‘Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones’

George Lucas’ sci-fi mega-saga renews its dazzling reign.   [PG]

By: Bob Brown
   Ah, Star Wars: The Force arrayed against the Dark Side on a galactic stage.
   Long ago but not too far away, when George Lucas conceived the original Star Wars, he had in mind a tale partly patterned on mythic quests like those in Joseph Campbell’s Hero of a Thousand Faces and the conflicts in certain Japanese films about medieval warriors. In the first Star Wars (1977), the characters hinted at dark pasts and unexplained connections.
   Since then, Lucas has been back-filling their history in out-of-order prequels: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back; Episode VI – Return of the Jedi; Episode I – The Phantom Menace; and now Episode II – Attack of the Clones. Kenny Baker (R2-D2) said that at first he wasn’t quite sure whether his character stood on the side of good or of evil. "I was in the dark." Not until The Empire Strikes Back did he realize R2-D2 was among the good guys. Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca through Episode VI) echoed the sentiment. He felt the actors had more chance to develop their professional skills by Episode V, when the tale’s darker side began to emerge and loose ends were being tied up.

A romance blossoms between Natalie Portman (left) and Hayden Christensen (right) amid the action scenes of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones.

   Attack of the Clones fleshes out one such loose end: the mentorship of Anakin Skywalker, later Darth Vader, to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Here, the young Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) and his younger Jedi apprentice Anakin (20-year-old Hayden Christensen) display a testy respect for each other’s strength. But Anakin (Ani to his friends) emerges as a brash, headstrong, resentful trainee. Chafing under his obligations, Ani is full of the fire that will later erupt with dire consequences. For now, he is a youth of strong principles and hopeless romanticism. Don’t tell him not to fall in love.
   The relationship between Obi-Wan and Ani is played out against the backdrop of a pending civil war. Count Dooku, a.k.a. Darth Tyranus (Christopher Lee), a Jedi apostate, has gathered a band of renegade solar systems who plot to crush the Republic, headed by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). When the Republic’s Senator Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) is nearly killed by an unknown assassin, Obi-Wan puts her under Ani’s protection while he hunts down the plotters. Inevitably, all are drawn into a maelstrom of violence when Obi-Wan finesses his way to the heart of the rebels’ lair and gets into a jam. As with other episodes, this one has loose ends that foreshadow episodes to come.
   The Star Wars phenomenon has created a subculture of serious fans for many reasons. They feed on every scrap of their heroes’ stories as if these were a basic food group. Some of this is due to the densely interwoven relationships among characters in a narrative that spans vast stretches of time and space. The Lucas enterprise has created exotic worlds and cultures from thin air.
   The fans’ ardor also is spawned by Lucasfilm’s near-obsessive attention to detail. It’s been lavished on everything from the structure of flying machines and buildings to the apparel and armaments of warriors, the cut of coiffures, the jewelry, and the body markings of humans, droids and species not of this earth. Talk about multicultural — there are even languages and sounds for speaking them that exist nowhere else.
   Attack of the Clones takes this rich gumbo and kicks the flavor up another notch. If you think you’ve seen it all in digital effects, think again. This movie is a visual feast. Even Yoda (Frank Oz’s voice) is now freed from his puppet-master and is fully digitized. Curiously, although there is plenty of violence that is eerily reminiscent of today’s headlines, the film rates nothing stronger than a PG. Most of what bites the dust are robot-warriors.
   Given the film’s technical and musical brilliance (thanks to John Williams), it seems curmudgeonly to criticize characterizations or acting or dialogue. To die-hard fans, so what? Sure, Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best), an embarrassment in Episode I, is mercifully short-circuited. But is Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) any less acceptable because he speaks in wooden phrases? We know Natalie Portman can do a lot better but her lines are a straitjacket.
   Alas, the joyous camaraderie of the original film, its sense of irreverent humor, disappeared long ago. In Clones, it resurfaces in later scenes when C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 team up to join the chase. We know we’re in for fun when C-3PO says uncertainly to his companion, "Oh dear, I’ve never flown before." Otherwise, in tune with the times, there’s a pervasive sobriety, and the development is often ponderous. Not until major battles erupt are we treated to the sustained roller-coaster effect.
   No wonder some people have been camping out at theater entrances for months to be the first on line. For full enjoyment of this one, you’ll need total immersion. Choose a theater with a big screen and a humongous sound system. Clones creates whole new food groups for fans to chew on.
   Rated PG. Contains sustained violence.