Review of Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) by Reviewerman44 — 30 Jun 2011

Attack of the Clones is much better than the Phantom Menace, undoubtedly the worst Star Wars ever made. But its not a New Hope, an Empire Strikes Back, or even a Return of the Jedi...sadly. Attack of the Clones succeeds in many areas but fails in many more. As said with the Phantom Menace review, the key things that made the original trilogy so magical were its story and characters, universe, and the good acting. Attack of the Clones ties together many, many loose ends lying around with the series, and brings in adult Anakin Skywalker played by Hayden Christensen, who is ultimately dull and boring as an actor and feels sadly even worse than his younger version seen in the Phantom Menace.

Ewan McGregor is however, much better in AotC than Phantom Menace, seeing an overall stronger performance. Natalie Portman has improved slightly too, but still gives a bit of a "I'm only here to fill in the role" look off. The performances are overall average, and nothing compared to the original trilogy.

The characters are interesting and while Jar-Jar Binks is briefly seen we don't have to deal with his abomination of a character on screen for long. We see Boba Fett's father, the birth of the stormtroopers, and Anakin Skywalker's looming fate, and its all very great. The new CGI produced Yoda and other aliens makes the experience all the more realistic and is cool.

But when it adds up for what it is, AotC is still a very, very, very flawed piece of work, that while action packed and fun, lacks the flair or audacity of the original three, and what made them so great.