After last week's review of Star Wars Episode I, I made myself promise it would be a one-off Star Wars review and I wouldn't start going through all of them. So, naturally, here is my review of Star Wars Episode II - Attack of the Clones (but I promise I won't do another title-crawl-style review, in fear the novelty of that will wear off as quickly as the novelty of Jarjar Binks).
Naturally, we enter this film full of hope. Not the "Oh boy, this has to be amazing" sort of hope, but more hoping and praying it's better than the last film. And, while still nowhere near the level of the original trilogy, what we get is definitely an improvement on The Phantom Menace. The dull space-tax quarrels are gone, replaced by a political side that is altogether more... well, political. Some people would already be crying out against politics playing a role in a Star Wars film, but I'm all for it. While more subtle, it was always there in the originals and there's definitely always been political symbolism in the films - the Empire's soldiers wore uniforms based on those of the Nazis. And the galactic politics of Episode II isn't really there for the sake of politics anyway - this is the set-up for war! Separatist star systems are breaking away from the Galactic Republic, leading to fears an army of the Republic may need to be created to aid the Jedi. It brings a welcome complexity and intelligence to the film, something that was missing from Episode I - apparently when making his first prequel, Lucas had decided that mundane money problems were an adequate substitute for a genuinely intelligent plot element.
So - plans on creating an army to aid the Jedi... the Jedi! The keepers of the peace in the old Republic, the force-using, lightsaber-wielding, fantasy heroes in a sci-fi universe are back en force and they are fantastic here! This is the first film to feature a CGI Yoda, rather than a puppet, the whole way through (unless you count Lucas's less-than-lovingly remastered 3D edition of Episode I) and they do truly make the most of it. For the first time, we see the little green Jedi Master wielding his own mini-lightsaber, and a good job he does of it too. There's something hilarious and yet thoroughly satisfying about seeing Yoda leaping through the air, yelling out and proving a competent foe for Christopher Lee's Count Dookula... sorry, Count Dooku.
Our heroes Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker return too, Obi-Wan still played fantastically by Ewan McGregor and Anakin - now 19 - played by Hayden Christensen. Christensen's acting can be a little below-par and is one of the let-downs of the film, which does heavily rely on him, though he does have his good moments, such as his anger at himself after killing Tusken Raiders. Natalie Portman returns as Padmé Amidala and has definitely improved in the role since Episode I. She seems more human, more believable here, and often steals the show in her scenes with Christensen.
There's more here for fans of the originals as well. No longer is it just fleeting references, but we're starting to see the emergence of the story that will unfold into that of Episodes IV, V and VI. The clones of the title are the first of the iconic stormtroopers from the original trilogy, and the man they have been cloned from is bounty hunter Jango Fett whose clone "son" has been named Bobba... We also see the first signs of the Empire emerging within the Republic, as the slightly-shady-and-almost-definitely-a-Sith-Lord-but-we-don't-know-that-yet Chanellor Palpatine is given emergency powers by - and I still can't quite believe this - Jarjar. It is, of course, these emergency powers that will enable the Chancellor to turn the Republic into the Empire and form the tyrannous dictatorship that will dominate and terrorise the galaxy. And now we start to realise that all of this was made possible by... Jarjar Binks.
There are still a few smaller, more fun, references to the original films - Obi-Wan asks Anakin "Why do I get the feeling you're going to be the death of me?" - and the film is generally successful in being more fun than Episode I, though perhaps not quite as much as IV, V and VI. There are certain sequences that only get worse with time - the speeder chase, which I loved when I first saw as a child, but is now spoilt by some bad acting and general stupidity; and the sequence inside the droid factory on Geonosis - the more you watch it, the more ridiculous and pointless the machinery starts to look. But you'd have to be utterly heartless not to love the epic battle that breaks out between hundreds of Jedi against even more battle droids in the Geonosis arena, with Jango Fett and some giant beasts joining the fray.
John Williams's score is - as ever - absolutely wonderful. No matter which Star Wars film you watch, you can be sure of an incredible soundtrack, thanks to Williams. I honestly believe the Star Wars films have the best music in cinema history and that's not just the theme tune. Here, in Episode II, we have the tremendous track Across the Stars accompanying the growing romance between Anakin and Padmé and hints of Darth Vader's iconic theme tune The Imperial March as Palpatine overlooks his new clone army and when Anakin starts to show signs of anger and hatred. Any fan of the originals will feel a shiver down their spine and a smile on their face at the sound of this tune.
Overall then, the film is a vast improvement on The Phantom Menace, but is still let down by some bad acting, the poor construction of some major scenes, and the presence - and apparently enormous significance - of Jarjar Binks (I mean, really, Lucas? JARJAR - the creator of the Galactic Empire?! You can't even say his name without your sentence losing all credibility!). The film's not great, but it is a bit of fun and perhaps part of its failure is merely down to having such high standards to live up to from the original trilogy. Still, it leaves the field set for Episode III, which we know is to be the last Star Wars film. And we know it is going to be big...
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