A Force to be reckoned with!!!

Rating: 7/10 (16 May 2002)

EDIT: It's 13 years later and I'm older and wiser. Clearly I was caught up in the excitement when I wrote this right after seeing the film. Revised my rating from a 9 to a 7.
Still a Star Wars fan, though. Bring on Ep VII through IX and the spinoffs! :-)
==================== WOW!
I saw the 12:01 showing this morning here on Canada's East coast... Thrilled to be among the first in the continent to see it on official release day! (after my friends in NFLD, of course!)
What can I say? George, THANK YOU!!! You have brought us all back to the thrills of the original trilogy. As usual, I had chills down my spine right from the opening drum roll of the 20th Century Fox logo. The action sequences blew me away, and there was so much to see that I just could not take all of that big screen in. The screening I saw wasn't a digital projection, but all the same the clarity and detail of the scenery, blaster bolts, light sabers, etc was amazing - even on film.
Hayden Christensen plays a hot-headed Anakin very well, expectedly a much deeper character than his 10-year old former self. Natalie Portman's Padme is one very cool senator/action hero! And no more hiding behind those ridiculous queenly get-ups - we're definitely seeing more of her! Ewan MacGregor is gradually morphing into Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan - very cool. And mercifully, JarJar has very little screen time and dialogue. Meesa so releev-ed!
This film answers so many questions we all had after TPM, and definitely establishes ties with ANH. There are parallels with the original trilogy in both dialogue and events, and even casual SW fans will recognize those. However, TRUE fans will recognize the much deeper references. No spoilers! ;-)
I must say that this movie contains my new all-time favourite scene from any SW film. Again no spoilers, and most will not be surprised by the scene, but toward the end of the film, there was a point where the crowd in the theatre broke into spontaneous applause! You'll know what I'm talking about when you see it.
I AM a long-time fan, and my expectations were cautious after TPM. However, I was truly amazed by this film. I walked away at 02:30 (only 9 hours ago!) with a huge smile on my face and a wish in my heart that May 2005 would start now!
Full Marks! I will definitely be going again soon!

Galto