Could be better

Rating: 7/10 (18 May 2002)

After a disappointing Phantom Menace I tried not to set my expectations too high this time. Which is just as well. For me the script was poor at times with too many cliches and for the first hour I found myself cringing at times in my seat. The love scene was too prolonged and downright corny. The most notable performance was Christopher Lee who was his usual excellent self. The highly talented Ewan McGregor seemed to be struggling converting his Scottish accent into an upper class English accent and Hayden Christensen looked as though he had been plucked from some mediocre amateur dramatic society to fill the role. Although he does have my sympathy as the lines he was given were not exactly inspirational. Having said all that the film did improve considerably in the second half. The battle scenes and special FX were superb which was to be expected. On balance this was a good light entertainment film well worth seeing and certainly a big improvement on it's predecessor. But unfortunately, Lucas again failed to achieve the exceptionally high standards expected of him. I awarded this film 7/10. Had the script been of a higher standard with better casting I would have edged it up to a 9 or even a 10.