WAYYYY BETTER THAN TPM, "ALMOST" A RIVAL TO ESB IN ITS TONE

Rating: 10/10 (17 May 2002)

well first off.... it was wayyyyy better than TPM. Better effects, faster paced, longer (gives a little more time to develop the story), and of course.... less Jar-Jar.
The really great thing about jar-jar being in this one is ..... it's all his fault! all of it! NONE of the things that unfold in this film and the remaining ones would have occured if jar-jar hadnt been on the senate floor to put forth a motion. So now i can rest easily knowing that as annoying as he might be.... the emperor's rise to power is all his fault. I like him a lot better now.
After watching the film 6 times now, I still cannot tell for sure if N*Sync is in the film or not...... i "think" i recognized a few of them though....(i suppose i should be happy that i don't know exactly what they look like) but if it was them, it wasn't all that bad either. Hell.... they were only extras anyways. I'm actually jealous... I would LOVE to be an extra.
The acting is as cheesy as the original trilogy.... Hayden does some wonderful mood swings throughout.... giving us a real preview of what is to come. Ewan is pulling off a GREAT obi-wan.... I could really beleive that this man will grow up to be Guiness.
The occasionaly one-liners and puns made it fun. As did the effects, which were great except for a few of the CG creatures. Great job on yoda though. ILM has come a long way since digitally reinserting Jabba into starwars IV.
The only problems I had in general were the score (somewhat a rehash of the previous 4 scores), not enough screen time for the clone/jedi/droid battle, not enough screen time for the lightsaber duels and the one thing thats really been missing...... a huge space battle. There is a small little scuffle between Obi and Jango.... but as good as it was, that really didnt do much to quench my thrist.
I wouldn't say that it's darker than ESB.... but it does come close. There are a few disturbing images... like Yoda hanging out with the clones, the aliens of Camino were kinda eerie, and of course the tusken camp adventure..... i think something that added a lot to the overall dark tone in ESB though was the use of lighting and environments. The icyness of Hoth, the blackness with blues and orange-red in the carbon freezing chamber, the bleakness and barren feel to the asteroid belt, the darkness and fog of Dagobah. Those lights and envoirnments just intensified the dark events that occured in ESB. AOTTC on the otherhand, offers only a brief glimpse of the darkness of space (also with asteroids) and the rainy planet of Camino. Everything else is clear weather and bright lights for the most part. This doesnt do much to intensify any tone or events. Had the environments been better selected.... had Coruscant not been in daylight hours, had the lighting been more blues and blacks...... i think it would have far surpassed ESB in the emotional tone.
I look forward to three years from now.... meanwhile I'm going to try to find a digital theater to watch AOTC in now.
Critics are such idiots.....I dont know why people put so much faith in them.