Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is the fifth Star Wars science fiction movie released and the second part of the prequel trilogy which began with The Phantom Menace.

Warning: Plot details follow.

Ten years after the events of The Phantom Menace, in 22 BBY, the Galactic Republic is in the grip of a crisis: a group of systems led by Count Dooku, a former Jedi (played by Christopher Lee), threaten to secede, potentially leading to a civil war. After an assassination attempt against Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman), Senator and former Queen of Naboo and leader of the loyalist faction, Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) are assigned to protect her. While tracking the assassins, Kenobi stumbles into the secret development of a clone army, ordered mysteriously ten years ago on the Republic's behalf. Meanwhile, Skywalker and Amidala fall in love. Kenobi tracks the assassin, bounty hunter Jango Fett, from the clone army to Dooku's separatist conspiracy, which is itself building up a droid army based on the Trade Federation's technology. To counter this threat, the Senate gives Supreme Chancellor Palpatine emergency powers, with which he calls the clone army into battle; the separatists are forced to retreat, but the Jedi suffer heavy losses and the galaxy is plunged into a civil war orchestrated by Dooku and the mysterious Darth Sidious.

Plot elements

Geonosian style execution

Within the movie, Geonosian style execution is a form of capital punishment practiced on the planet Geonosis. The origin of the term is that it was originally employed by the Geonosians. The scene depicting this execution method takes place in the Geonosian arena. The persons to be executed are chained to a pole, awaiting execution. The beastlike creatures approach from the arena door, and attack and eat the condemned persons in the manner of a wild beast. (This scene appears to reference an execution method employed by the ancient Romans at the Colosseum where lions and other dangerous predator animals were permitted to have their way with condemned prisoners.) Count Dooku sentenced Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Padmé Naberrie Amidala to be executed in this method. However, the executions were nullified by the timely arrival of Jedi reinforcements, led by Jedi Master Mace Windu.

Anakin's mechanical hand

Anakin has his right hand cut off by Count Dooku, just as Luke has his hand cut off by Darth Vader (who is Anakin) in The Empire Strikes Back. This dual hand severing becomes important later on in Return of the Jedi, when Luke fails to kill Vader when he sees they both have a cybernetic hand. It is worth noting that Luke's electronic hand is far more sophisticated than Anakin's, which is probably due to development of technology between 22 BBY and 3 ABY.

Political atmosphere

The political atmosphere in Attack of the Clones is similar to the Cold War, except that it eventually escalates to a real war. Since the original drafts for Star Wars were written in the 1970s, this could have been a political statement as to what a nuclear war would mean.

Filming

Filming primarily occurred at 20th Century Fox studios in Australia, with additional location shooting in the Tunisian desert, at the Plaza de Espana in Seville, Spain, and in Italy at the Villa del Balbianello on the Lake of Como, and in the Royal Palace in Caserta.

Critical Response

Initial reviews of the film were mixed, with general admiration for the action sequences and special effects which are regarded as superior to The Phantom Menace, relief that Jar Jar Binks plays only a minor role and that the comic relief is somewhat less forced than that movie, but derision towards the poor direction and scripting of the romance between Portman and Christensen. Despite these problems, however, most viewers and critics saw the film as an improvement over The Phantom Menace.

During the summer of 2002, Attack of the Clones earned a box-office gross of $302 million in the United States alone. With a massive marketing campaign, the distinctive artwork of Star Wars series artist Drew Struzan graced the movie poster and other advertising once again.

References

• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Retrieved Dec. 10, 2003 from http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/s/sw_attack.html

External link

• StarWars.com's official Episode II site
• Internet Movie Database entry
• Natalie Portman Empire : Natalie Portman info
• Defense of the Clones