Attack of the fans

Rating: 8/10 (10 April 2020)

This movie is usually bashed the hardest of the prequel series. While it's understandable as to why fans were upset with it, I really enjoy the movie. But while Attack of the Clones does have its share of flaws, I wasn't as turned off by them as other people were. For example, a lot of people complain about Anakin being whiney at times, but, strangely, I don't remember them complaining about how whiney Luke was throughout A New Hope and Empire. You can't praise one character while criticizing another for the same thing, that's called hypocrisy.
And yes, the dialogue wasn't always the best, and the romance could have been handled better, but you also have to consider the situation and the circumstances. Anakin is a Jedi, and romance is forbidden to him. He has zero experience in the romance department. He doesn't know what to do, he doesn't know what to say. Remember, he's pretty much been in love with Padme since he was a kid. Think back to your first crush, or the first time you tried to ask someone out. I'm sure you said and did things that you look back on now and wince at. Not only did Anakin lack experience, he knew he was doing something that was forbidden to the Jedi, and there was no one he could talk to about it because of this, not even Obi-Wan. So he tried to be completely open and honest, laying all his feeling out and being completely sincere. And yes, the dialogue was cheesy and cringy, but again, consider his circumstances.
As for Padme, she's been a queen since she was very young, and then a senator after that. Unlike Anakin, she does have experience in relationships. In fact, she and Anakin even talk about it. But due to her position, she's probably used to all this higher up standard form of courtship, a lot of which probably involved fake things and putting on acts, a bunch of formalities, and a lot of other higher up nonsense. She was probably also put on a pedestal due to her position by a lot of courters instead of being treated like a person. She didn't face any of that with Anakin. He treated her like a person, not a queen or a senator. She always had a lot of affection for him, even when she was younger, and I think she simply responded to his openness and honesty, even if it was cringy. I'm still not saying the romance was handled the best, but seeing as there was a reason behind it, I was able to overlook a good part of what many consider to be some of the movie's biggest flaws.
I will admit that there is also an overuse of CGI in the movie, and not all of it is has aged well, as people seem so fond of pointing out how fake something looks. But you know what, I don't recall people complaining about severally out of date special effects for old classics, whose special effects may have looked good over sixty years ago but now look ridiculous compared to what movies are capable of now. You can't praise outdated special affects that look bad now while bashing new, better looking but still outdated special effects. That's not how it works, and it's completely biased.
Besides, the effects used in this movie provide some pretty cool scenes. The fight with Obi-Wan and Jango Fett was great, and the whole battle at the end with the Jedi fighting the droid army, and then the clones coming in, come on, that was pretty cool. We even get to see Yoda channel the Force and go all out. And yeah, it may look a little silly, but you have to admit that seeing Yoda turn into a badass Jedi master was freakin' awesome. But yes, the flaws this movie has did lower it in the ranking, but it also did well to keep me entertained throughout it, and that's primarily what I look for in a movie. A movie doesn't necessarily have to be good for me to like it or be entertained by it.