Superb! The Force Is Strong In This One

Rating: 9/10 (16 May 2002)

Like Star Wars? Then you'll love this. Other reviewers have commented on how much better this is compared to the Phantom Menace - and it is.
In a word, Attack Of The Clones is stunning. From the moment the music begins and you see the opening crawl, you feel the hairs on the back of your neck rise. As the film progresses you find yourself thinking, yep, Star Wars is back, we've returned to that galaxy far, far away - and you never quite got that with the Phantom Menace.
Of course, the visual effects are everywhere. From the digital landscape of Coruscant (watch out for the Blade Runner homage during the chase scene) through to the completely realistic CGI Yoda, there's no escaping the fact that this is an effects movie.
But certainly not at the expense of the plot, which (as well as Jar Jar Binks) was a failing of Episode I. There's intrigue, mystery and - very pleasantly for a Star Wars movie - some very real character and plot development. You'll see events and characters here - even starships - that come to fruition in the original trilogy. You might even find yourself thinking "Aha! So that's where that comes from... that's why they do what they do..."
Jar Jar only appears for a total of about a minute. And you get to see him make his biggest blunder yet. It's also not hard to guess who's gonna be after Mace Windu in Episode III.
This isn't an X-Files movie where you leave the cinema feeling frustrated and cheated because you've had more questions thrown at you than were answered. You leave the cinema wanting to go back in and relive it again. You leave the cinema thinking "Have I really got to wait another three years for Episode III? When can I get this on DVD???"
I gave this 9/10 so there's gotta be flaws, right? Well, two immediately spring to mind. Much as I love John Williams' music and much as I appreciate that a Star Wars movie (more than others) has it's themes, the score seemed to rely too much on the music from the other films. In particular, it seems the score for the big battle sequence at the end was nearly identical to the big battle score for the Phantom Menace.
The other flaw - a very minor one - is that you do need to know the back story and the events of the other films to really be able to appreciate this. Otherwise you'll be wondering what the hell is going on.
Having said that, I'm going out on a limb here to say this is probably the best Star Wars movie yet. Better than even the Empire Strikes Back. And yes, I'm a fan too, that's my favourite as well. Or at least it was.
I'm very much looking forward to 2005 - if Lucas stays true to his word and his winning formula then Episode III should be well worth the wait.