Good, but not perfect

Rating: 7/10 (13 May 2002)

A worthy summer blockbuster, but little quirks keep it from a perfect action thriller.
First, the film lacks the youthful energy of Episode IV: A New Hope - it takes itself way too seriously. Hayden Christensen is awkward in almost every scene, too holdback during the first half and not fierce enough during the second half. The love scenes between Anakin and Padme are not very well developed and acted - Anakin is just too young to be charming enough to win over Senator Amidala. Obviously the film intends to show that it's Anakin's wild side that attracts Padme, but there's very little of that shown during the time the two actually spend together. And later on in the scene where he shows his dark side, it should be a closeup with his eyes burning and teeth grinding with anger and sends chills down the spines of the audience - but it doesn't, he's too good looking a kid to make you scare of him.
Second, like Episode I: The Phantom Menace, there are some totally unnecessary scenes. I understand the desire to create an entire world (or galaxy to be precise), but some sequences (like the factory) interrupt the flow of the story and just drag down the action.
Third, the fight scenes are not very well choreographed. The Jedi duels are the perfect place to overuse wires like The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but like The Phantom Menace, the fight scenes, especially the one with a squadron of Jedi Knights versus thousands of battle droids, are too repetitive. A Hong Kong action choreographer like Yuen Woo-ping, would've made wonders here. Even the duel between Yoda and Darth Tyranus (Count Dooku), thought great to look at, could have been more imaginative.
And last, the FX is very well done generally, but some scenes, like the chase at the beginning of the movie could've used less - sometimes the CGI world can be too distracting and keep the focus off the action.
Don't get me wrong, I still like this movie, a lot, and would recommand it to anyone. But there's still a lot of room to improve on the script, the acting and the FX.