Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones review

Star Wars has always been among my top three favourite films of all times. Nothing van beat the magic of the Star Wars trilogy, the amazing universe it created, the great story it told, and the compelling characters it introduced. So, when Episode I was announced, of course I (along with the rest of the world) was excited. We all know how that turned out to be...
So when Episode II was announced and the first trailers appeared, I was very much sceptical. I tought George Lucas had fucked over this beloved series and turned it into mindless CG rides. Then, early reviews started appearing, and most of them very positive. Still, I remained sceptical, afraid of being let down, but I couldn't help but get a little excited. Now that I've seen the movie, I can only say: THIS IS FUCKING AWESOME!

When a movie comes by with only ONE good and TWO decent actors in it and it still manages to kick ass, it can only be called magic. Although it didn't recapture that Star Wars feeling, it came damned close. It did this so good actually, that this is a worthy prequel to the original SW trilogy- unlike that awful piece of crap that is The Phantom Menace.

The movie begins as former-princess-turned-ambassador Amidala arrives on Coruscant. As soon as she sets her foot on the platform, her aircraft explodes and she is blown away. Surprise! It wasn't really Amidala, but a decoy! Who would've expected that, eh? Anyways, this totally illogical intro (I mean, if they had the aircraft rigged, why wait for the last moment to blow the thing up? Weren't there camera's around before that or something?) serves to set up the story for the movie. Someone wants Amidala dead, so Obi Wan and his padawaan Anakin are sent in to protect her.
Now, I have a problem here with the movie- although it's one very easily overlooked. See, Anakin has grown quite a lot since ep. I. He has become this slimy, annoying young man named Hayden Christensen. Obi One has grown a beard, so he's kinda changed as well. But Amidala seems to have some sort of rejuvenation chamber or something, because she looks exactly the same as in ep. I. This wouldn't be too big a deal were she something special, but Natalie Portman just doesn't look that great, nor does she have any acting skills. Her on screen performance is dry as wood, emotionless and monotonous at best. It seems she's had her peak with her brilliant role in Leon....at least we'll always have that.

Unfortunately, she's not the only bad actor in this movie. Actually, Christopher Lee is the only one in the entire movie that enlightens us with a brilliant performance. This does bring forth the problem that the others' bad acting seems that much worse in comparison, but George Lucas has thought of this, and Lee spends most of time in the presence of CG characters.
Ewan McGregor is a good Obi Wan, but doesn't do anything remarkable, and doesn't really convince as the strict master of Anakin. In his solo sequences, he does play quite good though, and is a worthy Obi Wan.
Hayden Christensen is even worse then Portman but does a good job of annoying you, and he does have his moments.
The real star of the show tough, is Yoda. Yoda OWNS this movie, and that while he has so little on screen presence- too little in my opinion. The absolute highlight of the movie is Yoda's battle with.....no, no spoilers here.

The most important thing here tough, is that the Star Wars magic is once again recaptured, and the movie just is a lot of fun to watch. It makes you feel like a little kid again, makes you remember watching the original SW and actually does something to expand the SW story, unlike Episode One. And thank god, Jar Jar Binks has almost no on screen time. Almost to make up for it tough, C3PO has become a fucking idiot, almost as bad as Jar Jar, but nostalgia saves his sorry ass.

All in all, this is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. If you've missed it in the theatres, I feel sorry for you, but you should do your best to grab it when it's released on DVD. Even with the bad acting, lousy dialogue and over-use of CG, this movie rules, and that says something about how good it is. Watch it; you won't be sorry.

Rating:
**** (4 Stars)

Director: George Lucas
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee and Yoda! Yoda, I tell you!!!