The document and the review below are identical, so feel free to read whichever one is more convenient.
Spoiler Warning
Prior to the release of the Sequel Trilogy, Episode II was almost universally ranked in the bottom two Star Wars films (and still is by some fans), but I personally love this movie. Is it a perfect movie? Of course not. There are more than a few flaws (more on those later), but I find myself thoroughly entertained every single time I watch this movie. Parts of the film I unabashedly love, and other parts I enjoy from a guilty pleasure standpoint. That being said, I don’t understand all the hate for this movie. Yes, there’s some weak acting and there are some slow stretches, but people just seem to ignore all the other great things in this movie and I don’t understand why.
The complaints that have been levelled against this movie are almost too numerous to count, and the only way I can address them all is to move through this movie scene by scene, doing my best to refute each point. With that being said, I’m just going to dive into the movie.
Like with Phantom Menace, the very beginning of the movie catches flak for the political aspects of it, which I really don’t understand. With Phantom Menace, I get why it was a turnoff for some people, as not everyone finds politics as inherently interesting as I do. Here, though… what is it that people have a problem with? The fact that they’re arguing over the creation of an army? That’s integral to the entire plot. That’s how Palpatine gets his clone army (later to become the Stormtroopers), which is how he’s ultimately able to enact the Purge and kill all the Jedi. Did people just want an army of Stormtroopers that was never referenced before that would just randomly turn on the Jedi? The plot not only doesn’t work without the clone army, any substitute would be inherently worse. It's also worth noting that devoting this much time to the clone army is merited, simply because it’s so important. Having it appear out of nowhere would’ve just been too random.
Also, worth noting is the fact that this isn’t a political issue in the style of Episode 1 in which senators are debating the taxation of trade routes. This is a discussion about creating an army to fight a war with. It’s not some dry, esoteric issue but one that directly relates to the coming Clone War and, as mentioned previously, will propel the plot of the entire saga before.
Finally, the clone army issue is only actively being debated in one scene, which lasts about thirty seconds, when Bail Organna and Ask Aak argue over whether the army is essential in Palpatine’s office. There are no senate debate scenes as there were in Episode I. This, combined with the fact that Jar Jar’s role is cut down substantially, goes to show that the common perception of Lucas not caring what fans wanted is simply not true. Yes, he put his creative vision over people’s opinions (as he should), but he was still open to criticisms and open to making changes.
Now, there is one other scene that could be considered political, which takes place much, much later into the movie, but I’ll get to that later.
The movie starts out, unlike most Star Wars movies at this point, without an action sequence. However, Lucas still does a good job of providing a hook for the audience, as the opening scene depicts an assassination attempt on Padme. Immediately, we are left with a more exciting plot point than the Grand Army bill that she’s coming to debate against that’s supposedly ‘so boring’.
From here, Padme is assigned Anakin and Obi-Wan as her protective detail, reintroducing our two protagonists, and reuniting them with the third member of the Prequel Trilogy trio. Right away, we are introduced to one of the most often criticized aspects of the movie, the romance between Anakin and Padme, but I’m going to touch on that a bit later.
However, I do want to touch on another aspect of Anakin’s character that has been criticized ceaselessly: his ‘whininess’. This is most often brought up in regards to his relationship with Obi-Wan, so that’s what I’m going to focus on.
To start, let me just say, yes, Anakin is complaining about Obi-Wan frequently throughout the movie. However, I don’t consider this to be a problem for a number of reasons. First of all, providing a conflict between the two main characters isn’t a bad idea. There was plenty of bickering between Han and Leia in Episode V, and yet no one has a problem with that. Maybe it’s because there’s romantic tension between the two, maybe it’s because there’s better acting (which I find debatable, but I’ll get to the acting later), but it’s worth noting that at least the idea behind this is sound. Even if you hate the execution, it’s hard to argue against what Lucas was going for here.
Secondly, the tension between the two of them makes sense. Keep in mind that Obi-Wan didn’t want to train Anakin, he simply did it out of respect for Qui-Gon. Also, worth noting is the fact that this is set ten years after Phantom Menace, and yet we see no signs that Obi-Wan wants to train Anakin any more now than he did then. Do you really think Obi-Wan’s feelings towards Anakin in this matter wouldn’t translate to some tension? Imagine being basically raised and trained by a person who doesn’t seem to want you, appreciate your talents or acknowledge your successes. Yes, Anakin has plenty of flaws, but throughout the entire movie we see Obi-Wan praise Anakin exactly once (when he compliments him on targeting the Trade Federation fuel cells in the Battle of Geonosis) while he makes numerous jibes at Anakin. Most of these seem to fall under the category of banter, but plenty don’t, and even if Obi-Wan is just bantering, this lack of praise would begin to chafe on anyone after ten years, especially someone who is admittedly as arrogant as Anakin.
Additionally, keep in mind that up until Anakin meets Padme, the only two people he has to talk to are Obi-Wan and Palpatine. Yes, there’s also the other Jedi (though how much contact he’s had with them is never firmly established), but they were no more eager to have him trained than Obi-Wan. Up until now, Anakin has had very little chance to vent about his frustrations with Obi-Wan, so why wouldn’t this start to come out a little bit when he finally gets to spend time with Padme? (Also, worth noting here is that this time with Palpatine is partly why he’s so easily manipulated by him throughout the saga).
As a final note on this point, Anakin is only nineteen here. He’s still young enough to be considered an ‘angsty teenager’, has had understandable frustration towards Obi-Wan (note that his newfound maturity in Episode III helps their relationship to be much, much smoother) and is now reunited with his crush. He wants to impress her, and with his obvious lack of experience with potential romantic partners, he’s doing it in a seemingly petulant way. Maybe he’s whiny, maybe it’s annoying, but it makes sense. Besides, he’s essentially the same age as Luke in Episode IV, and Luke was also quite whiny for the first act of A New Hope, complaining about the restrictions placed on him by his guardians. While this is seen as a minor, but charming, nuisance in Luke’s character, Anakin is supposedly a bad character for his understandable frustration.
Now that that’s out of the way, the movie’s opening action sequence begins, as Zam Wessel attempts to assassinate Padme Amidala. Anakin and Obi-Wan thwart the attack and pursue her, leading to a fast paced and entertaining speeder chase through the streets of Coruscant.
Seeing an action sequence in a city setting is completely new to Star Wars, and seeing the banter between Anakin and Obi-Wan helps establish some chemistry between them, paving the way for the friendship that we would finally see come to fruition in Episode III. It’s fun, it’s fast paced, and isn’t that what everyone wants to see in Star Wars? Light-hearted, sci-fi fun? Does this movie have slow stretches? Absolutely, but people still seem to ignore all the fun sequences like this.
However, before Zam can give them any answers, Jango Fett kills her, leaving the dart he kills her with as the only clue.
Some people have criticized Jango’s decision to kill Zam instead of the Jedi here, but I don’t think that’s entirely merited. First of all, obviously Jango wants to silence Zam from telling the Jedi anything about him (he only shoots her after she’s about to tell them who hired her). The criticism is that it would’ve been more logical for him to try to kill the Jedi, but keep in mind, the Jedi have an almost mythical status in the universe. Jango is obviously not eager to battle the Jedi (note that he flees from Obi-Wan on Kamino instead of trying to kill him), until the end of the film when he's already in a pitched battle on Geonosis. Jango probably doesn’t think he’d be able to kill both of them even if he had the benefit of surprise. And even if he could, what would that really gain him? He’d then be forced to try and extract Zam Wessel from the scene of the speeder crash, after he’s had a pitched battle against the Jedi, without being seen or captured by the authorities. Killing Zam keeps his identity secret and carries much less risk than trying to kill the Jedi and rescue her (note that his mission is to kill Padme, not the Jedi, so he has no real reason to want them dead).
From here, the movie takes on the classic Part 2 structure of all Star Wars trilogies with the two heroes being split up. Obi-Wan is tasked with tracking down the person behind the assassination and Anakin is assigned as Padme’s bodyguard, escorting her back to her home planet of Naboo. In this stretch, we get some pivotal scenes that help develop the story, the themes of the film/trilogy and add depth to the characters. There are two main scenes that do this that I want to touch on: the scene between Anakin and Palpatine in his office and the scene where Obi-Wan, Mace Windu and Yoda discuss Anakin.
The scene in Palpatine’s office establishes the relationship they have, with Palpatine serving as Anakin’s second mentor, the one who (for reasons obvious to the audience) heaps praise on him and consoles him over his frustrations with the Jedi Order, stating that they don’t seem to appreciate his true potential. This will be extremely important to the story of the next film, as Palpatine will stoke Anakin’s discontentment with the Jedi Order to help pull him towards the Dark Side.
The other scene showcases an important theme to this trilogy: the growing flaws of the Jedi Order. When Obi-Wan speaks of Anakin’s arrogance, Yoda remarks that this is a problem for the entire order, though neither of the other Jedi seem to take the criticism to heart. Yoda clearly recognizes the Jedi as growing complacent, and we’re going to see a lot more of this throughout the rest of the trilogy, and it’s going to play an especially vital role in Episode III. This is how Palpatine is able to enact his master plan and manipulate the Republic into turning against the Jedi, who they view as treasonous, and it’s nice to see Lucas setting that up here.
From here, as stated earlier, the movie diverges, splitting time essentially equally between Anakin’s and Obi-Wan’s storylines.
So, Anakin and Padme return to her home planet of Naboo, where he attempts to protect her from the people seeking to take her life. And, as one would expect given Anakin’s infatuation with her, romantic tension quickly ensues.
This is, quite possibly, the most criticized element of the entire Star Wars saga short of Jar-Jar Binks, and to properly defend this is going to take a lengthy, in-depth analysis.
The most logical complaint to begin with is the frequent attack made that this relationship makes no sense. Fans have lambasted this movie for the implausibility of these two falling in love. I have heard this complaint directed less towards Anakin’s love for Padme, but just in case there are any dissenters, let me offer a brief defense. Anakin grew up on Tatooine, completely isolated and met a young, attractive woman who was far kinder to him than he was used to. A nine-year-old boy developing this kind of a crush seems completely rational, and I doubt many would argue with this. Some might contest the logic of him maintaining this crush for an entire decade, but keep in mind, Anakin has had literally no other options for romantic partners, as he’s been raised by the celibate Jedi Order, being actively forbidden from forming these attachments.
However, it is usually Padme who receives the brunt of this criticism, but I think this argument is equally full of holes. Allow me to explain.
First, and most importantly, the amount of attention that this has received is completely unwarranted based on film history. There are numerous films that involve a young, attractive woman falling in love with the man protecting her life (try half the James Bond movies and many other action/thriller movies). In any other film, this would fly under the radar, but since any Star Wars movie not in the Original Trilogy receives an undue amount of criticism, this part of the film is similarly attacked. However, one might argue that a Star Wars film should maintain a higher level of storytelling than common action movies. Fair enough. However, there are two massive flaws to this argument.
First of all, it’s worth noting that this relationship doesn’t just come out of nowhere. It’s clearly stated in Episode I that Padme has some measure of affection for Anakin (never specified to be romantic), so clearly Anakin is already important to her. And, worth noting, that means there’s been an entire movie worth of development for these two before this romance even begins. Secondly, the movie devotes a lengthy segment to developing this relationship, dedicating numerous scenes to this pair just from their departure from Coruscant to their departure from Naboo (about five scenes). This in-depth look at their characters is criticized as being too boring, ignoring how crucial this is to the saga. This relationship not only will lead to the birth of two of the most major characters in the OT, but will fuel Anakin’s fall to the dark side. Clearly, this romance warrants all this time and attention.
The other major flaw to arguing that this is just a generic action movie protector style romance is… what is the difference between this and the romance between Han and Leia in Episode V? The two are isolated from the rest of their allies, the male character begins with unrequited love for the female character, and she begins to warm up to him, until she ends by professing her love for him at the end of the movie. Someone could argue that this is too derivative, but you can’t really argue against the concept of this romance without making the same case against the Han and Leia romance.
That is the most important point defending Padme’s eventual love for Anakin, but there is another, rooted not in precedent in film history but in her character itself.
Padme is shown throughout this movie and the previous completely dedicated to her work. Now, she is cut off from that work by forces outside of her control and is left, possibly for the first time in over a decade, to just be herself with no greater cause to serve. Note that in her story in the field, Padme specifies how she gave up a potential romance for her political future at the age of twelve. Clearly, Padme’s life has been almost exclusively focused on her work, not on her personal life, for over a decade and is now left to deal with who she is as a person. During this period of self-discovery, she is in the presence of a young man whom she has strong feelings (possibly still platonic at this point) for and who is constantly showering her with affection, all while making her feel like a real person and not just a politician. While she wouldn’t be guaranteed to fall for Anakin, it happening is certainly not inconceivable.
However, this entire defense has been based around the concept of these two falling in love in and of itself. I have not touched on the execution of it. And this, admittedly, is much harder to defend. The acting and the writing of this romance has its share of flaws, but I still think it receives far more flak than it deserves.
I just want to begin by giving a brief summary of the complaints directed at this romance. The two leads are accused of having no chemistry whatsoever, with their love being totally unbelievable, and the writing is accused of sounding completely inhuman.
Now, here’s the thing, I agree with these complaints to some extent. There are definitely scenes with bad dialogue. Anakin’s spiel about sand doesn’t sound like anything anyone would ever say and I’m not entirely sure what Lucas was going for there. Similarly, Anakin’s rant at the beginning of the fireside scene about all the pain that Padme is putting him in doesn’t fly.
But aside from that… what’s so bad?
Their scene on the transport ship, where they discuss love and the nature of the Jedi seems like a reasonable lead-in to a budding romance. Anakin asking her about past loves and then them discussing political systems in the field seems to work well, especially as it leads them away from the serious talk that normally dominates their lives and turns to them joking around with each other. Again, this ability to relax and be themselves comes up.
Finally, even the much-maligned fireside scene isn’t that bad. Yes, the startup is pretty painful, but I enjoy the two of them having a genuine discussion about their feelings and what they can do about it, with Padme (the older one) being the more reasonable of the two. Once you get past Anakin’s opening rant, I can’t think of that much bad dialogue in this scene.
I just don’t get it. Yes, there’s some bad dialogue here and there, maybe one or two bad scenes and if you want to be critical even some of the better scenes still have some clunky dialogue, but I don’t understand why this receives so much criticism. The writing conveys their emotions, a good chunk of it sounds like real dialogue (at least for the Star Wars universe) and again, I like this long, in-depth look at the thoughts and feelings of two people without any of the usual Star Wars action, force-talk or politics popping up. It’s just straight character development, and while the dialogue isn’t perfect, it does its job.
So, with that in mind, I must turn to the final complaint against this romance for the explanation behind this hatred: the acting.
This is an extremely difficult part of a movie to analyze because acting, even more so than the believability of dialogue, is very subjective, and it’s very hard to make a convincing case for it being good or bad. However, I will acknowledge that this acting isn’t great. Hayden Christensen is kind of wooden throughout this movie, and putting him in such a long stretch of the movie where he has nothing but one dialogue scene after another where he’s supposed to be putting his true feelings out there doesn’t help this weakness. I think Natalie Portman does a fine job, however, as I don’t remember any bad delivery on her part (in all fairness though, no one could have made that sand line work).
Still, though, I don’t think the acting is that bad. I’m going to return to the field scene because I think that’s probably the best handled scene in this segment. We see both of them display multiple emotions here. Anakin’s annoyance at Padme’s admiration of her old crush Palo, his idealistic arrogance over his new idea for the political structure of the Republic and his cheerful teasing of Padme. Padme, on the other hand, expresses reluctance at recounting her past history of romance, incredulity at Anakin’s dislike for politics and again, happiness as they begin to laugh and joke with each other. I just don’t see what about this doesn’t seem believable.
Admittedly, this is glossing over some of the rougher scenes, such as the sand scene and the fireside scene. But again, those aren’t all bad. Padme seems like a real person when she recounts her childhood story on the beach, and even in the fireside scene they both seem to be showing genuine anxiety and frustration at their star-crossed love (once they get out of that rough startup, that is). They seem to be having a genuine conversation on the transport ship, they seem to be having a genuine conversation at dinner, or when they’re walking through the streets of Theed and she’s discussing her past political experiences. So… where is the acting so horrible?
Is it perfect? No. But this is Star Wars. None of these movies have perfect acting. Mark Hamill doesn’t give an Oscar worthy performance in Episode IV, and keep in mind, this is an unprecedented level of character development for a Star Wars movie. While the second act of Episode V took a deep look at some of the characters, it was nowhere near this extensive and had nowhere near as much time devoted to it. Point being, these two had a much more challenging performance to give than anyone before them in a Star Wars movie. Lucas isn’t always the greatest dialogue writer (though nowhere near as bad as people like to say) so they had to give a believable performance even with a few clunky lines.
Now, having such a challenge wouldn’t excuse a bad performance, merely explain it. However, I don’t think their performance is bad. Maybe it isn’t great, but I don’t understand why it’s earned so much vitriol. For the most part, they play their characters believably and they display the emotions they’re supposed to be displaying. Again, there’s no real way to make an airtight case for someone’s performance being good or bad. The best I can do is explain what I see, and as I said, I don’t see that very many of their scenes (I’ll admit one or two aren’t great) are bad. And even the ones that aren’t great don’t seem to be entirely without merit. This was a bold, and very important, new direction for Star Wars and while the execution was far from perfect, I’m still very much glad that Lucas took this angle.
So, now that we’ve tackled this part of the movie, we can move on to less contentious matters: the Obi-Wan portion of the film.
While Anakin and Padme depart for Naboo, Obi-Wan begins investigating the dart and trying to determine where it came from. Here, we see Lucas wisely correct one of the flaws of the previous film. Throughout the council scenes in Episode I, we see the same characters talking about similar matters in the same room. Both this and the previously discussed segment show a marked change. Obi-Wan meets with Dexter Jettster at his diner, meets with Jocasta Nu at the library and meets with Yoda while he trains younglings. We see Obi-Wan interacting with different characters in different settings, but also while stuff is happening around them, not just council members sitting in chairs. Similarly, we see Anakin and Padme in a variety of settings. This helps even this dialogue heavy section of the film to fly by much faster than the Coruscant segment of Episode I.
Obi-Wan learns that the dart comes from the planet Kamino and finally learns its location, before heading there. This part of the movie is handled excellently. The entire atmosphere of Kamino is so mysterious and so tense, even though we later learn there’s no malice to the Kaminoans. Not knowing that, however, we see Obi-Wan in a strange setting surrounded by unfamiliar aliens, trying to solve a massive mystery. This adds some tension and speed to what might otherwise be able to be considered a slow part of the movie.
This segment also does something else very well (even before the introduction of main henchman Jango Fett): the introduction of the Clone Army. Obi-Wan is blindsided by the existence of this army, giving them a dramatic reveal, but also giving Lama Su a reasonable excuse to describe the details of the Clone Army to Obi-Wan (and the audience) that doesn’t just feel like inorganic exposition. I’m not quite ready to talk about the Clone Army just yet, so I’m going to move on.
Temuerra Morrison gives a great performance as Jango Fett, perfectly portraying the tough and calm Bounty Hunter, and the scene where he and Obi-Wan first meets is perfect. I don’t think there’s much argument against Jango Fett being great, but there are two things that happen that make the case for Jango being better than Boba without me even having to argue it.
First of all, while Boba Fett lamely dies to Han Solo after barely fighting Luke, Jango Fett is given an action scene with Obi-Wan that is just as well developed as the lightsaber duels in this saga, where we get to see him showcase a variety of gadgets and weapons (things that Boba Fett barely used).
Secondly, while Slave I gets a brief scene in Episode V, here it becomes one of the best ships in the Star Wars universe, given its own unique weapons (complete with great sound design) and giving us an excellent asteroid belt chase.
Okay, now I’m caught up on both the Anakin and Obi-Wan storylines and I need to address the pacing of this film. Strangely, I’m not going to be criticizing the pacing as I usually do when I bring it up; quite the opposite, in fact. As stated earlier, the Naboo segment showcases the massive amount of character development poured into Anakin and Padme, meaning that it’s a very dialogue heavy and character-building segment of the film. On the other hand, Obi-Wan (an already established character who doesn’t need as much development in this film) is given the part of the movie that propels the plot forward and the one that has all the action. It’s such a good balance, and it’s why I don’t think the complaint that this movie is boring holds much weight.
Yes, there’s a lengthy stretch of solid character development, but what’s boring about Obi-Wan unraveling the mystery of the Clone Army and battling Jango Fett? Just like Episode V has Han and Leia trying to evade the Empire in the asteroid field while we get to see Luke’s training, there’s a balance there that allows the movie to develop the characters while also keeping things moving. It’s a really good structural decision and works just as well here as it did in Episode V.
Obi-Wan tracks Jango Fett to Geonosis and discovers that Count Dooku and the Separatist alliance have been behind the attempts on Padme’s life, but he is captured as soon as he sends a warning to both Anakin and the Jedi Council. After he’s captured, Dooku arrives to attempt to turn Obi-Wan to his side. About Dooku…
I’ve heard numerous complaints about Dooku being underdeveloped, lamenting how little screen time he got and his lack of depth. As you can probably guess, I don’t agree with this. I like the ambiguity to Dooku’s character; I like that we never really know how loyal he is to Palpatine. Is he just using him for his political movement and he actually wants Obi-Wan to join him to destroy the Sith as he claims? Or is this just typical Sith Lord talk of trying to overthrow their master? We don’t know, and I like that. As to him being under used… I kind of get that, because we only get a couple of scenes that really touch on his motivations or his character, but that’s to be expected. This trilogy is about Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side, not Dooku. Keep in mind, he gets far, far more development than most side villains in either of the first two Star Wars trilogies (Maul, Boba Fett, etc.)
I also really like his scene with Obi-Wan, not just because of how it explores Dooku’s motivations, but because we get to see some glimpses as to Obi-Wan’s feelings about Qui-Gon’s master having fallen to the Dark Side. This isn’t really explored much, though, but I kind of understand that. This movie is already pushing two and a half hours and there just isn’t much time to explore every idea presented in the movie. Still, this brief acknowledgement of this conflict is nice.
That pretty much wraps up the Obi-Wan portion of the movie, so I’m going to return to the Anakin storyline, tackling his and Padme’s time on Tatooine. Having witnessed his mother dying in his nightmares, he and Padme travel to Tatooine to ensure her safety. Here, we see Anakin returning to his childhood hometown, where he meets Watto again. I like this scene as it gets to show Anakin faced with his difficult past, just as we get to see him at the Lars homestead (providing a nice nod to Luke’s future guardians).
Anakin learns the Tusken Raiders have captured his mother, and he journeys through the desert to rescue her. However, just as he finds her, she dies in his arms. Rage consumes him, and he goes on a rampage through the Tusken village, slaughtering them.
There are some complaints that arise from this, but before I get to those, let me just say I love this early look at Anakin’s inner darkness, but I like that Lucas wisely cuts away before we see him slaughter the village, because at this point Anakin’s still supposed to be a hero. It’s also an interesting take that, as he recounts this to Padme later, he almost seems to not remember his actions. And this is where the complaints come in, which unfortunately brings me back to the romance. Returning to the argument that Padme’s love for Anakin makes no sense, people have argued that her staying with him after this slaughter is unbelievable.
Okay, first of all, let me address that this is not the most rational decision on her part. Anakin clearly has a lot of darkness inside of him, and killing women and children seems to cross a line that goes beyond explainable anger at his loss (which is why I do think having him go on such a mass murder spree, rather than just having him kill the actual raiders, might have been too extreme), definitely displaying a red flag. Yes, this isn’t rational.
But does her decision need to be rational?
Do people in real life always make rational decisions in choosing romantic partners? It’s also worth noting that at this point, Padme is completely taken with Anakin (showcased by her admittance of feelings for him by the fireside, her willingness to leave everything to journey with him to Tatooine and her profession later that she’s been suffering this entire time not being able to be with him). She can’t help but to love him, so her only option would be to cause herself more emotional pain by leaving him. Given that Anakin has just lost his mother, she also doesn’t want to cause him more pain.
Secondly, her emotional bond with him isn’t something easily recreated. He’s the first person to make her feel like a real person, not just a politician, since her childhood. Though she hasn’t become as entirely wrapped up in him as he has with her, he’s become an integral part of her life, to the point where she’s in pain by just not being able to be with him. While her decision might not be, strictly speaking, rational, it is still understandable.
Finally, this is entirely consistent with her character as it is shown throughout the films. In Episode III, even after learning that he has fallen to the Dark Side and murdered innocent Jedi younglings, she still runs to him and attempts to redeem him. Her dying breath is spent telling Obi-Wan that there’s still good in him, still hoping for Anakin to be redeemed.
Agree with her decision or not, there are reasons behind it and, if nothing else, within the context of her character, it fits.
Before I move on to Geonosis, I do need to briefly touch on Shmi’s funeral, where Anakin admits that he feels as though he failed her by letting her die, before vowing to not fail in the same way again. This also serves to reinforce Anakin’s feelings of powerlessness and fear of loss, which will later serve as the primary reason for his fall to the Dark Side. I really like how we can see Lucas already planting these seeds here, as it makes Anakin’s character arc feel seamless across the entire trilogy.
From there, Anakin and Padme receive Obi-Wan’s transmission and head to Geonosis to rescue him, while Palpatine authorizes the construction of the Clone Army and the Jedi head to back them up. Again, Palpatine’s plot is amazing, with his manipulation of Jar-Jar into giving him emergency powers to create the Clone Army. Again, I don’t understand why people criticize the political aspect of this movie. Isn’t seeing Palpatine pulling all these strings and seizing more and more power for himself (all while the Jedi are oblivious) interesting? Isn’t it worth this plotline to spend a couple of minutes in the senate chambers? It’s not really about the politics so much as about showing us how intelligent Palpatine is as a villain, making him all the more engaging.
However, back on the subject of Anakin and Padme, I need to offer a defense of yet another part of this film. It may seem like an abrupt transition that the movie picks up a more lighthearted tone right after Shmi’s funeral, but this isn’t the problem it might appear to be at first glance.
First of all, we’ve already gotten a chance to see plenty of reaction from Anakin in regards to her death, with multiple scenes (including one lengthy scene with Padme and then the funeral scene) being dedicated to this. Secondly, Star Wars is supposed to be a fun, light-hearted film series, and this is already one of the darkest Star Wars films. This has been done throughout the series, especially in Episode IV, when Luke Skyawlker quickly moves on from the deaths of his guardians as well as Obi-Wan, and Leia recovers from the destruction of her entire home planet completely off screen. In a lot of ways, Episode II has the most extensive look at grief of any Star Wars movie. This is just how Star Wars is, and that’s not a problem. If you want to take issue with this stylistic decision, you’re going to have to attack Episode IV as well as II.
Anyway, Anakin and Padme arrive on Geonosis and find themselves in a Droid factory as they try to reach Obi-Wan. Now, if you delve into the behind-the-scenes information on this movie, you’ll find that this segment was added in at the last minute because Lucas felt the movie needed more action.
This scene might be slightly problematic, but there are a lot of defenses to be made for it.
For one thing, as mentioned previously, the Obi-Wan segments of the movie were the ones with all the action and danger up until this point, so it’s nice finally getting to see Anakin (and Padme) in action. Secondly, it does further strengthen the romance storyline, as we get to see Anakin focusing his energies not on defeating the enemies, but in trying to reach Padme to protect her, showing that she is clearly his priority here.
You can also make the argument that this is inserted kind of randomly into the film, but I feel like this is a good addition. After all, had Anakin and Padme simply been captured upon their arrival, they would’ve appeared pretty weak. It’s an over-the-top action sequence for sure, but it is unique in terms of Star Wars. Lucas is clearly not just introducing some half-hearted action set piece at the last minute, but adding a fully fleshed out and creative segment to add some action to the movie and get to show two of the main heroes finally getting in on the action.
However, Anakin’s and Padme’s efforts prove pointless, as Jango Fett captures both of them and they are taken to be executed in the Geonosian arena with Obi-Wan.
And here we get to talk about one of those hated scenes that I think is actually very well handled: the confession of love scene.
We’ve already talked about the acting and writing issue people have with the romance, and I don’t really feel like going over that again. Either you buy their love or you don’t. If my arguments earlier weren’t convincing, there’s nothing else I can say on it here that will be.
What I do want to talk about is how this scene plays into the overall story of the film. As I’ve said before, Episode II is divided into two distinct storylines: Anakin and Padme’s romance and the Clone Army/Separatist plotline. This is where we see those stories intersect, as the peril that Anakin and Padme are placed in is what prompts this profession of love. And I think this was an amazing choice on Lucas’s part.
Using the main plot of the movie to bring about these core changes in the characters, so that you’re essentially propelling two plots forward at once, is a great decision. I know this might not sound like a huge deal, but not that many movies do this. A lot of times, movies will simply alternate between action/story and character development, and while the romantic profession right at the beginning of the third act isn’t overly original, I do like how we get to see this actually brought about by the events of the story.
What makes it even better is that Anakin and Padme get this one brief moment to themselves before they are thrust back into the main conflict of the film, illustrating how this leadup to war is interfering with their lives and keeping them apart. These two storylines aren’t at odds with one another in terms of storytelling; this is showing the toll that war and conflict has on the personal lives of these two characters, all while serving to both develop them and create an entertaining and engaging story. This is illustrated as they’re led into the arena and Anakin is reunited with Obi-Wan for the first time in over an hour of movie time, and here we see the beginning of a great action sequence, even one I might go so far as to say is one of Star Wars’ best.
It starts out good, with the three heroes facing three different unique and inventive Star Wars creatures, and then things really pick up when Mace Windu and the rest of the Jedi arrive and battle Dooku’s droid army. Seeing this many Jedi battle at once is a lot of fun, and it feels truly unique. It had never been done before and it would never be done again; even on the Clone Wars, we’d only see half a dozen Jedi in one battle at most.
Throughout this review, however, I’ve been trying to make the case that this is, in fact, a good movie, not simply one that’s entertaining. I don’t see Attack of the Clones as something that’s just riding the coat tails of the rest of the franchise so that it comes off as passable, but rather as a good move in its own right. I’ve already discussed how much I like the plot, with Obi-Wan’s investigations and Palpatine’s rise to power, as well as the character development and the pacing, but here we get to see Lucas deliver an amazing payoff to a plot thread he’d been setting up throughout the entire movie: The Clone Army.
Going back to Obi-Wan’s arrival on Kamino and going forward to Palpatine creating the army, we’ve been hearing about this army for over an hour and as the audience we know these are going to start the Stormtroopers that will eventually make up the Imperial army, so we know this is important. The way they are introduced, with them showing up at the last minute, saving the heroes and immediately turning the tide of the battle to the point that the Separatists have to retreat from their own planet, is handled very well. Seeing their military power, and also how their arrival begins what will soon be called the Clone Wars, makes us feel like all the setup throughout the previous two hours of the movie was worth it. I know the arrival of the cavalry at the last minute to save the day is hardly original, but I think it’s done well here. Especially since, as Yoda will later point out, this isn’t really a victory for the Jedi.
The Jedi shouldn’t need a Clone Army, because they shouldn’t be in a war in the first place. This continues to show the degradation of the Jedi Order, as well as the Republic itself, which is fitting considering they’ve just gotten the army that will one day turn the Republic into the Empire. So, while this ‘victory’ does appear triumphant at first glance, there’s an underlying air of menace to it, not only because it shows the Jedi Order moving further and further away from their ideals, but also because we know that things are quickly going to swing out of the heroes’ favor in the next movie, largely because of how far they’ve gone astray from their beliefs. As a fun little aside, in most movie battle scenes, they have the heroes moving from left to right and the villains moving right to left. Here, they reverse that, foreshadowing the eventual betrayal of the Clone Army. It’s a nice little touch to show that there’s more to this ending than the Clones just showing up at the last minute to save the day.
Upon rescuing the heroes from the arena, we get to see the entire battlefield of Geonosis as the heroes fly over it in a gunship, hunting for Dooku. We get some beautiful shots of the clones battling the droid army, and we quickly get the feeling that the droids are hopelessly outmatched, further cementing the power of the Clone Army. This is also the first instance of Lucas using the long, panning shots to depict an entire large-scale battle. It’s a great way to show such a massive battle without getting down into the nitty-gritty and showing what everyone’s doing, but also not distracting us from the heroes too much, as it’s mostly shown through the lens of them watching the battle from their gunship.
It’s also during this sequence that the core character conflict of the film is resolved. Padme is flung from the gunship during the battle, and Anakin is faced with a choice between abandoning Obi-Wan to face Dooku alone or leaving Padme in the Geonosian desert. I really, really like this scene. The argument between Anakin and Obi-Wan perfectly frames his internal struggle within the backdrop of the war. It’s not so much about Anakin helping him face Dooku as it’s really about him abandoning the Jedi Order and all his hopes and dreams to save Padme. Ultimately, of course, he chooses to help Obi-Wan, even though he will later marry Padme, because Anakin is choosing to keep his position in the Jedi Order through deception. I know this might not seem like a big deal, but seeing a physical conflict and a seemingly unrelated emotional conflict intersect in this way is very satisfying. This isn’t the typical instance of a hero’s morals being challenged by their battle with the villain; it’s showing the conflict between the two lives that Anakin wants to live. It makes him so much more relatable because, like all of us, his life is filled with hard choices and he’s left with no good options; he seemingly has to give up something very important to him.
To me, this is one of the most pivotal scenes of the movie, and I think Lucas very cleverly inserted this huge turning point in this massive battle, with something as simple as Padme getting knocked from a gunship from a stray blaster bolt.
From there, the two heroes reach Dooku and confront him.
In terms of the final duels to the movies, this one doesn’t rank especially high. The duels in Episodes 1, 3, and 5 are all easily better. It’s a fine duel, setting the stage for the enmity between Anakin and Dooku later, and it is nice to see Anakin and Obi-Wan working together (incidentally, I like how they face Dooku separately, rather than just re-doing Duel of the Fates’ premise of two Jedi vs one Sith), but it’s not that remarkable. I do like Anakin’s use of two lightsabers at once, but was disappointed that it didn’t last longer. This specific duel has also gotten some flak for the odd lighting style with the closeups of the fighters’ faces, illuminated only by their lightsabers. It’s not handled that well, but I do like seeing a unique style to the duel. Ultimately, the duel is entertaining, but still pretty unremarkable.
Until Yoda shows up.
This is one of the most controversial scenes in the movie, with numerous fans hating the decision to show Yoda with a lightsaber. I have never understood this criticism, but since it’s so widespread, I feel obligated to address it and offer an in-depth defense.
The core component to this criticism is that Yoda, in the OT, showed a level of enlightenment focused beyond the physical world. And I do understand that viewpoint and I do like that aspect of Yoda’s character. However, there are some flaws with using this to criticize Yoda using a lightsaber.
First of all, this doesn’t change Yoda’s actual beliefs. He is still more focused on the Force and higher-minded ideals (hence why we rarely see him fighting the war), but that doesn’t preclude him from using a lightsaber to defend himself. He used the Force to lift the X-Wing in Episode 5, influencing the physical world.
Secondly, Yoda specifically trained Luke to face and defeat Darth Vader. He intended Luke to duel him. We never see any indication that Yoda wants to train Luke to surpass a lightsaber, or even that anyone ever does grow beyond the need for a lightsaber in combat. Palpatine simply does not need one when facing Luke because he’s so much more powerful than him, and because Luke is unarmed. Here, we see Yoda at first using the Force to fight Dooku, before meeting his challenge for a lightsaber duel.
Finally, Yoda is first and foremost a Jedi master. The lightsaber is, in the words of Obi-Wan from Episode 4, “the weapon of a Jedi Knight”. This is their signature weapon. Why wouldn’t Yoda possess one? It’s not that he relies on it; in fact, we rarely see him use it. Not because the Force can replace a lightsaber in every situation, but because Yoda isn’t focused on fighting. He doesn’t want to fight Dooku. He spends the first half of their showdown defending himself, before drawing his weapon in an effort to defeat Dooku and subdue this new threat.
Yoda may be wielding a lightsaber, which isn’t something that’s seen in the OT, but also isn’t anything that goes against what was said in those movies. He still holds onto the core Jedi beliefs of non-violence and peace-keeping, proving that he’s still the same character.
Their fight itself is entertaining, like this whole sequence overall, but it doesn’t have a very satisfying ending, as nothing is really accomplished. It’s here mostly just to give Anakin a motive for revenge and showcase both Yoda’s and Dooku’s power. There aren’t any major revelations or important plot points. It’s a fun duel, but it doesn’t stand out as being one of the greats.
Everything after that I’ve pretty much touched on so I won’t go into a huge amount of detail. I do like seeing that this was, indeed, all part of Palpatine’s plan as Sidious makes a brief appearance at the very end. The wedding scene is also handled very well, as we are left to enjoy this spectacle with John Williams’ beautiful “Across the Stars” score and no dialogue, because at this point, no words needed to be said.
While Attack of the Clones is held in very low regard by Star Wars fans, I wholeheartedly disagree with this assessment. I think this movie is extremely entertaining, and while showcasing some clunky dialogue, I believe it offers amazing insights into the characters and displays some really strong, intricate writing on Lucas’s part. For me personally, this ranks as one of the best Star Wars movies.
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