STAR WARS—EPISODE 2: ATTACK OF THE CLONES

Jackson "Strikes Back"

Despite some tepid reviews, Attack of the Clones still raked in an impressive $110 million just four days after release. In his first post Star Wars interview, Access Hollywood's Pat O'Brien tracked down the purple light-saber wielding Mace Windu, Samuel L. Jackson.

When asked about the huge box-office returns, Samuel said, "I thought it was fantastic. Everybody tried to make a horse race out of it. George [Lucas] had to beat Spider-Man. It had to be bigger or Star Wars would not be considered as successful. It was that kind of deal."

There was good news and bad news for Attack of the Clones. The good, as Jackson pointed out, was that the box-office returns were hefty. The bad came from the mouths of some critics – aka The Dark Side.

Thelma Adams from Us Magazine stated: "You can call it 'Star Bores.' You can call it 'Snore Wars.' This movie is dull."

Even Clay Smith, Access Hollywood's in-house film critic, said, "It's not terribly well acted and it's not a terribly well-written script."

In response to the less-than-favorable reviews, Samuel told Access: "The most amazing thing to me has been the negative criticism surrounding what has been more successful and a better film than they said Phantom Menace was." And what about the script? "George always said that he is trying to make a serial movie like what we used to see before major motion pictures. It's made to entertain and to thrill in a specific kind of way. The dialogue is not Gone with the Wind. We are trying to pass the information along and get to the next light-saber battle."