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 | | Thursday, 9 May, 2002, 10:21 GMT 11:21 UK Attack of the Clones: Press views  Fans hope Star Wars will live up to hype Film critics have given the latest Star Wars movie, Episode II - Attack of the Clones, a warm reception ahead of its release next week. Star Wars fan are hoping the movie will be an improvement on the last film, The Phantom Menace, which was widely seen as a disappointment. London Evening Standard George Lucas has recovered his Force. The new Star Wars Episode II is laser light years ahead of Episode I. It is intimate and spectacular, event-packed and technology-triumphant. Yet it supplies all the missing links we need to discover how young junior Jedi Knight Annakin, played by new Nordic pin-up Hayden Christensen, is going to turn into Darth Vader - and how Ewan McGregor as young Obi Wan Kenobi will eventually become Alec Guinness. The Times The film is muddied by complex politics that detract from the drama of Good against Evil - perhaps a learned article by Michael Gove might clarify the workings of the Galactic Republic's senate, but I doubt even he'd be up to the task. The only thing for it is to wait for the senatorial gobbledegook to pass and hope for another fight or chase.
To judge by the website, cautious optimism might be the best approach. On the downside, the trailers reveal, once more, an over-reliance on CGI, and, without Ford and Fisher to keep banality at bay, the prospect of a George Lucas love story does not warm the cockles. And yet, Attack of the Clones seems grander and more exciting than its predecessor - and, if some of the more arresting shots echo not only The Empire Strikes Back but also Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, there are worse films to draw from. The Daily Express Where this film shines is in the special effects, with legions of clone armies, dramatic skyship chase sequences and the most garish, yet terrifying variety of horned, fanged, six-legged alien monsters ever to grace our screens. The Daily Mail It's the sheer scale of the storytelling that makes this PG-rated episode superior to its immediate predecessor, and then of course there's the look of the movie. The production design is superb, with a real sense of cinematic wonder.
It is easily as good as the Empire Strikes Back and better than the original and Return of The Jedi. I don't even have to mention The Phantom Menace. It has been three hours since I saw Attack of the Clones and I want to see it again. Now. London's Metro The Force is strong with this one, really strong. After the disappointment of Episode I - The Phantom Menace, George Lucas has come back with a film to blast the senses and reignite those childhood dreams of being a Jedi. It's got the lot - fearsome armies, absurd aliens and lightsabre fights. | |
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