A Terrific Addition to the Franchise

Rating: 8/10 (26 December 2015)

I'm going back and watching all six Star Wars films so I can go see "The Force Awakens", and last night I watched "Episode II: Attack of the Clones".
I have to say that I find this to be a really enjoyable movie. I tried not to like it when it first came out due to its name. Seriously, George Lucas..."Attack of the Clones"? I mean, I get it, but there were lots of options for a better name than that. "The Clone Army" would have sufficed. But I digress...
Again, I really like this movie. It suffers from a bit of poor dialogue and bad acting between Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen--their on screen romance feels very much like a bad daytime soap opera rather than something worthy of the Star Wars franchise.
And yet, that bit of dissatisfaction aside, I find this to be a fantastic film overall. The storyline is great. The opening chase scene is great. Obi-Wan's search for the missing planet is great. The final battle is great. Most all of it is great.
And, one thing that I greatly appreciate about this film is Christopher Lee's performance as Count Dooku. Funny name aside, Lee turns out a convincing portrayal of a lead antagonist that makes you understand what the Dark Side is all about. I found Darth Maul to be rather lacking as a villain in "Phantom Menace", but Lee makes up for this in profound fashion.
But I suppose the most important thing that I enjoy about this movie is that it just brings so many pieces of the puzzle together. Anakin's story advances in a way that is plausible and believable, even if Christensen's portrayal suffers at times. This movie sets up his path to the Dark Side in profound fashion, and makes the six films flow together. I like that sense of continuity, and so I'm giving this movie 8/10 stars. Again, the cheesy soap opera stuff between Anakin and Amidala is a major blow to the film--but all in all it's a great movie.
Side Note: If I wanted to, I could get really critical about one element of the overall plot here. This whole Dark Side thing and the people involved in the plot to take over the Republic goes completely unnoticed by Yoda and Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson). That really cheapens the whole Jedi thing, in my view--the most powerful Jedi in the world are right in the midst of the people who are orchestrating the fall of the Republic, and they can't even sense it. Strange. Same goes for the fact that Dooku's back story is so wrapped up in the Jedi. How could they never sense this disturbance in the force in a way that would root it out?
Whatever the case, that does bother me when I think critically about the film. But I try not to do that, but to instead watch it at face value and enjoy it for what it is, and on that merit I give it the 8/10 stars.