So last night my folks and I went to the 12:01am showing of Attack of the Clones. I got to the line around 8:45 or so, and had fun standing there in my “Sith Academy” sweatshirt reading my book. Mom and dad showed up around 10:40. They let us in around, I think, 11:30 (they’d said they’d let us in at 10:30, but nooooooo…).
It was a great crowd – fairly subdued once the film started, but cheering like maniacs at all the right parts.
I’m not quite conscious enough to do a proper writeup, but here’re my thoughts:
Cool Stuff
- Yoda kicking ass.
- Jango Fett’s armor.
- The aliens who do the cloning.
- Heck, almost all the aliens were supercool.
- The arrogance and vulnerability of Anakin. (the pouty lips don’t hurt, either).
- Obi-Wan. He just plain rocks the house.
- Christopher Lee as Count Dooku, prodding serious buttock.
- The visuals. Whoa.
- All the sly Palpatine in-jokes.
- The conflict between Anakin and Obi-Wan.
- Did I mention Christopher Lee?
Lame Stuff
- Almost all the romance crap between Anakin and Padme. For Gods’ sake, George, the Han/Leia romance’s big declaration was “I love you.” “I know.” No five minute “I’ve been dying a little every day since you came back into my life” bull. Sheesh.
- The plot, which should’ve been simple, somehow manages to be really obscure.
- No real villain shows up until halfway through the film. At least in TPM we had Maul running around.
- Once again, the Jedi Council spend almost all their time sitting on their behinds. I want them to do something interesting! Thirty Jedi riding to the rescue doesn’t make up for the rest of the film, when they mainly sit around going “Oh, this is bad.” “Yes, you are right, Master.”
- Padme needing rescuing a lot was annoying. Ditto her conveniently-ripped clothes. At least in Return of the Jedi George had the chutzpah to put Leia in a bikini and have done with it.
- All-CGI Yoda. *sigh*
Overall, a good film. Much better than TPM, for damn sure. But not as good as it could’ve been. The pacing is off in spots. But the fight scenes are cool, especially the extended one at the end where it takes THREE Jedi to fight Count Dooku. Word. Chris Lee is in damn good shape for an 80+ year old. Must be all that golf.
(And yes, I know he had a stunt double, but still.)
