An excellent middle chapter to the prequel trilogy.

Rating: 8/10 (16 May 2002)

"You'll find that many of the truths we cling to greatly depend on your point of view." --Ben Kenobi to Luke Skywalker, "Return of the Jedi".
Not only is this sound advice for aspiring Jedi, but is very relevant when seeing Episode II "Attack of the Clones".
For die-hards and those that have grown up with Star Wars (like myself), you'll find AOTC to be a wonderfully entertaining chapter. Visually, it's dynamite. The story, though a bit slow at times, is well-told. It also helps move the prequel story along by resolving loose ends from Episode I and setting up events that will be played out in Episode III.
On the other hand, the casual moviegoer might be less than satisfied, especially in how the story is told. First, there's the awkward and clunky dialogue that manifests itself in the love story between Anakin and Padme. This is to be expected since the entire saga is influenced by campy sci-fi adventure serials from the 40s and 50s. Most Star Wars fans are used to this (and to various degrees, have to grit their teeth and tolerate it). This is not to excuse the poor writing, necessarily, but I think casual moviegoers should keep the context in mind. The same goes for the occasional stiff acting and goofy humor.
Personally, I rolled my eyes numerous times at some of the cornball exchanges, but I can live with it because it's consistent with the overall style of the series and its purpose is to help paint the broad strokes of the story. Could it have been better, though? I think so, but the end result still works for me.
To bring this to close, George Lucas has one of the best jobs in the world: To surround himself with immensely creative and talented people that help bring his imagination and vision out of his head and on to the big screen. AOTC is fantastic, and I can't wait to see how Lucas bridges the gap between it and Episode IV.
But that's just one guy's point of view.