An improvement

Rating: 5/10 (3 April 2009)

Star Wars Episode II starts out with a bang, literally. An assassination attempt on Padme's life fails when the assassin sets a bomb on a decoy ship. It is a dire time for the Republic. Star systems are threatening to secede, and the Republic is defending itself against the Trade Federation and other rogue factions. A vote on the matter of creating an Army is coming up in the Senate and it looks like someone does not want Senator Amidala to be there. Chancellor Palpatine suggests Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker be assigned to protect her.
Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen actually have pretty good chemistry with each other. McGregor fills in the Master role very well. They constantly bicker; Obi-Wan thinks Anakin is too rash and reckless, while Anakin thinks Obi-Wan is holding him back. The first third of the movie is rather good. The dialog and acting is still a little awkward but it is entertaining enough to distract the viewer. Anakin is still madly in love with Padme, and unfortunately their chemistry is not as good. The Jedi duo chase Padme's assassin through a city in Coruscant that looks like it was taken straight from Blade Runner. The time comes when Obi-Wan and Anakin must split. Obi-Wan investigates the Assassin while Anakin is assigned to be Padme's bodyguard on Naboo.
Obi-Wan's investigation takes him to a planet named Kamino (that has been mysteriously erased from the Jedi archives) where he discovers a grand cloning facility. Unfortunately the film constantly cuts to Anakin's romance with Padme, which is not as interesting, if only for the fact that it doesn't move the plot. I wish they had figured out a way to develop their romance and advance the plot at the same time, because the film moves at a rather plodding pace. The dialog during the love scenes is not as bad as I remember it but it is still clichéd and pedestrian. It is something we have to endure, not enjoy. In the end I still do not really understand why Padme loves Anakin. I can see what he sees in her, but not vice versa. Anakin Skywalker touches the dark side for the first time when he fails to rescue his mother from Sand people. He slaughters the whole tribe, and Christensen is very good at expressing his anger, but the dialog fails him.
Another problem I have is the deterioration of Obi-Wan and Anakin's friendship. I feel the ten year gap between films made this have less impact on the viewer than it could have. We don't really know the older Anakin Skywalker or the Jedi Master Obi-Wan, so when the former starts complaining about how Obi-Wan is holding him back we don't really know where he is coming from. It comes across more as whining and it is hard to sympathize with him.
The conclusion of the film is quite entertaining, but the Count Dooku lightsaber duel is marred by obvious digital "gluing" of Christopher Lee's head on to the stunt double's body. It doesn't compare to the Duel of the Fates, but all in all it is a fun ride. Unfortunately, the Jedi are incompetent beyond belief in their decision to trust the Clone Army. There are many obvious hints that the Clone Army is connected to the Separatist movement and by default, the Sith. For one thing, Jango Fett, the original source for the clones, is allied with Count Dooku. Secondly, the order for the clones was unauthorized and Kamino was erased from the Jedi archives. Those facts alone should make the Jedi suspicious. Why the secrecy? It's almost as if someone had an elaborate plan to force the Jedi to use the army at just the right time...
This is an improvement over The Phantom Menace mainly because it gets to the meat of the story. It puts all the chess pieces in place for the part of the story we're really waiting for.