Movie Review: Star Wars 2: Attack of the Clones (2002)

by Idris Hsi - May 16, 2002

I'm going to keep this very simple because I know that the die-hard Star Wars fans are trying to avoid any facts about the movie. I had a good time at the movie. What are you looking for in a Star Wars movie anyhow?  Oscar-level acting? Well, it's not great work but thankfully it's no Nightmare on 13th Street or Dungeons and Dragons. Are you looking for a deep and intricate plot with many subtle references to great literature and the human condition? Too bad. Star Wars: Ep 2 is a *prequel* written by a man with a brilliant eye towards the *visuals* of a universe created by his vision - visuals that led to a revolution in the special effects industry which continues today. As such, the prequel really only has one purpose - to illuminate something about the characters and their origins in the history of that movie's universe. Maybe you're looking for innovative storytelling and an advancement to the craft of filmmaking in the way of clever camera angles and editing. No such luck. Lucas will never gain fame as a director (or, for that matter, as a writer).

The reason why you'd want to go to a Star Wars movie is to see the Star Wars universe in living breathing color on the big screen. You're looking for lightsabers, Jedi powers, and lots of blaster fu. You're looking for funny names like Obi-Wan, Mace Windu, Jango, and Dooku. It's about starships, dogfights, Errol Flynn-type action, and watching the Other Side get its butt kicked. Attack of the Clones is strictly an old-style, Saturday matinee, good versus evil style of movie. There's a good soundtrack here from John Wiliams that evokes familiar themes from the past and the "future". Unfortunately there's also a poorly executed love story interwoven in between the action that screamed for the talents of a good director and writer. But overall, Star Wars:Attack of the Clones is a lot of fun, visually stunning, and has some great moments of ironic humor. I do recommend it as a movie to see on the big screen giving it a 5 on the Good Movie Scale and a 8 on the Bad Movie Scale.

That being said, the one thing that I have really missed in these last two movies is the sense of grandeur and deep mystery that pervaded Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back and which began receding by The Return of the Jedi. Episodes 4 and 5 both had an epic and mythical quality about them.  This quality was not the result of the physical trappings of the Star Wars universe - there have been numerous sci-fi movies and television series that have created whole universes. The special effects, as we've seen in numerous other movies, only help the audience to visualize a story. The power that made Star Wars a great movie and not simply a clever science fiction film is The Force. We're introduced to it through the story as a mysterious power in the Universe, wielded with great skill by the science fiction equivalent of Shaolin Monks or Zen warrior-priests. The Force sparked the imaginations of many generations of Star Wars fans because it felt real and was given life by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. The Force is spiritually absent from both Episode 1 and 2. Instead of mystery, we're given midi-chlorians and some babble about a prophecy and a chosen One that's never clearly explained. A mysterious power that guides all things has been reduced to some pretty special effects, a pseudo-scientific treatment worthy only of some bad Star Trek episode, and some rote platitudes scattered throughout the dialogue. The Force now might as well be psychic powers, magic, nanotechnology, or superpowers. Episodes 1 and 2 have shown a lack of spiritual vision and fail to reach beyond the moment to something greater. That's what I've found very disappointing about the movies. Years from now, I'll still remember Obi-Wan's reaching to Luke from beyond the grave, Yoda's lessons in the swamps, and Luke's enlightenment as he looks at his father's mechanical hand and his own.  All of us will still be quoting famous lines from the first trilogy. I suspect that this trilogy of prequels will probably only end up being remembered as dazzling special effects extravaganzas that made lots of money.