Very good, but for one thing...

Rating: 8/10 (16 March 2003)

The only thing keeping me from voting this movie as a "10" is the choice of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker. Whom would I have picked? I don't know, but Christensen didn't seem to play the part of an emotionally torn Jedi apprentice destined to become one of the great Movie Villains of all time. He more played the part of an arrogant, whiney brat. At this stage in the story, Skywalker should have been struggling to keep his aggressiveness in check, occasionally lashing out (as he did once in the film under extreme provocation) possibly even almost letting his anger overpower him, but reigning it in just in time. Otherwise, the movie was excellent. The battle sequences are as good as I have seen in a Sci-Fi movie, and the lead-in to Episode III is very good. Samuel L. Jackson and Ewan McGreggor give excellent performances, as does the actor who plays Jango Fett. All in all, the movie is on a par with the original trilogy. The only thing missing is the Han Solo one-liners.
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The best scene in the movie can be described in 4 words: Yoda with a Lightsaber.