Anniversary XL: Attack of the Clones

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.

Anniversary XL Reviews Ahead!

Yeah, I haven't posted a thing on here in six months. For the few of you who are still following me, I have a series of posts planned for the next six days leading up to the 40th anniversary of Star Wars. For the next six days, I will write a reflective review on each of George Lucas's Star Wars episodes (so, not Episode VII or Rogue One, which I haven't seen), talking about what I love about each one, some of my favorite moments and elements from the film, and how I like it in comparison to the other five. These are my top 6 favorite movies of all time, so don't expect me to blast my least favorite episode just because I happen to like the other five more.

I will be going in "flashback" order, that is: IV-V-I-II-III-VI. I believe this is the best order to view Lucas's saga in a full movie marathon (I'll just be watching one a night and write my review of it the following day), as it combines the perks of chronological order (I-II-III-IV-V-VI) and release date order (IV-V-VI-I-II-III) while avoiding the major drawbacks to both "obvious" orders. The best proof I can offer as to why this method works best is in the form Drew McWeeny's series of essays on introducing the saga to his kids in this order. If you haven't read them, they are well worth your time.

Also, I will be using the 2011 Blu-Ray versions of all six films for these reviews. They are the current version of the saga that the creator is most satisfied with, so I think it only fair that I discuss these versions. This will mostly be irrelevant, except when I'm briefly talking about the major changes from the theatrical and DVD cuts. I mentioned in an earlier post that I don't think any change takes away the heart of what made Star Wars what it is, so don't expect to see me blast George Lucas for "ruining my childhood."

Hope you enjoy reading these reviews! I'm looking forward to writing them.

Mmm, Dissen Loverly

Jar Jar Binks.

These three little words have been used by many people as a summation of everything wrong with Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and in some cases the entire prequel trilogy. The mere mention of these words can cause some people to cringe in disgust. A certain YouReviewer has claimed that these three words set black people back 50 years, and these three words alone earned The Phantom Menace 100 "sins" in CinemaSins's "Everything Wrong With" episode devoted to the film.

For me, though, those three words were in the top tier of my "favorite things about Star Wars list" for several years. I was ten years old when I first saw The Phantom Menace in 2005, and although I didn't completely understand the finer points of the plot at the time (this was also true of my first few viewings of A New Hope, FYI) I distinctly remember loving the new worlds of Naboo and Coruscant, the epic Podrace, and especially the new characters. And I remember even more distinctly what I claimed my favorite element of the film to be for at least a year afterwards:

Jar Jar Binks.

Blasphemy, I know. And while he is no longer what I love most about The Phantom Menace, I haven't lost any of my love for this klutzy Gungan more than 11 years later. Even when I watch the movie now, good ol' Jar Jar still brings out my inner 10-year-old who loved him to death from the beginning.

Why?

First off, I was the right age to find him quite funny. I loved his design, I loved his movements, and I sure as heck loved his pidgin-speak. This style of speaking was, in my eyes, a great form of world (or in this case, galaxy) building. While the original films include some characters who speak alien languages entirely, in most cases they clearly understand the Basic English being spoken to them by the humans, and said humans clearly understand their language as well. To me, Jar Jar and the other Gungans represent people in the real world who may learn and understand another language, but will never be completely comfortable speaking that language fluently. How do I know Basic English is not the Gungans' first language? Because when Jar Jar first takes Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn to the underwater Otoh Gunga city, the camera explicitly shows two shocked Gungans exchanging the words: "Hu me gusa?" "Hata hata."

Does the pidgin-speak make Gungans racist? The answer will vary depending on who you ask, but I say, "Heck no!" Yes, the actor playing Jar Jar just happens to be African-American, but that is pure coincidence. There is sufficient filmmaking evidence to show that George Lucas liked Ahmed Best's voice for the character, and also chose him for the part because of how well he was able to physically portray the character in motion capture. Like I said above, I see the pidgin-speak as a more realistic portrayal of the relationships between various alien species in the Star Wars galaxy. (Anakin communicating with both Watto and Sebulba in Huttese improved this interspecies relationship as well.) And while the Gungans may not have a thriving city or connections to the Republic like the humans of Naboo do, they have their fair share of talents that they are in no way prevented from exploiting (unlike many slaves in the real world's history). Their underwater technology, their unique plasma weapons, and their army are clearly thriving freely even before they make their alliance with the Naboo at the film's climax.

What I really love about Jar Jar Binks, though, is the type of individual he represents. He is in many respects a fool, but not by choice. The accidents he causes are clearly accidents, and his curiosity certainly gets him in trouble on multiple occasions, but at his core, he's just an outcast from his society, looking to be useful to anyone in some way, shape, or form. By telling Qui-Gon about the Gungans, he ultimately gets him to Theed in time to rescue Queen Amidala. He helps Anakin prepare his Podracer, despite having no experience with the technology. He offers a friendly ear to Amidala when the pressure put on her overwhelms her. And most importantly, Jar Jar Binks "bring ussen and da Naboo together." Out of loyalty to his new friends and his desire to help, Jar Jar returns to the society he was banished from.

Jar Jar Binks is clearly a very loyal friend, even if he's not the best in a fight or his clumsiness causes unintentional accidents. The same devotion to both of his planet's societies and the Republic in general carry into Attack of the Clones, as he pretty clearly believes giving emergency powers to the Supreme Chancellor is the only solution to saving the Republic, when in reality it brings said Republic one step closer to destruction.

I love Jar Jar. I still think his lines are funny, I love the type of person he represents, and I admire his devotion, even if it can get manipulated. The dude may not be my favorite element of The Phantom Menace for me, but he's still a major highlight.

(NOTE: If you're wondering whether I believe the "Darth Darth Binks" theory that went around last year, I don't. While the whole Emergency Powers thing did help Sidious in the long run, let's not forget that his contributions to the Battle of Naboo temporarily defeated Sidious's major threat to the Republic and set him back a good ten years. As a fellow blogger has also pointed out, Jar Jar Binks set the stage for Sidious's ultimate defeat by simply being himself. I still consider Mr. Binks a foolish hero, and not a secret Sith Lord.)

So all I can say to Jar Jar is what his boss said to him: "Yousa doen grand!"

What It Means to be a STAR WARS Fan

In my introductory post, I mentioned that I would be blogging about some controversial subjects, and Star Wars is likely what I will be discussing the most.

Ever since I was introduced to the Star Wars saga in 2004, I have, according to the definition of the word "fan", been a Star Wars fan. That is, I enjoyed the movies and the story they told, and I soon became obsessed with learning more details than the movies told me about this galaxy far, far away. Really, anyone who has a liking for at least one Star Wars film or even one TV episode or Expanded Universe story can be considered a Star Wars fan. If they like an aspect of Star Wars so much that they'd like to write about it, that's great. I'll come back to this definition later.

Over the last several years, however, I have had a harder time calling myself a Star Wars fan. This trend began when I started getting involved in the online Star Wars fan industry. It seems that there, the definition of being a Star Wars fan, in addition to the ground rules I laid out in the previous paragraph, includes spewing as much hate as possible towards George Lucas, the saga's creator, endlessly complaining about the prequel trilogy and the special editions of the original trilogy, and putting down anyone who doesn't conform to this line of thinking.

Obviously, I'm being very general, because hardly every Star Wars-related webpage has content of that nature, but so many do. If this was what you had to do to call yourself a Star Wars fan, then I didn't want to be one anymore. Why? Because I passionately love the prequel trilogy (Episodes I, II, and III) and consider them to be highly underrated films. I also have no problem at all with the special editions of the originals, although admittedly I don't have the proper background to take sides on this debate. I have actually never seen the unaltered cuts of the originals (Episodes IV, V, and VI), but I do know the bulk of the changes that have been made in the special editions. From my perspective, these changes have no effect on any of the elements that made Star Wars what it was to begin with, and it seems a little irrational to me that so many fans are complaining that the unaltered cuts are no longer available, because the cuts that are available tell the same story with the same characters. Like I said, though, take my words with a grain of salt. I haven't seen the unaltered cuts, so I'm not in the best position to judge. The one change I can kind of understand people getting angry about is the infamous who-shoots-first scene, but even then the anger over it seems really blown out of proportion. For my money, the scene works either way, because in both versions the intentions of both characters were quite clear.

The prequels, though... I have a lot more to say in regards to their effect on me as a fan. After seeing all three of them for the first time in 2005, I was blown away at how much I loved them. Yes, you read that right. I loved the new worlds, ships, droids, aliens, characters, stories, and inner struggle that all the protagonists went through over the course of that trilogy. I even loved Jar Jar Binks. Again, yes, you read that right.

For a while after I entered the online Star Wars fan industry, I got somewhat bitter after seeing the non-stop hate spewn at them from nearly every corner of the web. I've seen YouTube comments telling anyone who likes the prequels to kill themselves, I've seen people getting applause for jokes about murdering George Lucas, and I've seen online film channels repeatedly taking potshots at the prequels despite making their opinions about them very clear on multiple occasions. I've even seen some of the prequel fans on the Internet snap under the hate and respond to the criticism in a very rude and derogatory manner.

A common phrase prequel fans have used is, "If you don't like the prequels, you're not a true Star Wars fan." I myself said something to that effect when I wrote a rather angry rant on my Facebook page in January 2013, after Disney cancelled the 3D releases of Episodes II and III that were scheduled for that fall. (Being introduced to the saga in 2004, Episode III was the only one I was able to see in theaters, and I was highly anticipating the opportunity to revisit the entire saga in this venue.) I've realized, however, that that's a hypocritical statement on our part. Fans of Star Wars don't have to like every single Star Wars product ever released, in the same way that fans of the Harry Potter books don't necessarily have to like the movies to remain fans. The prequels are movies, and movies are a form of art, and art is subjective. I'm not trying to say anyone is "wrong" for liking or disliking the prequels (or any other form of art). Different forms of art resonate better with different people, and when fans of one artist or series of artworks can bond over their shared love of this art, or when they can politely discuss their differing opinions or theories about said art, it almost always creates quality memories.

If two Star Wars fans disagree about something, however, they're quickly at each other's throats, both trying to assert their positions as the objective "right" way to look at whatever they're debating over. Compare that to the calm disagreements that arise in other fandoms, and you'll see why lazypadawan of the Star Wars Prequel Appreciation Society wrote a post about "The Fractured Fandom" last fall. The fact of the matter is, there will never be a time in which every single Star Wars fan will agree on which episode is the best one. There will never be a time in which every single Harry Potter fan will agree about who should have ended up with who. There will never be a time in which every single Lord of the Rings fan will love or hate the Hobbit movies. There will never be a time in which every single Disney Animated Canon fan will agree on whether or not Tangled is better than Frozen. What's the point? The point is, stories can resonate with different people for several different reasons, and trying to force your opinion of one story down the throat of someone who has a differing opinion will likely get you nowhere. All that does is fracture the fandom more.

I like the Star Wars prequels slightly more than the originals. I still like Jar Jar Binks. I like the different worlds. I like Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen's performances as the younger Anakin Skywalker. I'm not bothered by the political exposition. I have nothing against the concept of midi-chlorians. I like the updated effects in the special editions. I don't care whether Han shoots first or not. I have not seen Episode VII for personal reasons, and I don't plan on seeing Rogue One this winter. 

Am I going to force you to agree with all of this? Of course not. If you disagree with one, or even all, of the sentences in the above paragraph, feel free to. I wouldn't dream of accusing you of not being a Star Wars fan if this were the case. In future writings, I will likely expound on why I feel the way I do about these aspects of Star Wars, sometimes using evidence from the films to back my opinions up, but I will never assert these opinions as the one-and-only-view-you-can-possibly-have-to-call-yourself-a-Star-Wars-fan.

I agree with lazypadawan in that right now, the Star Wars fandom is fractured. I think a big step in repairing it is simple acceptance, writing about what you like rather than what you dislike, expressing yourself in a calm, respectful manner, and most importantly, agreeing to disagree.

May the Force be with us all.