#STARWARSDAY ATTACK OF THE CLONES

STAR WARS: EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES

I like Attack of the Clones, even if it is a bit… well…. blah. You know what I mean?

The trailers for it were fantastically put together, riffing on themes and moments from the original trilogy, including the use of original trilogy music.

There are some great sequences here that are quite memorable after-the-fact:

The chase through Coruscant between Obi-Wan, Anakin and an assassin.

Kamino, the homeworld of the cloners responsible for the Republic (and soon to be Empires) clone army and Kenobi’s encounter with mysterious bounty hunter Jango Fett.

Kenobi and Jango’s little skirmish in the asteroid field outside of Geonosis, riffing on the Millenium Falcon’s iconic chase in Empire Strikes Back

The large scale land battle between Seperatist forces and the Republic, and the ensuing lightsabre duel between not one, not two, but three Jedi and Count Dooku – or Darth Tyrannus – a former Jedi Master turned Sith played by Christopher Lee.

Sure, the writing is a little clunky (isn’t it in nearly all of the films?), the acting at times terrible, the direction and cinematrography uninspired and the compulsory romantic scenes between Anakin and Padme do feel forced and contrived. But there is something about Attack of the Clones that keeps you going back. It gives a different flavour as to what a Star Wars film can be. Whereas Empire Strikes Back showed us that pulp-adventure-science-fiction could also have a heart, and have adults dealing with real adults problems (who is my Father, why is that person my Father, I love this person but does he/she know it, does he/she feel the same way?), Attack of the Clones shows us the more pulpy, light-hearted side of the characters. There is no area in this film that is especially dark. People said that Attack of the Clones was the prequel trilogy’s Empire, and I disagree. Revenge of the Sith is the prequels Empire, because the bad guys win. In Attack of the Clones, the good guys still win the fight.

The problem is, the battle has just begun. And that, we know, they won’t win…