‘Star Wars II acceptable but not wholesome’

Neither wholesome nor exemplary but acceptable.

This was the rating given by the movie classification unit of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to the latest episode of the Star Wars saga, "Episode II: Attack of the Clones."

The CBCP’s Catholic Initiative for Enlightened Movie Appreciation (Cinema) rated Star Wars Episode II as "acceptable" for viewers of all ages.

Cinema’s review of the new George Lucas blockbuster, actually the fifth of a long-running nine-part epic, falls short of "wholesome" and "exemplary" entertainment for the entire family.

The moral assessment rating "acceptable" is three points, "wholesome" is four points, and "exemplary" is the highest at five.

And for all the dizzying, mind-boggling special effects employed in the movie, the Catholic group rated the overall film technology only as "average."

Cinema’s "average" rating merits three and a half stars, "above average" as four stars, and "excellent" five stars. It however cited some of the movie’s images as "technically excellent" and the story "brilliantly made."

The Philippine bishops’ movie review board, on the other hand, praised Lucas for conceiving not only a brave new world but also a "new mythology" for our own space age.

"In the continuing saga of the Skywalker family and other Jedi knights, he (Lucas) has created a new breed of heroes, not unlike those of the mythic past, who go on perilous inter-galactic adventures, use sophisticated high-tech weapons like the light saber, ride in airships that zoom with the speed of light and vanquish enemies, even those with supernatural powers," Cinema said.

"Like the heroes of old, they have a deep sense of the supernatural which they call ‘The Force’ that energizes all things," it added.

The movie tells of the eternal clash between good and evil, Cinema said: "In every age, there are men who may have started right but who plunge into corruption, ambition, pride, anger or some other strong emotion and end up trying to dominate or destroy."