Could have been more dark and violent

Rating: Null/10 (10 June 2002)

I liked AOTC, but I didn't love it. I think that in the beginning, Hayden Christensen was forced to have an "I was in the play othello in high school" accent, but when he dropped it later on and got to work, I more than forgave him.
What I wanted in this movie were two things:
1) a couple more laughs
and
2) more evil.
I think that the only times I actually laughed were when Jango says to Obi-wan "I'm just a simple man trying to make his way in the universe" and when 3po and r2-d2 were on screen. i'm dying for some han solo style one-liners or some light humor thrown in.
My number 2 gripe is the violence. There is the Revenge on Tatooine (that's what I call it) scene and I feel it could have been more violent and evil. It is the definitive scene for the anger phase of Anakin's fall to the dark side and we need to feel the evil, not just hear about it.

I feel that George Lucas should forget the kids for once and give us an R rated Star Wars. Come on, Lucas!
Beyond that, I enjoyed this movie a million times more than TPM, but Dooku vs. Anakin didn't excite me as much as Qui-gon vs Maul vs. Obi-Wan. I even liked Jar-jar. Can you believe that! He didn't do anything goofy or stupid, and I almost forgot he was in it!

I give this an 8 on a 10 scale. rent it on video- no DVD- when it comes out!
I say that Episode III will be the best of this trilogy. You just wait and see.