Directed by:
George LucasCinematography:
David TattersallComposer:
John WilliamsCast:
Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Christopher Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Frank Oz, Ian McDiarmid, Pernilla August, Temuera Morrison (more)Plots(1)
Set ten years after the events of "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace", not only has the galaxy undergone significant change, but so have our familiar heroes Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padme Amidala, and Anakin Skywalker, as they are thrown together again for the first time since the Trade Federation invasion of Naboo. Anakin has grown into the accomplished Jedi apprentice of Obi-Wan, who himself has transitioned from student to teacher. The two Jedi are assigned to protect Padme whose life is threatened by a faction of political separatists. As relationships form and powerful forces collide, these heroes face choices that will impact not only their own fates, but the destiny of the Republic. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (12)
If you were expecting some significant darkening after the infantilism and overwroughtness of Episode I, well... You can wait on. That said, it's definitely better than Episode I, but the question is whether better is enough when it's still an overstuffed popcorn nonentity with the most annoying CGI character in history.
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Whereas Star Wars: Episode I “only” lacked the heart of the original trilogy, Episode II is just a dramaturgically lame comic-book popcorn flick. At the same time, however, it’s jam-packed with so many great characters, bombastic action, romance and plot twists that are important to the development of the Star Wars saga that it’s impossible to be bored for even a second. The visual effects are shoddy in some places, but the best of them are stunningly good. This is not the good old heartwarming Star Wars of before, but in the context of contemporary eye-candy popcorn entertainment, it’s great.
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I like the first trilogy (the older one) better. It is more real and realistic. The first episode still holds on to that, but in the second one, George Lucas became infatuated with CGI and started stuffing it everywhere (practically every scene has some). He could have at least refrained from this with Master Yoda. Well, what can you do, on the other hand, it was something new and unfamiliar at the time and he simply went all out. I actually feel that the second episode kind of lost the spirit of the whole series. Even though Hayed Christensen is a good Anakin in his best years, but also a terrible scumbag. The only thing you can lean on is the fact that with the second episode, the epic climax of the transformation of Anakin into Darth Vader is born, which is, in and of itself, flawless. But that’s all. Obi-Wan himself as the only philanthropist of the movie isn’t going to salvage it.
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Following the childishly naive Episode I, along comes the adolescently boorish, emo and theatrically unbalanced and ridiculously “dark and gritty” second episode. If Episode I betrayed the original trilogy by denigrating and distorting the canon, with midi-chlorians at the fore, but at least stood up as an autonomous narrative and a boisterous children’s movie, then Episode II conversely renounces not only self-containment but also internal logic in the interest of meticulously paving the way for the original trilogy. All of the characters become inanimate puppets, circling around a vain, egocentric brat. This is most frighteningly apparent in Anakin and Amidala’s relationship, which takes on not only a distinctly perverse but also repulsive form. As if by a wave of a Jedi hand, the princess loses any will of her own; her resolve and active nature seen in the first episode are replaced by unconditional submissiveness and lobotomization. At the same time, however, the slapdash screenplay gives the vain, blandly brooding asocial prick, who loudly declares his own supposed exceptionalism, every possible trophy, including the princess, and then presents an unprecedentedly repulsive projection screen for equally vain and supposedly chosen nerds.
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Before the film, I seriously considered "withdrawing from the Star Wars race," but I took my chances. And look, it paid off! The children’s nonsense has disappeared, the power has returned, fate has returned, darkness has returned. I particularly liked Hayden Christensen, inside of whom two irreconcilable opposites, the dark and light side of power, are at war. His balancing act is often escalated by John Williams' great music. The atmosphere is more reminiscent of the Jedi Knight computer series (it's darker, more fatal, less fairytale compared to the original films), which is not at all a bad thing. Ewan McGregor is also good, who, along with a restless and emotionally charged "Padavan", makes the excellent second film. The love plot is somewhat forced and overly stylized, but luckily, it quickly drops off to give way to the action. Yes, the second film moves from the fairytale of the first films to a more serious tone, which may not be endearing to those who love the originals, but for us younger people who have already experienced the birth of computer processing of SW (starting with Dark Forces), this world is close to us after all. Still, I think Attack of the Clones is the rightful successor to Episodes IV-VI...
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