Better than Episode 1, but.....

Rating: 7/10 (24 May 2002)

Well, I saw the film a few days after it came out, and, like many of my fellow fans, I was eagerly awaiting it. After Episode 1 I was hoping the this film would be heads above. Then I saw the film.
Some of the things I liked about this film are the same ones that everyone has mentioned, namely the Yoda battle scene. However, this one scene cannot make up for the rest of the film. Really, the rest of the film let me down.
The acting was stiff and the lines were poorly written, which, combined, means the the delivery of many lines bordered on horrible. The language used when writing the film has become more and more casual. Common everyday expressions are peppered within the script and slapstick comedy are all too common.
Even though I am a fan, there were way too many winks-to-the-fans within this film. While I enjoyed the first couple of jokes they become too much by the end. Especially with such a convoluted plot. At the end of Empire there were lots of loose ends, but not plain confusion like the end of this film.
I guess the main thing I disliked about this film was the 50's diner scene. My respect for the Star Wars universe had never been so shaken nor reduced until I saw this scene. There is just no need for the scene and it reduces the calibur of the film.
While this film was a major step in the right direction, it is still not quite right. Beautiful graphics, CG, and scenery will never make up for an excellent script or good acting, a lesson that seems to have been forgotten at times over at the Skywalker ranch. Hopefully if the second episode can be so much better then the first then the third may finally be up to expected par.
-Christopher