ultimately bittersweet

Rating: Null/10 (15 May 2002)

Being a huge Star Wars fan guru, this movie contains a balance between what is pleasant and what is unsatisfactory.
I find the idea (romance as a component of Star Wars) a difficult situation to master. Because of the main spectacular battles in the previous Episodes created, we have been influenced to believe these two factors may be quite a challenge to combine, and...well...hehe..it sure was. Regardless that this is the story of Anakin Skywalker, his character portrayed in this Episode seemed to be ridiculing a stereotyped subliminal message of how teenagers act now-a-days: stubborn, impatient, spoiled, VERY arrogant,deeply emotional,uncontrollable, inconsiderate, and lets not forget the raging hormones. I cant say I take any offense to what I believe this to be a subliminal message, but you'll see what I mean after you've checked out this movie.
As far as the Romance goes,Lucas has done his part to explain the relation of how Skywalker and Amidala came to be, but dont expect this love story to be as passionately epic as James Cameron's, Titanic....you have to remember....this is Star Wars...=P
Once again ILM, like always, has proven to be the masters of computer animation and special effects. Thank goodness you only see Jar Jar Binks for about 4 brief scenes. The Design Director, Doug Chiang,also has came up with a lot of nifty space ship, droid, and other great designs that had to do with the mechanical 'eye-candies' of this Episode. This time, Yoda is remarkably all CG. As you might have guessed, yes, he does duel in this movie, 'tis quite an enjoyable scene and certainly not one to miss."I've never seen something, so old and so short, move with such rapid speed and accuracy." The clones, the droids, and 'the beginning' of the war is utterly mouth-dropping. The action is intense, 'like the Battle of Hoth on steroids.' Like Darth Maul of Episode 1, Jango Fett, a Bounty Hunter working for the Sith Lords, serves as the signature villian of Episode II, not much dialogue with this bad guy either, cool fight scene with obi-wan, but its always great to see the Slave 1 in action again.
Over all, you might call this movie not quite an impressive art of 'Love and War'. Like Episode 1 it has its goods and bads,but like many would say, even though this is a prequel,.... still, nothing beats the original Star Wars Ep. 4, 5, and 6. Now-a-days, it seems that movies compete to see who has the best CG support, yet they include such terribly weak plots. In my opinion, Lucas seems to be leaning towards that direction. Yet, do not get discouraged; this movie is still a cool movie... mostly because it is.....Star Wars, and is one of ILM's greatest and most spectacular projects. I honestly wasnt too hyped up about this movie this time, but if you want to see a good movie this summer,see...STAR WARS EPISODE II, but if you are sick of Star Wars go see..... SPIDERMAN!!