ATTACK OF THE CLONESDirected by George LucasStarring: Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christiansen, Natalie Portman, Christopher Lee, Samual JacksonAttack of the Clones: D, DVD N/A Do I even need to say that I had the Empire Strikes Back sheets on my bed when I was little? It seems almost everyone around my age has prefaced their Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones review, by saying they were such a big fan that they had the Empire Strikes Back Sheet set. I had them too, and my mom made some matching curtains for me as well. Why is it fans feel compelled to make sure everyone knows they are true fans? For me it's because I want everyone to know how genuine my disappointment in the new movies is. Granted I know you can't get the same experience you had when you were a kid as an adult, but I was at least expecting some good entertainment. I didn't get with Attack of the Clones. I actually was only slightly disappointed in The Phantom Menace, I thought it was pretty good (buy not as good as it could have been). I can't think of one thing I liked about Attack of the Clones. Attack of the Clones makes me wish the new trilogy had just stayed in the imaginations of the legions of fans who love the original movies. Let's start with the story. The original movies had a simple story, it was good vs. evil, with good winning out in the end. The charm of the movies was the characters and their interactions with each other. The movies were also alot of fun. It was fun to see the different creatures and the battle scenes were truly thrilling. None of that exists in Attack of the Clones. There is no real story. The main problem, I think, is we already know everything that happens. We know in the first few scenes of A New Hope that princess Leia was a member of the government, but that the government had been taken over by an evil rebel, and the "Old Republic" was now in a battle to regain what they had lost. Anyone with a basic knowledge of history and a little imagination could figure out how they gotten to that situation. So we don't really need to see that painstaking process in these new movies. We also knew that Darth Vader was Luke and Leia's father, and I for one, couldn't have cared less about the romance between Anakin and Padme. The romance doesn't really even make sense, why would someone like her even like him? It's already obvious what directioin he's heading in. I could go on and on comparing the new movies to the old, but it's unnecessary. Oh, one more point, remember in A New Hope when Obi Wan said Anakin was a good friend? Do we see that in Attack of the Clones? I sure didn't. On to the new revolution in filmmaking, digital technology. Attack of the Clones is digital filmmaking at its worst. For one, I don't think even the best quality digital video can beat the look of real film. And as for the computer generated images, I can't tell you how much I prefer the costumed aliens in the original series to these computer generated ones. Watching Attack of the Clones is more like watching an animated film, with a few real people thrown in. There was so much going on, it was hard to know what to look at. I guess George Lucas is not familiar with the phrase "less is more." It's almost too bad he got to a point where he could do whatever he wanted instead of having to make do with what he had. I know I'm in the minority, but I didn't like the big fight scene between Yoda and Count Dooku. I had always thought Yoda was so powerful he didn't need to fight with his lightsaber. It was just something I never felt the need to see. Couldn't they have spent more time letting Anakin and Obi-Wan fight, they both only lasted about thirty seconds. Speaking of Jedi, what happened to their mystery. Instead of noble peacekeepers of the galaxy, they've been reduced to police officers. They can just stroll around the city in their robes, with their light sabers attached to their belts. I had always pictured the Jedi to be more like Ninjas, stealthily appearing where they were needed. At any rate, the Jedi certainly don't seem all that powerful, or very high in numbers. I know they are alluding to a weakening in their powers, because of the dark side, but it just doesn't work for me. I would of at least liked to have seen the Jedi at their full potential before seeing their downfall. I mean we already know most of them will get wiped out in the next movie. So now after seeing Attack of the Clones I am no longer anticipating the third and final Star Wars film. I know I will probably see it, but at long last the magic is gone. It has taken me a long time to get this review back here. The reason is that I wrote this after seeing the movie at the theater. I took this review off the website intending to add my thoughts on the DVD. The thing is I could never bring myself to watch it. The truth is I have had no desire to see this movie for a second time. At this point, I wish more than ever this new franchise had never been started. I wish I could keep the originals as I remember them, that means no special editions, and no prequels. Not watching these new movies is the closest I can come to preserving that memory. This review will stand on its own as it was when I first saw the movie. It is difficult to be excited about speical features for a movie I don't care about. Review by Sherry Read my Phantom Menace review. |
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