This June, Establishing Shot will feature a miniseries we’re calling Here’s Looking at You, 2002 as we take a look back at films celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. Today, Noni Ford points out the merits of one of the most polarizing Star Wars flicks George Lucas ever made.
What I’m about to write may divide any casual readers of this article but here it goes: I unapologetically enjoy the Star Wars prequels. And yes, I know that the prequels have been roundly ridiculed, mocked, and memed to death by many die-hard Star Wars fans for years. A few years ago, if you were to ask me what I thought about Star Wars, I probably would talk about the original trilogy but I wouldn’t dare mention the prequels for fear of sparking a messy debate that could go on for hours. But now with the Obi-Wan Kenobi show and the new reassessments of the prequels, I’ve seen the tide start to turn as more and more people have begun to appreciate them for what they are: great action-adventure films with some corny lines that only work in the context of the film, but boy do they work. So now I finally feel emboldened enough to reveal my true feelings about the movie Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones on the year of its 20th anniversary.
My first viewing of this installment of the franchise was as a kid, and while I didn’t know about the critical reception of the series back then my general experience was one of pure fascination and awe. I’d never seen science-fiction films like it onscreen before, and more than that it was fun. I may not have picked up on much of the political intrigue, which is one of the central stories in this episode, but I liked the espionage, the space travel, and the unique aliens on every planet. Rewatching it now, there’s so much more I started to recall the further I got into the movie; it was like a walk through memory lane in a sense. Even though it had been a decade at least since my last watch, this movie had clearly left an impression.
While there are definitely some parts where the script could have been better, I still couldn’t help but have so much enjoyment watching this again. It’s a split movie in many ways, one-part mystery/investigation and one-part romantic drama, but the story is better for it. There’s a lot going on in this episode, and there’s a lot of set-up for the eventual conclusion of the Anakin Skywalker story. While we see a young, headstrong, but entirely too rash Anakin growing into his powers and shaping his future, we also see the mounting strength of the dark side. Although the comparison between the two isn’t made directly apparent in the movie, we do see Anakin wrestle with his impulses and some inner darkness that comes out after the death of his mother. In his time of need Padme provides comfort, and their budding romance proves to be an anchoring point for him, while its forbidden nature leaves them both conflicted throughout their time together.
Meanwhile on an entirely different world, Obi-Wan is starting to uncover the bigger pieces at play within the Galactic Republic’s struggle with Count Dooku’s Separatist movement. Dark forces within their galaxy are brewing, resulting in the beginning stages of a clone and droid war that breaks out in the final act. Again, as a kid I think while I understood the general idea of the good and bad guys within the story, I didn’t realize how much political underpinnings were prevalent in the movie. From assassination attempts to bounty hunters and implied torture, this episode is much darker than Episode I – The Phantom Menace by far. Looking at Anakin as really our central character, and the only character that ever shows signs of aging in these prequels, it seems that we are growing up with him. While Menace ends on a joyous note with hope, the ending to this movie is slightly more uncertain.
While our main heroes are able to recover and fight another day, we see an enormous amount of death in this movie, and at the heart of it we’re experiencing the harsh edges of a bleaker reality than we saw in Anakin’s childhood. The Galactic Senate is experiencing extreme division; despite his best efforts Anakin is unable to save his mother; and the Sith Lord is gaining strength. The war has not been lost but the battle has just begun and the enemy was more than ready for the might the Jedi and the Senate provided. The stage is being set and primed for betrayal, revenge, and chaos.
My favorite parts of the film remain the Geonosis execution fight and the chase for the assassin through Coruscant. The creation of each monster picked to fight Padme, Obi-Wan, and Anakin on Geonosis is so well done and intricate, with each creature possessing distinct features that roughly mirror real predators. While there are plenty of lightsaber battles in the latter half of the story, this was the more entertaining scene because it showed each captive’s ingenuity and quick-thinking skills. The foot and hovercraft chase through Coruscant reminded me of Blade Runner; also this was our first time in the prequels seeing a hyper-technologically advanced city and how it operated. We see a slice of Coruscant nightlife during the chase, and all of the colors and people throughout make it almost seem like a future version of Las Vegas. It’s a flashy and well-directed sequence that fleshes out the location of our characters and grounds them. It also proves to have some great comedic beats as we see some on-the-job training with Obi-Wan’s admonishments of Anakin’s youthful antics.
There’s still debate about what the prequels lend to the franchise and how they allowed the origin story of Darth Vader to be fleshed out. While there remain many naysayers when it comes to ranking this episode anywhere close to the earlier films, I have to say above all else it’s an entertaining watch and it still feels like it has that bit of magic the original trilogy had. It still feels exciting when I rewatch it, every scene is visually arresting, and you are rooting for Anakin like you once rooted for Luke. You are with him and you want him to be with Padme, to save Obi-Wan from capture, and to get off the beaches of Naboo with the sand that is coarse, rough, irritating, and gets everywhere. Or so I’ve heard.
At the end of the day, that’s enough reason alone to give this film a rewatch or a first watch on its two-decade anniversary year.
IU Cinema previously screened the original Star Wars trilogy in 2019.
Noni Ford is a freelance writer based in the Midwest and a graduate of the Indiana University Media School. She’s worked in voice coordination, independent film, and literary management, and primarily writes film criticism and short stories.