Lucas has done it again!

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 2002)

All us Star wars fans were all a little disappointed with "The Phantom Menace", but George Lucas has cast off all of the bad memories of his last flick with "Attack of the Clones"
While "Attack of the Clones" may not be perfect, it's not that far off. It's got everything a Star Wars flick needs to succeed, and a few new tricks thrown in for extra effect. While the Anakin/Amidala relationship is a little cliché and lame (very Titanic-like), everything else blows you away.
The storyline may not be Oscar material, but is still good by most sci-fi standards. What really makes this film great though are the action sequences. When you see 100 Jedi knights charging into battle with their lightsabers, you'll see what I mean, especially considering they are up against thousands of droids. Yoda's lightsaber battle (very Matrix-y) and Anakin's double lightsaber duel is terrific. In addition, no Star Wars movie has ever tried to do a large-scale ground assault, this one making "The Empire Strikes Back" look like a day at the beach.
The acting is surprisingly good for a Star wars movie. Jar-Jar is only slightly less annoying, but performances from Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee and Ewan MacGregor cancel all that out. Jimmy Smits is only a minor character, but makes an impact, as does Temuera Morrison's Jango Fett.
A few new alien species and old faces from "The Phantom Menace" add to the film's greatness, as do shots of future Star Wars characters (errrrr......Uncle Owen, Aunt Beru). As with every Star Wars flick, there is at least one great chase/race scene, this one not letting you down. Anakin's stroll down the Dark Side also begins with among other things slaughtering a campful of Tusken Raiders (by himself).

Along with a few hint-dropping joke lines, and a few Star Wars classics slipped into the movie, it's just a great movie. Whatever George Lucas did wrong with "The Phantom Menace" he fixed in "Attack of the Clones", and based on what I saw, he did a pretty good job too. It's got everything a good Star Wars movie needs: action, lightsabers, a few corny lines, one great battle, a good villain, and Yoda. Granted it gets a little lame with the love story thing, but is still a great flick.