STAR WARS: ATTACK OF THE CLONES - Movie Review

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#attackoftheclones #starwars #moviereview

[@vicjames3256]

I don't care what anyone says, this film changed my life. It helped me realize that I do, in fact, hate sand. Haven't been to a beach since. Thank you, Anakin.

[@deepfocuslens]

That was beautiful.

[@toddmaniatoddmania9844]

Attack of the Clones is a cluttered film. It’s like walking through the biggest and busiest shopping mall, not knowing where to focus your attention.

[@anthonymusto3537]

Fun fact:Haydens favorite acting performance is Harvey Keitel in "bad lieutenant"!

[@guin705]

Count Dooku to me is one of the most puzzling decisions Lucas made. You have a trilogy where you introduce a main bad guy at the end of the second film, and then kill him off in the first act of the third film. What was that character even?!

[@Fenris30]

But he's not the main Bad Guy Palpatine is and he's in every movie. Dooku and Maul are just lackeys/easily disposed of henchmen/Villians of the week. Remember this stuff is based on Satuday Matinee serials. To put it in a more modern context Think of Maul and Dooku like the Monsters the Power Rangers destroy at the end of every episode except that Dooku was more along the lines of Goldar then your average MOTW. The droids are the Putty patrol.

[@virgogaming6488]

Count Dooku was originally supposed to be Darth Jar Jar but George changed it.

[@johnwerner69]

Yesss! I've been waiting for this one! Can't wait to hear about episode 3

[@shuaigege12345]

Yeah. ROTS is the masterpiece of the whole 6 films imo.

[@johnwerner69]

@@shuaigege12345 i love how you say of the whole 6 films

[@alcoholicgoat]

@@johnwerner69 there are only 4 movies and a tv show if you ask me

[@JasonKTerry]

As kids in the 70's and 80's, we (friends, classmates etc.) used to hypothesize that the references to the clones in the first movie was going to turn out to be more sinister, like just a few certain beings being cloned and causing havoc, not millions of the same boring soldier. It was a let down from the imagining we did as children.

[@BenRai2k]

Same here, the clone wars when Ben mentions it on the original, and that mysterious music motif was so interesting and even chilling. Then as you say, it just ends up being a bunch of boring soldiers.

[@mickjaegermeister]

Agree about the clones in the films. But they explored them further and made them arguably the most interesting characters in the animated Star Wars shows.

[@pistolbobcat420]

Another nostalgic favourite; detective Kenobi, sir Christopher Lee, Jango fett, seismic charges, the battle of geonosis and Natalie Portman in some tight and leather outfits 😎🥰

[@brabiz67]

Idk, I like it. I love the political drama and the mystery / espionage stuff. People tend to say that’s the worst element of the prequels, but it’s the only thing that I prefer over the OT myself. Makes them feel more like historical dramas, which is my one of my favorite genres

[@curiousthecat]

George Lucas managed to make Natalie Portman look ugly. Hayden Christiansen, oh my gosh, Lucas actually found someone more unlikeable than the kid who played Anakin in ‘Phantom Menace’’. And Jango Fett completely emasculated Temuera Morrison-see ‘Once Were Warriors’. And smarmy Ewan McGregor-years before his totally cringe performance in ‘Birds of Prey’. And, And, And…

[@SkolneyVikings]

Natalie looks incredible in this film

[@davemac9563]

Be prepared for the fanboys blinded by nostalgia

[@BrezHurley]

Before Yoda showed up for his gymnastics routine Anakin charged Dooku and got tossed aside like a rag doll. I guess they were trying to show Anakin is impetuous, but damn man, isn't he supposed to be a seasoned jedi? Come to think of it why was Anakin so pissed at Dooku anyway? Did the two of them have a shred of history together?

[@edoliva3264]

To answer your question why was Anakin so pissed at Dooku. It was because it was his outlet for dealing with his anger and frustration of having to leave Padme behind after she fell out out of the transport. He was probably pissed at Obi-Wan really, that's why he felt he didn't need/want his help.

[@RaymondJohnson]

Hot take: C-3PO in Attack of the Clones is more annoying than Jar Jar in The Phantom Menace. Seriously, though, my fantasy re-do of the prequels would involve Qui-Gon having visions of a "chosen one" that leads him to go AWOL to seek out Anakin. His Padawan, Obi-Wan, teams up with his mentor, Dooku, to find Qui-Gon. They find Qui-Gon as he finds teenage Anakin, but Maul finds them, too, and in the conflict Qui-Gon dies and Dooku turns dark but Obi-Wan pulls Anakin to the light -- for now. To me, at least, that's what I'd like to think happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

[@aboutface102]

One of my favorite scenes is in this movie! When jango is hunting Obi wan in the asteroid belt with the seismic charges, so cool

[@HBICTiff]

Have you read the manga Berserk or watched its ‘97 anime? It seems like something that would peak your interest. I’m reading the manga and I love it. Cheers! ❤️

[@SidV101]

I hated this movie (especially the romance scenes) but it got one good chuckle out of me - “wanna buy some death sticks?”

[@Ashworth6]

You want to go home and rethink your life...

[@abercrombiejolie7522]

I agree with you on many points, especially regarding Anakin and Padme's awkward romance, but I absolutely love this movie. The things I love are Obi-Wan's duel with Jango Fett and Obi-wan as a character in general, the introduction of Count Dooku, the Jedi arena battle, plus Dooku vs Anakin and Kenobi and especially Dooku vs Yoda. In addition to all that I thought the scenery on Naboo was very pretty. I thought Christiansen's acting was so bad it was funny and there was a big amusement factor there too. Also, I was in a really good place in my life when I saw this. Me and my ex and friends would watch it a lot while getting blazed.

[@HBarnill]

Tell me this: how the hell is Anakin *not* Vader after committing small scale genocide and barely even regrets it?

[@BobBluth]

Exactly! Lucas didn’t even realize what he’d done.

[@Catweazel1976]

Theory was right, Padme was racist, for being ok with the slaughter of the Tusken Raiders, yet she's pissed about him killing the younglings😆

[@maciejatkowski5524]

It's not about that. I think the point is that Anakin feels very bland - or as she has put it, a bitch. Because of that, him killing creatures in this village feels not deserved and quite forced. This character is just very messy and badly written. Edit: maybe "bland" is the wrong word, but you get what I mean - badly acted and his more "courageous" actions feel very much forced, hence my adjective "bland".

[@maciejatkowski5524]

@Collin I don't know, I'm not familiar with this actor's performances, but I'll take your word for it ;) And yes, it's impossible to fix this character with just the right casting, because character development in the prequels is just so juvenile and confusing that it won't do. The more I grow, the more I understand and appreciate Kurosawa's opinion on the importance of a good script.

[@oddballskull1941]

It's the fact that he didn't face any consequences for it at all..anything not even a talking too..and we get no other perspective but his..like yes we could all probably put ourselves in his shoes in that particular situation..but there'd be consequences

[@petergriffin355]

I’m completely dumbly bias but I enjoy this film’s aesthetic more then like the damn sequels or a lot of other blockbuster films of recent.

[@aaronmarshall]

They started shooting on Sony F900's that were modded out to record 4:4:4. The Phantom Menace was shot on 35mm film. Lucas wanted to get instant feedback and results so he went digital on the 2nd, and 3rd Star Wars. It's not that they weren't trying, it's that the technology was so new. I think Robert Rodriguez is one of the guys that talked Lucas into going that route because he was experimenting with it for his future Sin City release. The Sony F900, F950 is the camera that they shot the first seasons of Dexter on, but unmodded. I think they shot on the stock models. It would have been neat if they could have been shot with modern Red cameras or if he had stuck with film. The Phantom Menace looks strikingly better for the reasons above.

[@throwbackswiththetechnodrome]

“This is what it means to actively die inside.” Lmfao, spot on and hilarious

[@jrjefferson01]

lets do the prequels because....money. yeah yeah yeah money is good.

[@marcsoren7]

The sound design of those charges Jengo Fett releases is so cool though. I just finished Clone Wars for the first time after watching AOTC. I definitely can say I appreciate what Lucas was going for here in this movie, with all the new info and world building the show does between episodes 2 and 3. But yeah this is my least fave of any of the SW movies

[@ibereprof]

I totally agree, this movie is childish, in a bad way, with idiotic dialog, bad acting, useless for the main story. It doesn't disturb the mythology like the sequels do, but it's still very bad.

[@redtrib9828]

One of the big things growing up as the Prequels came out is we wanted to see faster paced bigger scale fights which the original movies didn't have. As kids we wanted to see fights like The Matrix, Spiderman 2, and Bad Boys. This was an attempt to "Modernize" the franchise and put it on par with those films. It clearly is a perfect example of why you never chase new trends and keep up with the Joneses.

[@nelsonogbuigwe7500]

those things honestly worked tbh. prequel fight scenes are the strong points of the movies.

[@lonelyfnm4572]

It'll be nice if you react to your "My Top 5 films of the decade (2000-2009)" video. This was your Top 5 :- 1. There Will Be Blood 2. Zodiac 3. Mulholland Drive 4. The Hurt Locker 5. Brokeback Mountain All 5 films were American which is surprising. How do you feel about this list after all these years ?

[@kentharper2222]

Poor deepfocuslens, it's too late for her, she needs to be mercifully OFFED. she's in the final step of the Dark Side. Suffering. shes suffering. She wasnt paying attention as per Usual when Yoda spoke on the previous Movie. she was to concerned with her Fear of Losing Star Wars. Fears leads to Anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering 😢

[@YahyaAlfitna]

I wish I could just wish it all away.

[@dial_a_for_adam]

A mortgage and a hernia: Two perfect reasons to make a seminal entry in the Star Wars universe!

[@garyschartz3023]

Yes. Yoda should have fought like the reluctant Samurai in The Seven Samurai. One move and done. Instead the fight was a cheap thrill.

[@laserorder66]

A lot of elements of attack of the clones are memorable, and creative, the clone troopers, used in the Clone Wars series, all types of new space ships and weapons, the Planet coruscant is gorgeous looking, a lot of the special effects were at the time never been done in that large scale, I agree with everything else you pointed out about the story and tone etc but there are a lot of memorable creative elements that are still being used today, and compared to the sequels, the sequels are way more offensive to me, and embarrassing, you don’t even see memes about the sequels, attack of the clones is a source for an endless amount of great memes lol, on the other hand the sequels didn’t create anything new, it sucked way more. Attack of the Clones visually is rich, and the Clone Wars series (7 seasons) explored all these elements and successfully.

[@kentharper2222]

Lady Alicent Hightower... she is wearing Green, when the beacons on the Hightower Glow when summoned to War by Old town, What Color do you reckon they Glow?? Could this be a sign? A harbinger of War against this... George. Lucas?

[@nathanmulkey]

The only positive I can take from Episode 2 is the character of Count Dooku aka Darth Tyrannus. Great villain portrayed by a great actor.

[@greytoeimp]

I feel like this film is a perfect encapsulation of the emergent neoliberal world order so to speak. The awkwardness the forced nature the lack of humanity just gel into a perfect soufflé of disappointment and ennui 😅

[@greytoeimp]

Also count dooku is an old fart knocker 😊

[@dazzbo1]

I love your take in this classic review! But what IS good about this film is that it was the 1st film released digitally in theaters!. That's it. 😔

[@bradmenpes809]

Lucas was so interested in whether he could make it (technically) he never stopped to consider whether he should make it (because, I would argue, it's not really a film).

[@jungodrifter]

I love the big war battle on the Geonosis. It was one of the most gorgeous and grand scenes I ever saw in science fiction movies. It looked like Sci fi paperback covers from the 50s come alive. That for me was worth the whole clanky film.

[@303coop6]

Nice review. Still, it's more watchable than the sequels

[@BenRai2k]

Honestly, i disagree with that one

[@pir2251]

I guess I am in the extreme minority of this comment section but I absolutely love Attack Of The Clones. It's the first Star Wars movie I saw when I was 6 years old and it still holds up today. It's a very dreamy and fantastical approach to filmmaking that you don't see today. Sure there's cheesy dialogue but it fits with the Shakespearean tragedy vibe that Lucas was going for. And I'll even defend the visuals, some effects are wonky now but there's a lot of visuals in this movie that still hold up because of how cartoony they look. Like early 2000s CGI has a very technicolor matte painting quality to it that makes it look like it's an old illustrated fantasy storybook. And the Anakin Padme romance hits me hard lol. That scene of them kissing on Geonosis and the Across The Stars theme plays and they're pulled out of the dark tunnel into the blinding light of the gladiator stadium is the most beautiful scene in all of Star Wars 😭 that's my hot take defense of Attack of the Clones. It's peak space fantasy. Prob the best film of the fantasy genre.

[@susanmctavish6639]

Zam Wesell costume and Padme all white outfit are awesome. Yeah, thinking on it now, Lucas could have made the movie more badass. I don't know why he kind of holds back and retrains himself.

[@kdcndw1]

Just my take. Clones, a big part of the movies failure was Luca's push for experimentation at the cost of everything else. I believe Clones was completely shot digitally in 1080 HD. Before clones, there were only a few movies shot this way (Session 9 being one) This might explain the technical issues. Of course, movies has been shot on digital before and even HD. But 1080 p and 720 p are different animals. Movies shot in HD 720 p go all the way back to late 80s early 90s with Peter Greenaway's "Prosperos Books" being the most important of them since that movie had so many composite layers that only working in a digital realm would have made it all work. Plus that film innovated the use of digital compositing. That film (I did see it in theaters) was visually stunning but did not look like a fiilm per see. And watching it today, a lot of the composting that was innovative a the time looks pretty bad. But at the time, "Books: was an extraordinary innovation. like the Greenaway fillm, Clones was experimenting with new technology and much of it did not work with some of the CGI not blending well. But other CG did work well and looked fantastic. But here comes the compromises. Terrible script and acting. I do also believe that Clones looked too digital. Phantom also had sections shot of digital I believe but did also shot on 35 mm and hence did have more of a film like look in many scenes.

[@ttidforever7416]

Attack of the Clones served in putting me FAST to sleep when I went to see it when it came out in the Theatres. It felt very Soulless to me, and didn't have any of the charm that to that point the first 3, especially the original Star Wars had.I Love your work DeepFocuslens, as it's an amalgam of different films you like, and it's funny that sometimes my opinion is in lockstep with yours, and other times it couldn't be more different. To me this is the essence of art; to get a conversation started and to learn from others. Peace.

[@christopherdunn4066]

Bet your ass woke up to see the Dooku vs. Yoda fight, when Yoda showed how freakin agile and fast he can be.

[@Internatube]

Attack of the clones is like being a frog boiled alive by the sheer shittiness and boredom

[@susanmctavish6639]

I think it kind of became cool to hate on AOTC. It's like the middle child. All people remember mostly are the scenes with Anakin and Padme. I still like to watch the chase through Coruscant. Jango and Obi Wan in the rain fight. Droid factory. Arena battle- all great stuff that mostly holds up well today. And the imperial march music coming on as the ships take off gives me chills.

[@ibereprof]

The Yoda portrayed in "Attack of the Clones" is NOT THE SAME Zen master we saw in The Empire Strikes Back, it's a poor exploitation of a once-good character who has been turned into a common cartoon.

[@firstlast5690]

Please please please speak your thoughts about Amadeus. Even if you cut it to pieces I'd still love to hear your take. I'm not a big Milos fan. Cookoo's Nest was good but a bit overrated in my dumb brain. I think Amadeus was his one and only great film.

[@testediron3168]

Not sure if you know or even care but you should listen (Audible) to Dart Plagueis by James Luceno. It will make Phantom Menace make so much more sense.

[@dravenlee4473]

My least favorite Star Wars movie. It's such a chore to get through. It's basically a cartoon. Even as a teen watching it in the theater I remember thinking "I don't know if this is very good..." It's mind boggling watching THX 1138 and knowing that the same guy made Attack of the Clones.

[@SakuTyorinoja]

” I don't like sand, it's coarse, rough, irritating, and gets everywhere.”

[@zacksmith2227]

The Clone wars is important as it's the first bit of history we get in the star wars universe as mentioned by Obi Wan in 1st star wars film a new hope and why Anakin fell to the dark side. A better interpretation of what the clone wars was really about would be Genndys animated clone wars series.worth the watch.

[@doctorgarryderekmccduck8957]

Have you read the book Attack of the Clones

[@fpsoftdev]

As far as the acting goes, it would've made more sense if the Jedi were the only wooden characters. If there was "good acting" going on outside of the Jedi they would've stood out but because everyone acts like that it just comes off really terribly throughout the prequels.

[@andrewwindermere2425]

Imo, the prequel trilogy should have started in media res after the clone wars had begun. Everything in episodes 1 & 2 seems perfunctory to me outside of Anakin killing the tusken raiders, and then episode 3 seemed like 2 movies mashed into one. If they started in between episodes 2-3, they could have spent more time showing Anakin and Obi-Wan bonding as well as more of Anakin flirting with and turning to the dark side. Episode 2 should have ended with him on the razors edge of giving into the Sith and episode 3 should be his ultimate downfall and the immediate repercussions. But that's just one little fans opinion.

[@basehead617]

I haven't seen this film since the theater but I remember really liking the space / action scenes, and Jango Fett stuff..

[@madouc5754]

Didn't mind him at all except he died almost a stupidly as his son.

[@brandonavery133]

It's still not as bad as Episode IX.

[@josephdarkhelmet9494]

We don't always agree, but you nailed it. For me, you were still too kind for this movie. When Yoda & Dooku fight, my cousin & I were laughing g so hard because it was too ridiculous. The clone war made no sense. Kill all the clones- make more. Kill all the robots- make more. OR all clones & all robots destroy each other. And? Hyper inflation. Everybody loses. Terrible, terrible movie. I was bored completely. A movie I would never watch again. Even if I had a loaded gun to my head. Thanks for your thoughts- you were hilariously spot on. 👌

[@U2BlackRed]

Thank you for your review :)

[@evanmills7340]

I've never seen miss DeepFocusLens so unhinged before...

[@Daeduluus]

How the heck is this your least favorite Star Wars film with The Last Jedi being out

[@TheRexrapper]

I think she said Rise of Skywalker was the worst for her

[@Daeduluus]

@@TheRexrapper ok but the redeeming quality of RoS is at least they tried fixed what Johnson ruined, very poorly but I give them something for the effort at least

[@TheRexrapper]

@@Daeduluus One could argue that they should have just tried to work with what was left instead of recreating everything. I agree with you though. I think TLJ is the worst because of the impact it had on the franchise. AOTC is next for me. That movie is trash across the board. Even watching it as a kid I knew it was a bad movie

[@Daeduluus]

@@TheRexrapper honestly if they did anything they should have retconned The Last Jedi out of existence and given JJ the last 2 movies to tell his story continuing on from The Force Awakens.

[@TheRexrapper]

@@Daeduluus I think the biggest thing is Disney should have come up with a concise story to tell for the trilogy. They just let each director do their own thing. Made no sense whatsoever.

[@jesustovar2549]

I'm not going to agree with your take of "Across the Stars" being in a Franco Zefirelli movie, it works quite well in Star Wars, very beautiful, powerful and tragic, it stands on it's own and it's quite a wonderfull love theme like any other love theme by Williams in the saga, like Leia's theme or Luke and Leia's theme in Ep. 6, I think Ewan McGregor does the best he can for playing Obi-Wan Kenobi, basing his mannerisms, expressions and even his voice on Alec Guinness, I think he saves Ep. 2 and 3 and it's more likeable than Hayden as Anakin (no offense to him), Christopher Lee bringed some decency as Count Dooku and he even did his dueling (aside from using a stunt)., the chase sequence in Coruscant, the Kamino scenes, the asteroid filed scene with the SEISMIC CHARGES (you got to listen that very loud, wasn't alive back then but I wonder how it must sounded in a theater). The Battle of Geonosis is very epic, it's the first time you see all Jedi fighting against Federation Droids, also people overlooks the little detail about the Death Star plans in this movie, the last duel was good and the final with Imperial March sounding while Clone Army is getting ready for war, and the wedding of Anakin and Padme. Jango Fett was that character that Boba never was in the original trilogy, even a cousin of mine say about Boba "his father was better character than him" and I really like the bit of Boba's origin story, the Lars family bit (Joel Edgerton was wasted, and even Aunt Beru with only a one liner "hey"), how Owen was Anakin's stepbrother, the whole search of Ankain for her mother is pretty solid and I understand his impulse to repair things and wishing nobody should die, that's something an spoiled kid would express, I was at the time and I really felt identified but not for a long time, I really don't understand why Padme says to Anakin "to be angry is to be human", I understand the phrase, but how can she still being in love with Anakin after he confessed that he killed a bunch of tusken families? Anakin and Padme's relationship seems a bit forced or "toxic", at the beginning they look like good friends, I don't have problem with the dialogue written but they way it was acted cause some conversations about jedi attachment and dictatorship seems interesting to me, you can literally see Hayden and Natalie being a bit uncomfortable, Lucas is not the best love storyteller, he didn't wrote the film alone because the other screenwriter was Jonathan Hales, Lucas just wanted Hayden to be like James Dean but maybe Hayden, maybe he needed more to watch James Dean three films to see what Lucas wanted. There were deleted scenes where Padme visits her family along with Anakin, they were pretty interesting and they added a bit of better context to the story. Anyway, thanks for reviewing the film, as a cinephile and a Star Wars fan, I'm willing to see whatever you have to say about Episode 3.

[@andrewj1754]

The yoda fight had a lot of hype back in the day, but yes, it doesn't have the long term consideration is should. Compare to how Vader fights Reva - Yoda shouldn't even need to fight Dooku at all, his mastery of force shouldn't require it.

[@USALibertarian]

I have kind of the opposite opinion. Episode 1 sets up the universe and characters and I like that it starts out slow becIse the universe is in a period of (fragile) peace and complacency (and injustice). I think Attack of the Clones could be a flashback in Episode 3. Or Ep. 2 could have been executed better to be more consequential. Only at the end does it really make the audience feel the forboding of impending war. We definitely agree that Ep. 2 sucks.

[@JohnDoe-tm9wz]

"Anakin in Attack of the Clones is a bitch" Luke and Leia: 😲😲

[@matthewjordan7297]

Great review! Attack of the Clones really is a critic's worst nightmare. I feel like this film really comes down the script and the direction both being terrible. I agree that this is a rather ugly film. There's something intangible about all the locations in this, even the clone troopers were CGI, so it is a struggle to connect to anything we see on the screen. I struggle a lot with the MCU as well for that exact reason. The one positive thing I'd say is that Ewan McGregor did the best he could with the substandard material he was given. His performance was solid, but to watch these films, you'd have no idea that he's actually a good actor.

[@JWGARCIA79]

And still better than everything in the sequel trilogy

[@madouc5754]

Nah, The sequel trilogy had considerable flaws, but they were competently made. You can't say that for this one.

[@JWGARCIA79]

@@madouc5754 yes I can

[@madouc5754]

@@JWGARCIA79 I guess you can but you would be wrong

[@JWGARCIA79]

@@madouc5754 I cant believe you like that disney trash

[@madouc5754]

@@JWGARCIA79 Lacking in many ways but the general film making - characters, dialogue, acting, directing were superior than what we got in this. I saw this film opening night and I felt the same way as Maggie. Embarrassed. People were not meant to be groaning or laughing during the romantic scenes.

[@Lupinvej]

Anakins creepy smile to Padme is...something. Also, the scene where Anakin says he´s just killed a bunch of people (including kids), Padme says "To Be Angry Is To Be Human"....urgh Episode 1-2-3 feels like an alien trying to direct actors. They just feel like giant commercials. Ewan McGregor is fine though, since he genuinely feels like he want's to be there.

[@starwarsroo2448]

Ewan mcgregor is as bad as them pair and cheapens the seriousness of Alec Guinness into what becomes a role in a jolly daft pantomime

[@coltonroyle2341]

I think that feeling you had of them "giving up" is answered in the observation of "showing off." I think that franchises live more in merchandise (not a hot take, admittedly), and you can sometimes hear George Lucas defend that when saying that children "create their own stories" as a way to defend their own lack of one. There is so much design that got turned into toys, rather than a narrative that asked deeper questions about the universe. Even by Return of the Jedi we were dealing with an exhumed and undead body.

[@claykeough7898]

Star wars is so conflicting because imo it's the absolute best and most creative, lived in universe come to life on the silver screen, but the extreme ambition is also its enemy in a lot of ways haha that said I adore all 6 films of the Skywalker saga. The prequels could be better, but that's almost like saying I want better toppings on my favorite restaurants pizza. Also, Disney's absolute failures have made me appreciate Lucas' storytelling that much more. His creative escapism is really hard to beat on many levels and tones. 🤙

[@BruceColon-BSides]

Truly the very worst Star Wars movie of all time….until The Last Jerkoff. Putrid films.

[@1165mac]

Totally agree on the Padme/Anakin relationship: I’m embarrassed watching it. As horrible as 75% of this movie is, I’d still rather watch this than Episode 7, 8, or 9.

[@davidjamesmclean6325]

Late to the video. I also felt deeply embarrassed watching certain scenes in this movie. alot scenes are of characters talking at meetings which kills the pace and momentum causing you to zone out. but it at the time when I first saw it in the theatre it felt like a step up from phantom menace because Anakin and Obi Wan kenobi became the focus of the story and the romance between Padme and Anakin does develop all be it in a very gringe inducing way. The early film is punctuated with long scenes of boring exposition but also some fun set piece action sequences like the blade runner esque chase through Coruscaunt and Obi wans confrontation with Jango Fett. The film takes an interesting turn mid way when Anakin rescues his mother from the sandpeople and commits his first crime of mass murder. The film builds up to the fun gladiator inspired battle of Geonosis. I loved all the monsters in the arena and the Jedi army coming to take on Count Dooki. It's action packed and ends in a short duel where Anakin and Obi Wan lose and are rescued by Yoda. It was unabashed fan service but the people in the cinema went wild at that part and cheered and clapped as the credits rolled. The romance and confusing plot fell flat but the creativity of the world building and action sequences made an underrated gem of a film. Also you can watch attack of the clones without knowing anything about the other movies and it stands on its own two feet and tells it's own self contained story. I think the fact the first two prequels are set before the galactic war begins deprives them of the urgency of the prequels. Had the films focused more on Anakins years as a young Jedi during the clone wars, the stakes and Peril the character would have unfolded in an organic way. The film also lacks a compelling antagonist. Dokoo and Palpatine are too cryptic to be main villains and are puppet masters pulling the strings. But we don't have a clear enforcer standing as a road block between Anakin and his goals which are too protect padme and save his mother. They could have introduced interesting assassin like villain that persued them across the galaxy aka Terminator style where the danger and his skill at protecting her would have organically developed the romance because the characters are constantly being put under pressure. This film in the naboo sequences do the complete opposite and that is a big reason why it didn't work. Compare that to Han solo and Leia who's romance develops in the face of constant danger.

[@thomascarroll5750]

I was 97 when attack of the clones came out so I saw it at just the right age

[@akshaytrayner1960]

Great review

[@lathanandrews417]

…so…I LOVE Jim Carey’s Riddler’s Jacket…

[@sithmonger1267]

"Felt like I wrote it and I'm embarrassed to watch it" - paraphrasing, but you have put into words the exact way I've felt for over 20 years about the love story dialogue although I could never figure out how to articulate it myself. Thank you! This movie is simply not good.

[@すずちゃん-r3h]

I have to agree that this movie certainly has its share of flaws and is arguably the worst of the prequels. But you can't deny it also had some epic stuff like Anakin's first step to the dark side, Jango Fett, Geonosis battle, and the introduction to the Clone Wars, which is by far my favorite era of Star Wars. And if it weren't for this movie (or the prequels as a whole), the Clone Wars series as we know it wouldn't even be a thing. So while this movie may not be enjoyable to watch, its existence is vital to the Saga and had a pretty big impact in the Star Wars franchise.

[@andrewj1754]

The only thing I love about Attack of the Clones, is that its the first time we get to really see Coruscant in film. That was intriguing to me, and I wanted to see more.

[@AndrewWatson401]

I was told that I had to see this because of action Yoda. I didn't believe it then, and I believe it even less after watching your review.

[@realDialFforFilm]

Yeah, I watched all the Star Wars movies a couple of years ago. And I can say with all sincerity that "Attack of the Clones" was one of the most difficult to get through, 2nd worst, only to "Rise of Skywalker" in my opinion. Whereas "The Phantom Menace" was a bad film, I think people didn't want to accept it. This was the full realization that George Lucas wasn't a good creator anymore, and these Prequel movies were terrible. Every moment feels like there's something slightly off or just outright damaging to the Star Wars legacy.

[@davidmr11able]

The simple fact that you don't understand the importance of TPM in the series says very little about your understanding of the story. The time lapse between TPM and AoTc is reflected in every scene Anakin has. All of them provide a lot of information about the character and serve as a foreshadowing of what will happen in the future with the character. AoTc is undoubtedly the most underrated movie in the saga.

[@virgogaming6488]

I think her mistake that other critics also make is they critique each prequel like its a standalone so they gloss over Anakin's arc and psychology.

[@vgrepairs]

@@virgogaming6488 Yeah we all need to watch Rick Worley's beautiful essays on the star wars films. I love the prequels. They're big budget auteur action films. If you want 70s pulp sci-fi for kids/mass audiences then attack of the clones is IT!

[@Catweazel1976]

Only 30 seconds in..yes! yes! and yes! I thought The Phantom Menace sucked, but nothing.. . nothing could prepare me for the amazingly believable romance between Padme and little Ani😮 Finally, at least The Phantom Menace had Darth Maul. I love Christopher Lee, but Count Dooku is a piss poor substitute for Maul.

[@freddarteagavaldez725]

attack of the clones´"drama" felt like a cw show before a cw show was even a thing.

[@AlexX-vn5sw]

I really liked this film despite what the hell the critics say 🤷‍♂️

[@kuribayashi84]

While by no means a great film (out of the Original Six, it is my least favourite), I came to apprechiate the overall Story of the thing. I like the plot in broad strokes, but the execution could have been a lot better. Also, I think it has good bookends, but everything between the Opening Chase and the Final Battle is simply very, very inconsistent in both quality and tone. I like Obi-Wans' detective-story but the Anakin & Padme Love Story - even though I understand what they were trying to do - was just poorly executed. And that is the thing that alone puts the Prequels well above the Sequels in my book: The Prequels at least had a compelling, interesting, fascinating Story. It could have been told better, but the ambition was there. Also, these films have a lot of worldbuilding, as well as genuine size and scale going for them. The Sequels had exactly *none* of that.

[@stuartmorris6299]

Well, it's no sister sister and it was bad in alot of ways but it feels like star wars, its lucas telling his story, there is alot to be said for that. Not everything that is popular has to be right/good in its technical aspects. Just look at punk Rock for example. A reviewer like Deepfocuslens and other very talented ones will never come to this conclusion because ultimately it makes movie reviews redundant, like....we have seen it...we know what we think....stop pretending its not 100% subjective. Having said that, I enjoyed this entertaining review.

[@spacecow149]

I love the Star Wars Holiday Special

[@stevecatanio8532]

I like your reviews

[@dejabu24]

I really like the plot line of obiwan in detective mode the rest is not good , most of the information given in this movie will make sense after watching clone wars , I think that you could even skip this episode and just watch the clone wars animated series

[@raminybhatti5740]

I bail out at the scene just after the assassin lizard woman is killed. I just can't get past it. It's painful to watch. Horrible.

[@DwayneETowns]

Wow ! Your right on point and a hard hitter, and as I am watching the movie at this moment, you're absolutely right, it pisses me off thinking how good it could have been.

[@skabcat242]

I still remember seeing this in 2002 and after leaving the theater I felt kinda ripped off.

[@darthseamus8833]

I feel your hatred. It gives you strength and focus. But seriously, this movie makes Phantom Menace seem like Citizen Kane. Embarrassing and hard to watch. I agree, TPM should’ve introduced Anakin at about this age, but as a little bit less of a brat. This crappy movie has to carry so much story weight. And it sucks. I can barely watch the romantic scenes without screaming.

[@madouc5754]

Know how you feel about being embarrassed to watch Anakin & Padme. People actually laughed or groaned out loud throughout their the first time I saw it. My following trips to see it I would skip outside the cinema during those scenes to avoid them. Horrible stuff.

[@alcoholicgoat]

The movie is ass but I'm fond of the art direction and music quite a bit. Revenge Of The Sith is decent if you ask me, it's in the same calibre as Bram Stoker's Dracula (the Coppola version). There is a sort of soft reboot/do over for the prequels and that's The Clone Wars. I do seriously recommend that show, but only VERY select arcs. Don't watch anything with Jar Jar in it. I'd say if you're a fan of Star Wars and want something more, and something substantial as well as a desire for a better "prequel" story, then I can't recommend it enough. I am a bit annoyed with the double standard and stigma surrounding the show. Implying that an animated show is inferior to live action, and also saying in the same breath "what do you expect, Star Wars is made for kids" and then dismissing a tv show on the basis that it's "meant for children". I despise Star Wars at this point, and I discovered Clone Wars recently and it was a bit of a rejuvination for me. There are so many characters, ideas, and storylines brimming with creativity, personality and risk. Some dark shit happens in this show. Ahsoka is probably one of the best characters in Star Wars. Skip the movie, just watch the show. It's an in medias res Flash Gordon homage with a good peppering of Star Trek. Admittedly you do have to slog through some early episodes but it is really worth it if you ask me. It's like 60 episodes out of 200, all killer no filler. I have a newfound appreciation for this period of Lucasfilm especially because of this show. Arguably George only made 2 awful movies but everything else pre-Disney is more or less consistently really good under this prequel era umbrella (games, books, comics, tv). It goes to show that he is willing to collaborate, and yeah he did want to have his cake and eat it with his own trilogy, he did let people more or less go nuts in creating additional material. Disney is so safe and focus tested, you'd never see a weird idea like a Jango Fett game under Disney. Sorry for the long comment, I really enjoy the channel and the commentary it brings. Very insightful. Here's a list of the good Clone Wars arcs. Domino Squad is a decent one to start with. Just pretend that Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones never happened and the story starts here. Anakin has an apprentice that he's training and the story is kneedeep in a political shitstorm. I do agree, the storytelling in the prequels is mostly pisspoor, and one argument that could be made is that The Clone Wars is retroactive plothole damage control but I think it offers way more than that. It does reference stuff from Episode 1 and 2 but not in an alienating way, it recontextualizes the interesting story beats in a new way, as well as the worldbuilding. They use sparing details that let you fill in blanks when it comes to certain plot points in particular, but it is a more or less standalone story overall. I think Cosmonaut Variety Hour made a great video talking about this show and it convinced me to check it out. Anakin is honestly a really good character in this show. They did so much work to make him likeable, flawed and sympathetic and it paid off. You can see how the relationship between him and Obi Wan is portrayed in the same way that A New Hope describes it. Padmé is still a bit underdeveloped, but overall it's a really good show TL;DR I'm a clone wars shill 1. BATTLE OF CHRISTOPHSIS S2E16 S1E16 2. MALEVOLENCE S1E2 S1E3 S1E4 3. DOMINO SQUAD S3E1 S3E2 4. BATTLE OF RYLOTH S1E19 S1E20 S1E21 (optional) 5. SECOND BATTLE OF GEONOSIS S2E5 S2E6 S2E7 S2E8 6. FLAWED LEGACY S2E20 S2E21 S2E22 7. POLITICAL UNREST ON MANDALORE S2E12 S2E13 S2E14 8. HEROES ON BOTH SIDES S3E10 S3E11 S4E14 9. LOYALTY S2E9 S2E10 10. PROPHECY OF THE CHOSEN ONE S3E15 S3E16 S3E17 11. CITADEL FORTRESS S3E18 SE319 S3E20 12. DARKNESS ON UMBARA S4E7 S4E8 S4E9 S4E10 13. A MAN CHOOSES... S4E11 S4E12 S4E13 14. ASHOKA TRAINS SAW: REBELLION ON ONDERON S5E2 S5E3 S5E4 S5E5 15. BLOOD BROTHERS AND NIGHTSISTERS: MAUL AND VENTRESS S3E12 S3E13 S3E14 S4E19 S4E20 S4E21 S4E22 S5E1 16. THE MANDALORIAN CIVIL WAR S5E14 S5E15 S5E16 17. THE APPRENTICE WALKS AWAY S5E17 S5E18 S5E19 S5E20 18. 66 SHADES OF CONSPIRACY S6E1 S6E2 S6E3 S6E4 19. THE MYSTERY OF IMMORTALITY S6E10 S6E11 S6E12 S6E13 20. FULCRUM S7E9 S7E10 S7E11 S7E12 REVENGE OF THE SITH

[@leifpaul]

you`ve watched "icons unearthed " yet ??

[@AnthonyGuerrino_aka_TonyMoro]

As a movie, yes, it’s not very good overall, with the acting, the dialogue, heavy use of CGI, yeah it’s dogshit. The STORYTELLING and world building is top notch and really set up the Clone Wars show perfectly which allowed that show to really grow into its own and become a legit piece of the canon. So this movie did a lot of good things for Star Wars in general before Disney fucked it all up.

[@maciejatkowski5524]

Funny you should mention that, The Closer Look just released this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/gaCyZJyfjq2EeZo where at 1:00 he precisely demonstrates what's wrong with world building in the prequels. I'm sorry, but even that is just not very good.

[@coreygraham860]

It's top notch for a 10-year-old.

[@aresgalamatis7022]

For what concerns the whole franchise, watch the second film from the original trilogy (empire strikes back) only and pretend that the crap before and after never happened. The rest are for poor nerds with nothing better to do with their lives or unfortunate kids that watched the good one first and always hoped that there was even better better to come, until they gave up (with the film in question for this review in my case).

[@virgogaming6488]

The problem is you're looking at Anakin through the lens of already becoming Vader. Realistically he would be whiny and angsty as a 9 year old entering the Jedi order. It wasn't what he thought it would be like as a kid when Qui-Gon warned him how hard it was going to be.

[@whatthedeuce92]

I'm in the very small minority that likes this movie. You asked why at the end of the video. In one word: spectacle. I completely recognize that this won't have the same effect to anyone now, but I was 9 when this came out. And I saw it in theaters, and had an absolute blast. I think it's just because when you see a movie as a kid, you don't really care much about things like the acting. I was blown away by the action scenes when I first saw it. I had an absolute blast and it's what got me into Star Wars. And listen, I'm not blind to things like its corny dialogue. As I've gotten older I can appreciate the flaws that many people have pointed out. But I don't know, whenever I watch this movie it just brings me back to my childhood. I recognize that I'm not defending the movie on any sort of "objective" points (whatever that even means when it comes to talking about a film's quality), but my subjective experience of the movie has always been positive. I definitely won't ever pretend like it's as good as the original trilogy or anything, but from a pure entertainment standpoint I'll always enjoy it on some level.

[@thoso1973]

"This (watching AotC) is what it feels like to die inside," 😄

[@andrewj1754]

Yes. I have never EVER seen what Padme would see in Anakin. Honestly the trilogy makes more sense if Anakin liked Padme, Padme liked Obi-Wan, and that Obi-Wan was mostly uninterested. A jealously love triangle type situation makes sense for Anakin's downfall.

[@BrezHurley]

That would have been so much better haha. Wow

[@jesustovar2549]

The love triangle was already in the OT, and it was solved saying that Leia was Luke secret twin sister.