George Lucas’ vision starts to come together.
The flaws could not be more apparent, however I’d argue there’s far more good than people give it credit for. In some ways, it’s a guilty pleasure Star Wars movie without the guilt. In other ways it’s better and more interesting than TPM, and a lot of ways it is inferior. It’s a tough one to really examine.
As the first major Hollywood studio blockbuster shot completely on digital, it revolutionized a lot of CG and keying technology which had been rough or tougher to use at this point that TPM employed greatly too. The results hold up in a mixed way. Landscapes, character models and overall visual flair are gorgeous. But the green screen backdrops do not hold up at all. They look fake, often if not 100% of the time.
Some complain about the pacing but I find it to be much better than TPM in that regard. The action is insanely good throughout. The first hour has great moments but the most issues, whereas the second half is a borderline SW fan service masterpiece. Seriously, that third act is absolutely incredible despite some poorly CG-faced Dooku in the way weaker than duel of the fates duel. But then YODA. My boy. WOW.
The ending is amazing, and sets up the clone wars perfectly. TPM sets the stage for the world to show the slow fade into war territory, and AOTC thrusts us in. It was a genius move on Lucas’ part to save the majority of the wars for tv to be fully explored, but I get why people wanted more of it in live action. Anyone who says Anakin’s fall happens too fast didn’t pay attention to his excellent growth in this one and what his journey has consisted of. And I think that’s why I can put this above TPM. Not just for the more abundant action set pieces or fan service, but because the themes are more prevalent and I feel the emotional storytelling happening to the characters. Even though some are…corny. More on that at the bottom.
I have heard the plot described as incoherent. I spent a fair amount of time googling questions I had of the plot that the film and trilogy don’t answer. And there are some simple answers, and others are assumptions.
1) They weren’t as suspicious of the Clones because they believed Sifo Dyas (who? at the time) a Jedi, had ordered it. They also were forced into a situation where they needed them. Palpatine is brilliant.
2) Assuming this never gets answered. when it’s revealed someone named Tyranus hired Jango (Obi-wan had no idea who that is) and then Tyranus was Dooku – I think most people assumed Dooku was just pretending to be Dyas or that he killed him and stole it.
3) Going off the last point, it’s never resolved (and other canon sources are murky) who deleted Kamino from the archives. But one can somewhat logically assume it had to be Dyas or Dooku, the other being the likely culprit because of still being a Jedi.
4) They overlooked Jango Fett being involved in the complex web because it had to be assumed he was a bounty hunter double agent. Making money from the clones, and working for the separatists. Any disillusions they had were probably squashed when Obi-wan heard Dooku tell Gunray he promised to have Padme killed.
The Clone Wars clears up and fleshes out almost all of these questions, but it is a bit of a problem that you have to make assumptions without it, but actually not all. Maybe some is supposed to be vague? The film should’ve answered them on its own. It’s not as impossible to answer as some think, but it is quite distracting at times if you’re interested in lore continuity. If you want to turn your brain off and enjoy this one, I wouldn’t blame you.
On the dialogue…all I’ll say is we all know. And I still argue it isn’t as bad in places as people make it out to be, and in other places….yikes.
Again, completely over-hated and underrated film.
4.5 out of 5 controversial stars
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