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"STAR WARS: EPISODE II - ATTACK OF THE CLONES" (2002) (Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman) (PG) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Minor Mild Extreme *Moderate Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild None Extreme None None Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Mild *None Moderate Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Sci-fi: Jedi knights attempt to protect a senator and find her assailants all while dealing with the unrest that continues to grow in the Republic. PLOT: In this sequel to "Star Wars: Episode 1: The Phantom Menace," it's now ten years later and unrest continues to build in the Republic as a separatist movement is gaining strength and supporters. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (IAN McDIARMID) is concerned but resolved not to fail, even if the combined numbers and force of the Jedi knights continues to wane. Things heat up when an assassination attempt is made on Padmé Amidala (NATALIE PORTMAN), the former queen of Naboo and current senator who's arrived to cast an important vote. Concerned about her safety, Palpatine assigns Jedi knight Obi-Wan Kenobi (EWAN McGREGOR) and his young apprentice, Anakin Skywalker (HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN) to protect her. After another attempt on her life, however, Anakin accompanies her back to her home planet while Obi-Wan sets out to discover who's behind the plot to kill her. That leads him to a distant, watery planet where he discovers a race of beings that are creating an army of clones reportedly ordered by a former Jedi to be used to defend the Republic. After a violent encounter with bounty hunter Jango Fett (TEMUERA MORRISON) - who was the original host donor for the clones - Obi-Wan reports his findings back to the council including Mace Windu (SAMUEL L. JACKSON) and Jedi master Yoda (FRANK OZ). Meanwhile, Anakin is filled with all sorts of angst and emotional turmoil - anger towards Obi-Wan for supposedly holding him back, troubling dreams about his mother, Shmi Skywalker (PERNILLA AUGUST), back on his home planet of Tatooine, and a strong romantic attraction toward Padmé who feels the same for him but isn't certain they should pursue a relationship. They eventually end up on several rescue missions - one to save his mother and the other to rescue Obi-Wan who followed Jango to another planet but is now the prisoner of renegade Jedi knight Count Dooku (CHRISTOPHER LEE) who's gone over to the dark side. With the aid of C-3PO (ANTHONY DANIELS) and R2-D2 (KENNY BAKER), they attempt their rescue and end up in a battle not only for their lives, but also the future of the Republic. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Unless they're very young or have expressed no interest in the previous "Star Wars" films, the answer is a definite yes. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG For sustained sequences of sci-fi action/violence. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: EWAN McGREGOR plays a Jedi knight who tries to educate Anakin about the Jedi ways, all while searching for the sources of attacks on Padmé and general unrest and discord in the Republic. NATALIE PORTMAN plays the former Queen of Naboo and current senator who's sent into hiding under the protection of Anakin. Despite her better judgment, she starts to fall for him. HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN plays a young Jedi knight who's filled with teen angst and anger. He falls for Padmé, takes various risks (but proves his courage) and kills those responsible for his mother's abduction and death (including women and children). IAN McDIARMID plays the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic who must deal with the unrest and discord. SAMUEL L. JACKSON plays a Jedi knight who works with Yoda in trying to figure out how to save the Republic. YODA is the wise Jedi master who tries to maintain peace and stability in the Republic. CHRISTOPHER LEE plays the renegade Jedi master who's gone over to the dark side and works to undermine and overthrow the Republic. TEMUERA MORRISON plays a bounty hunter whose allegiances aren't exactly known, but who tries to kill Obi-Wan. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this sci-fi film that's been rated PG. Violence is listed as extreme due to the sheer abundance of it, although most of it's not graphic and most of those injured or killed are not human. Even so, several human characters are decapitated and another has his arm cut off (none include any blood or gore although we do see the severed helmeted head in one), while some die as a result of explosions, another from a fall, and many attempts are made on various characters' lives. Many other robots, monsters and creatures are killed by various sci-fi means. Some of those scenes and others may be unsettling, suspenseful or downright scary to some younger viewers, but that depends on their age, level of maturity and tolerance of and/or previous exposure to such material. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, and a few drink what's presumably alcohol. Some tense family material is present (a young man's mother dies in his arms) and a young woman wears some somewhat revealing attire in several scenes, while some young people briefly engage in some kissing. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with flashes of light on the screen, some of that occurs during a light saber battle near the end of the film. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Various characters drink what's presumably some form of alcohol in a bar/club, including Obi-Wan (who turns down an offer from an alien to buy some "death sticks" from him, but what's being offered is never exactly defined). BLOOD/GORE We see one person who has a tiny bit of blood from her mouth and some bloody scrapes on her head following an explosion. Anakin's mother has some dried bloody cuts on her face. A monster swipes at Padmé and leaves several bloody cuts on her back. Several characters are decapitated and another has his arm cut off, but none are bloody or gory (although the severed helmeted head is seen away from the body). DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Those attempting to assassinate Padmé obviously have extreme cases of both, as do Jango, Dooku and others trying to overthrow the Republic. Anakin has something of a typical angry and bitter teenage attitude toward Obi-Wan and life in general. Some viewers may be offended by Jar Jar Binks being drawn in something of a Stepin Fetchit fashion. Those who abducted and then held Anakin's mother have both types of attitudes, while Anakin reportedly kills women and children related to them, but not directly involved in any wrongdoing to his mother. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed here and under "Violence" may also be unsettling, tense or suspenseful to some viewers (particularly younger ones), but not to others. A probe cuts a hole in the "wall" of a "bedroom" and unleashes two large and apparently quite deadly centipede-like creatures that scamper across the floor and onto the bed where Padmé is sleeping (those who don't like creepy-crawly bugs - particularly oversized ones - will probably find the scene unsettling). Obi-Wan jumps through a hole in the wall, grabs a small flying probe and then holds onto it as it flies through the city (with him dangling above at least several hundred feet of open air). This goes on for several minutes as Anakin then flies after and tries to rescue him as the probe darts through traffic. A villain then fires a shot that destroys the probe and sends Obi-Wan rapidly falling through the air (Anakin saves him). The two then race through oncoming traffic and then dive straight down as they try to catch the villain. Anakin then leaps from his ship and falls a great distance before landing on the villain's ship. The villain tries to shake him off at high speed and then shoots at him with a laser gun. Anakin drives his light saber down into the cockpit and then struggles with the villain who fires another shot that damages the ship's controls. Anakin then falls off just before the ship crashes onto the street (the villain gets out and runs away). We see a character approaching Obi-Wan in a bar/club with a laser gun pointed at him. Obi-Wan then suddenly spins around and disarms the would-be assailant (knocking the weapon aside and/or possibly cutting off their hand/arm). Anakin is thrown from some sort of large animal he's riding and appears to be hurt, but we then see that he's just playing around. Jango fires laser shots at Obi-Wan who blocks/deflects them with his light saber. After flying up into the air, he continues to fire laser shots as well as a small missile of some sort that explodes near Obi-Wan and knocks him backwards. Jango's son then fires shots at the Jedi from a parked spaceship. Obi-Wan then kicks Jango and then does so again in the face. Some hand to hand fighting ensues followed by Jango head-butting Obi-Wan. He then shoots some sort of wire around Obi-Wan and yanks him along the platform until the Jedi wraps that wire around a pole and sends Jango falling to the platform and causes his rocket pack to explode. He then fires a shot at Obi-Wan and both slide down a slope toward the rain-slick edge of the platform (above a raging sea) with Obi-Wan then dangling by the wire. Jango cuts that wire and sends Obi-Wan free-falling toward the ocean (but he saves himself). Realizing that Obi-Wan is following him through outer space, Jango flies through an asteroid field and then lets out some seismic charges that explode and fracture the asteroids into smaller pieces that Obi-Wan must avoid. Jango then ends up behind Obi-Wan's ship and fires many laser blasts at him (blowing up asteroids and partially damaging Obi-Wan's ship). He then fires missiles that close in on Obi-Wan and destroy some spare part canisters that Obi-Wan jettisoned. In retaliation for his mother's death at their hands, Anakin kills her abductors and others. We see him kill three (decapitating two of them but with no gore or blood) and hear that he killed more (including women and children). Anakin strikes out at various flying creatures that are attacking him and seemingly dismembers some of them and cuts another in half with his light saber. They end up on a large assembly line conveyor belt where a large stamping press smashes a creature, while another fires at Anakin and he slices another in half (no gore for any of them). Padmé then runs down the conveyor belt, trying to avoid the many stamping presses and cutting blades that she must duck and run under, while Anakin kills more of these creatures. R2D2 then bumps C3PO who falls onto the conveyor belt (where his head is knocked off and replaced with a different robot head but his severed head still talks, as does his body but with another voice). Meanwhile, Padmé is knocked into a large vat from which she cannot escape and that's in line to be filled with some sort of molten ore. The flying creatures fire some sort of energy charges at Anakin who then uses the Force to maneuver heavy machinery to knock these creatures aside. Anakin's arm then ends up trapped under a contraption on the conveyor belt as he and it move closer to various chopping blades that seem poised to sever his arm (but only his light saber is cut in half). Anakin, Padmé and Obi-Wan end up chained to separate, tall columns in a gladiator type coliseum where three distinct and quite large monsters (that will easily frighten younger kids by their menacing and monstrous appearances) are herded toward them. One of the creatures kills a guard (biting down onto half his body) while others guards use long pole-like devices to shock the creatures and keep them moving forward. The large crab-like creature repeatedly tries to strike Obi-Wan with its large and pointy legs, but ends up cutting his chain, freeing him. Anakin ends up on top of his monster and then pulled along by it, while the other monster scrapes Padmé's back (cutting through her top and skin with some bloody results) as she tries to elude it as it climbs up the column upon which she's now standing (after she used her chains to hit the creature). She then kicks the creature, sending it falling to the ground where it's temporarily dazed. Meanwhile, a falling column nearly crushes Obi-Wan as his monster keeps trying to kill him. He then grabs a spear/pole and throws a guard off (the creature then kills the guard by impaling him with its sharp claw/leg). He then throws it into the creature (but it just pulls it out), while Anakin has his creature trample and kill the monster after Padmé. A battle scene near the end of the film -- which includes many Jedi knights battling many droids who are attacking and firing upon them - may be tense or suspenseful to some younger viewers. Mace decapitates a human on the other side (we his helmeted head fall to the ground without any blood/gore), while Obi-Wan cuts off some of the huge crab-like creature's legs and then stabs down into its body with his light saber, killing it. During a chase sequence, a laser blast hits one of the pursing ships and Padmé falls out onto the sand below (but is okay), while others get out of their ship just before it's hit and destroyed. Dooku blasts Anakin with some sort of energy/electrical charges from his hands, knocking him backwards and temporarily stunning him. Dooku and Obi-Wan then get into a light saber duel after the former tries to hit the later with the same sort of energy. During that, Dooku strikes Obi-Wan on the arm and leg, and then goes in for the kill, but Anakin stops him. The two of them then get into a light saber duel (Anakin holds two against Dooku's one). A person's arm is cut off by a light saber (but without any blood or gore). Dooku uses the force to throw large items at Yoda (or have them fall toward him) but he uses the force to block them/push them aside. The two of them then get into a light saber duel. Dooku causes a huge object to fall toward Anakin and Obi-Wan, and Yoda must use all of the force to stop and catch it before it hits them. GUNS/WEAPONS Explosives/Laser guns/Light sabers/Large ships/Poisonous darts/Missiles: Used to threaten, wound or kill others. See "Violence" for details. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: An incomplete "What the...?" "What in the blazes is he doing there?" and "Idiot." Some kids might be inclined to imitate all of the fighting and "sword play" that appears in the film. Once in hiding on her home planet, Padmé wears various outfits that are somewhat revealing. One shows her bare back and shoulders, another is cut low up top and shows the tops of her breasts, and a third is formfitting and accentuates her bosom (and later is ripped at the bottom to reveal her bare midriff). JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of suspenseful and action-oriented music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY None. SEX/NUDITY We see a few scantily clad women in a club. Once in hiding on her home planet, Padmé wears various outfits that are somewhat revealing. One shows her bare back and shoulders, another is cut low up top and shows the tops of her breasts, and a third is formfitting and accentuates her bosom (and later is ripped at the bottom to reveal her bare midriff). Anakin and Padmé briefly kiss. Later, they playfully roll around on the ground (over and over) until she's eventually straddling him (but nothing else happens). SMOKING None, but Obi-Wan turns down an offer from an alien to buy some "death sticks" from him (but what's being offered is never exactly defined). TENSE FAMILY SCENES Anakin is told that his mother (whom he's had nightmares about) is dead, but he finds her alive (although she dies moments later in his arms). A brief funeral scene follows and Anakin is upset about her death. A boy sees his father be killed in a battle. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Anakin's teenage-like angst and anger, his killing everyone associated with his mother's death (including women and children, but we only see the initial deaths of men), and his feelings toward Padmé. The Force, what it's all about, and the Jedi knights who live and die by it. VIOLENCE A huge explosion blows up part of a transport ship, knocking some people aside and presumably killing others (we see one person who has a tiny bit of blood from her mouth and some bloody scrapes on her head as she then dies). A probe unleashes two large and deadly centipede-like creatures into Padmé's room to kill her. Anakin races in, however, and uses his light saber to cut the creatures in half, killing them. A villain shoots a laser blast at a probe and damages or destroys it, sending Obi-Wan falling hundreds of feet through the air. Moments later and during a chase, the villain fires something that causes an electrical/energy disturbance that briefly affects Obi-Wan and Anakin's ship. Anakin then leaps from his ship and falls a great distance before landing on the villain's ship. The villain tries to shake him off at high speed and then shoots at him with a laser gun. Anakin drives his light saber down into the cockpit and then struggles with the villain who fires another shot that damages the ship's controls. Anakin then falls off just before the ship crashes onto the street (the villain gets out and runs away). We see a character approaching Obi-Wan in a bar/club with a laser gun pointed at him. Obi-Wan then suddenly spins around and disarms the would-be assailant (knocking the weapon aside and/or possibly cutting off their hand/arm). Jango shoots a poisonous dart into an accomplice to kill her (nothing graphic) before she can spill the beans to Obi-Wan. Anakin is thrown from some sort of large animal he's riding and appears to be hurt, but we then see that he's just playing around. Jango fires laser shots at Obi-Wan who blocks/deflects them with his light saber. After flying up into the air, he continues to fire laser shots as well as a small missile of some sort that explodes near Obi-Wan and knocks him backwards. Jango's son then fires shots at the Jedi from a parked spaceship. Obi-Wan then kicks Jango and then does so again in the face. Some hand to hand fighting ensues followed by Jango head-butting Obi-Wan. He then shoots some sort of wire around Obi-Wan and yanks him along the platform until the Jedi wraps that wire around a pole and sends Jango falling to the platform and causes his rocket pack to explode. He then fires a shot at Obi-Wan and both slide down a slope toward the rain-slick edge of the platform (above a raging sea) with Obi-Wan then dangling by the wire. Jango cuts that wire and sends Obi-Wan free-falling toward the ocean (but he saves himself). Realizing that Obi-Wan is following him through outer space, Jango flies through an asteroid field and then lets out some seismic charges that explode and fracture the asteroids into smaller pieces that Obi-Wan must avoid. Jango then ends up behind Obi-Wan's ship and fires many laser blasts at him (blowing up asteroids and partially damaging Obi-Wan's ship). He then fires missiles that close in on Obi-Wan and destroy some spare part canisters that Obi-Wan jettisoned. In retaliation for his mother's death at their hands, Anakin kills her abductors and others. We see him kill three (decapitating two of them but with no gore or blood) and hear that he killed more (including women and children). We see some recorded footage of some large robotic creature shooting laser blasts at Obi-Wan. We see that Dooku has Obi-Wan imprisoned in some sort of energy field/beam that has him suspended in the air. Anakin strikes out at various flying creatures that are attacking him and seemingly dismembers some of them and cuts another in half with his light saber. They end up on a large assembly line conveyor belt where a large stamping press smashes a creature, while another fires at Anakin and he slices another in half (no gore for any of them). Padmé then runs down the conveyor belt, trying to avoid the many stamping presses and cutting blades that she must duck and run under, while Anakin kills more of these creatures. R2D2 then bumps C3PO who falls onto the conveyor belt (where his head is knocked off and replaced with a different robot head but his severed head still talks, as does his body but with another voice). Meanwhile, Padmé is knocked into a large vat from which she cannot escape and that's in line to be filled with some sort of molten ore. The flying creatures fire some sort of energy charges at Anakin who then uses the Force to maneuver heavy machinery to knock these creatures aside. Anakin's arm then ends up trapped under a contraption on the conveyor belt as he and it move closer to various chopping blades that seem poised to sever his arm (but only his light saber is cut in half). Anakin, Padmé and Obi-Wan end up chained to separate, tall columns in a gladiator type coliseum where three distinct and quite large monsters (that will easily frighten younger kids by their menacing and monstrous appearances) are herded toward them. One of the creatures kills a guard (biting down onto half his body) while others guards use long pole-like devices to shock the creatures and keep them moving forward. The large crab-like creature repeatedly tries to strike Obi-Wan with its large and pointy legs, but ends up cutting his chain, freeing him. Anakin ends up on top of his monster and then pulled along by it, while the other monster scrapes Padmé's back (cutting through her top and skin with some bloody results) as she tries to elude it as it climbs up the column upon which she's now standing (after she used her chains to hit the creature). She then kicks the creature, sending it falling to the ground where it's temporarily dazed. Meanwhile, a falling column nearly crushes Obi-Wan as his monster keeps trying to kill him. He then grabs a spear/pole and throws a guard off (the creature then kills the guard by impaling him with its sharp claw/leg). He then throws it into the creature (but it just pulls it out), while Anakin has his creature trample and kill the monster after Padmé. Various droids fire upon Mace who deflects the laser blasts with his light saber and that then expands to include many Jedi knights battling many droids who are attacking and firing upon them. A large-scale battle then breaks out, with the Jedi striking many of the robotic droids with their light sabers while all sorts of laser shots are fired and explosions erupt. A Jedi falls from a height when Jango shoots and presumably kills him. One of the large monsters then runs over Jango (seemingly trampling him), but he then shoots and kills the creature when it turns to make another run at him. Mace decapitates a human on the other side (we his helmeted head fall to the ground without any blood/gore), while Obi-Wan cuts off some of the huge crab-like creature's legs and then stabs down into its body with his light saber, killing it. Various ships and clones show up and blast many of the enemy robots and escaping ships with laser fire (causing one of the latter to crash and explode). During this, the above battle continues to rage on with more laser blasts and explosions. During a chase sequence, a laser blast hits one of the pursing ships and Padmé falls out onto the sand below (but is okay), while others get out of their ship just before it's hit and destroyed. Dooku blasts Anakin with some sort of energy/electrical charges from his hands, knocking him backwards and temporarily stunning him. Dooku and Obi-Wan then get into a light saber duel after the former tries to hit the later with the same sort of energy. During that, Dooku strikes Obi-Wan on the arm and leg, and then goes in for the kill, but Anakin stops him. The two of them then get into a light saber duel (Anakin holds two against Dooku's one). A person's arm is cut off by a light saber (but without any blood or gore). Dooku uses the force to throw large items at Yoda (or have them fall toward him) but he uses the force to block them/push them aside. The two of them then get into a light saber duel. Dooku causes a huge object to fall toward Anakin and Obi-Wan, and Yoda must use all of the force to stop and catch it before it hits them. Reviewed May 7, 2002 / Posted May 16, 2002