The Attack of the Clones

It was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away when the three of us staggered out of one of the first showings of what was then just Star Wars — the Episode 4: A New Hope cognomen was a long time in the future. The ladies disappeared into the ladies’ rest room, and when they came out, they said to me: “We want to see it again.” ⁽¹⁾ And so we did, the theater not yet having learned the fine points of clearing out earlier patrons. I’ve always felt a little guilty about the three unknown people who had to stand or sit in the aisles through that second showing because we had taken their seats. (I presume that the statute of limitations on seeing the movie without a valid ticket has expired long since …)

For years, everybody urged George Lucas to make the three “prequel” films that he promised, as well as the other two films in the original trilogy. Eventually he did, and that may have been a strategic mistake. Episode 1: The Phantom Menace did extremely well, but left many viewers, yours truly included, feeling somehow cheated. The back story did not, IMHO, live up to the original story, and several of the characters were badly handled, most notably the “protocol droid” C3PO and the young Anakin Skywalker. I suspect that a lot of viewers went into the current movie prejudiced a bit by this feeling — and, as I will mention below, perhaps a lot of other viewers simply didn’t bother to go in at all.

It would be a pity to miss it, since the movie is, IMHO, considerably better than its predecessor. Padme Queen Amidala of Naboo (Natalie Portman) is now Senator Amidala ⁽²⁾, and somebody is trying to assassinate her; enter Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor as Alec Guiness) and his young “apprentice” Jedi knight Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), ten years older than in the previous movie and frustrated by the feeling that mentor Obi-Wan is holding him back (which may be the case, in fact), to serve as bodyguards for her. After a second assassination attempt, however, Anakin is told off to take Padme back to Naboo to keep her safe, while Obi-Wan goes scouting to find the source of an item found during the attack; which, in turn, leads him to a distant planet where an army is being cloned, while at the same time Anakin and Padme are reviving their relationship in a somewhat different way than in the previous film. As is normal in this series, in the trackless wastes of the galaxy paths cross and recross, culminating in a battle royal between a mechanized droid army and an army of battle-ready clones. And through all this, Anakin is becoming angrier and more frustrated, and ever more ready to turn to the “Dark Side of the Force” — all for the cause of good, naturally.

There are a lot of similarities here with the second movie in the original series, Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back. As with Empire, we have here two people or groups of people going in two different directions, with the film zigzagging back and forth between them. And what happens to Anakin in the climactic light-saber ⁽³⁾ battle with Lord Dooku (Christopher Lee) will surely cause a bad case of _deja vu_ among many viewers. We have a lovely battle through an asteroid field (actually, a planetary ring system), as in Empire. And, as with Empire, Jedi Master Yoda is here, but for once acting like a genuine Jedi Master, a small but infinitely commanding presence, as he shows in at least two different ways in the last part of the movie.

It’s also fun to try to trace influences. The planet-city Coruscant, which we first saw in The Phantom Menace (except for some quick shots in special edition Episode 6), seems to be Isaac Asimov’s Trantor; but a closer look, which is what we get in this film, shows us Ridley Scott’s Los Angeles from Bladerunner. Tatooine of Episode 2 is very much the Tatooine of the original movie, and we even encounter some old (or, now, new) friends, Anakin’s stepbrother Owen Lars and his fiancee Beru (Luke’s Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru).

Flaws? Nowhere near as many as in the earlier film; but the major one is that, far too often, the special effects overwhelm the story. As a person who loves a movie with lots of explosions, I probably shouldn’t say that, but …

Worth seeing on the wide screen. Possibly worth seeing twice — I haven’t quite decided yet.

Note: A comparison of this film with Spider-Man, released at much the same time, can be read here.

⁽¹⁾ Apropos of very little, one of the ladies in question — one or two here may know of whom I speak — was recently in the news for having discovered what appears to be — what else? — the longest ago, farthest away galaxy yet found in reality, or what passes for reality in our universe. Eat your heart out, George.

⁽³⁾ If I remember correctly, “light-sabers” were rebaptized “laser swords” for The Phantom Menace, but Lucas has apparently heard a number of fans’ words to the wise.