Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones broke new ground when it was released 15 years and 7 days ago, in terms of effects. It was the first Star Wars film to be shot with digital HD cameras, and ultimately led to most theaters switching to digital projection. George Lucas was one of the first filmmakers to experiment with digital filmmaking. It was a gamble, but I think it was a gamble that paid off immensely. For 2002, the visual and CG effects are incredible, even if their age is starting to show. But that's understandable, given that Attack of the Clones was one of the first movies ever to be shot in HD.
Attack of the Clones also shines in its direction. While Lucas may not be the best actors' director out there, his visual direction skills are on full display here, and they're my favorite subtle element of this film. Look at the evolution of how Anakin uses his hands. He uses them for casual Force tricks in the first half, then looks at them in shock after murdering the Tusken Raider colony, then gets his right hand stuck in a robotic shoulder in the droid factory... the same hand that will become robotic by the time the credits roll. Look at the darkened forms of Anakin and Padmé as they kiss before being led into the execution arena, and the way that they lighten up as they're dragged into the sun. This love may lead to a dark future, but it will also eventually defeat Darth Sidious once and for all, and I think that's a really nice tool of visual storytelling. Look at the clouds of Naboo forming a yin-yang after Anakin has his nightmare, just before his darker side is put to its first true test. Look at Anakin's battle with Count Dooku at the end of the film, where the only light sources are the red and blue glow of their lightsabers lighting up their faces. It's only fitting that both of these characters' stories when it comes to the Force have elements of both the Jedi and the Sith.
Add in Attack of the Clones's expert pacing, keeping the viewer involved from start to finish, and I think it ties with The Empire Strikes Back as the best directed Star Wars saga episode. It's my second favorite film, but only slightly.
Its story in terms of reception was, unfortunately, basically a carbon copy of The Phantom Menace's; generally positive reviews were quickly outshone by an enormous stream of negativity from other Internet sources. My aforementioned views on its groundbreaking effects and direction already make Attack of the Clones a film that is very worthwhile. There is so much more that I love about this episode, however.
Before I get to that, let's get to the objective part, because there's no such thing as a perfect movie. This film contains the two most glaring Star Wars continuity errors, in my book. The first is in the form of Padmé using the same button on her ship to do two different things: first to retransmit Obi-Wan's message to Coruscant, and then to find out how close Geonosis is to Tatooine. The second occurs during the final lightsaber duel with Count Dooku: After Anakin intercepts Dooku's blow before it kills Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan tosses him his lightsaber to help out. Anakin takes his left hand off of his own lightsaber and catches Obi-Wan's. As soon as he does that, however, we cut to the next shot, and in that shot and for the rest of the fight, Anakin has Obi-Wan's lightsaber in his right hand, and his original one in his left hand. I'm given to understand that a portion of the duel that resulted in Anakin switching the weapons between his hands was cut from the film, and I think Lucas wanted to make sure he would still be able to include the aforementioned darkened part of the battle with a blue lightsaber for Anakin, but all the same, once I noticed this error, I knew I wasn't going to be able to un-notice it.
Another scene that could have been improved was Anakin having his nightmare. We see him shaking in bed muttering "no," and he takes a deep breath when he wakes up, covered in sweat. When I turned 18, I celebrated by marathoning all six Star Wars episodes, and one of my friends who had never seen any of them chuckled a lot when watching Anakin's nightmare, and jokingly asked what our English teacher, who was fond of making innuendo jokes when analyzing literature, would say about that scene... you see what I'm saying here? The Blu-Ray cut of the film did improve this scene by adding in the sound of Anakin's mother crying for help, but I feel it could still be handled better.
Enough of that, time to talk about what I love! The main highlights for me after the first viewing of Attack of the Clones were the downright amazing action scenes, finally seeing a whole army of Jedi in battle, and the two new villains. Now, the countless viewings of Attack of the Clones only bring me more to love, and my main praise of the movie is about its main character: Anakin. Admittedly, I found Hayden Christensen's portrayal of the twenty-year-old Chosen One a little stiff at first, but I quickly grew to see the true greatness in his performance. His whole problem with the Jedi ways can be attributed to only one fact: He started training at an age at which it is practically impossible to control one's emotions without prior training. Whatever the critics and haters may say, I hear a lot of emotion in Anakin's lines; the resentment at having his ideas constantly rejected by the Jedi, the agony that his love for Padmé is forbidden, and especially the fear and anger at losing his mother all deliver for me. Although Anakin's personality has certainly darkened from its status in The Phantom Menace, parts of that cute nine-year-old boy are still there, namely the fierce loyalty to his friends, more often than not at the cost of violating orders. Heck, Anakin is even willing to let a known enemy escape capture just to make sure a friend is safe.
Then there's Padmé, who applies the lesson she learned in The Phantom Menace about taking matters into her own hands throughout this movie: she agrees to leave Naboo, where she was supposed to stay, to help Anakin find his mother, she has the idea to travel to Geonosis despite being told not to, and she doesn't rely on the Jedi to save her skin during the final battle. But Attack of the Clones also shows us a new side of Padmé: her personal thoughts. Throughout The Phantom Menace and a lot of this movie, she thought and acted for the good of her people and the Republic. But we see her personal feelings when she's around Anakin.
Now, like many people, I found the love story of this movie a little bland at first. But I was only ten years old when I first saw the film, and the more I see it, and the more I mature and age, the more I realize that the love story is actually very realistic. In most real-life love, at least one participant often doesn't know what to say, and words exchanged between the two frequently come out awkward. Attack of the Clones is a case in point: some of the lines are awkward, and yet despite this, I see and hear the feelings that Anakin and Padmé have for each other, the attempts to deny it from both of them, and the precarious position the two of them are in. I also found their actions completely logical: Falling in love is forbidden for a Jedi and a major distraction for a politician, but love isn't exactly something people can control. I still do get a little teary-eyed as, when they are sure of their death, Anakin and Padmé finally give in to their feelings, accept them, and ultimately marry after surviving an epic battle.
Obi-Wan's role in Attack of the Clones is much stronger than it was in the first film. His by-the-book nature has relaxed a little bit, as is evident when he takes some risks that are likely inspired from work with Anakin, namely when he jumps out a window that's goodness-knows-how many stories high. The relationship between Obi-Wan and Anakin is also very well done; Obi-Wan cares for Anakin and tries to make decisions that are in both of their best interests, yet he is still very wary of his Padawan. On the other side, Anakin clearly respects Obi-Wan, but feels he can do more than Obi-Wan will allow. Although they both have made discouraging comments about each other, Anakin and Obi-Wan do have a clear brotherly friendship, which is highlighted by their witty banter in the middle of battles, and Anakin's equating Obi-Wan to his father. Yet when the two are apart, we see that the one barrier between them is lack of complete trust. I love the great team that Obi-Wan and Anakin make together, and I regret that this barrier exists.
As for the other Jedi, their role is also expanded in Attack of the Clones. Yoda as a CGI model is very impressive, his mouth now forms his lines exactly, and of course, I was amazed to see him fight at the film's climax. His fellow senior council member, Mace Windu, also becomes a pretty cool character in this movie: The purple lightsaber and pure Samuel L. Jackson bad-assery in his action scene in the arena really stand out. In the scenes between the two senior members, we can see that they are very apprehensive for what the future holds, but are still arrogant enough not to admit that they carry some of the blame for the peril the Jedi Order finds itself in.
And then there are the villains. I thought Jango Fett was just so cool the first time I saw Attack of the Clones, and I still do. The paint job on his armor is really sleek (I actually painted the helmet on my face in 2012, as a way of celebrating the movie's 10th anniversary), that blaster flip he does in the arena scene is plain bad-ass, and his fight with Obi-Wan on Kamino shows some pretty incredible bounty hunter resourcefulness and is a great example of the motto: "Always be prepared." The new Sith in the galaxy, Count Dooku, is also a well-written character; he's a very smart politician who leads by power, and he's very good at disguising his embrace of the dark side during his interrogation of Obi-Wan. I always enjoy a slick, sly, and subtle villain in a movie, and Count Dooku certainly qualifies.
Finally, we have Attack of the Clones's amazing action. The opening speeder chase scene, despite being 15 years old, still looks as brilliant as a lot of modern sci-fi movies. The constant bantering between Anakin and Obi-Wan in that scene never fails to keep me thoroughly entertained, and both of their approaches to action are nicely defined here: Anakin has a flair for the dramatic, Obi-Wan has a more cautious and patient approach. The asteroid field chase scene above Geonosis shows off some undeniably cool weapons (the seismic charges). The droid factory scene may be a little extreme, but it was edited and sequenced very well, not to mention it added to the Anakin hand symbol I mentioned earlier, and I admire that in such a complex battle scene.
The arena. First off, the monsters in that scene are wonderfully deadly, and it's great entertainment to see the resourcefulness of the Jedi (and a senator) even without their lightsabers. They can get some very clever ideas. And when the Jedi show up, the inner child's appetite for mass action and destruction in almost everyone should be be brought out with little trouble. I was blown away when I first saw this scene. I had fantasized about armies of Jedi in battle before, but never had I imagined anything even close to what I saw in Attack of the Clones. It may have been that there were more Jedi in this scene than I ever had imagined, but I was pleasantly surprised by this scene. A lot of Jedi get to show their skills here, the witty banter between Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padmé is used in a few spots ("You call this a diplomatic solution?" "No, I call it aggressive negotiations."), and the antics with C-3PO kept me thoroughly entertained the first time I saw this movie. Admittedly I find them a little less funny now. All this makes the arena scene the best ground battle scene in the entire saga for me: It feeds everyone's inner desire for epic action and isn't interrupted by jumps to other battles, as is the case with most of the saga's large-scale fights. Then the clones arrive, and they are easily the most superior army force I've seen throughout the Star Wars movies. I enjoyed seeing them in action as well. Finally, we have the lightsaber duel. Obi-Wan's and Anakin's different fighting styles are nicely shown in this scene, and I've said my piece on how much meaning Anakin's portion of the fight has thanks to the visual direction already. And seeing Yoda fight... it's really cool. Enough said.
Attack of the Clones also has a strong score; the melody of the new love theme "Across the Stars" is a perfect representation of the relationship it stands for. The new battle themes aren't quite as memorable as "Duel of the Fates" but they still do their job well when they are used. All in all, the strong characters, amazing visuals for 2002, and stunning action scenes make Attack of the Clones a movie well worth remembering in my book.
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