Attack Of The Clones: The Paragon_Leon REVIEW

[Young David]

*drumroll*

 

Hire, hire

 

I am here to anounce that 6 pm dutch time (that's the time I post this plus 6 hours) Leon will post a review of AotC.

 

This review will be from a journalist perspective and it will contain no spoilers.

 

Leon also said he will comment on the Pim Fortuyn issue (also from a journalists view).

 

So, check when I posted this, add 6 hours to it and wait for it then. I myself shall be on my way to work then most likely.

 

YD

[duder]

Erm...he's a music journalist, not a political writer.

 

I'll look forward to the 'AOTC' review though.

[Boba Rhett]

YES! YES! YES!

 

 

 

Leon, I love you!

 

 

*As long as your review says that AotC rocks *

[Young David]

Just had a little chat with Leon about the movie. Here are some experts. There are little spoilers in it:

 

 

 

-=] Young David [=- --> (*) 8 days (*) <--

How did you like the music?

Leon Has Seen Episode 2 !!!!!!!!!!!

it was awesome....

much, MUCH recognition from ESB

in the end, with the clone troopers, you hear the Imperial march !!!!

 

Leon Has Seen Episode 2 !!!!!!!!!!!

now, the scene with the tuskens...

hehehe

(log off if you don't want to know)

Anakin just lost his mother in the tent, he emerges from the tent in the morning.

the camp is in a grey hue (morning mist)

on both sides of the tent entrance are children

Anakin chops them both immediately in half !!!

during the death of his mother, you hear angry music swelling, continuing in the scene

after Anakin has killed those children, a Tusken male comes rushing in with his weapon

dramatic shot of Anakin looking at him with hate, cuts him down - next scene

that scene is powerful because you can almost touch his anger

well played

 

 

Leon Has Seen Episode 2 !!!!!!!!!!!

now, biggest spoiler of the movie

no-one has printed this ANYWHERE yet !!!

You have to promise me you won't spread it around

just see it as proof that i've seen it

 

(I promised not to tell )

 

 

[Boba Rhett]

You tell us! You tell us now or I will strike you down!

 

 

 

Come on! Ask Leon if you can pm me it or something! Please!

 

 

*agony*

[Havoc Stryphe]

(I promised not to tell )

 

 

AAAAAARGH!!!!!!!! Can't wait...Must know....!!!

[Wraith 8]

ill strike you down with all my hatred if you dont tell :D come on... tell me tell me tell me.. ill beonline this aftrenoon... in fact ill be on MSN in 1 hour from now... lets say17:30.....

[Boba Rhett]

No dice, Wraith. I already tried that.

 

 

He's gonna make us wait for Leon tonight.

[Heavyarms]

chill out, you got 9 days left.

[Wraith 5]

wait untill tonight???

 

if i am converting things right, leon should be on sometime in the next hour.

 

 

Wonder what part of the story leon thinks is so good???

 

 

There is a lot of stuff in the book that hasn't been told yet....

[Crazy_dog no.3]

9 ?... 9?... 9?... 9 DAYS IS TOO LONG!!!!!!!!!

[Paragon_Leon]

Alright....

 

no doubt will i be flooded with questions, but to handle this in an orderly manner:

 

1) Yes, I HAVE seen Episode 2.

 

2) No, I will NOT post entire plots, massive spoilers or anything that's not already highly publicized.

 

3) I attended a press-screening; such a screening is for journalists who then go to write a review that comes out simultaneously with the movie's release. I write one for a youth magazine we make at work.

 

The following posts from me will contain some sensitive material as to the contents of the movie. I don't want to give away the complete story and i don't know what is considered a 'spoiler' for those who have the book, seeiing as i don't have it.

 

Here's the deal. If you have a particular question that you REALLY WANT TO KNOW, post it in a thread that i will make for this (you could, for instance, reply to the overall review i'll give). Then i will pm you about it. It's time-consuming, but it doesn't spoil things and i want to be sensitive to that issue.

 

One other thing; there was a suggestion somewhere that i 'probably hadn't seen it', but was just quoting from what was already said elsewhere. Apart from that being 'the usual', I'll post stuff that is a hands-on account of what you SEE and HEAR. For instance:

 

In the opening scene, when the planes of Naboo arrive at Coruscant, the big plane has a World War 2 bomber-sound. All three planes rotate around their axis as the Coruscant horizon finally is as it should be in your vision.

 

[Rogue15]

is it better than esb, the same, or worse?

 

if you loved the action of ESB, you'll go nuts over AOTC.

If you liked the dark tone; it's darker than ESB.

But overall, it basically follows some patterns that were already set by movies LIKE Empire. So i'd still say Empire is the daddy, thus the better one.

P_L

[Paragon_Leon]

Now, to start things off, here's my first, hands-on, overall review of AOTC.

Keep in mind that i write this fast, as it's almost dinner time here. I will expand on things if there is a need for it.

 

 

(drumroll)

 

Attack Of The Clones has brought back the drama in Star Wars. Remember for Ep. 1, when Lucas said beforehand that Jar Jar would be funny etc, and then it turned out to be an annoying character ? Brace yourselves for Episode 2, my friends. You're in for a ride !

 

To spoil my personal beans: AOTC now ranks as my second best Star Wars movie, right behind Empire. After all, Empire laid foundations for Star Wars-darkness. Attack Of The Clones is darker than I expected, and the transformation of Anakin into Vader is oh so imaginable at the end of the movie. Finally, finally is there a convincing portrait of anger. Hayden Christensen shines in several scenes that way. Although at the beginning of the movie he just seems like a more agressive Episode 1-ObiWan, at the end you see a young man who (warning, don't read if you want to avoid detailed info)

has lost his innocence, his right-arm (during the small wedding scene, you catch a glimpse of the mechanical arm, which has NO flesh coverings and almost shines a little golden; almost terminator-like !) and his clear focus on what his purpose as a Jedi is.

 

AOTC is strangely balanced in terms of speed / action and romance / intrigue. Although it starts off slow (apart from

the attack upon arrival at Coruscant

), it picks up the thrills fast with a

INCREDIBLE chase that, in my opinion, is ten times more chilling than the linear Episode 1 pod-race.

. What follows is a long (and i mean LONG) period of relative quiet.

---continued in next post----

[Rogue15]

SWEEEEET!!! I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE IT!!! eeheheheheh man these next 2 weeks are going to be the coolest ever!!!!! Jedi Outcast Demo, Clone Campaigns tournies, AOTC....*drool* *drool* *drool* heheheheheh

[Paragon_Leon]

During that quiet time, the acting comes out in Hayden and Natalie.

Now, Natalie is still the same Natalie we see in Ep. 1, although this time she is 'presented' a bit more, erm, challenging, shall we say ?

Hayden's relationship with his mentor Kenobi (McGregor) is FAR more convincing that the bland 'yes-no' game Ewan played with Liam Neeson. You see Obi-Wan's (**SPOILER ALERT !!**)

frustration at Anakin's eagerness to kick some....you know... Admonishing Anakin at the entrance of the night club, in the fight with Dooku (which, by the way, is pronounced DO-KU, with 'do' as the verb) and in the Republic Gunship (one of the biggest 'clashes' of the two)

, as well as Anakin's

impatience during the attack on Geonosis, and his frustration and ultra high self-esteem.

These two things collide, and Natalie is thrown in the mix to great success.

As for the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi; you won't recognize him from Episode 1, apart from the voice. He is wise, has a lot more interesting stuff to say and packs a punch in the couple of battle-scenes he has.

An honorary mention in the acting field; Ian McDiarmid. He made the 'intrigue-stuff' of TPM pack a punch, and does it here in abundance. Especially his

acceptance-speech in the Senate of his emergency-powers and his conversations in the beginning of the movie may seem sympathetic, but knowing that this man will be the Emperor makes it CHILLING. I do believe it is sometimes a bit overdone (like when Palpatine asks for Amidala to bring in the vote for emergency powers), but one has to tell a story, right ?

 

---continued in next post----

[Paragon_Leon]

So much for the acting, although i must stress that the actress playing Beru is...silent. Haven't heard her apart from a greeting, and that could have been better.

BTW; Cliegg Lars talk with a bit of a funny Irish-like accent, almost referring to the blatant British tones of Ep. IV. He speaks like that as the whole party stands by Shmi's grave. And oh, you don't see the tombstone head-on, so there's no telling if something's written on it.

 

 

Now for the action. And oh boy, I can only say one thing. In this area, AOTC wipes the floor with all other SW-movies. Period. You're talking 'large scale' with the battle of Hoth, Endor and Naboo ? Ha ! Then you obviously haven't seen AotC ! There's a scene where (**MAJOR SPOILER**)

Yoda is standing in a Republic gunship, and the camera starts to pan. What you see then is a brief panoramic view of the armies on Geonosis, slugging it out. It is ultra cool to see Yoda talking to the clone soldiers in that scene, as you get the feeling that he's talking to the pawns of the Dark Side !! It's also the first time Yoda acts like a Napoleon-like warlord, responding to good news about the battle.

It makes JarJar's scene in TPM, where he's hanging by the tank during the battle, seem like small potatoes.

We have a personal duel between

Jango Fett & Obi Wan Kenobi, which is MUCH too short in my mind, considering the hefty amount of info that leaked out. What is described on maybe two complete pages, only takes about a minute and a half in AotC

; we have a

Jedi / bounty hunter chase which shows off a lot of Coruscant's buildings and structures, including a traffic-tunnel that is lit blue/white. That chase is mindboggling, mostly because of the dense Coruscant traffic and Anakin's antics on Zam's speeder.

 

 

----continued in next post----

[Boba Rhett]

I...I just don't know what to say. I'm oh so very happy.

 

 

*hugs Leon*

[Rogue15]

hey Leon, are you going to go see it again when it comes out? hehe u can go on the 16th and scream out some spoilers while waiting in line.

[Paragon_Leon]

OF COURSE i'm going to see it again !!

what do you think ?!?!

except for the 'spoiler' parts there...

hehehe

 

now, to continue the review:

[Paragon_Leon]

-----continued-----

Now, we're still talking action. It is true that the middle part of AotC is a bit like

a detective-story

, and i haven't seen certain scenes appear in the movie; scenes where i saw photo's of beforehand, like

Jocasta Nu showing Count Dooku's statue in the Jedi library

; make that a scene for the DVD !

But from the moment things get rolling on

Geonosis

, you're shaking in your seat all the way to the end; mind you, not from fear, but from explosion-impacts, quazillion lasers firing, the works.

There are SO many things worth mentioning that i'd almost forget one important thing; humor. It's back with a vengeance, but not in abundance. In fact, the only time the audience will likely be laughing, is when (warning, LARGE spoiler)

C3PO's head is placed on a battledroid-body in the factory, and vice-versa, meaning there's a 3PO-body with a battledroid head shooting around, and a battledroid with a 3PO head making remarks in the arena that will spark laughs no matter what.

 

In many ways, C3PO is the JarJar of AotC. And it comes across as a bit...weird. Understandably some character had to fill the void of Jar Jar (yes, his on-screen time is only two / three minutes and about six spoken lines, now start celebrating), but we all know C3PO for whining. His scene in the

Geonosian droid-factory

is so clownesque that it seems a bit overdone. But oh well. I digress.

Star Wars is still Star Wars, meaning that it's not too bloody, but on some occasions, it seems like AotC is trying to push those boundaries:

(major spoiler, blablabla)

There's a few limbs flying (Zam Wessell's, Jango's head -and by the way, those who saw a fan-made animatic of that a long time ago will be interested to know that it's almost EXACTLY like what happens on-screen-, Anakin's arm, Geonosians cut in two (in particular in the droid factory), Tusken children, Obi-Wan getting graphically wounded by Dooku, the works. There's even a convincing on-screen death of a rather horrible looking familiar character, with a wide, deep, bloody scar on her (!) left cheek. And oh, Padmé gets bloody too as you could gather from the trailer (relax, it doesn't get worse).

So all in all, when Luke's hand was cut off, it almost looked and felt like a piece of plastic flying from a costume (which of course, is what it was), but now some of that innocence - and i stress some - is gone. Mind you; there is little to nothing disturbing compared to other 'action-movies'.

Practically all of this takes place in the latter half of the movie, where you're taken on a ride in what must be the most intense Star Wars segment yet.

 

----continued in next post----

[Nebelwerfer_]

wow, that was unexpected, now i kinda wish i didn't read it.

All through the hype of this movie I was totally into reading spoilers and not caring if I ruined my experience of the movie because I was totally defencive about spoilers before watching TPM and was disappointed when I actually saw it. So for the past year I really wasn't into AOTC at all, I didnt care if I saw it or not, but I really do wanna watch AOTC badly now!

[Paragon_Leon]

----continued------

 

As i said before; the drama is back. So much so, that i found myself reacting again to the screen. In particular Anakin's 'development' is powerful and dark, and creates an almost immediate tension whereas, in the final fifteen minutes, you are automatically on the edge of your seat, waiting for 'that one moment' to happen... (WARNING, SPOILERS)

that one moment is of course, Anakin's change into Vader. It's no secret that that will happen in Episode 3. What IS striking, is that after Anakin lashes at Dooku, he doesn't have any lines any more. All you see is him silently marrying Padmé. So we leave Anakin standing on the edge, overwhelmed with anger, impatience and arrogance. It's so strong that i'd imagine it only takes ten minutes into Ep. 3 to 'push him over the edge'. Some might argue that these 'anger-hints' are a bit overdone, but if you see Hayden play it out, it is BELIEVABLE. You see a boy desperately trying to shake off the bonds that are holding his anger and power back.

 

One moment in Empire that made an emotional impact was, of course, the carbon freeze scene. AotC has these types of scenes where parting or apparent parting creates some powerful emotional filmmaking. The best of those moments must be in the

Tusken camp

. Spoiler-afficiandos know what that scene is about, and i must stress that all aspects of the film are complimented beautifully throughout by the music. Aforementioned scene is a prime example:

The music sweels very ominously when Shmi dies, resulting in a heart-wrenching opera-like musical 'anger-cry' while Anakin kills the Tuskens..

 

 

All of this said, there is one other strong aspect about AotC that i haven't mentioned yet: recognition !

There are numerous things that fans will go nuts over, and i could name a whole list of them. But to name one that almost everyone wants to know:

Yes, a character says 'I have a bad feeling about this'. It's Anakin, as the Reek, Acklay and Nexu approach them in the arena

.

There is even one small snippet of film that will have fans go halfway into shock when they see it. I won't spoil the beans here in the thread. But it's big and i didn't know the link to the first trilogy would be so fast, so direct... 'nuff said.

 

----continued in next post-----

[Paragon_Leon]

----continued----

 

So, when all is said and done, where do we stand ?

How do I rate Attack Of The Clones ?

 

On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a solid 8. Make that a VERY solid 8. There are twists, subtle connections to the other trilogy, drama, emotion, action and oh yes, that big, big battle. The thing that keeps it from 'mega-classic' status, is that it simply continues an on-going story and reaches back to the original trilogy as much as it predecesses it.

In terms of visual aspects, Clones rates as the top one so far. Colours are needle-sharp, dark and almost cartoonish when you think of it. There's a scene where

Padmé is picked up in the desert by a clone trooper after she fell out of the gunship. The sand is so deeply and richly coloured that that shot almost seems artificial because of it. But that's from a first glance.

 

Overall, Clones is about evening-red. It's the closing hours of the Republic-era, depicted in many reds, dark yellows and browns throughout. Place this besides TPM's ultra-sterile colour-pallette, and you'll see what i'm talking about. It's one of the things that makes for a much more involving and intimidating movie.

The story is solid. Nothing too overtly deep, apart from...and there it is...the character development. Anakin has established himself as THE emotional figure of the Star Wars saga in this movie. The feelings Luke went through seem...trite...compared to this. And i mean that.

 

Attack Of The Clones is a return to 'in-your-face-action', solid characters, rich and engaging visual storyline and overall that good-old Star Wars-feel..

 

Star Wars Strikes Back. And I, for one, love it.

 

Now, if people want to check that i've seen it, i'd be happy to post ridiculous details that you can check, such as:

When Anakin talks to Padmé before he goes off to find his mother, their shadows are filmed; reflected on the farm-dome..

. That's the kind of stuff you haven't seen on pictures yet, can't find in a book and isn't in trailers to my knowledge.

[idiot00001]

Wow. Thanks for the information.