Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones

• 1. Development And Production History

  ›

  George Lucas began writing the script for Attack of the Clones in March 2000, just three months before principal photography started. He completed a rough draft by June 2000 and brought on Jonathan Hales to help with the third draft that became the shooting script. The final script was finished only three days before filming commenced. Principal photography ran from the 26th of June 2000, to the 20th of September 2000, at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney. Additional location shoots took place in Tunisia, Italy, Spain, China, London, Vancouver, and San Diego. Reshoots occurred in March 2001 when Lucas decided the film lacked pace and added a new action sequence set in a droid factory. That sequence's previsualization was rushed, and live-action footage was shot within four and a half hours. Ewan McGregor had to trim his hair and shave his beard for another role, so he wore a hairpiece and fake beard during post-production.

  128

• 2. Visual Effects And Digital Innovation

  ›

  Attack of the Clones used over 2,000 visual effects shots and relied almost entirely on digital animatics instead of traditional storyboards. Ben Burtt created videomatics using household videocameras where production assistants acted out scenes against greenscreen. These rough versions were later replaced with computer-generated backgrounds and props to create animatics shown to actors on set. The film introduced a completely CGI version of Yoda developed by Rob Coleman and John Knoll. Frank Oz consulted on the animation, advising that Yoda should look old, sore, and frigid to match the puppet from earlier films. Christopher Lee, who played Count Dooku, used a stunt double for demanding fight scenes while his face was superimposed onto the double's body except in close-ups. The movie also pioneered the use of HDW-F900 cameras developed by Sony and Panavision, making it one of the first feature films shot entirely on a high-definition digital 24-frame system. This technology allowed filming without complications even in extreme heat conditions that plagued previous shoots.

  333435

• 3. Cast Selection And Character Portrayal

  ›

  A large search for an actor to play Anakin Skywalker involved many established names including Jonathan Brandis, Chris Klein, Devon Sawa, Charlie Hunnam, Topher Grace, Nick Swardson, Rob McElhenney, Eric Christian Olsen, Joshua Jackson, Erik von Detten, James Van Der Beek, Ryan Phillippe, Colin Hanks, Paul Walker, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Hayden Christensen won the role after auditioning as an unknown actor. Natalie Portman later told Time magazine that Christensen gave a great reading because he could be scary and young simultaneously. Samuel L. Jackson requested that his character Mace Windu have a purple lightsaber instead of blue or green. Ian McDiarmid portrayed both Senator Palpatine and Darth Sidious. Temuera Morrison played Jango Fett while Daniel Logan portrayed his clone son Boba Fett. Leeanna Walsman appeared as Zam Wesell, a shapeshifting bounty hunter. Jack Thompson, Joel Edgerton, and Bonnie Piesse joined the cast as members of the Lars family. David Duchovny turned down an undisclosed role to star in Evolution (2001). Ray Winstone was dismissed from an audition for Padmé's father after arriving drunk.

  235810

• 4. Commercial Performance And Box Office Records

  ›

  Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 62% approval rating based on 322 reviews with critics noting thrilling action but ponderous plot points and underdeveloped characters. Metacritic awarded it a weighted average score of 54 out of 100 indicating mixed or average reviews. Roger Ebert gave only two stars saying he had not heard one line of quotable dialogue. Jeffrey Westhoff scored it two out of four calling Yoda's battle ludicrous like Kermit the Frog in a Matrix fight scene. Steven Rea rated it two-and-a-half out of four claiming minds would glaze over faster than dough in a Krispy Kreme plant. The Academy nominated Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll, and Ben Snow for Best Visual Effects at the 2003 ceremony. Natalie Portman won Teen Choice Awards while the film took home Best Fight at MTV Movie Awards. Conversely, the Golden Raspberry Awards nominated it for seven categories including Worst Picture and Worst Director. It won two Razzies: Worst Screenplay for George Lucas and

  929394100

• 5. Critical Reception And Awards Controversy

  ›

  Worst Supporting Actor for Hayden Christensen.

  Cartoonist ND Stevenson cited Zam Wesell as the character that sparked his love of shapeshifters leading to homages in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Scholars have analyzed Jocasta Nu as an example of an archivist who mediates power through archives according to Eric Ketelaar. Randall C. Jimerson argued the film presents a more confident view of archivists despite archival sabotage. Anna Lancashire described the movie as turning previous films into epic commentaries on American politics and economics driven by greed and fear. Timothy P. Chartier suggested using the film in classrooms for topics like linear algebra and calculus. Bradley Schauer called it a unified classical text with different meanings for general and specialized audiences. Two novels based on the film were published by Scholastic and Dark Horse Comics released a four-issue comic adaptation written by Henry Gilroy. The soundtrack included John Williams' recreation of The Imperial March for its first chronological appearance in Attack of the Clones.

  8384868788