Vastly underrated by most critics, blends well with the feel of the originals

Rating: 10/10 (17 May 2002)

(extremely minor spoiler warning, proceed if you don't mind learning things you could get as easily from the official site)
As is my usual policy, I held off on reading critical reviews of this movie until after seeing it and developing my own opinions; from what I've read of said reviews, it doesn't seem many of the critics in question did themselves the same courtesy. At my showing I saw a room full of people having a load of fun with a highly enjoyable movie that finally begins to bring together all the loose threads of Lucas's universe, while presenting the viewer amazing visuals and stunning battle scenes along the way, and it is in that spirit that I appreciated it.
The crux of most critics' issues with this movie revolve around its dialogue, particularly in the romantic portions of the film. Frankly, I feel things would be a lot less believable if Anakin were to be a smooth-talking ladies' man; think for a moment, he's a backworld slave turned Jedi, presumably with no romantic experience, who's been obsessed with one woman for more than 10 years...in this light, his dialogue seems at least genuine for the character, although admittedly not some of the most poetic ever uttered on screen. I can't imagine it sounding any better otherwise.
What we *do* get in the rest of the movie's dialogue are plenty of the trademark Lucas one-liners (they've been there since Han Solo, don't start lamenting them now), as well as a side of Yoda that most viewers probably weren't quite prepared for. Anyone who was expecting beautiful prose out of this movie would be well advised to go review the original trilogy, and try to recall what *really* made those movies great. It wasn't stunningly lyrical dialogue of a caliber to put the greats to shame, it was the all-out scope and mythos of the movie, the emotionally genuine characters, the amazing and original visuals, the stirring of the imagination towards that galaxy far, far away, and of course the [more than] occasional bad*&$ action sequence. In all of these areas, particularly the final, Clones delivers with a vengeance, presenting the viewer with what I feel to be some of the high points of the franchise.