Thrilling and Disappointing at the same time!

Rating: 7/10 (18 May 2002)

***SPOILERS***
I love the star wars saga since I was 7 years old and saw it for the first time in the theater in 1977. The sense of wonder it gave me was amazing! That feeling for the most part returned with Episode I (except for Jar Jar Binks...YUCK)
Episode II is an inconsistent beast for me.
First the good....the fight scenes, action sequences and visuals are outstanding...great to see Yoda and Samuel L. Jackson and the Jedi Knights kick butt. ***Spoilers*** I love the forshadowing of things to come in the original trilogy....i.e. the death star plans and the birth of stormtroopers. Hayden played the anger and ego of Anakin very well.
What brings this film down for me is its pacing and lack of tightness in the story. The middle third of the story is slow and I was actually BORED!!!...which for me is a cardinal sin in a star wars movie. I thought the pacing in Spiderman was much better. That brings me to another point...One important purpose of this film was to establish the love relationship between Amidala and Anakin and it was completely flat! I just didn't feel the emotional connection between these two like the sweet yet corny one between Peter and MJ in Spiderman. (Yes, I know these two films are not comparable on the whole, it is like comparing apples to oranges, but I think these aspects are appropriate to compare)
In conclusion, I did enjoy this movie a lot for its visuals and action and the set-up for Episode III but parts of the story fell flat for me. Oh well, its still Star Wars and I can fast forward through the slow parts on the DVD if I want to :) 7/10