Not great but good, a big improvement over Episode I

Rating: 8/10 (20 June 2002)

After Episode 1 which disappointed me, I actually thought Episode 2 was a great improvement but not quite up to the level of the original. There was definitely more to the story than in Episode 1, and it built well on the previous installment as well as led up to the original trilogy. Of course there were plot holes, that's what Episode 3 will be there to fix in the next few years.
I have to agree with the fact that the acting was not the greatest. Most characters seemed fine but Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman stood out with poor dialogue at numerous points and occasionally this hindered the experience of seeing the film. Of course the acting could be seen as bad in the other movies, but it stood out a lot more in this one (or at least I noticed it more).
(SPOILER AHEAD)
Also, am I the only one who thought Yoda's fight scene was overrated? Yes, it was funny and unusual, but it didn't last very long and it didn't seem to do much to affect the outcome of the movie.
(END SPOILER)
Now that the negative aspects are out of the way, here are the positives, and there are many. Although confusing at points, the storyline was much more detailed than that of Episode 1 and almost the same as some of the originals. It was also important because it helps to determine where elements of the original trilogy came from (such as Boba Fett and the stormtroopers). The love story element did seem out of place at times, but it had to happen sometime (otherwise where would Luke and Leia come from?). Finally, it showcased the beginning of the turn towards darkness and evil in the overall environment from the "happy world" of Episode 1 to the Empire of the original trilogy. I may find myself in a minority again, but I thought it was good to see R2D2 and C3P0 as the main sources of humor like they were in the original trilogy. Although C3P0's one-liners seemed stupid at points, they were much better than Jar Jar's fart jokes (or whatever they were) that made up most of the "humor" in Episode 1. Finally, the computer generated special effects were excellent, with extremely detailed ships, battles, planets, and aliens that you know would have been impossible to make with models. It may seem like Episode 2 has the best special effects of all the Star Wars movies, but keep in mind that each movie showcased state of the art special effects for its time. People who saw the original Star Wars in 1977 probably thought the same of its special effects as we do now with Episode 2.
Overall I enjoyed seeing the movie and went back to see it again. It would be third on my ranking of Star Wars movies: A New Hope (the original) as the best, then Return of the Jedi, Attack of the Clones, The Empire Strikes Back (no, that's not in the wrong place), and The Phantom Menace as the worst. I don't know why, but I didn't seem to like The Empire Strikes Back that much. It seemed too slow with Darth Vader chasing Luke as too plain of a storyline.
Overall, I would give Episode 2 (Attack of the Clones) an 8 out of 10.