Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
Published April 25, 2015
Film info
- Title Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
- Director George Lucas
- Year 2002
- Run time 2hrs 12m
- Genres Action, Science-Fiction, Adventure
- Tagline A Jedi shall not know anger, nor hatred, nor love
Ten years after the invasion of Naboo, the galaxy is on the brink of civil war. Under the leadership of a renegade Jedi named Count Dooku, thousands of solar systems threaten to break away from the Galactic Republic. When an assassination attempt is made on Senator Padmé Amidala, the former Queen of Naboo, twenty-year-old Jedi apprentice Anakin Skywalker is assigned to protect her. In the course of his mission, Anakin discovers his love for Padmé as well as his own darker side. Soon, Anakin, Padmé, and Obi-Wan Kenobi are drawn into the heart of the Separatist movement and the beginning of the Clone Wars.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 1:24 | These recaps do make me feel like we’ve missed seven films in between. |
| 4:39 | Little Yoda in his chair is ridiculously cute. |
| 5:49 | Where did Amidala’s crazy accent go? |
| 9:09 | Anakin doesn’t appear to listen to his master. Bit rogue, you might say. |
| 14:37 | Anakin may be in love with her but Obi jumped out a window for her! |
| 17:35 | “What you’re doing is suicide.” He just jumped out a window! |
| 26:59 | Yoda has a hoverboard! |
| 31:45 | Star Wars diner. |
| 34:37 | You’d think Jedi wisdom would know not to upset the librarian. |
| 44:49 | “I don’t like sand. It’s hard and coarse and irritating.” |
| 50:04 | She totally missed an opportunity to say Annie are you okay, are you okay Annie? |
| 1:05:19 | “You sure sprouted.” |
| 1:07:32 | The seismic charges in the asteroid field are kinda awesome. |
| 1:09:41 | Baby Boba is quite the little psychopath. |
| 1:20:37 | Hayden does good rage. |
| 1:33:58 | Not too much Jar Jar in this one, but it feels like he might be about to do something terrible. |
| 1:36:22 | “My obtuse little friend…” |
| 1:42:45 | Well that was all quite stressful. |
| 1:46:13 | Padmé is escaping already. She’s so awesome but with questionable tastes for liking creepy Anakin. |
| 1:52:08 | “I’m programmed for etiquette, not destruction!” |
| 2:06:55 | Double sabre strategy is epic. |
Thoughts
If you put to one side the fact that Hayden is a bit wooden for about 80% of this film, I actually really enjoyed it. Padmé lost her accent and gained some kick-ass skills, getting completely involved in the action. I liked the mystery of tracing the poison dart, through the Jedi Archives and then to discover the clones - great reveal, that one, especially when you see their uniforms.
Yoda continues to get cuter and cuter, and it was fun to see him display the Jedi skills - bit confused how he goes from a heavy breathing, walking stick using creature to a whirling lightsaber-weilding attacking machine but still great to see.
Love all the pieces slowly coming together, the seeds of doubt starting to grow in Anakin’s mind, and the bubbling events building up to the impending war.
Revisited - May 2022
Pretty much all of the above summary stands true on a second viewing. Hayden’s may not be the most convincing performance but if you can see through that, you get the really good twists and turns of someone doubting which side they’re on. Getting frustrated with his mentors, realising what he’d have to be giving up as a jedi, and the fact he’s starting to befriend Palpatine more and more.
I managed to follow along the path to the clones better this time, and love the fight scenes on Kamino, Ewan continuing to steal the show throughout. Padmé is so much better in this film, it’s frustrating to think about what happens in the final episode of the trilogy.
Rating: 3 / 5
