Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones  (2002) *** 1/2 Pg-13
140 min. 20th Century Fox. Director: George Lucas. Cast: Ewan
McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid,
Pernilla August.  George Lucas' new batch of Star Wars movies
defies most reasonable critical standards. With corny dialogue,
sleepwalk acting, and eyebrow-raising plot machinations, the
baroque Star Wars: Episode II— Attack of the Clones may make
some long for the relative quaintness of Episode I—1999's The
Phantom Menace. And yet, it's impossible (as with the dazzling
but inevitably disappointing Episode I) to dismiss a film with
this much stuff: exotic production design, imaginative
characters, and a wide variety of digital jedi fu. So is Star
Wars: Episode II— Attack of the Clones a good movie or a bad
movie? A bomb, a masterwork, or something in between? For most,
it's enough to say, "C'mon, dude. It's a freakin' Star Wars
movie!"  The story, such as it is--it is, after all, the middle
part of a trilogy-- observes Anak