When it was bad it was loathsome, when it was good it was awesome.

Rating: Null/10 (22 May 2002)

Lets be honest about this, just because a film has Star Wars in the title doesn't automatically make it great. Phantom Menace was truly awful and this... well this was better.
The dialouge and script were awful, the romance between Amadala and Anakin was contrived, cheesy and felt insincere. Another point, which I guess everyone brings up, are the special effrects. The film is so oversaturated with CGI planets (the metroplois is a contender for Blade Runner/Fifth Element rip-off of the year)and weird aliens that after a while they cease to be spectacular and just become parts of a cluttered background.
The battles,however, were truly amazing, armies of Jedi and YODA FIGHTING!! True its an obvious gimmick designed to get posteriors on seats, but its so stupidly ludicrous that you simply have to love it.
Still AOTC is nowhere near as good as the originals and I think I know why. The atmosphere of space pantomime fun, of simple Good vs Evil, lovable characters and quotable lines has simply vanished. There is no one to really cheer for or boo at in AOTC, simply because the characters are so vapid and uninspiring. Equally the quotable one liners of the originals have dried up, leaving bland humour instead of Han Solo's dry sarcasm in its wake.
But AOTC should be considered as a film in its own right, as well as part of the Star Wars industry. Evaluated alone away from the other films, it has many faults (script,some bad performances,bland humour,etc), but still manages to be fairly entertaining. But thats all it is, a fairly entertaining blockbuster that left me marvelling at the battles, but feeling hollow inside. It shan't be remembered as fondly as 'Jedi'.