Wilmington and Ebert on "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones"

Anakin matter-of-factly describing what he did to a group of freebooters was the part that most transfixed me.

Yes, good acting during the whole Tusken Raiders episode. But I found Anakin most convincing when he made his speech on his mother's grave. You knew then he'd crossed over to the dark side and there was no going back. Too bad Lucas had him be so rude and disrespectful towards Obi-Wan. Maybe that's why it was impossible for Obi Wan to be charismatic. Difficult to look good when a brat treats you like dirt in front of everybody...

The fights were awesome and the CGI so good you could actually feel the textures.
But can someone tell me why at the end the 2 (very unconvincing) lovers stay side by side without holding each other? I found that scene very odd.

But can someone tell me why at the end the 2 (very unconvincing) lovers stay side by side without holding each other? I found that scene very odd.

Ack, missed that final scene to take my middle boy to the bathroom (I expect I'll be seeing this several times anyway) but I actually liked the way the actors/director built the relationship between the two and this side-by-side bit doesn't surprise me. There's a certain reluctance about their intimacy. She only finally gives in to her confession of love when she thinks they're about to die. I don't know if she had thought much about what living with Anakin would be like.

Notice that she's got a headstrong/rebellious side as well? Her guard refers to it early, and I really like that just when Anakin was going to try to redeem himself after the Tuskan slaughter by obeying Windu and staying on Tatooine, she decides to rocket off and rescue Obi-Wan. The LAST thing he needed at that point was a return to rebelliousness.

Actually liked how he vaccilated between a full-of-himself protegy and a kid student. In the droid factory, you see the kid pop out again when he says Obi-Wan's going to mad at him for getting his lightsaber destroyed again.

Glowing "thumbs up" from a family of Star Wars lovers.

There's a certain reluctance about their intimacy

Yes. I understand that and they made it more than clear, but that last scene takes place AFTER they surrendered to their feelings and got married. And their stiffness and distance in that scene really bothered me.

But as I said, AOTC is definitely worth seeing. I ended up having a much better time than I expected, and it was well worth the admission price.

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