Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones

After The Phantom Menace, I had said that I was hoping things to go in the right direction after the disappointing film. While Attack of the Clones certainly wasn’t as large a step in that direction as I would like, I feel like as a whole this improved upon episode 1. Episode 2 of the Star Wars series may not have had as great of moments as the previous movie, but I found that the low points of this one were much less egregious.

Ten years have passed since The Phantom Menace, and Obi-Wan and Anakin are given the mission to protect Queen Padme Amidala so that she can make her case once again to the senate on Coruscant. After one of the worst portrayals of chemistry is displayed between Anakin and Padme, there is an attempt on her life while she sleeps. Both Jedi come in to save her, and go on an epic chase to find out who was the perpetrator. Anakin and Obi-Wan end up capturing the assailant who starts to tell them who had paid her to kill the queen when she is shot by a poison dart and killed by the bounty hunter who hired her before she can give him up.

Obi-Wan finds out where the dart came from, except that the planet he is told to go to is missing from all of the archives. Yoda and the Jedi council set out separate missions: Obi-Wan is to travel to this missing planet and find out who is trying to kill the queen, while Anakin is to stay with her on Naboo to ensure her safety. I’ll skip all of the love story that ensues on Naboo, because as I said, the chemistry between these two is simply non-existent. Eventually he gets a feeling that his mother is in grave danger, and he brings Padme to Tatooine only to find out that they were too late, and his mother died in his arms. He goes on to murder the entire village of Tusken Raiders who had captured her including the women and children.

Obi-Wan’s adventure is what truly saves this movie from being a step down from the previous film. He finds his way to Kamino to learn that there is a clone army which was apparently being built for the Jedi. He, along with the Jedi council had no knowledge of this, so he is then tasked with bringing in Jango Fett, who the clones are based on, for questioning. Jango narrowly escapes after a fight with the Jedi. Obi-Wan tracks the clone leader’s ship and follows him to the planet of Geonosis. Here he finds a former Jedi in Count Dooku, and finds out that he is behind the assassination attempt and is building a droid army to do their bidding.

As he gets his message to Anakin and the Jedi council, Obi-Wan is captured and held prisoner by Dooku and the other baddies. Anakin comes to rescue his mentor however he and Padme are also captured rather quickly. The three of them are sentenced to death and are chained up in a coliseum and are to be killed by some menacing looking monsters. Things don’t go as planned, however, as the trio fight their way out of the chains and look to have a chance at survival. At this time Mace Windu, a group of Jedi, and the clone army arrive to save the day. During the fight Window beheads Jango Fett in front of his child/clone, and Obi-Wan with Anakin get into a lightsaber fight with Dooku. Anakin displays his anger and lack of patience, ending up with his arm cut off. Yoda comes to the rescue and we get to see the legend himself use his force powers and show his skill with a lightsaber.

In a questionable plot choice, Count Dooku escapes and returns to the emperor himself as they discuss the plans to a new super weapon (AKA the Death Star). Anakin and Padme get married back in Naboo in secrecy, and Yoda declares the beginning of the clone wars.

While one key plot point of this movie was disappointing and poorly acted, Obi-Wan and his journey make this movie worth the watch. With this slight step in the right direction and my vague recollection of the next movie I’m excited for Episode 3. Knowing full and well that this one is going to be significantly better than the last two films I’ve seen, I think this bridge from the prequels to the original trilogy will maybe even surpass my expectations and pass a couple of the originals in my rankings of the series.