Star Wars. Just the title invokes so many visions, memories and expectations. For those
of us who grew up with Episodes IV-VI (which we thought were Episodes I-III, since we weren’t
science fiction book-loving tools and didn’t know any better), Star Wars carried a
distinctly magic quality. A magic quality that was diminished greatly by Jar Jar Binks
and the rest of the cartoon characters of Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. However, I
was willing to give the Star Wars brand another shot, so it was off to the premiere of
Episode II – Attack of the Clones, a mere five hours before it opened for the great
unwashed. Evidently, Robin Williams was willing to give it another try, as well.
Without giving anything away, WOW. That’s all I can say. Wow. My faith has been restored.
For me, it was a story line bordering on the strength of the first three with graphics as good as
Menace. It is far more exciting and engaging than Episode I and well worth the
two hours and 15 minutes spent. Just one question. Jimmy Smits? If you thought it
was weird seeing Samuel L. Jackson in Phantom Menace, wait
until you see
this. I’ll leave you with the best two quotes of the evening, one from the film and one from the
crowd. Ewen McGregor’s Obi Wan Kenobi, off-handedly, to Anakin Skywalker/young
Darth Vader (played by Canadian pretty boy Hayden Christensen)” “I fear you’ll
be the death of me someday.” And not to be outdone, as I was walking out, two guys behind me
engaged in this interchange. Guy 1, “I don’t care what anyone says, that movie was
great.” Replied his buddy, “Yeah, it was awesome.” Retorted the original voice: “And it’s weird,
none of the game books ever say what race Yoda is!”
