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Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

tomatometer

67

Average Rating: 6.5/10
Reviews Counted: 218
Fresh: 145 | Rotten: 73

Containing more of what made the Star Wars series fun, Attack of the Clones is an improvement over The Phantom Menace.

40

Average Rating: 5.5/10
Critic Reviews: 40
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 24

Containing more of what made the Star Wars series fun, Attack of the Clones is an improvement over The Phantom Menace.

audience

69

liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 708,690

My Rating

Movie Info

The second prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy takes place ten years after the events depicted in Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace. Now 20, young Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) is an apprentice to respected Jedi knight Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). Unusually powerful in the Force, Anakin is also impatient, arrogant, and headstrong -- causing his mentor a great deal of concern. The pair are ordered to protect Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman), the former queen of the planet

Nov 12, 2002

$310.3M

20th Century Fox

Cast

All Critics (219) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (151) | Rotten (73) | DVD (49)

This time the exposition is so thick that everyone except acolytes may tune out.

March 5, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comments (9)
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Lucas has never been able to conjure another Han Solo, a character who could, with simply a wink, remind us that this was just an overgrown Saturday afternoon serial.

June 13, 2002 Comment
Arizona Republic
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A commendable example of the sort of movie we once loved and then outgrew.

May 19, 2002 Full Review Source: New York Magazine | Comment
New York Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The scale of the enterprise is thrilling; it's too bad the movie is so muddled on so many different levels.

May 17, 2002 Full Review Source: Slate | Comment
Slate
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones have reduced the franchise to, well, a franchise.

May 17, 2002 Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Hold on to your No-Doz: Another Star Wars is here.

May 17, 2002 Full Review Source: New York Observer | Comment
New York Observer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Great action, intense mood, but romance may bore kids.

July 26, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

Sit back and enjoy fantastic, imaginative visuals.

December 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

It starts off briskly with some fantastic special effects and a great high-speed chase but then founders on the shores of bad script writing.

July 4, 2009 Full Review Source: Eye for Film | Comment (1)
Eye for Film

All in all, a far more superior film than its predecessor.

April 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | Comment
Cinema Crazed

Lucas does not always recognize his limitations. This tends to make films of mixed quality. Still, there is always enough that is excellent to make them worth seeing.

October 18, 2008 Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | Comment
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Attack of the Clones emerges looking as bad as if not worse than its 1999 predecessor, thanks to the lame romantic subplot, which is so badly written, directed and performed that it surpasses Jar-Jar Binks as the all-time low point in the series.

August 20, 2008 Full Review Source: ESplatter | Comments (4)
ESplatter

Makes The Phantom Menace seem like one long clearing of the throat before Lucas could begin to tell the real story.

August 13, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

The special effects are remarkable, yet somehow numbing, and the film only partly lives up to the promise in the title of Lucas's company, Industrial Light and Magic.

March 5, 2008 Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | Comment
Observer [UK]

While it lacks the quality of Empire's script and performances, Clones is the most visually enthralling of the series so far.

September 7, 2007 Full Review Source: Looking Closer | Comment
Looking Closer

It is certainly better than the childish Phantom Menace and the final 45 minutes of straight action beat the editing nightmare at the end of the last film.

July 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | Comment
Big Picture Big Sound

Christensen is a winning mix of sultry and sulky as the now older Anakin, while McGregor is finally beginning to relax as the mentor who understandably refuses to treat his moody pupil like a grown-up.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

The magic has definitely been recaptured.

December 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Threat | Comment
Film Threat

As convincing a job as they, Christensen, and Lee do, they all end up being upstaged by the jaw-dropping skills of a CGI creation: Yoda (again voiced by Frank Oz), who finally gets a chance to show exactly why he has such a legendary reputation.

December 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Threat | Comment
Film Threat

The muppet steals what's otherwise an underwhelming show.

November 4, 2005 Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | Comment
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

Clones is far from perfect, but when it clicks, it revives the old spirit that made a generation become so obsessed with all things Star Wars in the first place.

May 18, 2005 Full Review Source: Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema | Comment
Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema

It's impossible...to dismiss a film with this much stuff: exotic production design, imaginative characters, and a wide variety of digital jedi fu.

May 9, 2005 Comment

It would be easy to say that this film is fantastic and blows away the others, but unfortunately I cannot.

August 13, 2004 Full Review Source: Oregon Herald | Comment

Superior to Episode I -- The Phantom Menace, with its annoying Jar Jar Binks and its dull, galaxy-hopping story line.

June 22, 2004 Full Review Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) | Comment
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

Hayden Christensen. I'm sick of the guy.As for the action, definitely one of the best in the entire saga but the acting is seriously lacking. The worst, plot-wise, than any other Star Wars movie.

December 6, 2011
Albert Kim

Super Reviewer

Nowhere near as good as the original trilogy that changed blockbuster cinema forever but a definete improvement to the Phantom Menace.

November 1, 2011
Michael M.
Michael Miller

Super Reviewer

    1. Obi-Wan Kenobi: [to Anakin] Relax concentrate.
    2. Anakin Skywalker: What about Padme?
    3. Obi-Wan Kenobi: She seems to be on the top of things.
    – Submitted by Javis C (2 months ago)
    1. Anakin Skywalker: So this is what you call a diplomatic mission?
    2. Padmé Amidala: No, these are 'Aggressive Negotiations'.
    – Submitted by Javis C (2 months ago)
    1. Anakin Skywalker: I'm haunted by the kiss that you should never have given me.
    – Submitted by Adrian G (3 months ago)
    1. Anakin Skywalker: So we moved into 'aggressive negotiations'.
    2. Padmé Amidala: Aggressive negotiations?
    3. Anakin Skywalker: Negotiations with a light saber.
    – Submitted by Hunter S (4 months ago)
    1. Obi-Wan Kenobi: (To Anakin) Why do I get the feeling you're going to be the death of me?
    – Submitted by Andrew O (7 months ago)

Latest News for Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

July 23, 2008:
Lucas Taking Star Wars 3-D?
According to DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, George Lucas is prepping 3-D versions of...

February 12, 2008:
George Lucas Bringing 3D Star Wars: The Clone Wars to Theaters
George Lucas' 3D CGI continuation of the Star Wars saga isn't just coming to television this fall --...

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Foreign Titles

  • Star Wars - Episode II - Attack of the Clones (UK)
  • Star Wars : Episode II - L'Attaque des clones (FR)
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