Without going into a full dissection of the movie that could be an hour+ long video. Like the other prequels it's a mix bag in my opinion. They have some really great stuff in them along with some equally bad. In short I like enough to own it and re-watch every once in a while. 6/10
Pros: Obi Wan and Jango on Kamino are done well. Christopher Lee gives a great performance as Count Dooku. The third act including the clone battles, light saber fights, Colosseum scenes were very well done giving an epic movie experience.
Cons: Hayden and NP's lack of chemistry and poor acting(direction) that lead to half the movie being dragged down. The CGI clones, the overly long and not well aged chase scene.
If you watch it with the idea it's a Star Wars movie that has the shadow of the OT it will let you down. But if you compare it to the other big budget effects heavy releases of 2002(Save LOTR and GONY it looks like a competently made project that ages well and captures a magic that 99% of films released can't.
Other Big Budget Releases of 2002
MIB2, Spiderman, XXX, Scooby Doo, Minority Report, Sum of All Fears, Santa Clause 2, Stuart Little 2, Blade 2, Chamber of Secrets, Gangs of New York, The Tuxedo, Reign of Fire, Scorpion King, Collateral Damage, K-19, Star Trek Nemesis, I SPY
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Threadkiller (3089)
5 years ago
Cons: Hayden and NP's lack of chemistry and poor acting(direction) that lead to half the movie being dragged down.
Sadly one of the few legitimate issues but it's a lot more pronounced because it's the central narrative between two of the three main characters. I truly believe the romantic story arc would have felt way more organic if Hayden Christiansen had been in TPM, building onscreen chemistry with Natalie Portman & the audience early on, more organically planting the seeds of a future romance.
My personal biggest criticism of the prequels was Anakin being cast as a child in TPM & needlessly played by two different characters that created somewhat a disconnect as the audience basically had to spend two films getting to know two separate characters named Anakin.
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CoachGainz (453)
5 years ago
True. It's also the script that was unoriginal, bland, and frankly boring. Nobody believed their romance nor cared. If they had something interesting to talk about or had a more relaxed and unavoidable connection. It felt forced and unbelievable and is unfortunately what holds this movie back the most.
George really needed help with scripting these scenes( pretty sure Carrie Fisher helped?) and even maybe needed a different director. George with all his strengths can't capture romance or comedy very well. That's why imo EPSB is the best of OT he had a quality writer and director that could capture drama, comedy, and romance. That mixed with George's world building and mythology creation was a perfect match-up. Just my 2 cents
It's also very strange that George wanted to introduce the central character with idea that he would be immediately recast. He was dead set on introducing Anakin as a child even tho many advised against it. If you watch the special features and making of videos for TPM he clearly wasn't happy with his choice of casting Jake. They were working in 130 degree heat and Jake would screw up 90% of the takes. Not Jake's fault since he was so young of course but you could still see the strain on George and the other actors. Not to mention the sand storms that destroyed his sets and prolonged filming.
I can't imagine the stress this guy as an independent was under. Makes it easy to understand why he made the next 2 from the comfort of his own studio.
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Threadkiller (3089)
5 years ago
It's also the script that was unoriginal, bland, and frankly boring. Nobody believed their romance nor cared.
I mostly agree with everything except this. I felt the script was fine & didn't find it at all unoriginal which for all the criticism its gotten over the years is one criticism I haven't heard before. George might be an average scriptwriter when it comes to dialogue & directing actors but I feel he's always been an excellent visionary director when it comes to world & lore building as well as interesting over arching narratives that tie together for form a coherent whole. All the things that were sorely lacking with the Di$ney trilogy.
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