And the (box office) race is on....

‘Clones’ attacks weekend box office

"Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" grossed an estimated $86.2 million over the weekend, after bowing Thursday with $30.1 million, for $116.3 million in its first four days of release. The three-day weekend tally ranks at No. 3 among all-time new releases, behind "Spider-Man," which opened with $114.84 million two weeks ago, and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone" with $90.29 million last November. But worldwide, the four-day gross for "Clones" soared out of orbit for a total of $183 million.

The family and I saw "Spider-Man" last weekend and thought it was great. Better still, it got better the more I thought of it. My only lament was for a better villain, someone with more motivation than...well, I never quite understood the motivation. Better if the Green Goblin had been pure evil, but ah well. And Tobey Maguire was too perfect, his final scene at the cemetary just waaaay cool.

And now, "Clones." I waited most of a month before seeing "Star Wars;" can't remember why, and that was an awful long wait for a science fiction fan. Saw "Empire Strikes Back" opening night and it was the most remarkable movie experience of my life. The audience was so enthusiasticaly loud the theatre trembled. Literally. And I'm talking about the old Northpoint in San Francisco, since out of business, but if you've ever been there you know the size of the screen, the VOLUME of the sound system. Awe inspiring. The audience easily drowned out the opening 20th Century Fox fanfare, but SHUT UP when the story actually began.

Now, "Clones." First, what's to hate. Not a lot, actually. At worse the film is business-like. It had a ton of information to convey within a short period of time, and lots of it was handled clumsily, massive expository dumps. However, anyone thinking the dialogue was stiff just to this SW episode doesn't remember Carrie Fisher, "Governor Tarkin, I thought I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board."

What's to be annoyed about? More here. Hayden doesn't...act. His romance scenes are godawful for the most part, mediocre at their best. Blame him, blame the writing, blame the directing...whatever. The result is a "foul stench." Very bad, but not enough to hate, redeemed when Portman declares her own undying affection. That I believed because Hayden was going for the tragic youth approach, and--at least in movies--women are suckers for that approach.

Hayden is very good during the pissed off Dark Lord of the Sith-to-be moments. He seethes, he's angry, he's dangerous. The moment when he returns from, er, his "quest" and talks to Portman is chilling, the dark side clear, the good attempting to bring him under control. Nicely done.

The first two-thirds or so of the movie is all setup, and not just for this film but for Episode 3 as well. And 4, 5, and 6, for that matter. Jar-Jar finally makes sense, even the fact that he HAD to be stupid. Sure it's a cheap ploy, but at least now there's a reason. (I would have done things differently, but I don't have a spare couple of hundred million to make a movie with, ah well.) The last third of "Clones" is breathless with the sheer amount of Stuff Going On.

Low point: Anytime Anakin (Hayden) tries to be romantic.

High point: Oh, several, but then along comes Yoda....

I liked "Spider-Man" a lot, but I hold no hope for future installments. I want to see "Clones" again. And three years is now too long to wait for Episode 3, just like it was between "Empire" and "Return of the Jedi" (which was overwhelmingly disappointing after "Empire", BTW). And as with "Empire," I got frustrated that the film ended. Damnit, I want Episode 3 now, and maybe that's a measure of this film's success.

Update: What is with John Williams lately? We watched Ep 1 before going and I began noticing that there's music all the damn time, most of it annoying. Ep 2 was much the same, except that Lucas seems to be going to Spielberg/"Saving Private Ryan" route of limiting/eliminating the music during combat. Oh, eventually it came blasting in, but not at the beginning. Curious. But my big gripe is with Williams. Sure, sure, you can't always upstage yourself, but listen to the soundtrack to "Empire," especially that amazing crescendo at the end of the closing credits. Wow! Just takes my breath away. "Phantom" just sort of piddles to a conclusion, and so does "Clones." Especially disappointing given the tragic romantic stands of the film's love theme.