Frenetic CGI battles and disjointed storytelling

Rating: 5/10 (19 February 2007)

I watched The Phantom Menace with impossibly high expectations only to be let down worse than I ever anticipated. It was with renewed hope that I walked in to the theatre to watch the B-movie titled, Attack of the Clones. A little over 2 hours later I walked out dazed and confused. I had little idea what had just happened other than a mass of quick cuts and needlessly busy battle scenes.
When the action did slow down enough to give us the story, it ranged from the good (visiting the cloners and meeting Jengo Fett) to the silly and unnecessary (Obi Wan's inexplicable relationship with the diner owner) to the painfully awful (the entire love sequence between Anakin and Padme).
While I will admit that I got excited and cheered Yoda's battle with Dooku, after seeing it once I feel it shouldn't have happened. It showed a side of Yoda that does not befit his character and it made him no more adept with the force than any other. After 800 years of practice and time spent as the definitive Jedi master, Yoda should have bested Dooku in the battle of the force. It could have been close, it could have been difficult, but there was no need for the indulgent silliness of seeing Yoda bounce around like a rubber ball.
I am a proud fan of the Star Wars movies, but I have to say that after watching and re-watching the newer trilogy, this is easily my least favourite of the 6. Episode 1 had Darth Maul, Episode 3 was actually fairly well done despite the undignified "NNNNNOOOOOOO!!!" that tarnished Darth Vader's cool, but Episode 2 was just minimal story and epilepsy-inducing splashes of CGI over-indulgence.