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CNN Sunday Morning

Review of 'Star Wars, Episode II'

Aired May 12, 2002 - 11:48   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN ANCHOR: Some fans will get a chance to see the new "Star Wars" movie before it hits theaters nationwide on Thursday. "Episode Two: Attack of the Clones" will debut in select cities today, including in New York and Los Angeles. Each premiere is a fund raiser for a different children's charity.

But cnn.com's Paul Clinton has already seen the film. He joins us from Los Angeles with his review.

Now, Paul, I've seen people here in Washington already out waiting for the Thursday opening. They've already been on line for two days. I don't know how you managed to get in, but give us your take on "Episode Two."

PAUL CLINTON, CNN.COM: Well, two days, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), they're wimps. Out here in L.A., they've been out here for months and months, encamped -- camping on Hollywood Boulevard. It's amazing.

I saw it, yes, I saw it at a special screening, and I really, really, really liked it. I did not like "Episode One" that much, it -- but it did have -- there was kind of so much stuff, it (UNINTELLIGIBLE) three, had to set up the following three. So it was setting up six different movies. So there was so much exposition in part one that it really kind of crawled along.

Now, this one, there's action in the first five minutes. You have a couple of good subplots going on. There's a good love story happening between Hayden Christian and Natalie Portman, and it's very believable, and Hayden Christian's a very good actor. And that helps a lot. Jake Lloyd, the young little kid in part one, he was just too young to identify with.

You've got some good love scenes. Natalie Portman, as you can see right there, is out of the Kabuki makeup and those horrible, you know, costumes. She looks like she's dressed now like Donna Karan via Britney Spears or something. She's looking very good. And the love story really works.

The only problem I had with the whole thing was Ewan McGregor, who I think is a wonderful actor. He is playing Obi-wan Kenobi. And so he has to kind of dovetail his performance into Alec Guinness, who plays that role in the future "Star Wars." And he's developing a very kind of phony, high-toned British accent and carrying himself differently. And you can see he's trying to be Alec Guinness, and for me it was distracting.

Everything else I really did like. The pacing is good, the love story works. Lucas is doing a lot of foreshadowing, and for those people out there that are, you know, really into "Star Wars," they're getting a lot of information about why things were like they were in the last two episodes. You're seeing the beginning of the Clone War. You're finding out some of the ancestry of a lot of the secondary characters.

It's a very good movie, it's achieved what I think the first three did in terms of really being involving and making you care about the characters.

KARL: So is this comparable to the classics of the first three? I mean, obviously "Episode One" didn't even approach bringing in the kind of new people to "Star Wars" that those movies did. Is this -- I mean, is this in the league of "Empire Strikes Back"?

CLINTON: It really is. I mean, here in Los Angeles last night on a local station they had the original "Star Wars" playing, and I watched it last night. And it was interesting to see that, and now -- and to reflect back on part one and two. And two really does get into the action. There's action within the first five minutes of this one. Part one was like a National Geographic travel special with all these big matte shots, and it went on forever before anything happened.

But again, they had a lot of story to build and get out there to support all six, not just three, but all six movies.

KARL: Now, does Jar-Jar Binks make a return to this prequel?

CLINTON: Jar-Jar Binks is there, and he is not only there, Jar- Jar Binks is a senator, and he's a general. It's the Peter Principle, he is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) upward. I don't know why. But he is blessedly short in this. You don't see him, he's got two or three scenes, and that's it. But it is -- he's back.

KARL: He looks like some senators I've seen up on Capitol Hill. I mean, there's the big floppy ears...

CLINTON: Sure, yes.

KARL: Yes.

CLINTON: And weird accent.

KARL: Great stuff. Now, I know we're just getting here to "Episode Two," it hasn't even been released yet, but is there any buzz about "Episode Three"?

CLINTON: Well, "Episode Three," they started working on "Episode Three" supposedly pre-preproduction, on April 25, and it is going to be -- there's a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) production on that in, I think, June 2003 in Australia. So it's all in his head, everything's always been in his head from the beginning, and there's, you know, three is, well, on its way, probably another two years. KARL: All right, and then last question, I'm wondering, we had -- we've seen all these people waiting on line already for this, and it doesn't open until Thursday. And there's going to be -- I imagine this may well break some records in terms of opening day. What's the economic effect of all these people not going to work and instead catching the 8:30 in the morning showing of this movie?

CLINTON: Well, I -- there -- we will have seen -- we will see a national flu next Thursday. There will be a lot of people that suddenly just don't feel well, and will be going to his movie. I'm sure that there will be some kind of little economic backlash with all those people out of work. But it's just a case of trickle-down economy, it's all just trickling down to George Lucas.

KARL: Yes. All right, well, we'll see, we'll have get Alan Greenspan's take on all this.

Thanks a lot, Paul, take care.

CLINTON: OK.

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