I'm at a loss with the praise this film is garnering...

Rating: 2/10 (13 October 2019)

I can't understand why people seem to be defending this film so much. I'm all for expressing your own opinions and I totally respect that, but all of the positive reviews I am reading seem to only concern themselves with refuting the points against "Attack of the Clones" rather than presenting legitimate reasons to justify the 9 star ratings.
I do believe it to be a little ignorant to throw the entire prequel saga under the bus because this film's successor is indeed somewhat of an improvement upon the two that preceded it. However, Revenge of the Sith was far too little far too late because The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones both, for lack of a better phrase.
The thing that perplexes me the most is the defence and even praise of the special effects, when the fact is they look terribly dated and far too clean cut to come across as convincing. Not to mention that they are overused to the point that the film basically becomes a live action cartoon.
Remember when the light sabre was a mystical device that was only shown in times of crisis or importance, to convey the significance and power of this honourable weapon? Yeah just forget all that and watch 500 Jedi jump into an arena in broad day light and slice a bunch of poorly rendered, CGI toothpick robots like butter with a hot knife.
The point being that the light sabre has gone from being a mysterious and wondrous commodity. to nothing more than a nostalgia prop that hardcore fans / children can drool over while Lucas renders as many as he possibly can into each frame.
Do you remember when Yoda was an actual character that betrayed the stigma of the hero being a mighty and strong warrior to convey the message that the force is not about the physical? Forget all that nonsense and watch in awe as he pulls out a mini light sabre and starts barrel rolling more than an attack jet.
The issue with poor continuity and overuse of CGI could be overlooked if the story and characters were compelling, which they certainly aren't. I am fully aware that Lucas' script is far from stellar but that can't be used as justification for Hayden Christensen. I'm sorry but the kid cannot act, nothing about his portrayal is convincing and when people say "he is good at making himself look angry" I'm afraid that is not even nearly ample enough to forgive the rest of his quite frankly appalling performance. Ewan McGregor is there, and he does things, that relate to the plot I guess. Natalie Portman is there to be eye candy and to "fall in love" with Anakin in a less convincing manner than a Primary school adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.
The entire final action sequence just blows, it's all flash no substance which quite honestly seems to be what Lucas was going for considering the script.
I am not calling this film bad as a hater of all things new. I am not calling this film bad as a nostalgia blinded, fan of the originals. I am calling this film bad as a lover of film, please understand that.