Star Wars is Back

Rating: 7/10 (16 May 2002)

I saw Episode 2 today, and i must say that i was truly impressed with this effort. After seeing Episode 1, i was greatly disappointed in the plot, and the casting (Jake Loyd was probably the worst Star Wars casting ever, well maybe next to N'Sync) and the amount of crappy religious elements in it. There were many scenes that could have been edited out of it such as the underwater part where they are being chased by that fish. The emaculate conception crap was laugh out loud funny in its lameness as well. I think that Lucas has listened to all the complaints from fans and tried to address them, and for the most part he suceeded. Jar-Jar actually serves a purpose in this film, and Hayden Christianson is very strong as Anakin Skywaker. He plays the role with anger, and saddness, pulling the viewer in to his struggle. Sure he is whiney, but he is also playing like a 17 year old kid so that is fine by me. He has a look about him that seems to scream evil, and he is very good in this role. Ewen McGregor is strong as well as Obi Wan. He really adds a lot to the role. His performance was very good, and he seemed to have that auora of Obi Wan greatness around him. Natalie Prtman was weak as Padame' as her performance was kind of bland and cookie cutter. Although she was the most beautiful i have ever seen her. She was gorgeous. This movie really set up the future of the Star Wars universe such as introducing the storm troopers instead of the droids. The Droids in the first movie really bugged me, as i wanted to see Strom Troopers. I was happy to see them introduced, but was shocked at their role in the movie. There were some complaints such as the Jedi were made to look like weaklings. I will not reveal how, but you will see when you watch the movie. Most of them are just pushovers. I think they tried to hard to make humour with C3PO and R2D2 and a lot of the time it didn't work. It ended up being rather lame. The fight that Yoda had was cool in the beginning, but the more i thought about it, the more laughable it was. I was chuckling when i was watching it because it was pretty outrageous. My final complaint being that Obi Wan was kind of shown to be a loser, as Anakin was correcting him and making him look stupid, and he was getting beaten up a lot, but i guess it is ok because Anakin is suppossed to be the bad ass of the universe.
I was not disturbed with Jimmy Smits, as i thought i would be. He was cool in his role. Chancellor Palpatine and Count Dooku were cool as well, as the dark Jedi badasses they are. I was happy to see an amazing battle with Jedi, and droids and troopers. The last half an hour will make up for Episode one ten fold. I enjoyed this movie beter than Spiderman, as the "love" theme didn't bother me nearly as much in this movie as it did in Spiderman. I was shaking my head during Spiderman because it was so cliche'd and lame with all the "I love you crap." There is some lameness in this movie too, but for the most part it was cool, and nice to see.
This movie is really some eye candy. The city in the beginnng of the movie is pure beauty, and amazing to watch. When i think about the complaints of this movie, that it is not as good as the originals, and i agree (although i liked this movie better than the first Star Wars). But think about this. These movies have a lot of back story to deal with. And it is hard to cram all of this story together, and make everyone happy. Plus wouldn't you rather the middle movies be the best? I would. They are still amazing to watch today, and i think there is no way to compare them to these. Lucas had a lot more to work with on Episodes 4, 5 and 6, and in these movies he is more limited in his material.
It still bothers me that the ships in these movies look a lot better than the ships on the original trilogy, but there are cool precursors to the AT-ATs and Star Destroyers in this movie. As well as a cameo from the "secret weapon." All in all i had a blast watching this movie. This was a feeling that i haven't had for a long time. The final battle was incredible, and everything else was amazing to watch. The story really develops as well as Anakin's character (A cool side note my friend pointed out was that Anakin's clothes get darker as the movie progresses) and i can't wait for Episode 3. Episode 2 gave me "A New Hope" for the series. A great movie, that is amazingly fun to watch and experience. Great Job Lucas and Company. You have me waiting eagerly until 2005. P.S. Anyone who says "Return of the Jedi" is the best Star Wars movie, isn't a real Star wars fan. We all know it is the "Empire..." that is the greatest.