"The Top Ten list"

Rating: 7/10 (25 May 2002)

OK, here are top ten reasons to watch this movie:
#10. The romantic story was genuinely intriguing. It was interesting to see, despite how enraged Anakin got, Amidala still fell for him. He admitted he slaughtered an entire village of sand people, and she comforted him. Even in a galaxy far, far away, love is blind.
#9. No talk of "metichlorines." There was too much of this Scully-esquire approach to explaining the force in "Phantom menace". Good Riddance.
#8. To see Luke's old home. Not just his home world as in Phantom Menace, but his home. Anakin and Amidala sat at the same table as Luke did when he dreamed of exploration with his Uncle and Aunt. It raises questions in the complete story line as a whole. Like, it will be interesting to see in part three why Anakin is unable to figure out his son was brought to this very place to be raised. Anyway, it's fun to see the old set after all these years.
#7. The special effects. I don't care what anybody says, the effects are impressive, most impressive. The scene where Obi-Wan and Anakin chase the assassin was pretty darn amazing.
#6. The characters and the acting was better than "Phantom Menace." But that's not really saying much. Hayden Christenson, not my favorite actor, but a lot less annoying than that young brat in the first movie. The scene that really made me aware of how good these actors were, was in the "gladiator arena" scene played out in true Star Wars fashion of the original trilogy. The three lead characters were chained to over-sized pillars, and what was played out here was very reminiscent of Luke, Leia and Han. No, Portman, Christiansen and Ewan McGregor still don't quite have the same chemistry as Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford, but they came pretty darn close.
#5. To watch more of George Lucas's back story---as fallible, inconsistent and contradictory as it might be (I see at least one other commenter also had a problem with Threepio and Owen Lars living with each other in this story line. Wasn't the fact that Darth Vader built threepio bad enough? Did Lucas forget Owen Lars purchased Threepio years later in "A New Hope"--somebody ought to point that out to him). With that said, this story does have more depth than "The Phantom Menace" or "Return of the Jedi." This installment is simply a stronger piece in the puzzle. Glad to see Lucas still has a magnificent mind, and still knows how to tell a good story.
#4. Much like the second installment in the first trilogy ("Empire Strike's back), this was a darker tale. I liked it!
#3. A lot less Jar-Jar!! I almost forgot he was in the movie at all. THANK YOU, George! and if you cut him out of the script completely in the third one, we really won't miss him...really!
#2. More Threepio and R2. Yeah baby, Lucas knows what we want to see.
#1. Without a doubt the number one reason--by far--this movie was worth watching just to see Yoda's light saber scene! He truly floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee. Absolutely funny, yet so great to see the little guy fight! While I was watching that scene, I remember thinking "this is so great! Yoda RULES!!" I laughed, I cheered! All of us who watched Yoda in earlier films wondered, "how can he be a Jedi? Jedi must defend peace and this must entail being a skilled light sabersman." Now we know, we finally know! Bravo George, Bravo!! But, can someone explain to me how Yoda can move that fast, jump, heck nearly fly in the air, then afterward pick up his walking stick and slowly move about . I'm sure there is a reason, perhaps something to do with the force, but it escapes me.
Now, I won't go as far to say this movie is better than "A New Hope" or "Empire Strikes Back". But, Lucas has learned his lesson from "The Phantom Menace" and made significant improvements. Not quite enough for my taste, but it's still Star Wars. In what other movie can the "story teller" disappoint us, yet we still line up to pay $8.50 to see it. And gladly do it all over again.