The 4th greatest of the series

Rating: 10/10 (19 May 2002)

First of all, I regard the first trilogy (4,5,6) with such respect and awe that I really don't think that any movie will ever top the grandeur of them. Even with the amazement I have at Lucas' genius for creating the story I was one of the many who were disappointed with his Phantom Menace. It had its moments, but overall it fell far short of the most remedial expectations one could have for 20 years of story plotting. So after the 99' disappointment I didn't have very high expectations for Episode II. Even though I got the same feeling I did while watching PM - that there was just a bit too much CGI, I REALLY enjoyed this movie. And I had made up my mind that I was going to be very critical. Well, Star Wars got a little bit of its magic back. That special feeling that you only get when you watch a SW movie. There were some amazing moments in the movie that I didnt see coming that really did work - Anakins telling of the sand people incident.. the last shot of Boba.. Yoda, nuff said.. and the early reference to the Death Star was pure GENIUS.. I think either by blind luck or maybe a sudden realization, Lucas got back to what, in the end made the original series stand the test of time and it wasn't the special effects, because effects of sw were soon outdone and it wasn't the acting (never been one of starwars strongpoints with the exception of a few characters) but the friggin story!! Thats whats so amazing about the series, and I was into the story the whole time.
The main criticism of the movie thus far seems to be of the love story. True, the script does have its problems, particularly in the love scenes but it actually did not bother me that much. I just kept thinking, this guy is gonna be Darth Vader, and that kept me going during those scenes.. sounds a little strange I know but hey whatever works.
I think if I had to pick a main fault of the series thus far it would have to be lack of character development. You just don't care about these characters like you did Leia and Han and Luke and Chewy. You don't feel like you know them... particularly my biggest complaint is with Amidala, I dont think enough meat has been given to her character but perhaps I am jumping ahead of myself and should just wait till 2005.

But anyway, I think its a great addition to the series, though still far behind Jedi, (My ranking being Empire-1st......A New Hope-2nd.....Jedi-3rd........AttackotC-4th.........PM-5th..