Better, but still stagnant & disappointing

Rating: Null/10 (12 July 2002)

Yes, it is better than Episode 1. But, this is still a very stagnant (exposition heavy) and disappointing film (SOMETIMES, you just can't put that old magic jeanie back in the bottle). The STAR WARS series has become the souless creation of a man, Lucas, who's spent too much time with his electronic toys and not enough in the "real world". This is no better exemplified by the "I'm Lost here" look in Samuel L. Jackson & Natalie Portman's eyes.
As to the digital projection aspect. I am shocked at how few people have commented on how "digital" the film looks. Visible resolution lines, digital smearing, pixellation, subtitles which look like they have "stripes" jagging through the white lettering, and obvious contrast problems when Very Dark & Very Bright elements in the same frame co-exist. I know 90% of the general public don't notice (or care) about such things. But, it still looks like TV blown up large. Admittedly, scan lines and resolution will continue to get better, but it Digital ain't there yet. I also found that when I saw PERFECT STORM & OCEAN'S 11 (the latter at the very same screen as I saw Lucas' folly) digitally projected, they both looked a little better than CLONES. I think having a Digitally-shot AND Digitally-projected feature just doubles the inherent problems of the new medium. And, then, there's the matter of analog vs. digital sound...