Better than Phantom Menace, but Still Not Up To Par

Rating: 4/10 (27 July 2005)

At least Attack of the Clones is watchable. Actually, I have seen it a few times since the theater and it does get quite better. However, when you decide to watch it up against the original you realize it is still a weak movie.
10 years have passed since Phantom Menace. Which is part of the problem, THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN EPISODE 1! You could have had Anakin meet Padme at this age and the love story would have been much more realistic. Them meeting and falling in love could be episode one and the clone wars (more about them) could be two and the turn to the darkside could have been three. However, I digress. It starts off with an assassination attempt and Anakin meeting Padme. It is kind of creepy that they meet when Anakin was a child and he had a little crush on her and it has turned into this full born obsession.
There is another attempt on her life and a very cool (probably best action sequence of this movie) chase through the city. Rather than give away the rest of the plot, I will focus on the problems and good points of the movie.
Firstly, it is a much better movie than Menace. The pacing is better and the characters, while still a bit stiff, more relatable. We even get a glimpse into Darth Vader when Anakin slaughters Tuskan Raiders after they are responsible for the death of his mother. The lightsaber battle with Yoda at the end, while laughable, is quite entertaining.
The problems with clones are similar (just not as bad) as with Menace. The major being the script. I personally like the idea of forbidden love, even in star wars movie, but the lines used in it "e.g. the kiss i should have never given you," "i can't breath" are so cheese it makes you want to gag. The actors are not bad, the writing is.
Hayden Christensen is a good Anakin Skywalker, the problem was Lucas decided to make Anakin a whiny teenager rather than a young Jedi with demons (e.g. anger) he can not control. Christensen wanted to make the character darker, but Lucas stuck with Anakin being a whiny teenager.
Overally, this is an average to below average movie that I would have not watched more than once if it were not Star Wars.