bnorthup
05-18-2002, 12:01 AM
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (PG-13)
At the Gaslight
Dad: 2.5 stars
Daughter: 2 stars
Attack of the sequels
By Brent and Katherine Northup
At 5 p.m. Monday, 52 hours before the initial showing of the latest “Star Wars” installment, “Attack of the Clones,” Emsa Harding, 22, and Nate King, 21, pitched their yellow-topped three-person dome tent in front of the doors to the Gaslight. They ran 100 feet of extension cord to a city outlet nearby, sat down in camping chairs, and began playing X-Box video games.
By Wednesday noon, 12 hours before ShowTime, more than 50 persons were in line including one who heard the original Lucas film from the womb.
“My mom was pregnant with me when she went to see the first ‘Star Wars’ in Spokane,” said Danielle Mitchell, 24, of Helena. “She said I was marked to like it.”
Shane Elbert, 25, saw his first Star Wars movie less than one month after its Memorial Day opening in 1977. “My uncle took me to the Gaslight to see it when I was only a few weeks old,” said Elbert. “So now it’s just a tradition with me.”
This year’s youngest viewer of the opening is likely to be Joseph Disney, 8 months old, who was playing on a blanket next to his folks, Candy and RJ. Dad says he’s not sure if his son is related to Walt, or not.
By Tuesday night, the Gaslight campgrounds included five domed tents equipped with lanterns, sleeping bags, televisions and, in one case, a 30,000 BTU propane heater. The hungry line-sitters tell happy stories of people who stopped by to bring them food – in three cases, customers of Salvatore’s Trattoria donated their leftovers to the hungry sci fi fans.
To kill time, one of the early arrivers brought two radio-controlled gas cars, which he sheepishly admits could be seen running up and down Broadway during the early morning “off hours.”
And there was at least one less trombone playing “Groovin’ Hard” in Larry Nielsen’s band class at Capital High on Wednesday afternoon, because Russ Wardinsky, 17, was among the first 10 in line – holding his JVC miniDV video camera. Although Russ was careful to point out that the camera “was not necessarily for filming the movie.”
Although the line isn’t as long as for previous installments, the fans are no less rabid about the occasion. There reasons are remarkably similar – most are sci-fi fans, many have stood in line for other fantasy films. And most all of them are hardcore “Star Wars” fans.
“Being here early is important just because of the principle of the thing,” said Harding, a Carroll College student. “Later on when you have house payments, I won’t be able to afford to stand in line. Now I can.”
The big question, of course, is whether they will be disappointed.
The answer, from this reviewer’s view, is that “The Attack of the Clones” is a “routine” installment that is a faint echo of the original, and is no better than the less-then-riveting “Phantom Menace.”
The appeal of “Attack of the Clones” lies in its unfolding of long-awaited answers to some critical questions raised in earlier episodes. Among these: “How and why did a Jedi turn to the dark side and become Darth Vader? Who was Luke Skywalker’s mom? And, will Lucas be smart enough to jettison the annoying Jar Jar?”
I found the final hour of “Clones” the most satisfying. The final scenes ending with a wedding, which sets up the next installment, were intriguing. I also enjoyed the surprising new role assigned to Yoda, who gets to show off his Jedi sword skills in a highly enjoyable rescue scene. Finally, I thought Christopher Lee made a satisfactory villain in the role of Count Dooku. Lee, alias Frankenstein and Dracula, is a horror veteran at home with villainous assignments.
But having noted many strengths, I’ve got to be honest about the reservations. For starters, the acting just isn’t memorable – partly because of casting, but mostly because of a very impotent script. Hayden Christenson as Skywalker is a lightweight actor in heavyweight role, and botches the job. Ewan McGregor is a dismal imitation of Alec Guinness. Jimmy Smits is either an L.A. lawyer or a New York cop, not a senator in a sci-fi world. Jar Jar is still annoying and R2-D2/C-3PO are given pointless cameos.
“Senator” Natalie Portman is the pleasant exception, but one has to wonder why she’s falling for Skywalker’s dismal advances. Of course, I’ve wondered that about Senator Hilary, too.
But what about those wondrous special effects? Well, what about them. They’re boring – much ado about nothing. In fact, in some high-powered scenes it seems like high-tech fireworks in search of a story.
And “story” is the operative word here. Lucas somehow is losing hold of his story. The whole film plays as a sort of visually conceived “FAQ session” designed to answer all the plot questions raised earlier. Most FAQ sessions aren’t high drama – “Clones” is no exception.
My co-critic and daughter Katherine, 15, was no more enchanted than I was – which was a surprise, since I know Lucas intends to capture the teen audience.
“It fits in the ‘nothing better to do’ category,” she said after the screening. “Personally, I think that great classics ought to be left that way. Sequels usually aren’t as good as the originals. I’m a ‘Star Wars’ fan, but so many movies are overdoing it just a little bit. Every time a new ‘Star Wars’ movies comes out, it has less and less actual people, and more and more androids.”
She was somewhat bored by the action, preferring to see how the romance played out.
“Basically it’s a sci-fi love story,” she said. “Sure, there was a lot of blowing up star ships, hacking android’s arms off, and special effects, but one had to wonder, ‘When are Anakin and Amidala going to admit they love each other - and, then how long will it be before one of them gets blown up or something?’ No such luck.”
Katherine enjoyed Yoda, but wondered where he found his vim and vigor.
“Yoda always walks around with a cane, right?” she observed. “In once scene, he’s fighting an enemy to save his friends’ lives, but at the same time bouncing off the walls like a two-year-old who’d gotten into a bag of sugar and consumed the whole thing in one sitting.”
So Dad and daughter left after our ‘nothing better to do’ outing.
I will admit I want to see all “Star Wars” movies and that the unfolding of the story still fascinates me. But the movies themselves are growing more lifeless each time, and the writing is flat.
The force is back, but it’s lost a bit of horsepower since it’s latest engine rebuild.
END
At the Gaslight
Dad: 2.5 stars
Daughter: 2 stars
Attack of the sequels
By Brent and Katherine Northup
At 5 p.m. Monday, 52 hours before the initial showing of the latest “Star Wars” installment, “Attack of the Clones,” Emsa Harding, 22, and Nate King, 21, pitched their yellow-topped three-person dome tent in front of the doors to the Gaslight. They ran 100 feet of extension cord to a city outlet nearby, sat down in camping chairs, and began playing X-Box video games.
By Wednesday noon, 12 hours before ShowTime, more than 50 persons were in line including one who heard the original Lucas film from the womb.
“My mom was pregnant with me when she went to see the first ‘Star Wars’ in Spokane,” said Danielle Mitchell, 24, of Helena. “She said I was marked to like it.”
Shane Elbert, 25, saw his first Star Wars movie less than one month after its Memorial Day opening in 1977. “My uncle took me to the Gaslight to see it when I was only a few weeks old,” said Elbert. “So now it’s just a tradition with me.”
This year’s youngest viewer of the opening is likely to be Joseph Disney, 8 months old, who was playing on a blanket next to his folks, Candy and RJ. Dad says he’s not sure if his son is related to Walt, or not.
By Tuesday night, the Gaslight campgrounds included five domed tents equipped with lanterns, sleeping bags, televisions and, in one case, a 30,000 BTU propane heater. The hungry line-sitters tell happy stories of people who stopped by to bring them food – in three cases, customers of Salvatore’s Trattoria donated their leftovers to the hungry sci fi fans.
To kill time, one of the early arrivers brought two radio-controlled gas cars, which he sheepishly admits could be seen running up and down Broadway during the early morning “off hours.”
And there was at least one less trombone playing “Groovin’ Hard” in Larry Nielsen’s band class at Capital High on Wednesday afternoon, because Russ Wardinsky, 17, was among the first 10 in line – holding his JVC miniDV video camera. Although Russ was careful to point out that the camera “was not necessarily for filming the movie.”
Although the line isn’t as long as for previous installments, the fans are no less rabid about the occasion. There reasons are remarkably similar – most are sci-fi fans, many have stood in line for other fantasy films. And most all of them are hardcore “Star Wars” fans.
“Being here early is important just because of the principle of the thing,” said Harding, a Carroll College student. “Later on when you have house payments, I won’t be able to afford to stand in line. Now I can.”
The big question, of course, is whether they will be disappointed.
The answer, from this reviewer’s view, is that “The Attack of the Clones” is a “routine” installment that is a faint echo of the original, and is no better than the less-then-riveting “Phantom Menace.”
The appeal of “Attack of the Clones” lies in its unfolding of long-awaited answers to some critical questions raised in earlier episodes. Among these: “How and why did a Jedi turn to the dark side and become Darth Vader? Who was Luke Skywalker’s mom? And, will Lucas be smart enough to jettison the annoying Jar Jar?”
I found the final hour of “Clones” the most satisfying. The final scenes ending with a wedding, which sets up the next installment, were intriguing. I also enjoyed the surprising new role assigned to Yoda, who gets to show off his Jedi sword skills in a highly enjoyable rescue scene. Finally, I thought Christopher Lee made a satisfactory villain in the role of Count Dooku. Lee, alias Frankenstein and Dracula, is a horror veteran at home with villainous assignments.
But having noted many strengths, I’ve got to be honest about the reservations. For starters, the acting just isn’t memorable – partly because of casting, but mostly because of a very impotent script. Hayden Christenson as Skywalker is a lightweight actor in heavyweight role, and botches the job. Ewan McGregor is a dismal imitation of Alec Guinness. Jimmy Smits is either an L.A. lawyer or a New York cop, not a senator in a sci-fi world. Jar Jar is still annoying and R2-D2/C-3PO are given pointless cameos.
“Senator” Natalie Portman is the pleasant exception, but one has to wonder why she’s falling for Skywalker’s dismal advances. Of course, I’ve wondered that about Senator Hilary, too.
But what about those wondrous special effects? Well, what about them. They’re boring – much ado about nothing. In fact, in some high-powered scenes it seems like high-tech fireworks in search of a story.
And “story” is the operative word here. Lucas somehow is losing hold of his story. The whole film plays as a sort of visually conceived “FAQ session” designed to answer all the plot questions raised earlier. Most FAQ sessions aren’t high drama – “Clones” is no exception.
My co-critic and daughter Katherine, 15, was no more enchanted than I was – which was a surprise, since I know Lucas intends to capture the teen audience.
“It fits in the ‘nothing better to do’ category,” she said after the screening. “Personally, I think that great classics ought to be left that way. Sequels usually aren’t as good as the originals. I’m a ‘Star Wars’ fan, but so many movies are overdoing it just a little bit. Every time a new ‘Star Wars’ movies comes out, it has less and less actual people, and more and more androids.”
She was somewhat bored by the action, preferring to see how the romance played out.
“Basically it’s a sci-fi love story,” she said. “Sure, there was a lot of blowing up star ships, hacking android’s arms off, and special effects, but one had to wonder, ‘When are Anakin and Amidala going to admit they love each other - and, then how long will it be before one of them gets blown up or something?’ No such luck.”
Katherine enjoyed Yoda, but wondered where he found his vim and vigor.
“Yoda always walks around with a cane, right?” she observed. “In once scene, he’s fighting an enemy to save his friends’ lives, but at the same time bouncing off the walls like a two-year-old who’d gotten into a bag of sugar and consumed the whole thing in one sitting.”
So Dad and daughter left after our ‘nothing better to do’ outing.
I will admit I want to see all “Star Wars” movies and that the unfolding of the story still fascinates me. But the movies themselves are growing more lifeless each time, and the writing is flat.
The force is back, but it’s lost a bit of horsepower since it’s latest engine rebuild.
END