Review Detail
9.3 44 10
(Updated: September 01, 2012)
Enjoyment
8.0
As I had expected, I enjoyed L8′s version of Attack of the Clones much more that his take on the Phantom Menace. Where I felt the later, while improved greatly, moved along too quickly; this one felt natural and most importantly, and where L8 succeeded beyond my expectations, was to make me believe in the love story between Anakin and Padme.
Episode 2 for me is even more unbearable to watch than episode 1. The bad parts just make me want to stop the movie or skip the chapter where in episode 1 I’ll simply cringe and wait for the next scene. Some of the material in Episode 2 is so stupid and nonsensical that overall I’m tempted to say it’s the worse movie of the saga.
Thankfully, L8 had more to work with here than in Phantom Menace. Some of his editing choices were extremely bold but work extremely well. Whereas in Phantom Menace he basically trimmed the fat and the stupidity to create a leaner, meaner experience, here he was able to do that as well but also to play with the structure of the movie.
Where he most improved scenes that I previously found painful to watch, like the Zam chase scene, the droid factory and the arena battle; he did so in such a natural way that they now flow as if the movie had originally been edited that way. There is no feeling whatsoever that you are watching a fanedit. Gone is excessively long battles and CGI sequences, completely gone is 3P0 from the arena, gone is flying R2. He has actually managed the feat of turning some of these sequences that I hated most into some of my favorite parts of Attack of the Clones (his handling of the droid factory sequence is nothing short of brilliant). But most importantly and as I have stated, he managed to sell me the love story and considering it’s the movie’s heart, he has turned this movie around as my go to version.
Overall, I was surprised beyond my expectations at what L8 managed to achieve with the Republic Divided. I can’t wait to see his take on Episode 3.
Original rating for Attack of the Clones: 5/10
The Republic Divided rating: 8/10
Episode 2 for me is even more unbearable to watch than episode 1. The bad parts just make me want to stop the movie or skip the chapter where in episode 1 I’ll simply cringe and wait for the next scene. Some of the material in Episode 2 is so stupid and nonsensical that overall I’m tempted to say it’s the worse movie of the saga.
Thankfully, L8 had more to work with here than in Phantom Menace. Some of his editing choices were extremely bold but work extremely well. Whereas in Phantom Menace he basically trimmed the fat and the stupidity to create a leaner, meaner experience, here he was able to do that as well but also to play with the structure of the movie.
Where he most improved scenes that I previously found painful to watch, like the Zam chase scene, the droid factory and the arena battle; he did so in such a natural way that they now flow as if the movie had originally been edited that way. There is no feeling whatsoever that you are watching a fanedit. Gone is excessively long battles and CGI sequences, completely gone is 3P0 from the arena, gone is flying R2. He has actually managed the feat of turning some of these sequences that I hated most into some of my favorite parts of Attack of the Clones (his handling of the droid factory sequence is nothing short of brilliant). But most importantly and as I have stated, he managed to sell me the love story and considering it’s the movie’s heart, he has turned this movie around as my go to version.
Overall, I was surprised beyond my expectations at what L8 managed to achieve with the Republic Divided. I can’t wait to see his take on Episode 3.
Original rating for Attack of the Clones: 5/10
The Republic Divided rating: 8/10
B