Definitely Not Worth A Second Viewing In The Theater (Spoilers Inside)

Rating: 5/10 (18 May 2002)

I was by no means a fan of The Phantom Menace, but I actually find it to be a superior film than Attack Of The Clones. As usual, the trailer made the movie look great, but the finished product pales in comparison.
Since I wasn't a fan of TPM, I didn't set my expectations for this film unreasonably high. Even with that, the film failed my limited expectations.
I'll start with what I did like. Not having a strong Jar Jar Binks and a young "whoopie" Anakin presence throughout was a plus for the film. I also liked the fact that the climatic action took place with all of the central characters together instead of having to switch back in forth like in Jedi and TPM. The score was still good even though it was my least favorite. It was nice to have The Imperial March and Duel Of The Fates segments appear. The effects for the final climatic battle were well done and exciting as well as the sound effects throughout. Finally, the performances of Ian McDiarmid, Christopher Lee and Ewan McGregor were exceptional. I also thought the boy who played Boba did a nice job and didn't find him annoying like I found Jake Lloyd.
Now for the dislikes. I found Anakin to be a whiny brat 1000 times worse than Luke in ANH. The love scenes were very boring because they were so repetitive. Anakin, "I love you." Amidala, "We shouldn't." "I love you." "We shouldn't." I love you....repeat that about 4 or 5 more times. She decides to cave in when she figures they are going to die anyway. Why did she have to wear such tempting clothes that it was impossible for him not to be at least physically drawn to her.
That was also some reaction she had when he said, "I killed them all. I killed not only the men, bought the women and children as well." Some great Jedi, protector of life and the piece. If I were her, I would have told him to go away after he told me of his murderous rampage.
What was the deal with having a 50's diner with old cliche's like, "Want a cup of joe?". That was downright cheesy.
So, all of the clones are Jango Fett? That is just lame. In other words, instead of the Imperial Stormtroopers being recruited, they are just all clones of Jango Fett.
So this doesn't get drug out as long as the film, I'll just say a few general dislikes which affected the whole film. There was just too much switching back and forth between scenes that were just too short. Most of the scenes up until the climax had time to become interesting before they were cut off. None of the tension that existed in Episodes IV-VI. We know the principles aren't going to die in these installments, so there is no fear of them dying. The films are very unbalanced now. Some of the violence, which was less severe in IV-VI was toned down. We can't have Han shoot first and laser blasts to Imperial officers were altered so they would appear more family friendly, but in this film, bee-like and other creatures are dismembered left and right. Not to mention as bar patron wearing a thong with her a** hanging out.
The magic is gone. It all started on a downhill spin with the Special Editions and has done nothing but gain momentum since. I'll see Episode III since I have scene the others, but afterwards, I'll consider I-III to be a separate and inferior entity to the unaltered IV-VI.