Attack of the Pleasantly Suprised

[Treebeard]

Well I just got back and I have to say that I had a lot of fun watching Episode 2. Don't read on if you haven't seen it as it may spoil it a bit.

TPM must have been an extremely off year for Lucas. AOTC is not perfect, it has some really annoying continuity errors and some of the dialogue and acting are a bit naff but overall it felt a lot better. It felt a lot less "Disney" than TPM and the actors were given much more of a chance to develop a bit of character and personality. The whole feel was much darker.

The effects were hyped up a lot and they were great. You got to see a lot more of the Star Wars universe and some of the planets and sets were amazing, different class completely compared to TPM. The war towards the end was jaw dropping.

Dialogue went from inspired to pretty awful with some real hold head in hands moments but hey, its meant to be cheesy, its Star Wars.

Acting ranged from great to poor. Ewan McGregor was great as Obi-Wan, my favourite character by a mile. He definately gave it that edge that Han Solo gave the original films. The guy playing Anakin was ok, sometimes good when you could see the anger that will lead to him being the big V but other times he was quite awful although a lot of this was probably the dialogue. I never thought I would say this, ever, but Christopher Lee (or God to me and you) was a bit off. I kept getting the impression that he was saying to himself, I can't believe I am saying this ****. Samuel L Jackson was much better in this one. I thought he was pretty poor in TPM but he was much better here. It was a "I'm **** hot and take no nonsense" performance that he's excellent at. Natalie Portman was pretty good as well.

The story also was good and bad. It started off well with the boys chasing a bounty hunter which was a great bit and Obi-Wan doing his detective work I also really enjoyed but it did drag a bit in the middle. The love story was done quite well (although this was where some of the more naff acting and dialogue was) and it didn't intrude upon the film too much. The battle at the end was amazing. If anyone had a boyhood (or girlhood) dream of wanting to see loads of Jedi just kicking everyone's arse then we got it here. There were Jedi everywhere pulling all of the moves and then some. There were parts where the story didn't seem to gel together. When Anakin and Padme go to Geowhatsitsname they arrive, get into a fight, get captured and suddenly they are about to be executed and it just wasn't explained enough. There were a few parts like this. There were also some parts where people never acted as you thought they should, Anakin tells Padme he has just slaughtered a load of women and children and she just gives him a hug for example. He was upset though bless.

I went in expecting to be disappointed but was really suprised. I think overall it was the more darker (adult?) feel to it that made it better. And the fact that Jar Jar Binks is barely in it.

Best bits:

Obi Wan Kenobi!!!! Makes it ok to want to be a Jedi again.

Jango Fett. Great character although maybe not enough screen time ala Darth Maul. He's in it quite a bit though.

For the boys some nice outfits modelled by the lovely Miss Portman.

Yoda fighting Christopher Lee. This was brilliant and down right daft at the same time. There's no way Christopher Lee could have seen where his career was heading.

The Jedi fighting, nice.

 

[Zeus]

i, too, was pleasently surprised by this film, fior much the same reasons as above. Personally though, i didnt like the love-story bits.... very badly acted and predictable.
All in all though, not a bad little film.

However, the names a bit off. If they want to have 'clones' in it at all, it should really be 'cunningly timed emergency rescue of the clones'.
And...the Jedi are a bit like american marines i reckon. that is to say: a) They wont let a team member remain hostage, but will happily lose countless others to save them. b) They're highly trained/equiped, but not too bright. c) They're completely up themselves about how powerful they are.

 

[Bertyr]

Tree that was just how I would have written that review thank you (except at 5am when I got home after watching it I had other things on my mind!)

I didn't want to write a spoiler though, however you covered that with your warning.

Highly re-watchable, it was fast moving, there were lots of scene changes, makes a change actually, and gave an adrenaline rush after AOTC

Apparently you either love or hate starwars though, so are turned on/off by it, this movie keeps me in the former.

You heard that the reason Lucas is not releasing the 'old' movies on dvd is because he's filmed new footage for them during that last one (and probably some more alongside the next one) to complete the story as he wanted to tell it, but was limited at the time (not very limited imo though, they still look damn good)

 

[Sheleph]

I thought it was excellent.

I was pretty disappointed with Episode I, but this one's much more in keeping with the feel/style and pace of the originals.

• Samuel L Jackson just oozes cool, and is fab.
• Yoda rocks, and you really see why he's such a powerful Jedi master. Great to see that he really is hard as nails.
• The lightsabre battles are exciting, and the Jedi battles are really well done
• I was pleasantly surprised by Anakin, decent acting of a feisty, rebellious teenager who against this background has situations and people pushing him down the dark path. Makes it believeable that Anakin can be turning to the Dark Side.
• The backdrops and bits of the Star Wars universe you see are spectacular
• Plot is twisty and turny, less transparent than the last, and makes good use of elements from the first 3 films, aiding continuity with them
• Ja Ja Binks has a bit part and isn't in it much

 

[Napalm]

The one thnig that threw me when i watched it is how much its like episode 5... dont read down if ya aint seen it











but.














Battle on hoth... Jedi Fight in that arena thing
Anakin hand chopping in a saber fight ... Luke hand chopping in a saber fight
very nice saberfighting compared to rest
but the thing that really showed me it was episode 5 all over again was the VERY last thing you saw before the credits...

Luke and Leia staring out of a cockpit with R2D2 and C3PO stood next to them
And.
Anakin and Padme Staring out over that balcony with R2D2 and C3PO stood next to them..

It was so cheesy its unreal.


In my opinion.. the best of the 5.
2nd place is episode 5.. i just liked it.
Then TPM
Then ROtJ
then ANH

 

[Treebeard]

Top 5:

Empire Strikes Back
New Hope
Attack of the Clones
Return of the Jedi
The other one

I think Clones fits in behind Empire and New Hope but with Jedi a close forth. The Ewoks were arse but the Emporer, space battle and fight between Luke and Vader were great. I can bring myself to name TPM when its in the same list as the others. An awful travesty.

The only thing I'd add is that apart from some poor dialogue and acting, the biggest problem with AOTC was that sometimes the story didn't gel well and it felt like watching a load scenes that were put together with little thought as to how they went together.

There was a lot more good than bad in the film though. I got to wondering how Darth Maul would have fitted into this more darker atmosphere. Would have been good.

 

[Vega]

Already posted my views in the other thread, but thought I would say a couple of things that were GOOD about the film from a "Star Wars fan" perspective (which I still am by God despite my disappointment with Ep1 and my mixed reactions to this one) :

1) Anakin's slaughter of the Tusken Village.
This was quite a powerful scene...Anakin comes out of the tent where his mother has just died, beheads the two Tuskens outside the door, casually kills a third coming at him...then fade out...your imagination does the rest.
This is where you can see Anakin becoming Vader.

2) Anakin loses his arm in his battle with Dooku...
Which nicely mirrors the scene in TESB where Anakin (now Vader) cuts his own son's hand off.

3) going on from that...the final shots with Anakin with his new robotic arm (final scene in TESB - Luke with his new robotic hand).
So this is Anakin becoming already "more machine than man".

4) Dooku says to Obi-Wan *Join me Obi-Wan and we can destroy the Sith*
*I will never join you*
Again....mirroring TESB.

5) Obi-Wan says to Anakin at one point "I feel that one day you will be the death of me"...this got a wry chuckle from me

6) Yoda get medieval with a Lightsaber on Dookus ass !!
Pretty cool I have to say...even if he did resemble a gerbil on speed at some points during the fight

 

[GBH]

Damn good film can't wait till 3rd film I just wanna see obi fighting Vader/anikain or wot ever way his name spelt.

 

[Merly]

Umm Gival stick star wars Ep 4 in your video then


I thought it was superb, apart from the fact there was a big chunk in the film where the sound faded in and out which got very annoying.

Good to see Obi Wan's developed a sense of humour as well and Yoda was just too cool, the little bugger doesn't need that walking stick at all !!

 

[Treebeard]

Yes when he slaughtered the Tuskens, that was a powerful scene, but then they spoilt it with Padme's reaction I thought. Giving him a consoling stroke of the head was not how she should have reacted.

 

[Cerberus]

class film

ROFL!!! Yoda!!! and after all that he picks up his walking stic and hobbles away groaning.
Not too sure bout Dooku's role in it all yet, He tells obi-wan the truth and asks him to help destroy the sith yet he seems to be sided with the sith, now as I see it Jedi can tell lies so hmmm )

Apart from that and the part when Yoda said he and windu couldn't use the force anymore, I think everything fell into place. Was good to see the history of the stormtroopers and how Boba came into hating the rebelion/jedi's. Ms Portman in a tight leather corset was nice too.

Some good humour, good effects, Jar Jar helps the goodies, but at the same time builds the dark sides army of stormtroopers.

Yoda OMG!!! lol.

I wasn't impressed with windu/jackson at all. he didn't have the jedi quickness about him, it was like he was lugging about a 20ft (Final fantasyesque) sword instead of a feather light lightsabre. I think that was the only drawback for me of the whole film. Might go see it again.

I do think anekin should not be given another lightsaber as he keeps losing/breaking his. He should learn responsibility for his toys.

 

[Ky]

I thought it was excellent.

All you lot sitting there analysing it to ****ing death should get out more.

Oh, no, ****. Look what happens when you do.



Its a good movie, its Star Wars, the FX are mindblowing in places and some of the sets are to die for. That alone makes it worth seeing.

Nuff said.

 

[Readon]

Personally i enjoy analysing a film after i've watched it, however i've already drawn my conclusions as to whether i liked the film or not while watching it. If i enjoyed it (and for AOTC i very much did) no amount of analysing on my part will change that. I do however from my own analysis and others identify parts of the film where i either have missed the point or seen something i've disliked and upon rewatching the film get the opportunity to more closely examine those scenes and hopefully appreciate the film more.

But more than anything else i watch and criticise a film for my own benefit, its how i can squeeze out every last bit of enjoyment, i like to think i can figure why a director did a certain scene a certain way.......... BUT each to their own, some ppl like to watch a movie and go no further, they get all they want from simply watching it and to go further into it can spoil the experience.

damn i either need to sleep more or drink less.......... either way this essay is over

 

[Merly]

Saw this....it made me chuckle