Not what I expected and it wasn't Jar-Jar's fault this time

Rating: 7/10 (16 May 2002)

Attack of the Clones is a little better than The Phantom Menace, but still does not even come close to the original trilogy. Even Return of the Jedi was better overall. I've been a huge fan of the originals for years. I was definitely a Star Wars fanboy up until the release of the disappointing Episode I. My expectations had been set so high and I just felt so let down. The initial reviews of Episode II gave me a little bit of hope, but when the majors gave it mixed reviews I went into it with lower expectations. And I still feel disappointed with this one. Don't listen to the fanboys who like to flame the negative reviews. This film deserves every one of them. It's not a bad film at all but it's nothing great. The acting is mostly stale and the dialog is mostly weak. The effects are fantastic but they seem overused. This is most definitely an animated film starring humans. *POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD* - - The last hour of the film is full of waaay to many different droids and forms of technology that does nothing but put the older sequel trilogy to shame as far as effects go. Most people agree that Yoda's role in the end is the best part of the film. But I think the Yoda character was dumbed down in Attack of the Clones compared to what we see of him in the original trilogy. And not even the end of the film redeems his role in my opinion. Plus, that particular scene is just too short. My main gripe with this film is that it doesn't explain much of anything! It does very little to move the story along. Episode III has A LOT to explain... There are things I enjoyed about this one. I actually liked the humor with R2-D2 and C-3PO. I really enjoyed the end of the tatooine scene with Anakin. It was very powerful. I have yet to see this film digitally projected, but that won't change anything I've said about it. I saw it on film. The film was a little bit dark, but it still looked like film to me. I look forward to the next episode and hope that George Lucas truly redeems himself.