The turn of the millennium meant many changes in film. Days of the practical effects were slowly dwindling away and CGI was taking over filmmaking. In 1999, George Lucas brought back the legendary Star Wars franchise and along with it eliminated as many of its practical effects which once brought a charm to the franchise from a galaxy far, far away. Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace is one of the most disappointing films of the 1990’s. Fast forwarded 3 years, Lucas has done it again and this time two-fold as Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones is not only one of the most disappointing films of the millennium but the worst installment in the Star Wars franchise.
From the film’s opening, the taxation without representation for the trade federation is long gone and an assassination of Senator Amidala is now at the forefront. However, any interest of that is quickly removed as we see our first view of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker. Instead of looking like a fierce Padawan, Anakin comes off as a nervous, love-stricken, puppy who is nervous about his first date. When thinking of the first time, Star Wars fans would see a grown Anakin Skywalker, I am quite sure 100/100 would have thought of a better introduction.
Attack Of The Clones, Lucas attempts to set up the eventual turn of Anakin Skywalker to the dark side; Instead, Clones is a film that impressively invokes a nap clause during the first half of the film, has the audience wake up for the final 40 minutes and absolutely miss nothing of relevance.
Just like Phantom Menace did for the 1990’s, Clones has some of the most cringe-worthy dialogue written on film in the 2000’s. At the top of that list is Anakin’s disdain of sand, “I don’t like sand. It’s coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything is soft and smooth.”
What Clones suffers gravely from is overuse of CGI. As the film turns 15 years old, it is glaringly obvious that 99 percent of the film was behind a green screen. The authenticity of the Star Wars franchise is missing throughout the film, and there is nothing that a “first look” at the Death Star and young Boba Fett can do to make it better.
Another frustrating issue about Clones is the constant plot exposition by the characters within the film. Instead of letting the audience attempt to decipher the plot and its direction, Lucas decides to let characters consistently reveal plot points which becomes head scratching and irritating by the film’s conclusion.
Despite all the poor dialogue, and love sprung Anakin Skywalker, the involvement of Count Dooku tops them all. While a fan of the late great Christopher Lee, the inclusion of Dooku comes off as a Darth Maul replacement, rather than a Sith with purpose. One of Phantom’s biggest mistakes is killing off Maul, instead of creating an arch that would progress to Revenge of the Sith and his eventual death at the hands of Anakin Skywalker; A true kill of revenge for the death of his original master, Qui-Gon, We have a villain of the week placed in a film that was desperate for a character with purpose.
Star Wars fanboys would argue that Phantom Menace is the worst installment in the franchise. However, that argument is at times solely based on the inclusion of Jar Jar Binks. If one really puts real thought into both films, Phantom Menace has a pod race, Qui-Gon Jin, Duel Of The Fates, an impressive lightsaber battle, and Darth Maul; While Clones has what? A convoluted mess that left little hope that Lucas could close his prequel trilogy on a strong note.
Reel Talk gives Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones 1.5 Reels
