- Accidental Innuendo: Padmé: "My goodness, you've grown!" "So have you", says Anakin, his eyes fixed squarely on Padmé's chest. May or may not be intentional, considering Anakin's age and sheltered lifestyle, as well as his heightnote ; when you're that much taller than her, eyes and cleavage end up a lot closer together.
- Alternative Character Interpretation:
- Anakin's
- Regarding Anakin and Padmé's relationship:
- While the narrative makes it clear that mind tricks won't work on strong-willed individuals like Padmé, a very common interpretation was that Anakin was (un)intentionally using the Force to manipulate Padmé's emotions, causing her to fall in love with him. This isn't a claim exactly without reason; it's not like we haven't seen that even more well-balanced Jedi (like Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan) will casually use their power to mess with people's minds in order to get what they want.
- Some in the fandom have argued that Anakin's relationship with Padmé was intended to be interpreted as a toxic and unhealthy obsession from the get go over a genuine romance, and actually intended to justify the "no attachments rule". What is unclear is whether or not Lucas intended to imply this interpretation, or whether he was genuinely trying to write them as a romantic couple, albeit one that inevitably took on a toxic/unhealthy dimension given what will become of Anakin (Word of God has stated the intention was for them to be modeled after the Courtly Love type of romance) but that somehow fell through.
- A very common interpretation was that the often criticized awkwardness between the two is reflective of how incredibly sheltered Anakin and Padmé's lives really are. Neither of them has had any real relationship experience before - aside from Padmé's brief summer fling when she was about twelve (and another summer fling
in the weeks before she became Queen in Legends canon) - and thus, they would have no real clue what they're doing. This would also explain how they never really looked past the hormonal fog and shared history to realize that they weren't really emotionally and mentally ready for a long-term relationship, never mind marriage. - In general, do the Jedi try to keep themselves from feeling and believe they ought to be Straw Vulcans? Or do they simply believe that passion should be controlled and managed, but not ignored entirely, with Anakin just (intentionally?) misunderstanding it, while the no attachment rule makes a lot of sense for a group who are required to put the good of many over one individual? The most common interpretation, which was canon in Star Wars Legends,c.f. is that it was supposed to be the latter, but became the former due to the Jedi Order succumbing to complacency and dogmatism since the end of the last Sith War.
- Cleolinda Jones, in her fifteen minute spoof of the film,
posits the entertaining — if tongue-firmly-in-cheek — theory that Padmé actually died during the chase on Geonosis from falling off a speeding airship onto the very hard sand below, became a zombie and therefore was now dumb enough to think marrying Anakin was a good idea. - On a different note, does Dooku actually miss Qui-Gon, or is he simply pretending to be sincere? On the one hand, Dooku did leave the Order very shortly after Qui-Gon was killed, and the few EU works that show Qui-Gon's apprenticeship imply that he did care about his Padawan in his own way. As the Fridge page points out, he misses multiple opportunities to kill the Jedi even when he has the chance. On the other hand, Dooku does ally with the man who ordered Qui-Gon's execution and goes on to attempt to destroy the Republic, performing lots of terrible acts throughout the Clone Wars. Did he regard allying with Sidious as a necessary evil? Did he at first miss Qui-Gon but then become corrupted by the Dark Side? Did he never truly care at all? All of these interpretations are valid.note
- Are at least some of the senators who support giving Palpatine emergency powers being subtly influenced by Darth Sidious's Force persuasion and/or only cheering support for the plan because they were bribed beforehand, bringing new meaning to Dooku's claim a Sith is influencing the Senate? This can also carry over to the sequel and the widespread approval the Senate gives Palpatine when he makes himself Emperor.
- On Padmé Amidala's senatorial career, especially with regards to the Military Creation Act. Is she really a last, failed hope to avert the Clone Wars? Or is she just a "useful idiot" for Palpatine: an Obstructionist Pacifist and Broken-System Dogmatist whose only purpose is to keep the Senate from reauthorizing a federal military too early, before Palpatine has all the chess pieces in place? In particular, had the MCA passed a year earlier when it was first introduced, the Slave Mooks he contracted for from the Kaminoans would not have been ready, forcing the Republic to go with a legally obtained army that would have been much less reliable when it came time to purge the Jedi.
- Was Dooku really trying to kill Padmé just to do Gunray a favor? Or did Sidious also back it to drive Anakin to the Dark Side by killing her, push through the Military Creation Act she opposed, harden her more pacifistic political allies like Bail and Mon against the Separatists, or deliberately leave a trail for the Jedi to follow and learn about the Clone Army and confront the Separatists on Geonosis? None of these options are mutually exclusive. And was Jango engaging in simple Complexity Addiction with his assassination methods or was he following strict orders from Dooku to leave a trail that the Jedi could follow (and if so, did he know why or not)?
- Dooku telling Obi-Wan about Sidious. Was it a plan from Sidious to undermine the trust between the Jedi and the Senate/Republic? Or was it Dooku reaching out to his apprentice’s apprentice to get an ally to aid in his eventual destruction of Sidious?
- Award Snub: John Williams' score went without a nomination at the Academy Awards.
- Broken Base: Shares a page with the rest of the franchise.
- Complete Monster: See the franchise page here.
- Contested Sequel: Was Attack of the Clones better than, worse than, or about the same as The Phantom Menace. At the time the film came out, the early response was positive because it started with Anakin as a teenager, and it pivoted on the "Clone Wars", a setting that was subject to much speculation among fans in the lead-up to the prequels, so for some it seemed to address their issues for TPM targeting kids but then a backlash to the romance, Anakin being shown as too whiny (which for many was too "unmanly" for the future "badass" Darth Vader), as well as a backlash to simply using CGI on general principle, started to set in. Over time, this has mellowed however.
- Ending Fatigue: The film's climax tends to go on and on. First Anakin and Padmé go to Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan, get into a scrap in the droid factory, get captured and have to fight in an arena battle alongside Obi-Wan. Then the other Jedi show up and have a fight with battle droids. Then Yoda shows up with the Clone army and there's another massive battle while the heroes chase Dooku. And then there are three separate lightsaber duels involving Obi-Wan, Anakin, Yoda and Dooku, before the movie finally reaches its resolution. While there are certainly some good and exciting moments in the third act, considering the entire film is over two hours long (until The Last Jedi was released, it was the longest theatrical Star Wars film), one gets the sense some of the action could've been condensed to shorten the runtime.
- Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Lucas recognized Boba Fett's massive popularity with fans, so he retroactively gave the character a much more important role in the story and gave us Jango Fett, his father/clone who looks and dresses just like him but actually gets several awesome action scenes. The codification of Boba's backstory being so intrinsically linked to the Clone Wars era meant he'd appear in several stories in both continuities set during the era.
- Jango's shapeshifting Badass Driver bounty hunting partner Zam Wesell was also a popular character, despite her limited screentime, especially among Legends fans due to her Affably Evil and Even Evil Has Standards moments at her job and Parental Substitute moments toward Boba in various books, comics, and videogames.
- Among the Separatists, Wat Tambor is uniquely beloved for his funky retro-future design and distinctive voice. Befitting his popularity, he was given an expanded role in The Clone Wars and A Day in the Limelight in a Legends comic one-shot comic,as well as being the central antagonist of ''Star Wars The New Droid Army.
- Oliver Ford Davies as Sio Bibble and Silas Carson as Ki-Adi-Mundi and Nute Gunray all in due part to their performances. Mundi specifically was a darling of the Star Wars Republic comics.
- Kit Fisto was very popular among the Jedi featured in the Arena battle for his unique design and cheesy grin. Just like a significant amount of background characters in the Prequel Trilogy’s films, he received a fleshed out expanded role in the Clone Wars Multimedia Project, including several appearances in Republic, Clone Wars, and the games.
- Aayla Secura, thanks to being a sexy Twi'lek Jedi girl. In her case, it's a double whammy, since she'd first appeared in Dark Horse's Republic comics, before being incorporated into the film, which led to greater roles for her in the Expanded Universe, including Republic, Clone Wars, and various video games.
- Luminara Unduli and her apprentice, Barriss Offee, who are thoroughly background characters, appeared in several novels (including a prequel novel to the film); Barriss got an entire series to herself, Med Star, a mini arc in Clone Wars, and a larger and incredibly contradictory role in the similarly named The Clone Wars.
- Shaak Ti, first introduced in this film, would also go on to star in dozens of comics, games, and novels, going so far as to arguably be the tritagonist (alongside Anakin and Obi-Wan) of Star Wars: Clone Wars in from its second season finale to the end.
- Fanfic Fuel: The Kaminoans just being one group of cloners among many in the Galaxy and Lama Su saying that the army of Fett clones is one of the best he has ever made can create plenty of speculation about past cloning projects in the Galaxy Far, Far Away, especially the Disney Canon, which left most other established cloners in Schrödinger's Canon territory.
- Fan-Preferred Cut Content: Fans of Jango lament the three or four seconds cut from his duel with Mace
, in which he fought through a brutal onslaught on pure reflex before the killing stroke; in the final cut, the scene jumps straight from the loss of his blaster to the loss of his head. Fans of Mace are more divided on whether the extended cut emphasized or undermined their guy's presentation as a No-Nonsense Nemesis. Regardless, Dooku's shaken reaction to the clash perhaps speaks better to the extended cut's audience. - Fight Scene Failure: The duel between Obi-Wan and Count Dooku is pretty weak. Anakin does better than him (though he still loses) despite being only an apprentice. In fact, the reason he loses is because he stands still long enough for Dooku to do a fancy move that cuts his arm off when he could have easily countered him. Even Ewan McGregor said he thought the swordplay in this movie was unsatisfactory compared to Revenge of the Sith. It's technically justified; Obi-Wan had been fighting all day after all against both Jango Fett and dozens upon dozens of droids, not to mention the acklay, while Dooku is not only freshly rested, but his lightsaber style is more energy-efficient and suited for lightsaber combat than Obi-Wan's.Dooku: Master Kenobi, you disappoint me! Yoda holds you in such high esteem. Surely you can do better!
- Harsher in Hindsight:
- While chasing after Zam Wesell, Obi-Wan takes a crack at Anakin's lightsaber skills, remarking that he would be almost as great as Yoda if he practiced them more. Anakin retorts that he thought that he already was great at his saber techniques, only for Obi-Wan to tell him it's all in his head.
- “He’s a political idealist, not a murderer,” says Ki-Adi-Mundi, in response to Padme saying she thinks Count Dooku is behind the attempt on her life. And Mace Windu agrees: "He couldn't assassinate anyone. It's not in his character." Does that mean they never found Yaddle’s body? Because it would be pretty obvious that she was killed with a lightsaber.
- The shared look between Yoda and Mace when Obi-Wan delivers his report about Sifo-Dyas ordering the Clone Army becomes more significant when it's revealed that Sifo-Dyas had already advocated for an army and was rejected. The two masters are clearly dismayed that he not only took such radical action on his own but also disobeyed the Council in doing so.
- Heartwarming in Hindsight: The fact that Hayden Christensen managed to have a bit of fun
with the "sand hate" meme goes to show that he's doing well despite the prequel backlash, and is grateful for the later re-evaluation. God only knows how much crap he must have received over the years from prequel haters. - He's Just Hiding: Given the number of cool briefly seen or background Jedi during the battle scene and the confirmation that there were unseen survivors who escaped through the tunnels in both Canon and Legends, it’s nice imagining characters like the various background Jedi whose kicks and Dual Wielding stand out during Freeze Frame Bonuses and the duo who toss spare lightsabers to Obi-Wan and Anakin survive offscreen.
- Hilarious in Hindsight: See the franchise’s page.
- Improved Second Attempt: See the franchise page.
- Jerkass Woobie:
- Anakin. The poor guy loses both his arm and his mother, both happening within a week of each other.
- Boba Fett, considering that he watched his father get beheaded in the arena. Seeing him holding his father's helmet in the scene that follows is just heartbreaking.
- Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: Since the villains are kept offscreen for the majority of the movie, Anakin received the most scorn by fans of the Prequel era for accusing Obi-Wan of "holding him back" and giving Padmé creepy sex looks. He doesn't even get hated for killing an entire tribe of Tusken Raiders—he gets hated for throwing a tantrum about it. He's hated far less in Revenge of the Sith despite becoming Darth Vader in that film, simply because he doesn't whine as much.
- Just Here for Godzilla:
- When people speak of this movie's more positive aspects, it's pretty much a universal agreement that the best parts are the sections where Obi-Wan is playing space-detective.
- Yoda going crazy with a lightsaber — while fighting Christopher Lee, no less — is also such a bizarre moment that people had to see to believe.
- Speaking of whom, no matter how bad a lot of the acting is, Sir Christopher Lee is widely regarded as being one of the best parts of the film, in large part because, well, he's Sir Christopher Lee. Who, in addition to playing Dracula, a Bond villain and Saruman, can now add a Sith to his considerable resume.
- Seeing dozens of Jedi in action together on the battlefield for the only time in the live-action installments makes the Battle of Geonosis a fairly big draw for moviegoers. The entrance of the Clone Army and Anakin and Padmé's Back-to-Back Badasses moments add to the sequence's memorability.
- Les Yay:
- Padmé's first scene is going to her bodyguard Cordé, who got blown up while posing as the Senator. She begs for Cordé to hold on and grasps her gently, not wanting to hurt her injured friend.
- Some fans felt there was more genuine chemistry and affection between Padmé and Dormé in the three scenes that they shared together than there was between Anakin and Padmé in the entire movie.
- Memetic Molester: Padmé. Some fans are somewhat disturbed that she would instantly fall in love with Anakin, who was but a small child the last time they met, so much so that she has been the source of many Black Comedy memes portraying her as a pedophile. A somewhat strange accusation, as many seem to forget that Padmé herself was a minor in The Phantom Menace (admittedly Younger than She Looked, especially compared to then-nine-year-old Anakin), and in Attack of the Clones she continued treating Anakin like a child until the second half of the film. The age gap between them also isn't that severe; there's only five years between them, and Anakin is nineteen years old, so he's over the age of consent and considered an adult in most countries.
- Memetic Mutation: Has its own page.
- Misaimed Fandom: Anakin and Padmé's conversation about politics, where Anakin expresses support for an authoritarian form of government, has been known to occasionally pop up as a meme on neo-fascist and Neo-Nazi social media accounts—even though Anakin is clearly meant to be in the wrong when he says that.
- Most Wonderful Sound: The sound of seismic charges detonating, for many fans.
- Narm: Shares a page with the rest of the franchise.
- Narm Charm:
- The love story as a whole is this; as clunky as the dialogue may be, some of their scenes together are actually legitimately moving. The "Across the Stars'' theme really helps carry it.
- Prequel fans nowadays tend not to mind the "I don't like sand" even with its campy tone, since after all, teenage Anakin being a camp emo guy fits the character well. Some have defended the line, noting that the subtext is simply Anakin expressing his harsh upbringing as a slave on Tatooine, and the difference between his and Padme's upbringings. They thus don't consider it pure Narm, but helping flesh out Anakin's character a little, and the campy delivery adds a level of vulnerability that makes him endearing to both the audience and to Padme. Moreover, the scene has been subject to so much mockery and snide jokes over the years that, thanks to overexposure, it's lost its sting.
- A lot of the awkward scenes Anakin has with Padmé can be easier to swallow when you take into account that Anakin is a 19-year-old boy who grew up in (essentially) a monastery and never really talked to a girl ever since he saw Padmé as a 9-year-old.
- Anakin's tearful breakdown after massacring the Tusken Raiders was initially mocked by fans for the dialogue, not helped by his words regarding fan-favorite, Obi-Wan. More recently, though, with fan backlash towards Anakin having died down, some have expressed sympathy towards him in this scene, acknowledging how it portrays his loner status among the Jedi Order, and the Jedi's failure to help him properly deal with his emotions.
- Never Live It Down: It has its own page shared with the rest of the franchise.
- One-Scene Wonder:
- "Death stick" seller Elan Sleazebaggano is the subject of a very brief but very funny scene where Obi-Wan uses a Jedi Mind Trick to tell him to "go home and rethink your life." The exchange doesn't last more than 15 seconds, but Sleazebaggano managed to become a very memorable character because of it, to the point that both iterations of the Expanded Universe would follow up on his story (in short, he really did rethink his life).
- Dexter Jettster is introduced in this film and only appears in one scene, but he's very popular with fans. Likely because of his wholesome friendship with Obi-Wan Kenobi, giving some genuinely useful information about Kamino, and for running a snazzy restaurant that looks like a Zeerust version of a classic 1950s diner.
- Plot-Irrelevant Powers: Zam Wessel is revealed to be a Clawdite changeling during the chase across Coruscant, briefly revealing her true appearance in a moment of surprise when Anakan drops onto her speeder from above. However, despite taking refuge in the Outlander Club where she could easily just vanish into the crowd, she doesn't use her powers to disguise herself, instead remaining in her current form and trying to sneak up on Obi-Wan with a blaster drawn - resulting in her being apprehended by the two Jedi, then killed by Jango Fett. In the end, the only other use of her powers is to return to her true form as she dies - and some viewers who'd missed the earlier split-second Game Face were initially convinced that the shapeshifting was actually a side-effect of the dart that Zam had been shot with. note
- The Problem with Licensed Games: The GBA tie-in for this movie is generally considered one of the worst Star Wars games, which is quite a feat considering how many there are and some of the competition it's up against. The game features ugly visuals, bland and uninspired platforming, and slow gameplay that basically amounts to running right, killing the enemies the game wants you to, repeat. Its pseudo-3D gimmick levels, while visually impressive for the time, fare little better thanks to the low frame rate. The next GBA tie-in for Revenge of the Sith was leagues ahead of this one, giving it no excuse.
- Retroactive Recognition:
- Uncle Owen became a Navy SEAL on the mission that killed Osama bin Laden, and the father of Timothy Green.
- Rose Byrne as Dormé also counts as well, since this was before she became notable with her roles in X-Men: First Class and Bridesmaids, 9 years later.
- Romantic Plot Tumor: At least to some degree between Anakin and Padmé. Probably made more glaring by some of their scenes having toe-crunchingly awkward dialogue, it doesn't help that their relationship takes up a lot of screentime in the second act, with not a lot else happening until they go to Tatooine to find Shmi, or the film cuts to Obi-Wan investigating Jango Fett, both of which are a lot more interesting. While by no means the worst tumor in film history, being a Star Wars film is the reason that the trope was originally called "George Lucas Love Story", and also resulted in unfavorable comparisons to the more traditional execution of Han and Leia's romance in The Empire Strikes Back. Also, given that Padmé and Anakin have to get together at some point so Luke and Leia will be born, (and considering how Anakin's relationship with Padmé proves to be a major factor in his fall to the Dark Side in Revenge of the Sith), one can argue that the romance at least has some actual significance to the overall plot (the actual execution of said romance notwithstanding).
- Ron the Death Eater: Many fans (and EU writers) exaggerate Anakin's flaws in this movie to a noticeable degree. While he does display arrogance and impulsiveness, it's important to recognize the full spectrum of his character. Notably, Anakin also demonstrates considerable compassion, resourcefulness, and heroism throughout the filmnote , with his faults and struggles intentionally emphasized as part of a broader character arc. Yet, much of this is overlooked in general.
- Rooting for the Empire: Actually encouraged by George Lucas. The movie introduces the sympathetic Clone Troopers, who save the Jedi and rout the movie's villains. Then comes the finale, and the movie reminds the viewers that they had been rooting for what will become the Empire by playing the Imperial March as Palpatine oversees the troopers entering early Star Destroyers.
- Salvaged Story:
- Some fans suspect that Yoda training all Jedi as children was thrown in to fix the continuity issue of Qui-Gon being Obi-Wan's master in the last film, when he'd called Yoda "the Jedi Master who instructed me" in The Empire Strikes Back. Although even in The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan had a line that indicated he had been taught by Yoda before being apprenticed to Qui-Gon, and way back in The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda says Luke is far too old to begin Jedi training, suggesting that initiates were very young indeed.
- Jango Fett's prominent role in this film was put in to appease fans who complained about Ensemble Dark Horse Boba Fett being tragically underutilized in the Original Trilogy, and getting almost no action scenes despite being built up as a badass. Note that Boba is established as an exact genetic clone of his "father" Jango, meaning that Jango is Boba Fett, for all intents and purposes. Unlike his "son", he gets an elaborately choreographed showdown with a Jedi Knight, kills another Jedi during the arena battle and receives an appropriately epic death scene.
- Count Dooku surviving the events of the film all the way until the first act of Revenge of the Sith seems to be an attempt at this following Darth Maul's unsavory demise in The Phantom Menace. While most fans consider Maul to be more badass and interesting than Dooku (especially after Star Wars: The Clone Wars revealed that Maul was Not Quite Dead and fleshed him out as a character) having Dooku be the public face of Separatist movement during the Clone Wars, as well as going deeper into his motives, proved that Dooku was a capable character in his own right.
- The exposition of The Phantom Menace involving the trade dispute on Naboo was considered unengaging and boring by many. Attack of the Clones immediately started with a more interesting hook of Padme nearly being assassinated twice which was more intense and attention grabbing.
- The B1 battle droids were criticized for having goofy personalities and being so comically inept that it was impossible to take them seriously. This film introduces the B2 super battle droids, which while still serving as common Mooks to the protagonists, have a more intimidating appearance and subdued personality.
- Signature Scene:
- The opening chase scene over Coruscant with Obi-Wan and Anakin chasing their target over flying car traffic in a planet-enclosed city filled with gorgeous neon bling and awesome tension, complete with Obi-Wan and Anakin doing the buddy cop routine in a sleazy night club.
- It's a Never Live It Down moment, but Anakin's sand hate is definitely one.
- The death of Anakin's mother, and his following massacre of the sand-people. Not to mention Anakin's "slaughtered them like animals" rant that came afterwards.
- Obi-Wan discovering the Kamino cloning facility.
- The seismic charges during the asteroid sequence. Ben Burtt considered it one of his all-time favorite sound designs.
- The Geonosis stadium sequence, particularly the moment when the Clones come in to rescue the good guys.
- Yoda using his lightsaber against Count Dooku and saving his pupils.
- Sophomore Slump: Several fans, especially those who don't dislike The Phantom Menace, consider Attack of the Clones to be the weakest of the Prequels, mainly due to the flawed execution of Anakin's scenes with Padmé and the dialogue being particularly divisive compared to the other two films.
- Special Effects Failure: The CGI as a whole is often a point of criticism when it comes to the movie. Some of the issue is technological advances, as while the CGI looked good back in 2002, it perhaps hasn't aged well. The final battle between the clones and droids, for some people, looks like a cartoon, as do the aliens.
- Strangled by the Red String: A common controversy is the portrayal of Anakin and Padmé's romance, often criticized for its rushed progression and unconvincing dynamic. At times, in the film, Anakin has acted awkwardly toward Padmé, disregarded her authority (notably in the presence of the new Queen of Naboo), and suggested that dissenting politicians should be "made to agree." His tearful confession about massacring the Tusken Raiders, including women and children, further highlights his volatility. Yet, in less than a few days, Padmé marries him.
- Take That, Scrappy!: Lucas admitted that Jar Jar didn't quite have the response he had hoped for and so he downplayed him to a background role in the film which is also his final speaking role in the trilogy. In Attack, Jar Jar is manipulated into thinking that making a crucial vote for Palpatine having emergency powers, confirming him as a dupe who didn't understand Palpatine's game (but in this he's not different from the Jedi and the rest of the galaxy).
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Shares a page with the rest of the films.
- They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Shares a page with the rest of the franchise.
- Unintentionally Sympathetic: While Anakin's massacre of the Tusken Raiders is portrayed as his Start of Darkness, many felt it was justified. Not only did the previous films portray the Tusken Raiders as a whole race of bloodthirsty assholes, but their inhumane cruelty towards Shmi and the Lars, as well as others on Tatooine, makes it arguably understandable why Anakin decimated the tribe. Several external materials even refer to the species itself as "fearsome desert savages that are extremely xenophobic and attack with very little provocation". (Expanded Universe works have presented the Tuskens as Noble Savages who have legitimate grievances, but this tends to fluctuate, and hardly justifies why their entire culture revolves around kidnapping and murder.)
- Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
- The Republic itself continues to be utterly corrupt and incompetent, to the point where, per Sio Bibble, they couldn't even get a treason conviction against Nute Gunray for trying to extort the federal government by blockading and then occupying Naboo. It's frankly completely understandable that they're now facing a secession crisis, but the protagonists continue to back the Republic to the hilt rather than even consider the possibility that the Separatist movement might actually have a point (catspaws to the culprits of that corruption though they might be). This reaches its nadir with the revelation of the Kaminoan-made slave army produced on the Republic's dime for its eventual use, to which nobody raises any moral objections at all—including Anakin, who had been a slave himself until he was nine.
- Regarding the Tusken Raider massacre, some viewers feel Padmé didn't react strongly enough to it, being more concerned with Anakin's mental health than with the fact that he committed a literal act of genocide. While the Lars may have influenced her views (especially since Cliegg alluded to the species as "vicious animals"), Padmé’s subdued reaction to this revelation feels inconsistent with her otherwise compassionate and principled nature.
- The arena executions of Anakin, Padme, and Obi-Wan are supposed to be a travesty, but the sequence has a bit of a problem with Protagonist-Centered Morality: Padme suggested a "diplomatic solution" to get Obi-Wan out, right before she and Anakin broke into a secure military factory and immediately started murdering guards who responded to the break-in. Not only were their actions criminal—Archduke Poggle has every right as a head of state to punish people for breaking the law in his jurisdiction—they were also stupid considering their government's stated goal of resolving the secession crisis peacefully: they in fact handed Dooku and his supporters a perfect Pretext for War.
- In recent years, with awareness of mental issues becoming more prevalent, fans have begun to feel this way towards the Jedi for not having done more to help with Anakin's turmoil. While the start of the Clone Wars can partly explain their continued negligence later on, their failure to teach someone as powerful as Anakin to deal with grief properly, and basically having allowed Shmi to remain enslaved on Tatooine, can make one feel they were too neglectful.
- Visual Effects of Awesome:
- The opening chase above Coruscant, does a great job to show how radically different the world of the Republic was from the Empire, being so much more advanced and complex in its night life, its flying cars and its backgrounds teeming with detail.
- The design of the Kamino cloning facility
looks incredible. Much of it was sets specially made for the film but which many think is CGI because it looks so totally unreal and fantastic. - The Battle of Geonosis. One particular shot (the dust cloud of a crashing ship obscuring the battle as blaster bolts fly on both sides) was revolutionary in the digital effects industry for its realism.
- Wangst: Anakin's infamous monologue to Padmé at the Lars Homestead has him complaining a bit too much about his problems. Yes, his mother just died in his arms the day before, but then he starts blaming Obi-Wan for his training and claiming he will be the strongest Jedi ever, things that don't look like they have much to do with his mother. Granted, the latter was likely meant as a declaration of protection for his loved ones.
- Wheelchair Woobie: Cliegg Lars must use a hovering chair after losing his leg during his search for his wife.
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