been a while!
I re-watched this movie for the first time in 5-10 years. It was one of those "oh, I never realized this before" experiences.



Basically I want your opinions on these points. Do you agree/disagree? How does it look from your perspective?

Observations
- Anakin and Padme love
Only now do I realise how much this film focuses on the love story between Anakin and Padme. I found this movie constantly going back and forth between action and this flirting love story which didn't feel right. During the movie, I often found myself withdrawn from the flow I was experiencing and becoming self aware of this.

I think it's good because it sets up an emotional attachment to the bond these two share, which eventually leads to major character development in the later movies. Perhaps it's not so good because it focuses a little too much on the love scenes. It's very unlike any other Star Was movie from what I can remember. Although I completely think it was necessary, I can safely say 'quality over quantity' may have benefited it.

Critique
- CGI
I remember questioning this when I first saw the movie back in 2002 and I'm still questioning it today. The space battle between Obi-wan and Jango Fett has this particular scene which feels odd to me. It's a side shot of Obi-Wan escaping from a homing missile. The missile looks to be as large as Obi-Wan's ship... anyone else with me here? His ship also seems to move like a toy on strings... Feels like there might have been some budget issues or problems with time management.

- Other Jedi cast during the battle of Geonosis
I found their acting to be horrible. I understand the eagerness to put in 100% energy and enthusiasm into such a role, but some of the performance are so over-exaggerated that it's cringe-worthy.

You can refer to the following video for scene by scene contrast,


6:07 - The way the women almost throws her light-saber out and the hand gesture for using the force looks ridiculous. Everyone else is calm and collected.. then you have one actor who out of the blue comes across as though she's been smoking a crack pipe..

9:26 - Once again, another over-exaggerated performance. She sounds like a Karate student rather than a Jedi.

Question
Is the ENTIRE clone army an exact replication of Jango Fett? Physical appearance and all? Also, was there a certain importance to killing Jango Fett at the battle, or was his attack on Mace Windu the only motive?

All in all, I enjoyed the film. Plenty of entertainment to be found here.
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Voigan's Avatar
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11-20-14
Originally Posted by TheTenaciousOne
Question
Is the ENTIRE clone army an exact replication of Jango Fett? Physical appearance and all? Also, was there a certain importance to killing Jango Fett at the battle, or was his attack on Mace Windu the only motive?

All in all, I enjoyed the film. Plenty of entertainment to be found here.
In one of the expanded universe books I've read it's explained that the clones are physical clones of Jango but they've been altered to be more obedient and they go through some sort or process to make them grow faster. Boba Fett is the only clone of Jango who isn't altered. I don't remember if any of that is mentioned in the movie or how the books vs. movies cannon works out though.
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I am the Watcher in the Night
11-20-14
so u liked it?

personally, when I first watched it in secondary school I liked it as a good popcorn flick but on subsequent viewing its so clumsy, badly acted, poorly scripted with terrible special effects and a piss poor story which forgets logic at the door.
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TheTenaciousOne's Avatar
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11-21-14
Originally Posted by Voigan
In one of the expanded universe books I've read it's explained that the clones are physical clones of Jango
That's what I thought. However I watched Episode III: Revenge of The Sith the day after and it shows the clone army with soldiers who don't look like Jango Fett..



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11-22-14
I thought Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith were pretty good. Phantom Menace I didn't like nearly as much - it just felt too "Disney" what with the excessive focus on a young kid, and the Jar Jar Binks character.

I feel that the prequels get unjustly trashed and felt like they did a good job tying it altogether. My main gripe about the sequels is that Anakin's personality changed way too hard, too fast. (ex. He goes turning against the Jedi with the motive of saving his wife, to having meglomaniacal fantasies of overthrowing the Emperor and ruling the galaxy within the course of about 30 film minutes). Other than that no gripes, and I thought Palpatine was a very good villain, and enjoyed seeing his cunning rise to power throughout the films.

I think that a lot of the flak that the prequels get speaks of the OCD-nature of a lot of the fanbase as much as anything. Even the same fans who create Youtube critics longer than the movies themselves picking apart every "flaw" are quick to forget the flaws in the original films (ex. Han and Leia exiting the Millennium Falcon in deep space without spacesuits; Leia knocking a heavily armored Stormtrooper unconscious with a tree branch to the chest, etc).

Not to mention the cringe-worthy thought of someone just spending that much time and energy looking for flaws in a popcorn flick which wasn't meant to be taken that seriously to begin with (Star Wars was never The Godfather Trilogy and never tried to be) You might as well just create a 10-hour in-depth analysis of a Yogi Bear cartoon.



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11-23-14
It's a bit hamstrung due to being a middle chapter in the prequel trilogy, as well as suffering from some painful dialogue and an overuse of CGI that's not even that good really... but it's good fun and I am okay with watching it once in a while.



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11-23-14
Originally Posted by 90sAce
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Having the story based on Anakin as a child is entirely appropriate in my opinion. The series basically revolves around him, so I don't think 1/6 episodes focused on his childhood is a bad thing. God knows if anything was needed in the series, it was deeper character development for Darth Vader, and Episode 1 helped establish that. Jar Jar Binks however is entirely out of place, especially in comparison to the much darker episodes 4, 5 & 6. I must admit that I can find humor in his appearances, but it wouldn't have been the end of the world without his presence.

His turn to the Dark Side was very rushed indeed. It may have been more believable if he didn't say things like, "And together, you and I can rule the galaxy!" No. Not acceptable with such a rushed story. What he said next; "We can make things the way we want them to be!" is more realistic as they both have political ties.

Yes, the prequel trilogy cops a lot of hate due to ever aging fan-base of the sequel trilogy. Perhaps letting go of their beloved actors and characters was a bit too much for them. I grew up with the prequel trilogy and even though I tend to like it more, I still love the sequels. I don't blatantly hate it because it wasn't from 'my time' even with it's countless flaws (which I don't get a high off constantly pointing out).

This also raises another somewhat worrying question for me. Will this disease of an emotional bias toward future Star Wars films have a repeated effect on the prequel trilogy generation? I hope we've all moved on past the childish tantrum throwing which 90% of the sequel fan-base constantly show.



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I Am Rick Cottontree
11-23-14
Mt review from a while back. Says it all really.


Originally Posted by The Rodent
Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones.

 With the debacle that was Episode I, you’d have thought Lucas would have learned his lesson and improved the new trilogy. Sadly again, he didn’t.

The movie revolves around Obi wan Kenobi’s and Anakin Skywalker’s adventures around the galaxy.
A bounty hunter named Django Fett has been hired as a mould for a Clone Army, ordered in secret by a (now dead) Jedi Knight.
Obi Wan is sent to the planet Kamino to investigate this disturbing event and let the council know what the truth of the matter is.
Anakin has been reassigned to protect Amidala (now a Senator) as an unknown party and an unknown assassin have targeted her for termination.

Anakin and Amidala’s love story is expanded on as they spend more time together alone in hiding. Eventually finding a common ground and falling in love.

Anakin’s feelings of jealousy toward other Jedi and his delusions of grandeur show a hotter side to his temperament. Eventually a murderous side surfaces when he returns to his home planet of Tatooine and is met with family tragedy.
Obi Wan in the interim has discovered more about the Clone Army and has discovered that the Trade Federation are still up to no good and are working alongside another Sith Lord called Count Dooku and an alien race called the Geonosians to build a super weapon.
Eventually Obi Wan is captured while snooping and Anakin and Amidala decide to rescue him.
In the meantime, the Jedi Council have gathered all the nearby Jedi and are also heading to Obi Wan’s aide. The Jedi have utilised the Clone soldiers too, to aide them in fighting Dooku, the Trade Federation and the Geonosians.
At the end, Anakin and Amidala marry in secret.

The movie is far more action orientated. It’s full of chases and sabre fights and relies extremely heavily on CGI.
The movie as a whole feels as though Lucas wanted to stick the characters in as many different (and unentertaining) CG cartoon situations as possible.

Yoda, C3PO, the Jedi, the Clones and even Django Fett are all, at some point, turned into a CG character.
R2D2 can apparently fly now too.


It’s incredibly gimmicky and cliché. It’s almost an experiment in what they can do with CGI.


You can tell also that Lucas didn’t have a single set built for the film. It’s all green-screen. All of it.
The writing too is substandard.

Lucas’ take on romance between two beautiful young people is incredibly cringe-worthy.
A child could have written it in crayon and still given it more passion and chemistry.

McGregor is again spot on though as Obi Wan, but you can see he’s starting to wonder what he’s doing in such a pile.
Portman is more wooden this time around. Though she tries her best with the poor script, she seems fed up too.
Count Dooku is a mild highlight. A star turn from Christopher Lee brings a touch of campness to the movie. Eventually though, he too is turned into a CG character.

Anakin Skywalker is again, played by a complete muppet.
Hayden Christensen has absolutely no charisma and recites his lines as though he’s forgetting them as he does so.
He also has no chemistry with love-interest Portman. He’s apt with a lightsabre though but sadly it’s just not enough. Two great big thumbs down from me. He’s actually worse than Jake Lloyd.

To be honest, I’m finding it hard to find a good point on this one. Even the huge Jedi/Clone fight on Geonosia is a bit of a miss affair. It looks thrilling and flashy, it’s just got no substance.

I’m thinking the storyline is better suited to Star Wars than Episode I was. Anakin’s darker side is expanded to an extent, but it doesn’t save the movie.

All in all the worst of the Star Wars franchise, a better story than Episode I but still not anything worthy of the Star Wars title.
My rating 5%