samskivert: Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2)

28 May 2002

When the audience laughed out loud at the first ostensiably “dramatic” scene, I thought to myself, “Gee, I haven’t seen something like that happen since… Oh that’s right, ‘The Phantom Menace’.” Lucas has yet again demonstrated his utter ignorance of character development and human drama. The “tension” between Anakin and Obi-Wan was practically rammed down our throats; the “love affair” between Anakin and Amidala parodied itself. The overarching plot was well conceived, but the translation into a screenplay was so poorly executed that, minus the special effects, it wouldn’t have garnered George a passing grade in script writing 101. Something in the process of bringing these new Star Wars films to the moviegoing public is failing horribly and I am left feeling that Mr. Lucas is, knowingly or otherwise, giving his fans the short-shrift. That said, the scene with Yoda versus Dooku did kick ass.

©1999–2022 Michael Bayne