*spoilers* good and bad of ep. II

Rating: 7/10 (16 May 2002)

Where to begin? There were parts of AOTC that exceeded my expectations and other parts that fell far short of them.
If you struggle to see the good parts in Episode II, note Anakin confessing to Padme what happened at the Tusken Raider camp, think of how Boba is now linked in the Star Wars lore with the clones, or Anakin and Padme visiting the Lars homestead and Anakin sitting in the same place Luke sits in Ep. IV, or remember that plans for the Death Star have already begun.
For those who fail to see the bad in Episode II, I am forced to remind you of the purple lightsaber, the failure to show a real friendship between Obi-Wan and Anakin (Obi-Wan in Ep. IV: "And he was a good friend."), George Lucas's weakening ability to write dialogue (where's the man who wrote Yoda's advice to Luke in ep. V?), the choppy plot flow. And my biggest beef with the movie, which I'm sure I'll get used to, was Yoda's fight scene. Sure, in the heat of the movie it blew me away, but upon reflection, isn't Yoda powerful enough he doesn't even need to move to fight? Couldn't he duel Dooku with a lightsaber controlled by his mind. He even seemed swept away by his own abilities just as everyone was accusing Anakin of being. He was not the Jedi master who tells Luke, "Wars not make ones great."
Overall, I did like Attack of the Clones and eagerly await Episode III. I'm just disappointed at the realization that the new trilogy will never live up to the original.