12 Films At Christmas - 7 & 8

Overcoming my scepticism I resumed the Starwarsathon by going back to the prequels.

The Phantom Menace remains a biggish disappointment. Woeful dialogue, clumsy, unfunny comedy and the dire Jar Jar Binks. However it is just about bearable for the integrity of the extended yarn. I can see why Ewan McGregor would have essayed his best Alec Guinness accent but I'm afraid it becomes tiresome and doesn't fit the lines he is given. The wisdom of the later episodes is sacrificed for some ill-advised and ineffective wise-cracking. The effort to perfect the Guinness mannerisms is wasted when George Lucas seems this time to be writing for a different character. 4.5/10.

Attack of the Clones is considerably better though still sketchily scripted. There are ample occasions where less would be more (though I will grant that this was also true of the original Star Wars - the sheer then unaccustomed pace of that film blinding us to the defect) and other times where more explication would help. The descent of Anakin to evil is rather clunkily signalled and his love affair with Padme can be excruciating, though this last is often true of love in films aimed at children (boys?) of ages various. I concede this element is vital to the fable but regrettably the principal lovers lack chemistry - cf Ford and Fisher in The Empire Strikes Back, both better actors of course. 6/10.