Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones [28]

This movie, its predecessor, and its eventual sequel are based upon one throw away exposition sequence uttered by Ben Kenobi (Alec Guiness) in the Original Star Wars movie.

LUKE (Mark Hamill): You fought in the Clone Wars?

BEN: Yes, I was once a Jedi Knight the same as your father.

LUKE: I wish I'd known him.

BEN: He was the best star-pilot in the galaxy, and a cunning warrior.
.... And he was a good friend. Which reminds me...

Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) spends most of the movie getting angrier and angrier. He has to do this, because by the time we get to Episode III, he has to kill himself and become Darth Vader. I base this on what Alec Guiness says in Episode IV and Episode VI. If you believe Episode IV, Darth Vader is a young apprentice who kills Anakin Skywalker. Episode VI reveals that in fact, Anakin and Darth Vader are one and the same.

As Star Wars fans, we are very interested in the back story of Ben, Luke, Anakin, and Darth Vader. Of course, when Alec Guiness delivered his lines in 1977, we all had our own idea of what a Jedi Knight was and what the Clone Wars were about. We would get bits of the story from George Lucas during interviews about the back stories of the different characters. We certainly hoped that Lucas would fulfill his promise of more episodes. When the title was announced as Attack Of The Clones, you had to wonder, who were the clones attacking? I had imagined that the Jedi fought against the clones. I had also thought that Boba Fett was wearing battle gear from the Clone wars. Somehow, that had come out after Episodes V and VI.

There are some important revelations about the clones in this movie. They ran contrary to what I had believed or guessed.

• The clone troopers are all clones of Jango Fett.
• If the Fett surname rings a bell, it should. Boba Fett is also a clone of Jango, but raised as his son. The armor like that Boba wears, as well as the Slave ship appear in this movie.
• The clone troopers fight on the side of the Republic!
• They are commanded by the Jedi!
• The clone troopers look very much like they are the forerunners of the Imperial Storm Troopers.

Best line: "You'll be the death of me!" Obi Wan to Anakin as they go on their chase through Coruscant city. Just as a standalone movie chase scene, this ranks as one of the best (Right up there with Steve McQueen in Bullit).

In Episode I, we guess that Padme will become the object of Anakin's affection. But I wondered, why the heck is some planetary Queen going to waste her time with some young punk pod racer? I could not imagine that a relationship would ever blossom from that beginning. However, in the movies, anything is possible. So an angry, brooding, teen superstar Jedi can bag a Senator/Ex -Queen.

I love the battle shots. The hail of laser fire and dust is what a real Sci Fi brutal ground battle is all about. The camera focuses in on blurry troop carriers flying past, much in the vein of news footage of Huey helicopters over battle in the Vietnam War. It also drew a little bit from Starship Troopers in the battle action shots.

This is also the first time we get to view massed Jedi lightsabre battles. That was a neat battle scene and kind of ties in with what I imagined back in 1977 as a Jedi clone wars battle in a more "civilised era". {BB}

Added: April 21st 2005
Reviewer: BB
29 Point Scale Score:    [28]

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