Better than Episode 1

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 2002)

My review of Attack of the Clones
My general view of the movie: Somewhat slow, but picks up the pace to finish strong. You will need to see this movie more than once, if for nothing else than to see all the stuff you couldn't take in the first time around. It is not a perfect movie, it does have it's flaws. Yet it is an improvement on Episode 1 and a worthy addition to the franchise.
Specific thoughts: **Some Spoilers Ahead** Ewan McGregor IS Obi-Wan Kenobi! Perhaps it is just the beard and the longer hair, but I could honestly believe someone miraculously de-aged Alec Guiness, he was THAT good. Hayden Christenson shines best when he gets in touch with that nasty dark side. Natalie Portman makes it obvious where Priness Leia gets her good looks from. She also wears an outfit at the end that comes close to Leia's Metal Bikini in Jedi for sex appeal. Samuel L Jackson is fine as Mace Windu, but the role really does not play to his strengths: Yelling and Jive-Talking. Nice to see R2-D2 and C3PO back at it. C3PO has some of the funniest scenes in this movie, particularly when his head is removed and mistakenly attached to a droid warrior. And Yoda.......oh, boy! Muppet no more! He's now a full on CGI character that finally shows just how much of a bad-ass Jedi he really is!
One thing I noticed the most were things that rely on the viewer's foreknowledge of what is to come to have an effect. Obi-Wan's line to Anakin, "I swear you are going to be the death of me!" would be just a throwaway by itself, but given we already know Obi-Wan's fate in episode IV, that line elicts a response from the audience. As does another line from C3PO, "R2 says he has received a message from an Obi-Wan Kenobi....", which parallels a line from Episode IV.
Like I said, the movie has it's flaws. The dialogue does seem stilted at tiimes (personal beef: Having someone with an American accent say "Milady" to me sounds EXTREMELY fake! Just say "My Lady" and it sounds SO MUCH better!), but I really do not see the beef people have with Lucas' directing style. To me, it works just fine for this movie.
As to this installment's place amongst the episode pantheon, it is close but does not quite equal any of the first three movies, but it is a solid improvement over Episode I. At any rate, it is definitely worth a look see whiole it is still in the theater. I know I will go again.
I gave this movie an 8/10.