Better than EP1, but no "Empire"

Rating: 1/10 (16 May 2002)

After years of anticipation, and a private screening at 12AM on the opening night, my hopes were way up on this one. But while EP2 is better - strike that, much better - than Episode 1, don't expect a second "Empire Strikes Back".
The Bad
The love story between Anakin and Padme is terribly portrayed. What we have here is [most probably] the most significant relationship in the Star Wards saga, and all it took was a couple of stares and some rolling around in the field to make it happen. Sorry, but I'm not convinced. Remember, Padme hasn't seen Anakin in 10 years, and after all that time she still remembers him as the little boy in EP1. To go from that to being in love within a few days (most of which has Anakin whining and acting frustrated) simply isn't believable. Some people like to blame the actors for this, but it's the script and director that determine what and how something is going to be said. Thankfully, most of the bad dialogue is reserved for the these parts of the movie.
Some might hate me for saying this, but there were too many special effects. Now I'm not saying they were badly done, on the contrary, this movie contains some of the best animation I've ever seen, but there just seemed to be too much of it. Sometimes, simplicity can have a much greater impact (like the emperor's chambers on the second death star - just black and blue), and we don't always need to have 50 different looking aliens in every shot, even if we are on corusant.
Overall, I felt somewhat detached from the action and most of the characters in the film. I think Anakin's descent to the dark side should have been done more subtly (i.e. enough with the scowling), and the early "love scenes" either done more realistically or not done at all.
The Good
Despite the occaisionally lame dialogue (other than the love story), a lot of the acting was actually good, especially on the part of Ewan McGregor, Christopher Lee (who's so much cooler than Darth Maul btw), and Senator Palpatine (can't remember his name, sorry). While not Oscar material, they definitely raise the bar for Star Wars acting.
On the action side, I don't think I can say anything that hasn't been said before. George really pulled out all the stops for this one, and if you've always wanted to see a massive display of Jedi prowess, you won't be disappointed. In fact, I'm seeing it again just for the last battle - trust me, it's that good.
I know it seems as though I emphasized the negative aspects, but that's only because it's easier to point out the few bad things than the many good things. Whether you enjoyed EP1 or not, go see this. You will definitely like it better.