Galactic ramble

Christian Century, May 22, 2002 by John Petrakis

FORGET THE high-tech bells and whistles, the visual effects, and the groveling homage to the wonders of digital technology. The most mesmerizing moment in Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones occurs when 19-year-old Anakin Skywalker (Canadian actor Hayden Christensen), hotshot Jedi knight-in-training who is destined to become the dreaded Darth Vader, first feels the unremitting pull of the Dark Side. We can see it on his near-flawless face as he suddenly experiences the pain of personal tragedy. We can sense it simmering inside him as he wrestles with the unfamiliar emotions of hate, rage and the hunger for revenge--those Jedi-destroying traits that Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi will be warning Anakin's son, Luke, about in the years to come.

The scene works in part because Christensen has an unpredictable aura that has been lacking in most Star Wars heroes. (He is a good choice for an adolescent Vader.) More to the point, the scene brings us back, if only for an instant, to that eternal battle between good and evil--symbolized by "The Force" and "The Dark Side--"that fueled the first Star Wars trilogy. This is the dramatic element noticeably lacking in the otherwise impressive Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace, and which, despite momentary returns to the source, remains absent from much of Attack of the Clones.

Not that good and evil don't appear in the fifth Star Wars adventure. But the concepts are lost in an avalanche of exposition, as odd-looking characters from various galaxies ramble on endlessly about this war and that revolution, reintroducing this droid and that bounty hunter.

Eventually a plot emerges. Ten years after the political chaos of Phantom Menace, an intergalactic separatist movement is afoot, with hundreds of planets threatening to secede from the Republic. The Great Army of the Republic is created to help the outnumbered and exhausted Jedi knights, who in this episode seem less like spiritual samurais than a futuristic Justice League.

Anakin, a hunky teen and the "padawan" (apprentice) of an older and wiser Obi-Wan Kenobi (played again by Ewan McGregor, this time wearing a robe, long hair and beard that make him look Christlike), is assigned, along with his master, to protect the former queen and now pro-Republic Senator Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) from various assassination attempts. After a failed attempt on Amidala's life that harkens back to Cleopatra's asp, and a long chase scene, the two Jedis split up. Anakin stays behind with Padme, leading to the early pangs of a long-percolating love affair. (A no-no for chaste Jedis.)

Evil pops up throughout the tale in the form of hired guns and corrupt politicians, setting the stage for the arrival of the truly nasty Count Dooku, played by 80-year-old screen legend Christopher Lee, who looks great for his age but still seems a bit long in the tooth to be taking part in so many battle scenes. The evil forces are complex, tinted with shades of gray, which makes the story more realistic but a lot less fun. The lasting images from the early trilogy include a noble if naive Luke Skywalker, a feisty and brave Princess Leia, a smug and semicorrupt Han Solo, a wise and patient Obi-Wan Kenobi and a cruel and sadistic Darth Vader. No character in Attack of the Clones is nearly as memorable. In lieu of their flash and bravado, we get long scenes about Jedi politics and endless sequences concerning the manufacture of clones, which are intercut with soft-focus shots of the burgeoning romance between Anakin and Padme.

Perhaps it's time for George Lucas to hand over the directing reins yet again, as he did with The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Either he's too concerned with minuscule story issues or he's lost the fire to take the series by the throat. Attack of the Clones is like a gladiator movie that focuses on the structural problems of the Coliseum, or a western that examines the floor show at the local saloon.

Missing from the film is kind of panache that animates classic adventure tales, such as The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), in which a totally evil Sir Guy confronts a cocky Robin about his verbal attack on the corrupt Prince John. "You speak treason," Sir Guy snarls. "Fluently," Robin replies. No moment in Attack of the Clones contains the wit of that exchange, or a single character so easily able to don the cape of good or evil. I miss Chewbacca.

John Petrakis reviews films for the Chicago Tribune and teaches screenwriting at the School of the Art Institute.