Monday, December 28, 2020

Re-re-re...re-re-re-Watching Star Wars: Episode II


Attack of the Clones is kind of a mess, to put it bluntly.  That happens when the core is built around a romance, but the cast chemistry has serious issues. Ewan McGregor's Jedi swagger is a sight to behold, though.

This is a case where watching it in sections while exercising was helpful, as I could focus on the good parts. 

The early speeder chase that gave us the first real views of multiple sections and layers of the city wide planet of Coruscant was definitely cool and engaging.

The way Obi-Wan and Anakin treated their ridiculous stunts as everyday occurrences was fun, and a preview into the excellent cartoon  this period would spawn.

While the droid factory scene looked like it came straight out of a video game, the arena monster battle was wild.  The giant Jedi battle following that gave us the most force users working together ever placed on screen. Then the  Battle of Geonosis kicked in and went back to video game looking. but there was so much going on it held my attention.  I guess I don't mind the Gungan/ Droid battle looking like that in Phantom Menace as much because it is clearly meant to be a distraction in universe and the action in the palace and the starship fight are carrying the story.

Overall the adventurous scenes mostly made up for occasional political and flirtatious filled stretches of drab awfulness.  There are a couple of moments with Anakin that illustrates why he was cast for that role in the first place (like his attack on and subsequent breakdown over the Sand People).

Plus watching Yoda go nutzo with a lightsaber was a hoot and a half.

Again, the prequels definitely aren't mine, but I won't begrudge them to the kids they belong to, especially when they led to the animated series.





2 comments:

longbow said...

when they let to the animated series

when they *led* to the animated series
====
This proved I read (or skipped) to the end

Jeff McGinley said...

Thank you, fixed now. This is what happens when I throw in an extra line right before it posts.