PT Am I the only one that loved Attack of the Clones?

Lucas is a visual master.

 

Attack of the Clones is my favourite prequel, and I often place it above Return of the Jedi. In particular, I love the action sequences (car chase on Coruscant, arena with animals, arena with Jedi and droids, Battle of Geonosis proper, and both lightsaber fights) and the adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Noir Detective.

The things I don't like about it (C-3PO in the factory and arena, Anakin's bad love dialogue) are bad, but can be ignored in favour of the good stuff.

Anakin's whining helps make the character, so I'm ok with it. And his dislike of sand is just funny.

I also like the love theme and the big army theme (the one that plays when Detective Obi-Wan sees the clone army; it's the same piece as when the droid army marches on Theed in Episode I).

 

Just did a PT marathon rewatch and two things crystallized for me.

1. AOTC is much better than ROTS. Especially the first two acts (and the chase on Coruscant is stunningly beautiful). It flies off the rails on Geonosis (with the awful droid factory and the whole arena and end battle), but the first two acts helps me forgive it. Indeed, the last act of AOTC starts looking and feeling more like ROTS (i.e. very fake), which is partly why I dislike it so much.

2. Stylistically, it fits in with TPM better than it does with ROTS. Just feels more grounded and real, until the last act. To me, ROTS feels like the odd one out. Like George abandoned his instincts and opted for a different type of look and approach that just doesn’t strike me as very Star Wars.

In short, I think it’s much better than ROTS. And just behind TPM, which is the most Star Warsy, in my view.

 

Interesting take. I actually feel the first act is the weakest, and the last is the best in the entire saga. I could watch the denouement on repeat for days.

 

I liked the focused, film noir elements of the first two acts. And the atmosphere. Whereas I hated the artificial mess of the last act, where all these disparate half-baked pieces (Separatist leaders, Grievous, clones, Jedi, etc) came together far too quickly and overwhelmingly. Looking back, it feels like the precursor to the bloated third acts in so many modern blockbusters, especially the MCU films. All you need to do is swap out Geonosis for a CGI New York City.

 

There was no Grievous in Attack of the Clones. Maybe that's why you thought it was bloated; you mentally inserted a bunch of crap that wasn't even there.

 

Lol. Touche! No. Truth is I meant to type Dooku and typed Grievous. If you have never made such an error during your illustrious career, I salute you!

 

I wouldnt say I love it but I really like it. AOTC tends to be on the very bottom of many fans ranked lists of the various SW films. I dont get that. Sure, the love dialog and the waterfall "roll in the grass scene" does induce vomiting. The droid factory video game sequence is so bad that I chapter skip that section which takes you right to the Arena battle.

But, there is a LOT to like here. Palpatines further advancement of his agenda is great. Anakin being older now is also nice. The Kamino/clone scenes are epically awesome. That whole mysterious sub-plot with Syfo-Dias ordering the clones is so cool that I wish there was more about that in the film. The Dooku stuff is solid too. The arena fight is a little "busy" but its still fun. So, once you get past the dodgy stuff(really juts the love scene and a few other spots) you're left with a pretty solid movie IMO.

 

What love "scene"? The forbidden love theme is very central to the story, and the story could not have been told this way without it. Strange how you can actually like a movie that you partially find "vomit inducing"

 

What a second - I realize the forbidden love scenes are paramount to the story! I just hated the execution and strange, Shake-spearean dialog that felt totally out of place. Thats all. It certainly needed to be in there but people just dont talk like that and it felt very odd to me. Its acase of bad writing not a bad concept or plot point/narrative focus. I hope that makes sense.

 

Since you mentioned "Shakespearean" yourself, yes, that was actually intended by Lucas. The whole point of those dialogs is to give the impression of some "medieval" love story, not 21st century teenager talk. Right, "no one talks like that", in this world. But they do in SW. Remember how the whole saga is meant as a "fairy tale"? So yes, the dialogs make complete sense when you look at it this way.

 

This is an intensely unpopular opinion in mainstream discussions but I always thought that Hayden did a great job delivering all his lines in those scenes with complete sincerity and conviction. He makes it believable for me. At the very least, there's no way you can call his delivery wooden. I feel like people use "wooden" as a shorthand for "actors doing something I don't like."

 

Fair enough - I get your point. But the grass-roll scene was just bad man!

 

Yes HC is clearly not "wooden". If that is wooden then what is all of Star Wars? or better yet all of acting ever isn't?

Quite the opposite as the passion, conviction and sincerity of the character is palpable as it the embarrassment it causes to those around him where speaking like that in company is not the thing to do. The formalized world of politicians, Jedi and the like that he lives in doesn't deal well with that kind of openness.

 

Well… to each his own of course. The scene kind of worked for me, maybe without that silly animal in it - they could have left that out, exactly because of that Sound of Music homage. I think the movies are full of such homages. I didn't get them all because I have't seen the respective movies. But when I do recognize one it's kind of fun. Also what I like about this scene is that the tone is (still) intentionally light. That makes the darker scenes that come later all the more dark. Towards the end even this scene (actually the very last time there is some innocent lightness in the prequels) there is some foreshadowing of what is to come, when the topic shifts to politics. This is the first and last time that Anakin and Padme seem to actually have fun. Pretty soon after things get very serious, and it appears to me they can never again purely enjoy the moment afterwards, so this scene is actually kind of sad to me.

 

Thats cool - I dont mean to imply it to be a bigger deal than it is. I LIKE Clones a lot, I really do. Just a few scenes and such bug me. But I do get that the Padme/Anakin thing is central to the plot and sets up ROTS too. I do see the homages though, you're correct.

 

This. And that's one of the reasons why the new ST movies don't work for me. Part of the dialogue feels exactly like "21st century teenager talk", which is fine on its own, but doesn't feel like SW.

And for the record, I love each and every one of the love scenes of AOTC, especially the two that seem to be most hated (the first Kiss and the fireplace scene). They look like beautiful musical paintings to me, and I don't mind the dialogue at all (in a way, it feels like lyrics, they don't matter on their own).

 

The first kiss is amazing just for how endearingly clumsy and awkward Christensen is during it.



Instead of putting his arms around Padme and embracing the softness and smoothness of her body, he continues to direct the force of his passion into gripping the cold, hard, moss-covered railing. It's such a wonderfully idiosyncratic choice. It brings a weird sense of tactile discordance to the moment.

I really want to know if it was Lucas or Christensen who was responsible for that, because it's brilliant.

 

@QUIGONMIKE
No, no need to defend your opinion, I get what you are saying, and that those scenes certainly would not work for everyone. I mean, a tragic love story is something completely new to the SW we all have known. I can even see how some people could feel "offended" by the new direction of the saga. Anyway, somehow the whole thing worked for me.
I 100% agree with the recent comments though. To those who enjoyed that scene by the lake such as myself, I think it's a combination of Lucas and Hayden that made it what it is, however polarizing it may be (not to mention John Williams! He once again outdid himself with the "Across the stars " theme). It seems you either hate it or buy it, there are few remarks in between. I can't seem to remember reading that anyone found the love scenes "OK".
Posting with a smartphone is a nightmare, and I will never get used to it.

 

Its cool - I dont think we are far off here. I probably shouldnt have used the phrase "vomit inducing" since thats too harsh and makes it seem worse than it realy is. Just some clumsy dialog and it felt off at times. No biggy. Still a big fan of AOTC!!!!

 

"Vomit inducing" was a bit harsh but there's no need to apologize for criticizing or not liking something. That goes for any Star Wars film or any aspect of them. Honest and respectful criticism is always welcome.

 

Agreed - I didnt have to make it so dramatic though. I actually did NOT vomit, just didnt care for some of the dialog. Its all good

 

This is a movie where my feelings have definitely evolved. Before TLJ, I ranked this movie as the worst SW movie. But that doesn't mean I hated it per se. I think I understand that more now, because I really dislike TLJ. I have watched AotC a handful of times, which obviously I wouldn't do with a movie I dislike. I have seen TLJ once and I seriously doubt I'll feel an urge to watch it again. The thing with AotC is that there are aspects of it that don't work for me at all. That's mainly the romance. The characterizations of Anakin and Padme are strange to me in the context of them being attracted to each other. It's hard for me to get invested in. The, for me, awkward dialogue, really makes that worse. Since the romance is so key to the film as a whole, that makes it a hard one for me to really enjoy.

However, there are things that I do enjoy quite a bit in this movie. I love the beautiful outdoor Naboo shots. As a story concept, I love how they symbolize the calm before the storm. The wedding shot at the end is gorgeous and ominous on that point. I wasn't expecting the two to actually get secretly married when I watched it, and that moment really worked for me. My favorite part of it, though, would have to be the Shmi arc. Most of my emotional investment in Anakin's story in the PT involves Shmi. When I watch this movie, I feel a sense of urgency for Anakin to return to his mother and I get irritated with the Jedi for preventing it. I'm also irritated with Anakin for listening to them. Ultimately, I think that's the point, and when it all comes to a head with her death, it's heartbreaking. That moment I think is the most important moment of Anakin's story that imo seals his fate. It guts me every time.

On a simple note, I know the final battle on Geonosis received a lot of criticism for all the lightsabers, but not from me. I wanted to see a scene like that ever since I saw ESB, and AotC delivered. I loved seeing a small army of Jedi do their thing. The only thing left in that respect that I would still someday like to see on the big screen is a small war between light and dark siders with at least a handful of force users with sabers on each side. I like the idea of lots of force users forming an actual warrior class in gffa society. I feel like we've had a lot of story telling with only one or two Jedi or one or two dark siders. I'm waiting for lots on both sides.

 

I love the way Anakin draws his robe over his body like a blanket here. You can tell he feels self-conscious and vulnerable around Padme, and so he subconsciously tries to cover himself up.

Again, great non-verbal acting work by Christensen and/or direction from Lucas.

 

I never had an issue with Hayden. My hard to believe part of the romance was always squarely on Portman's portrayal and line delivery being unconvincing to me.