Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) ***

Rating: 7/10 (5 June 2005)

(Possible Spoilers)
I really had a good time with ATTACK OF THE CLONES, and it was an immense and welcome relief after squirming through THE PHANTOM MENACE. What impressed me right off the bat were the towering galactic cities, and much of the architectural design in general. It also became evident right from the start that we were going to be told more of a direct story this time around, with a plot that was not nearly as impossible to follow as it had been with Episode One. You still may need a score card to keep track of all the oddly named characters, but at least there's more substance to them.
Ewan McGregor takes top honors as the best actor this time around, in his role of a more adult Obi-Wan Kenobi. Hayden Christensen is on and off in his so-so rendering of the growing Anakin Skywalker, and while Natalie Portman is still not much of an actress, she's not as bad here as she was the last time and at least we get to see her Queen Amidala fall in love with Anakin. This budding romance is also a great benefit to the film.
I enjoyed the action sequences too, ranging from the flying "space car" chase to the clone battle scenes, to the varying lightsaber duels. An added treat for an old time horror/sci-fi veteran like me was getting to see film legend Christopher Lee in the villainous role of Count Dooku, trading lightsaber jousts not only with Obi-Wan, but also Yoda! A personal highlight for me, and a moment full of action and suspense.
There were some down sides too, though they didn't spoil the overall experience. The film is still a little padded and overlong at two hours and twenty minutes, and while I wasn't bugged out by the over-reliance on computer effects this time, occasionally I had to grimace when "people" were animated. It's one things to create a mythological creature on the big screen; it's another to animate the very human character who's riding on its back or being thrown off it.
But all this aside, I liked ATTACK OF THE CLONES and I am now poised to make my way to the theatre for the recently released REVENGE OF THE SITH. And may the force be with me. *** out of ****