A big improvement over Phantom Menace

Rating: 7/10 (21 May 2002)

Silly title notwithstanding I did enjoy this film. It seemed back to the old school of Star Wars film making. A nice story reasonably well told and entertaining to a mixture of age groups.
Acting: I thought some of the acting was a little odd - I don't think Ewan can quite pull off the upper crust accent very well - it always sounds a little strained. This rigid attempt to stick to a voice style causes his delivery to sound stilted and monotone. Haydn is passable as Anakin Skywalker but he did not project the emotional torment his character was occasionally suffering - but he handled the action sequences reasonably well. Christopher Lee was excellent as Count Dooku adding that air of menace that was missing, ironically, from the Phantom Menace. Natalie Portman gives another fine performance. And Yoda .... Yoda's scenes were interesting - unable to reveal more - well worth seeing Yoda in the film :-)
Directing: During action sequences I thought the directing was great - the was pace kept nice giving the watcher an exilerating experience in the Cinema. Also reasonably good during the - less emotionally charged scenes such as meetings between council members and the like but during emotional scenes I feel George Lucas does not help his actors. Some of the scenes lacked emotional depth for me and not for a need of actors capable of delivering these performances. It seemed that some of the dialogue that seemed to need emotional and charged execution was delivered fairly flat. A different director may have tried to put the cast's talents to better use.
Story: A great story - a good old fashioned yarn in the spirit of Episode 4 to 6. The story is not too childish to appeal to the older audience and still I can imagine it entertaining children.
SFX: As would be expected the SFX look quite astounding - from the busy metropolis of Coroscent (sp?) to the inevitable light sabre battles. All look fantastic and don't overwhelm the picture.
Overall: well worth watching (in the cinema) I would rate it under Episode 4 and 5 but above Episode 6 - Return of the Jedi as I did not spot a single Ewok and Binks was hardly in it. 7/10