Great visuals, lots of action but not without minor flaws..

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 2002)

This action-packed sequel to Phantom Menace is leaps and bounds ahead of the previous film. Where to start? The most impressive thing for me was the CGI rendition of Yoda. He's noticably different from previous films - being more animated and expressive than a hand-puppet could ever be. He gets some brilliant scenes, especially towards the end of the film where he's ordering clone warriors and fighting against the estranged Jedi, Count Dooku.
The final battle sequence is truely awesome. Imagine a group of Jedi Knights surrounded by thousands of battle droids - stunning. Lightsabers and blaster bolts all over the place.
Another favourite sequence has to be the scene where Obi-wan duels with Jango Fett.
Some of the visual effects did seem like they ran out of time in perfecting them, however. Some of the shots of actors in front of very light backgrounds at the start of the film made the actors look 'cut out'.
The acting is great, although Anakin and Padme do seem a little forced at times. Ewan McGregor and Christopher Lee pull off their roles to perfection.
The film pulls together some of the lose threads that were left dangling from the last film and make some obvious moves in the direction of the original films.
I cannot wait for the third film.