Better than Episode I but . . .

Rating: Null/10 (3 June 2002)

Before I begin, let me say that I have studied literary criticism at the post graduate level, so naturally my training as a critic will come through in my review of the movie.
There is no question Attack of the Clones is better than The Phantom Menace in almost every conceivable way. But there are still a few things that make it fall short of a solid film in my opinion.
The most important criticism than I can give about this film is that the story is uninteresting. I do not want to give away any plot details for those who have not actually seen the movie yet (though I suspect everyone who is going to see it has by now), but I did not think the events of the movie were epic in scope. I find it hard to believe that what happens in the prequels leads to the state of the galaxy when we reach A New Hope and beyond in the time line. They seem rather trivial when you hold them up against the fate of the universe resting in the hands of a small band of rebels in the original trilogy.
After that, I think the acting is sub par with the exceptions of Christopher Lee (Count Dooku) and Temeura Morrison (Jango Fett). But I do not believe this is entirely the fault of the actors themselves. On the one hand, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman and any of the other big names have clearly shown they are capable of convincing roles elsewhere in their careers. But McGregor in particular shows that his classical training is not well suited to an action film. More importantly than this, it is pretty obvious from the painful exposition, choppy and uninspired dialogue, and lack of artistic direction that Lucas and his assistants are largely to blame. This is especially true of the whiney adolescent Annakin Skywalker played by Hayden Christian. The character seems more like he is going through growing pains than he is unable to control the hate and rage that lead him to the dark side. He commits one sort of evil act, but you are supposed to feel sorry for him. It would have been much more compelling if the character showed no remorse for his actions. In short, Annakin is supposed to be a hero here, but we all know he is the villain later in the series. It doesn't work for me to portray him as both.
I'm sure there are a great deal of people out there who also saw the large number of inconsistencies in the film that make it hard to suspend your disbelief. Ironically, this did not bother me as much with Episode II as it has in the past because I have come to expect these things from skywalker ranch.
Visually the movie is as impressive as they come. Alien species, the planetary infrastructure, etc. all look like they belong. But if you look only slightly beyond that, you see that the aliens are devoid of any personality, the planets are engineering disasters- the list goes on and on. Normally this isn't a problem. After all this is a fictional universe we are talking about where anything seems to be possible. But the sheer amount of things we are bombarded with make it difficult for me to accept them at face value.
In the end, I am sure the large majority of people who have seen this movie enjoyed it immensely. But if you are in that minority who, like me, are looking for something beyond an action film (ie substance), Star Wars Episode II doesn't really deliver.