Average Start, terrible middle and an incredible ending

Rating: 6/10 (17 May 2002)

The movie starts with some nice racing scenes, not too bad but nothing you haven't seen before in "Blade Runner" or "The fifth Element". Then it seems to fall into a bottomless pit of boringness for about an hour!!! I don't know what George Lucas had in mind, when he blew the whole romance thing to a whole hour. Obviously it had to be in the movie because it belongs to the plot, but 10 minutes would have been more than enough! I read somewhere that the audience was laughing in some cinemas when they saw that "Heidi"-like love affair on Naboo. When I saw it, nobody was laughing! At first everybody seemed to wait patiently for the action to start up again, then the "BORING"-chants started and finally a lot of the people started to leave the cinema. Only those who couldn't believe George Lucas could make such a crap and who were still waiting for a good ending were rewarded with an incredible and furious final battle.
The last part was something, every Star Wars fan has been waiting for since the first movie appeared on the big screen! For those who read to this point and who haven't seen Episode II yet and who still want to see it after all, I won't spoil the best part in years (Although it seems to be "stolen" from other movies like "Gladiator", "Starship Troopers" and even "Return of the Jedi").
Those who have already seen it, they will know what I mean anyway (If they were strong enough to survive the terrible middle)!
I would like to say the ending would have saved the movie and I really would like to give it a high vote. But although the ending is worth a 12 out of 10, the first part is even with the hunting scenes and with a whole lot of Good-Will a 2 out of 10. That makes only a 7 altogether.
May the force be with you, George Lucas, and may it clear your mind!