Great 2nd installment - back on track...

Rating: 8/10 (1 August 2002)

I am one of those few people that actually thought that Episode 1, The Phantom Menace was quite good. I'm not saying that it was as good as Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back or even the original Star Wars but for popcorn entertainment it was really enjoyable.
How did I react then to Episode 2? I've seen it four times at the cinema.
Believe it or not I had built this film up so much in my mind that when I saw it for the first time I came out in a way disappointed. I put down that experience because I had spent 3 years building it up. For me my favourite parts in all the Star Wars films are the lightsaber battles. I love them. Can't get enough of them.
So when it came to Episode 2 I found them enjoyable but not as impressive as the three way battle at the end of Episode 1. Initially this bugged me but then I saw Episode 2 again and started to appreciate the film on all the other levels. It makes sense for Lucas and co. to not try and out do the lightsaber battles from Episode 1 because that would probably leave hardly anything positive about Episode 1.
Episode 2 succeeds on so many levels, with a couple of minor exceptions. I found the love story a bit hokey. Where the romantic link between Princess Leia and Han Solo worked extremely well in the first trilogy, I find the modern romance between Anakin and Padme just a little strained. Lucas was probably trying to hard to better the romance from the original films. The scripting moments between these two in a couple of scenes just doesn't work.
PLOT SPOILER - SKIP THIS PARAGRAPH - do not proceed if you haven't seen the film. The other minor problem was I found Anakin's mum completely unconvincing in her pivotal scene. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about if you have seen the movie. Anakin's reaction is fantastic and completely believable but I felt hardly any sadness at all when Anakin's mum makes her grand exit. Even afterwards when Anakin returns to the moisture farm, it was completely believable and chilling. It gave you a hint at the evil lurking underneath the cocky, yet likable young hero.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE YOU CAN READ FROM HERE Other than that though everything else works extremely well. The relationship between Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin (Hayden Christennsen) is fantastic. The introduction of Jenga Fett is great too. I just wish I didn't have to wait another three years, like everyone else before we find out the conclusion to the second trilogy.
It is a big screen spectacle. See it. Live it. Breathe it. For it is the Star Wars of old.
8 out of 10.