Lucas needs a writer

Rating: 3/10 (6 July 2002)

Episode II can only appeal to children with Attention Deficit Disorder; anyone with an attention span of more than two minutes will find much of the action tedious and confusing. The love scene between Padme and Anakin is nothing but a collection of trite cliches,and most of the dialogue is pedestrian (the only line with any emotion is Samuel L. Jackson's "This party's over!" which one suspects was his suggestion). The first Star wars sequel, Empire Strikes Back, was written by an excellent writer, Lawrence Kasdan; Lucas needs to work with a better co-writer for the (unfortunately) inevitable Episode III.
Even the plot, where Lucas usually excels, feels creaky and forced. There is a major plot point that makes no sense and is never explained (okay, maybe the explanation comes in III), and most of the plot developments are fairly random. The amount of time that has passed since Episode I is in question; Anakin seems to have aged ten years, Amidala not at all, and Anakin has a younger half-brother (born since Episode I) who looks about 20.
Ewen McGregor is great as Obi-wan, evoking memories of Alec Guiness. Hayden Christiansen just pouts a lot; Portman is out of her depth but looks scrumptious.
Lucas will make a ton of money of course, but the fact that this will be the first Star Wars film NOT to end the year at #1 (thanks, Spidey) will hopefully drive him to improve Episode III. Or maybe he just wants to film his vision and make more money, quality be darned.
I rate this film at 3 out of 10.