Lightsabers! Robots! Spaceships! Aliens! Bounty Hunters! Etc! Yes, it's Star Wars.

Rating: 10/10 (31 January 2005)

Stick a lightsaber in a movie and I'm happy. Seriously. Not a biased review whatsoever. 10 years after the battle of Naboo (in The Phantom Menace) Anakin has grown into a talented Jedi, though very reckless. He also has all the traits teenagers have- moody, irresponsible, fancies the pretty senator... that kind of thing. Obi Wan's becoming increasingly concerned over his Padawans behaviour, while the Jedi Council struggle to keep the peace as the galaxy appears to be on the brink of war. Amidala, former Queen of Naboo and now senator, is placed under protection of the Jedi after an assassination attempt- unfortunately her 'Jedi bodyguard' can't necessarily be trusted...
Boo hoo if you want to moan about prequels, Ewoks, Jar Jar, Anakins ghost, directors re- edited special ultimate redux DVD editions, whatever. Star Wars rocks. Fact. The film hardly lets up pace from the chase through Coruscant to Obi Wan's Raymond Chandler-esquire investigation into the development of a clone army (the precursor to the Stormtroopers of the original trilogy) to the finale when war is declared and just about the biggest Jedi showdown ever (so far). And I won't even mention what happens when you mess with Anakins mother...
Classic tale of good versus evil, jaw dropping special effects, plenty of that'll-tie-in-to- Episode-IV-nicely moments...
And you think Episode II was good? Vader's back in the next one!