Review

Review Date: 12-June-02
Spoiler Rating: High
Juju Judgment: Just OK

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)

George Lucas has already been widely vilified for his willingness to cater to the American marketing machine, his betrayal of the early directorial talent displayed in "American Graffiti," and his obsession with technological bravado, which some feel has completely routed his attention to dialogue, character development, and storytelling. This being the case, it's more than probable that I, an ardent individualist, would see only two options for reviewing his latest effort: I must either rise to the vociferous defense of one of the few successful mythmakers of our cynical age, or I must cast about for some other, less-popular reason to rake him over the coals. After two viewings of "Attack of the Clones," it's clear which option I must choose: both of them.

"Star Wars" --- that would be Episode IV, "A New Hope" --- is one of my all-time favorite movies. I could wax nostalgic about how I was 9 years old when it came out, but if the movie's reputation (and enormous box office) are at all accurate, one doesn't need to be an impressionable kid to be taken in by its goofy but lovable human heroes, its colorful array of previously unimaginable creatures, its rock-em, sock-em, all-out yee-haw space battles, or its gorgeously caped villain, Darth Vader. This movie is, quite simply, magic at work. It worked on the big screen in 1977, and it works every time I have viewed it on my 12-inch TV ever since.

So the wizard, George Lucas, has a lot to live up to in these latest installments, particularly "Attack of the Clones," following as it does on the heels of "The Phantom Menace," a disappointment to most critics and fans. Does he recapture the magic of his initial foray into a galaxy far, far away? No, not really. But is the magic entirely gone, buried under an avalanche of trite romance and bloated special effects? Oh, no. Sitting in the crowded dark watching the adventures of Anakin Skywalker, the young Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen), again in a magnificent black cape, I surely lamented the bad acting of the principals (with the notable exception of the wondrous Ewan McGregor as Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi), the comic romantic dialogue, and the almost fatal lack of a villain on whom to lavish my viewer's hatred, but I could not shake the fact that it was all still magic; I simply cannot be entertained in this way by anyone else. Lucas has created another world and, like any world, I don't love all the stories and characters within it, but it's a place worth visiting and he's the only one who can get me there.

The digital imagery of "Attack of the Clones" is rightly prized by its maker. The opening action sequence, in which Anakin and Obi-Wan chase a hired assassin through the traffic-jammed skies of Coruscant, feels excitingly fresh, despite its overtones of "Blade Runner." As in "The Phantom Menace," the scenes of the lush planet of Naboo made me want to hitch a ride on the first jet-wing fighter out of here for an immediate vacation. A space pursuit of Obi-Wan by bounty hunter/clone prototype Jango Fett (a smart new character, unfortunately underused) is nifty, as is an eerie look at a forgotten planet on which millions of clones are being assembled. The smaller touches come through as well, including the reunion of Obi-Wan with an old friend who resembles a fat tape worm, a quick glimpse at very young Jedi in training, the brief interaction of Jango and his son, Boba Fett, and a terrific tip of the hat to the original "Star Wars," when Anakin and his future wife, Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman --- would that her talent matched her beauty) travel to Tatooine, where Anakin was born and his son, Luke, will come to manhood. These things are irresistible, carrying a wealth of imagination, a taste of the humanity largely missing from the bigger storylines, and, strangely but sweetly, a nostalgia for the way this galaxy was when we first arrived there over 20 years ago. The magic is not gone; it's just a little fainter, like light from a fading star.

So I don't feel betrayed by George Lucas because his latest movie is not as good as the original "Star Wars." However, I do feel betrayed by him because, in "The Attack of the Clones," he has forced me to give up my long-standing devotion to the Jedi, after he himself had seduced me to revere and admire them. No doubt it's the height of geekiness for me to dwell on a moral flaw embedded in the Star Wars saga, but, frankly, that's one of its principal appeals to me. I sleep better at night thinking that there once was or could be an elite group of people who perfected their own intellect, spirituality, and physical fitness in order to promote and protect justice, without being specifically political. Sure, I was annoyed when Yoda and Obi-Wan (a ghost portrayed by Alec Guinness at this point) discouraged their pupil Luke Skywalker to the point of near-abuse. I figured they were wiser than I was and knew better. But I'm older now and feel confident in saying that there is simply no excuse for what the Jedi do at the end of "Attack of the Clones."

The climax of the film begins after Obi-Wan discovers the existence of a clone army, whose creation had been commissioned by a now-deceased Jedi 10 years previously. In addition, there is another army being assembled by a former Jedi, Count Dooku (Christopher Lee), who is threatening to secede from the Republic. As the Republican Senate grants its Chancellor extraordinary military powers (presumably to use the newly discovered clone army) to protect itself from Count Dooku's potential attack, Yoda --- leader of the Jedi Council, a supposedly apolitical unit --- travels to the planet where the clone army is being grown, takes command of a battalion of adult clones, and then uses this force to free Anakin, Padme, and Obi-Wan from the clutches of Count Dooku. He apparently acts on his own volition for his own ends, and in doing so he single-handedly begins the Clone War (a famous event in Star Wars mythology from the very first movie).

What was George Lucas thinking? Where is the nobility, the superior remoteness of the Jedi from petty warlike disputes? Are we to forgive Yoda his monstrous arrogance and irresponsibility because, at the end of the fracas he's created, he whips out his light saber and displays astonishing martial ability to the delight of moviegoers worldwide? I think not. And don't even get me started on the extreme moral turpitude of using a clone army --- people genetically bred to take orders, we are told --- for any reason whatsoever! I go to the Star Wars galaxy to be transported and dazzled, which I was in "Attack of the Clones," but I also go to see Good triumph over Evil, and this time around, I'm just not sure on whose side these forces lie.

Copyright © 2002 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.