Star Wars 2: Attack of the Clones

I've been wanting to write about Attack of the Clones since I saw it.  It's a pretty misleading title since the clones are on the side of the Republic, albeit created as part of a very long term plan by Chancellor Palpatine.  I loved the sneaky plotting parts of the film, and the parts with Obi-Wan Kenobi investigating an assassin.

First off, it's crazy that some board of film critics has decided that Star Wars: Attack of the Clones is racist against Latinos because of the New Zealand actors playing Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison) and Boba Fett (Daniel Logan).  Never mind that Morrison is a Maori, and looks it.  Never mind that they both speak with New Zealand accents.  Never mind that those two have probably the coolest roles in the whole thing. It's been decided that because they look vaguely Latino, it's a grand conspiracy.  Hogwash.  There is a world outside the North American continent, ladies and gentlemen of the board, learn the accents, learn the facial structures, and don't be so parochial and narrow-minded.  There's a good reason I get my news from the UK Telegraph:  they have a whole section of international news that USA Today and the St. Louis Post Dispatch can't match.  Personally, I loved their accents, it's great to hear a different country for a change.

Then there's the mullet.  I'm sorry, but Ewan McGregor looks so much better with short hair and no beard.  He does well in Attack of the Mullet, and I want to watch Phantom Menace for comparison.  Nice to see a Jedi who isn't perfect.

Can we please have an Anakin Skywalker that doesn't get out-acted by a tree for the next film?

Yoda, I am now convinced, is a total fraud.  The fight where actually puts down the stick and starts bouncing around like a yoyo is rather amusing.

Lucas really should remember which rules apply to whom.  In Attack of the Clones, Jedi can't marry.  In the Greg Bear Star Wars book "Rogue Planet," there's a Jedi who not only married, but had children.  Consistency would be nice.

Overall, I enjoyed the film, but I'd have to give it a C for the Anakin and Padme bits (deathly dry, boring, lousy dialogue, pretty unbelievable stuff, and it got in the way of the interesting bits of the story), and a B+ for the rest of it.