The best Star Wars film ever

Rating: 8/10 (20 May 2002)

Depending on your point of view, Attack of the Clones must either be the best Star Wars film ever, or the second best after The Empire Strikes Back.
Full of breathtaking imagery, sumptuous visual storytelling, genuinely epic battle scenes, a Star Wars love story AND a Star Wars detective story, plus trademark rubbish dialogue, I would find it very difficult to be friends with someone who didn't like this movie.
Why is it so good? It fulfils everything anyone would ever expect of a movie. It contains genuinely fantastic action sequences, iconic moments which you'll be talking about for the rest of your life, characters you care about, good handling of plot and story, and breathtaking special effects. The final battle makes it the Saving Private Ryan of fantasy films. Plus - and this is most important - it moves people. It may move them to tears, if they're that way inclined, but at the very least it makes people laugh out loud from sheer joy, in a way I personally haven't done since the helicopter crash in The Matrix. This is something movies can do that "serious" films cannot - inspire awe. And AOTC is one of the most awe-inspiring movies ever made. Phantom Menace doubters can rest easy, and Phantom Menace apologists such as myself are vindicated. This is the kind of movie that will win MTV awards and Empire awards, but never Oscars, because the Acadamy looks for "inspiration" and "pathos" without ever giving "joy", "wonderment", or "Jesus Christ, did you see that?!" a second thought. Sod them. Go see it, then see it again.
Star Wars perfection. Roll on 2005.