Just for fun — and to round out the “Star Wars” film reviews on my blog – I decided to look back at what I thought of “Episode II: Attack of the Clones” upon its release in the summer of 2002. I wrote the review for my college paper, the NDSU Spectrum. I went on to rank “Attack of the Clones” as the year’s fourth-best film (behind “The Good Girl,” “City by the Sea” and “About a Boy”; I couldn’t tell you a darn thing about “City by the Sea” now). I’ve added some footnotes reflecting what I think about the film now.
‘Clones’ breaks free of original trilogy’s shadow
By JOHN HANSEN
Summer 2002
In all of my trips to see “Attack of the Clones” this summer, the audience’s favorite scene was the same every time. In fact, George Lucas might have subtitled the film “Yoda with a Friggin’ Lightsaber” and packed the seats even faster.
The little green guy’s battle with Count Dooku is the best, but not the only, highlight of this second “Star Wars” episode, which significantly breaks free of the massive shadow of expectation cast by the original trilogy, something that “Episode I — The Phantom Menace” failed to do in the eyes of many (1).
The appeal of “Clones” is much like the appeal of “The Empire Strikes Back” (2). After introducing the characters and having some fun in the original “Star Wars,” George Lucas explored deeper and darker corners of the galaxy in “Empire.” The pattern is repeated in the prequel trilogy — the characters and key locales were introduced in “Menace,” but it’s in “Clones” that viewers can move beyond a mere intellectual grasp of the galactic conflict.
Now we actually care about it (3).
Jam-packed into “Clones” are five planets, two more than a “Star Wars” film usually deals with. During the speeder chase on Coruscant, we see flashy billboards and a thriving sports bar; later, Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) visits a ’50s-style diner. We get the picture of a galaxy in a time of economic prosperity and peace.
Later, we revisit Padme’s (Natalie Portman) home planet Naboo and Anakin’s (Hayden Christensen) old haunts at Mos Espa on Tatooine. After seeing them in Episode I, these places now feel like home to the viewer as well. Hinting at the darkness to come in Episode III, we also see the rain-shrouded Kamino, where the clone army is built (4); and Geonosis, where the first battle of the Clone War is fought.
Ten years after “Menace,” “Clones” rejoins three old friends who now have more personality, as writer-director Lucas has loosened the leash and allowed his actors to act a bit. Anakin isn’t a kid anymore, but rather a dangerously fragile young man. Christensen, who already made an impression as a recovering druggie in the TV series “Higher Ground,” gives lump-in-the-throat readings of Lucasian dialogue like “They’re animals, and I killed them like animals. I hate them!” (5)
(Christensen’s performance and the events of “Clones” suggest a reading of Anakin’s fall to evil that few people had considered. Many assumed that Anakin actively pursued the dark side (6), but it now seems he is pushed to the dark side by the loss of things he loves — his beloved mother’s death in “Clones,” his banishment from the Jedi Order and perhaps his wife Padme’s death in Episode III (7). Rather than looking forward to it, I am now cringing at the thought of seeing Anakin turn to the dark side, which tells me that Lucas and Christensen have crafted a very good character.) (8)
As the galaxy-weary yet sheltered young Senator, Portman’s performance is restrained in contrast to Christensen, but they get on the same page for some great romance scenes. My favorite is the meadow picnic, where Padme shyly suggests “You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?” and Anakin sheepishly responds “I’d be much too frightened to make fun of a senator.” John Williams’ orchestral contributions can’t be understated here. (9)
But of the three leads, it’s McGregor who gives the best performance, which is good, because he has to carry the middle chunk of the film. His verbal banter with Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) is almost more entertaining than the subsequent lightsaber duel.
As the most notable new character, Lee proves why he is considered a legend. His readings of lines like “Join me, Obi-Wan, and together we will destroy the Sith!” are instantly quotable. And a tip of the hat goes to whoever came up with the name “Dooku,” because it allows the good guys to sound like they are insulting him by simply using his name (Mace Windu: “We will not be hostages for you to barter, Dooku!”).
Although Yoda gives the best performance among the digitally realized characters (and perhaps even the best performance overall), I also have to give mention to junk dealer Watto, whose fatherly love for Anakin was hinted at in “Menace” and achieves a pay-off here.
In “Clones,” Lucas contradicts three elements of the “Star Wars” mythology as established in the novels. This is surprising for a franchise that prides itself on strict adherence to continuity in all its spin-off fiction. Boba Fett is revealed to be the cloned son of Jango Fett, rather than journeyman protector Jaster Mereel (“Tales of the Bounty Hunters”) (10). Owen Lars is the step-brother of Anakin, rather than the brother of Obi-Wan (the “Return of the Jedi” novelization) (11). And the Death Star was designed by Geonosians rather than human Bevil Lemelisk (“Darksaber”) (12).
That Lucas is contradicting established lore presents yet another twist on the question of what will happen in Episode III (to be released in 2005). There are certain things we know must happen: Anakin will become Sidious’ new apprentice Darth Vader; Dooku will die; all of the Jedi except Obi-Wan and Yoda will be slaughtered (13); Luke and Leia will be born and hidden on separate planets; Padme will die soon after that (14); and Vader will know about the existence of Luke, but not Leia (15). We also know that dead Jedis can dissolve into spectral images in Episode IV, but not in Episode I. And we know that the Empire consists entirely of humans, yet Palpatine has several alien aides as a Chancellor (16).
But as diner owner Dexter Jettster points out to Obi-Wan in “Clones,” there is a difference between knowledge and wisdom. Even having seen Episodes I, II, IV, V and VI, it’s virtually impossible to predict the plot of Episode III. Perhaps that’s Lucas’ biggest accomplishment on “Clones”: he’s given the prequel trilogy a life and emotional journey that stands on its own — it’s not merely the backstory, it’s the story.
Title: “Attack of the Clones”
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Christopher Lee, Samuel L. Jackson
Written by: George Lucas and Jonathan Hales (17)
Director: George Lucas
Grade: A
FOOTNOTES
(1) In retrospect, I don’t think any of the prequels broke free of the original trilogy to be analyzed on their own merits — at least not by the moviegoing public at large. “Star Wars” geeks like me do it all the time, of course.
(2) This is a very generous statement.
(3) I failed to make this distinction, but I think I cared about the story not entirely because of the filmmaking quality, but because 1, I was just thrilled to see a new “Star Wars” film and 2, I was influenced how the EU (the novelization and the early forays into the Clone Wars) was beginning to flesh out the story. Still, I probably did like the film then more than I do now. There was a law of diminishing returns with the prequels (as films, not as stories) where they were thrilling upon first viewing – at least Episodes I and II were – but they show cracks on repeat viewings.
(4) The Kamino landing platform is literally dark, but it feels superficial compared to Dagobah; this can be chalked up to the difference between digital/practical and purely practical filmmaking. And thanks to the differences in directorial touch (bluntness vs. subtlety), “Empire” strikes me as thematically more “dark,” even though they are broadly similar storywise.
(5) Christensen’s performances as Scott in “Higher Ground” and as Anakin in “Attack of the Clones” are similar. I think he was great on “Higher Ground” and also pretty good in his two “Star Wars” films, considering the material and the awkwardness of green-screen acting. Today, his “Star Wars” performances are widely criticized, though.
(6) This is one of the fun things about reading old reviews. It had completely left my mind that I used to think Anakin actively pursued the dark side, before the new information supplanted that theory.
(7) More odd assumptions. Anakin is not banished from the Jedi Order in “Revenge of the Sith,” he is merely marginalized by the Council. Interestingly, the idea of banishment from the Order wasn’t unfounded, though, as it happens to Ahsoka in “The Clone Wars.” And, of course, it’s not Padme’s death that contributes to Anakin’s fall, it’s his fear that she will die. By the time she’s dead, Anakin is already Darth Vader in name, costume, personality and worldview.
(8) Then I doubly cringed when “Episode III” came out. Anakin’s fall was inevitable, but I thought the chronicling of it on film was a bit shaky.
(9) I still think the meadow scene is beautiful when taken outside the context of a movie where most of the Anakin-Padme scenes don’t work. The dialog feels a little more natural. The fact that it takes place in nature helps, too.
(10) The “Jango Fett: Open Seasons” comic series and the “Republic Commando” novels sort of brought the “The Last One Standing: The Tale of Boba Fett” back into EU continuity. Boba Fett was never Jaster Mereel, but with Mereel becoming an actual character in Jango’s backstory, one can at least imagine Boba would use the name as an alias sometimes.
(11) This one never could be retconned. Lucas flat-out changed his mind about Owen’s familial status.
(12) The EU retcon is that both had a hand in designing it.
(13) Not entirely true. Even in “Episode III,” it’s not explicitly stated that no Jedi outside the central narrative survive. Indeed, in both the EU and Disney canons, a lot of additional Jedi survive Order 66.
(14) Actually, Padme dies in childbirth, therefore before Luke and Leia go to their respective home planets. My assumption was probably based on Leia’s line in “Return of the Jedi” that she had vague memories of her biological mother. Also, the “Jedi” novelization blatantly states that Luke and Leia’s mother was alive for a few years after their birth. It’s another case where Lucas changed his mind.
(15) This was just a false assumption on my part based on the confusing nature of when exactly Vader finds out about the fact that he has a son and that Luke Skywalker is that son. In both the EU and Disney canons, Vader learns this information between “A New Hope” and “Empire.” And then in his conversation with the Emperor in “Empire,” any lingering doubts are swept away. The question of at what point Palpatine knows about Luke and Leia’s existence is still confusing as heck, though. He doesn’t seem to know about them at the time he’s sucking the Living Force from Padme to revive Darth Vader. And Vader hides his quest from Palpatine between Episodes IV and V. One guess is that Vader wasn’t successful at hiding his feelings, and Palpatine got the information that way.
(16) The fact that Palpatine is anti-alien (illustrated in the EU by his relegation of the brilliant Thrawn to fringe duty, for example) yet doesn’t kill Sly Moore and Mas Amedda once he is secure in his Emperorship never was explained in the EU. In Disney canon, Amedda continues to serve the Emperor and the Empire. So it seems that Palpatine’s speciesism is downplayed in the Disney canon, although it can’t be denied that in the films, 95 percent of the Imperial bureaucracy and military is human.
(17) This is the only prequel where Lucas brought in a co-writer, but the script and dialog are just as clunky as in the other two. There isn’t much literature on what exactly “Young Indiana Jones” veteran Hales contributed to the film, other than the fact that he helped with the third draft. He’s never been featured in Star Wars Insider, and “Mythmaking: Behind the Scenes of Attack of the Clones” barely mentions him.