It's what the fans have been wishing for.

Rating: 9/10 (17 May 2002)

George Lucas's rustiness after a 20-year directing hiatus was evident in the clunky pacing and unnaturally stilted performances of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Now, with the benefit of recent experience and the writing assistance of Jonathan Hales, Lucas has directed another masterpiece in his mythical space opera. While Phantom Menace was almost childlike in its giddiness, Attack of the Clones begins to delve into Anakin Skywalker's dark motives for turning to the dark side. This is the perversely riveting spectacle that die-hard fans have awaited for 25 years, and it foretells a descent into darkness in Episode III that should be unmatched by any of the other films in the series.
Episode II also reintroduces a few of the elements that made the original trilogy so much fun. R2D2 and C3PO are once again a comic team after their miscalculated demotion to throwaways in Episode I. Young Obi-Wan Kenobi, now played by Ewan MacGregor as though he were channeling the spirit of Sir Alec Guinness himself, shows us the adventures we always imagined he must have had as a young, eager Jedi Knight. And Yoda reveals a never-before-seen facet of himself that elicits cheers and squeals of delight from the audience.
Most critics, even those who enjoyed this installment, bemoan the dialog. Do not fear. If your ear has grown accustomed to Lucas's penchant for theatrical speech, more akin to the 19th-century stage than the 21st-century street, then you will find no surprises here. Even Natalie Portman as Padme Amidala has shed her stubborn monotone of Episode I to show that, when delivered with a little feeling, even Lucas's starched verbiage can convey the appropriate emotions. You won't be moved, but your ears won't be ringing, either.
For sheer originality, nothing will surpass the thrill of the original Star Wars trilogy. But George Lucas has managed to give us the next best thing: a film that stokes our nostalgia for the originals while adding to their mystique.
Chris Stvartak