Fantastic!!!

Rating: 10/10 (18 May 2002)

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
First of all, let me say that I was extremely sceptical after seeing the several trailers posted on the internet. I felt that Lucas was repeating himself storywise and have stated so in several BBS's all over the internet. This scepticism was of course fueled by the in many ways severely flawed Ep1:TPM. I have been a Star Wars fan from the very first hour and dreaded this next installment.
But.. and here comes an enormous BUT...
I was wrong, I apologize to George and his entire crew and cast for losing faith in them. Episode 2 made may jaw drop almost all the way through. Right from the start this rollercoaster ride rolls at a breathtaking speed through several interwoven storylines, four planets, extremely well crafted special effects, a love-story that is more credible than I thought Lucas was able to write and a big load of intrigue, fun, humor, excitement, anger and the list goes on.
Hayden is excellent and extremely dark (I say two words: Tusken Camp), his eyes and words reflect Vader in a human form. Natalie is good as always as the ever beautiful Padmé, she looks more and more like her daughter every day (that was weird saying that). Ewan takes a turn for the better in this flick by making Obi-Wan the more responsible Jedi, in a way he takes the role of Liam, he is more and more becoming the quiet hermit we see in Ep4:ANH. And then there is the rest of the excellent supporting cast: Christopher Lee as Lord Tyranus, Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine (scheming as ever), Jimmy Smits as the future foster father of Leia and of course Samuel Jackson as the ass-kicking Jedi Mace Windu. Oh and let's not forget the awesome new version of Yoda, he is absolute too ass-kicking (the whole theatre went up in cheers when he grapped his lightsaber!!!)
Is there a downside to this installment? Yes, sure there is. The dialogues are not always as solid as they should be, as are the acting performances. Some of the blending of life-action and cgi wasn't all that good. But in the end I was extremely relieved when I left the theatre.
Thank you George for bringing us back into the universe that is so dear to so many people. Despite its flaws, this is what Star Wars is about, fun movie viewing. Me and my friends were left with so many questions after the first viewing (e.g. why did Qui-Gon not disappear at the end of Ep1:TPM, it seems he wasn't all that benevolent as we thought he was.) Aargh now we have to wait another three years!!!!!!
I'd give it a 9.9, so that becomes a 10 when you round up.
Cheers George, thanks and don't disappoint us with Ep3:???.