Great movie with an good historical parallel.

Rating: 10/10 (22 May 2002)

I was very pleased with Star Wars Episode II. The action scenes were very good and the special affects were first rate. Everything fit very nicely with the other films. It was very obvious that Lucas has taken great pains to make sure the film fit with the rest and did not contradict the each other. This made the film very enjoyable. If you are a stickler for detail, I would advise that you see all of the other Star War's movies again before you see this one and concentrate on the small things. There are a lot of little hints here and there that you may not pick up if you don't have the other films fresh in your mind.
The acting generally very good. McGregor was excellent and he looks much older and wiser with the beard. Portman is also good and she carriers her strong willed character well. Jackson is very good as the thoughtful and wise Master Windu. He and Yoda make it very clear they are the primary thinkers and decision makers of the Jedi council. Christain plays the older and rather wild Skywalker. He plays the emotional Jedi student well. The character I was very pleased to see introduced was Lee's character of Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus. I really enjoyed his character of the strong and charismatic evil leader. The only part of the moive I did not like was the writing of the love story. I know it was required to make this movie fit but I thought it dragged some.
WARNING!! POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!!
I don't want to give the film away but I will give you a brief summary of what this film does. Of course, this shows how Skywalker and Amadala fall in love, but it also shows how Skywalker starts down the path to the dark side. The film also shows the beginnings of a rift between the Jedi council and the Senate. As I said in the title, there is a historical parallel here. Well, I did not realize it until the end of the film where it shows how Palpatine starts consolidated his power. It reminded me of what happened in Germany in the 1930's. A leader who uses a catalyst to get people to put him in a position of absolute power. I dont' know if this was intentional or not but I thought is added a nice new flavor to the series.

Overall, excellent (10 out of 10).