Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

Better. Much better in fact. I quite like clone wars, if only for the action in it.

Strange to think it was just shot in HDCAM, one of the first features to go digital, certainly the first Star Wars to be shot this way. With affordable 4k cameras just around the corner it seems almost amateur. Those telephoto shots of Anakin and Padme in the green field look the worst, probably because they have the most real imagery in the film, they rest of video look is hidden by the huge amounts of CG and compositing it's placed in. I always remember those shot in the cinema looked strange, you could see the digital compression in the film print. Looks much better on bluray, but still has that slight video look.

This film is going for two things, a mystery story line and a love story. The mystery goes nowhere really. That love story sets up the events for the rest of the films, so you might think they would spend a bit more time with it. I can believe Anakin's turn to the dark side, he's a real dick. But I cannot for the life of me buy into that love story. It just does not work. Some horrific dialogue the actors do their best to sell. Rolling around in the grass laughing does not equal love.

Once they get to Geonosis things really pick up. The monster fights, the Jedi battle, Yoda vs Dooku, all good. On the whole a much easier film to watch, besides a few moments like C3PO's head swap, there are a lot less annoying kiddie contrivances holding up the proceedings.