Five Years of Attack of the Clones

[krpalmer]

Even with the thirtieth anniversary of the original Star Wars almost upon us, I've been trying to keep remembering that the fifth anniversary of Attack of the Clones is going to precede it. (At the time though, I suppose, there wasn't much made of the possibility of AotC being a "twenty-fifth anniversary" movie.)

I suppose I've already posted to some extent about my first viewing of the movie: I went in on a rainy day with an advance ticket but not a little apprehension, but wound up caught up in it. The crowd was enthusiastic; I remember there being applause when Mace Windu chopped off Jango Fett's head, when Yoda sprang into action, and at the end itself. I then overheard somebody commenting "George Lucas has redeemed himself," which did annoy me a little: even after three years of almost unrelieved hostility elbowing me at unexpected moments, I hadn't given up on The Phantom Menace yet... and yet, one of my more aggravating recurring moments is when someone forgets that comment altogether and dismisses TPM and AotC in the same breath. I suppose I have to admit that my first reaction to TPM was pleased relief, but in a "positive but not profound" way; with AotC, my reactions seemed that much more heightened. (That may be a product, though, of having been that much more careful to avoid potential spoilers.) Some odd dialogue just didn't seem enough to me to nail the movie to. Too, I can notice how Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman are excused with "Nobody could handle that dialogue" or "Anyone would be lost in front of that much bluescreen," but when it comes to Hayden Christensen, who doesn't have as much of a body of work, all of a sudden everyone is casually proclaiming "Oh, he just can't act..." (I suppose that applies for me to Jake Lloyd too.)

Still, I can suppose that in some ways that misleading balance between TPM and AotC has helped keep me from wishing that "Episode II should have been Episode I". Of course, it's true enough that AotC made where everything was going that much more definite. In any case, for me AotC has swashbuckling action and imperfect heroes and narrow escapes and dastardly villians and worlds never seen before... in a way, it just might be an underappreciated template for Star Wars movies themselves.

Comments

[lazypadawan.livejournal.com]

Nice little post on AOTC. I hear you on the acting; Ewan and Natalie more or less got sympathetic pats for the "bad dialogue" and "bad direction" not being their fault but Hayden got kneed in the groin. I think Hayden was a target for two reasons. One, he was regarded as Lucas's "discovery" and dismissing this discovery is yet another reason for the haters to call Lucas a failure. They wanted Hayden to be another casualty of some alleged SW curse, an attitude prevalent in some quarters even now. Two, Hayden wasn't the tough guy or the creepy guy some people were expecting. In other words, they wanted him to be either Arnold Schwarzenegger or Christopher Walken, not a guy with puppy dog eyes and looks that could steal your girlfriend.

[krpalmer.livejournal.com]

I suppose that just moments after I'd finished this post, I was starting to worry I'd become so wrapped up in muttering I'd forgotten about trying to stay positive. In any case, I can see what you mean about Hayden Christensen not matching the expectations of some... although there were certainly attempts to cast the character of Anakin in the darkest light possible anyway. I remember that on one of the few Star Wars sites I was still reading at the time, the site's owner pretty much liked Hayden's performance (although he wound up wishing Padme would have questioned, perhaps even sarcastically, at least one of Anakin's romantic lines), but concluded Anakin must have grown so tall by tapping Force power from all the other Jedi and wished there had been a "Force rumble" added into the soundtrack to imply he was using the Force to make the other Jedi give him the assignment to protect Padme...

[matril.livejournal.com]

Though I profess to love all the Star Wars movies equally, as parts of a great whole, I do admit that when I'm choosing which one to watch, I tend to lean towards AOTC. Of course I'm sure that's largely due to my obsession with Anakin/Padme ;) and perhaps also because it was the first movie my husband and I went to see after we were married, but I remember coming out of the theater absolutely elated, declaring that it was better than "twelve Fourth-of-Julys." And my excitement hasn't diminished all that much over these five years. Something about its structure and rising tension really appeals to me, not as superior to TPM, but building upon its foundations to pave the way for a fantastic climax in ROTS.

[krpalmer.livejournal.com]

I suppose I'm so (carefully?) far away from picking a favourite Star Wars movie now that when I do find the time to watch them, I block out the time to watch all of them, whether in one big weekend or over six weekends. Mind you, I had thought about rewatching Attack of the Clones in advance of the anniversary, to see what might result... but wound up too busy on the weekends before to manage it.