critics not quite right

Rating: 10/10 (20 May 2002)

All of the critics' comments I have read say that the characters are cardboard, there is no good dialogue, and all the rest of the favorite this-movie-is-not-all-people-make-it-out-to-be cliches. While perhaps the acting was not as impressive as it could have been, and there may have been the occasional cheesy line, Episode II was not only a great Star Wars movie, but a great film on its own. The romance subplot alone brought an emotional level to the movie unmatched by any previous Star Wars episode, while I thought the characters in general had a more natural, human aura to them than before. Okay, the first, very political portion was a small exception, but it was only small. This was a very dynamic movie; in addition to the benefits that the romance story brought, the action was just as intense as--if not more intense than--that of previous Star Wars movies. Nobody should regret seeing this.