Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones

Released: 2002

Directed By: George Lucas

Starring: Ewan Mcgregor, Hayden Christensen

Certificate: PG

George Lucas’ second episode in the prequel trilogy takes places 10 years after the events in The Phantom Menace, where we find young Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) under the wing of Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), when a failed assassination attempt on Padmé Amidala Natalie Portman) brings the trio back together. As murmurs of war infiltrate the Galactic Senate and Kenobi investigates the attempt on Amidala’s life, headstrong Anakin is assigned to protect her, and the two fall into a forbidden love.

I’m just going to come out and say it: yes, there is a problem with Hayden Christensen as Anakin. Don’t get me wrong, I’m one of the few who thinks the cheesy or awkward dialogue that his character is given makes sense (what, you’ve never tried sweet-talking someone with absolute on-the-spot nonsense?), but while he gets a few of the darker moments right, he looks small and insignificant surrounded by a menagerie of talent: the aforementioned McGregor and Portman, as well as Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee (as the nefarious Count Dooku) and Ian McDiarmid. Christensen has the boyish grin and the evil glare right, but physically looks uncomfortable instead of arrogant and imposing.

Luckily, he’s supported by Portman and McGregor, who do a reasonable job of propping the film up when the plot kicks in. Portman is believable and engaging as a woman trying to balance her inner emotions (oh, and the small issue of plunging the galaxy into conflict), and McGregor is enjoyable anytime he isn’t just walking into big rooms and looking up at things(usually with a stick-on beard from the re-shoots, bless him).

The character of Yoda is has a lot to do this time around, now an entirely digital creation in the wake of the technical success of Jar-Jar Binks and just previous to Lord of the Rings’ Gollum. The money shot comes later in the film when our little green hero takes up a lightsaber, a source of many stories featuring cinema audiences leaping to applause in the early screenings.

Above and beyond anything else, Attack of the Clones should be recognized as a lynchpin in the development of digital film-making: it was the first full-length feature film to be shot digitally, and boasts many effects sequences that still hold up, and in many cases look a lot better than the by-the-numbers, haphazard CGI that litters many modern blockbusters. It is a gorgeous world-building exercise posing as a sci-fi fantasy adventure: from the planet-spanning cityscapes of Coruscant to the dusty surface of Geonosis and the rain-swept Kamino, there’s a positive (and literal) galaxy of environments, creatures and landscapes on display.

There are many problems, certainly: the sheer level of digital wizardry blasting from every direction means that a lot of the actors are simply swallowed up by the backgrounds, while the love story might not have the same impact on fans as the Han/Leia relationship of the original trilogy. Given that Anakin and Padmé’s romance is more of a plot point (a step towards the former’s dark future); it is difficult for some to get genuinely invested.

Where Episode II really breathes, without a doubt, is the sound. I don’t just mean the John Williams score (perfectly reliable as always), but rather the work done by sound designer Ben Burtt. For my money, this is the best-sounding film produced in the last twenty years. Want proof? Watch the last hour with a decent surround sound setup and bask in its glory. I never fiddle with the sound while watching movies, but there are so many moments here where I can’t resist turning the dial up to 11: the asteroid field chase sequence, the battle of Geonosis, the closing scenes of massive armies venturing off to fight a war that will define an entire universe.