Big improvement on Phantom Menace

Rating: 3/10 (19 August 2016)

No discussion should start with "Which is worse, Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones?" Because it's easy: Phantom Menace. It's not even close, this film improves on the original on almost every level.
Sure, the problems from TPM continue in the second film (Weak characterisation, thin story, overload of digital effects, uneven acting etc). But Christopher Lee's presence instantly adds a star, and the lightsaber fight between Count Dooku vs Yoda is brilliant. Jake Lloyd is gone, so is most (but not all) of the moribund political waffling. And Jar Jar is relegated to a brief few minutes of screen time.
Hayden took a lot of flack for his portrayal of Anakin, but I don't hate him in the role, it's clear that almost all actors in the three prequels struggled to do well, chewing their way through Lucas's stodgy dialogue while surrounded in blue screen. Apparently only British actors like Ian McDiarmid and Christopher Lee can polish a turd- laden script. Lee could read the phone book and i'd give him an Oscar.
There are those painfully awkward romance scenes with Padmé and Anakin though. Anakin riding a fake CGI cow alien through a over lit fairy tale backdrop is the low point of the film. After re-watching it, I realized just how much of the film is just bad dialogue.
However there are great moments of fun sorely missing from TPM. There's the fast-paced and exciting speeder chase through Coruscant, a fun space fight between Obi Wan and Jango Fett, Jedi fighting en masse and the aforementioned lightsaber duel finale is great. And John Williams outdoes himself again with another fantastic score.
None of this of course makes it a good film, but it is undoubtedly a substantial improvement over Phantom Menace. Unfortunately, there are too many slow dialogue scenes that grind the film to a halt. Overall, it's flawed but there are some fun moments where Lucas reminds you of how he used to make films.