The second part of the prequels. What's the verdict?

Rating: 7/10 (25 August 2009)

Attack of the Clones, the second episode of the prequel trilogy, is the one where the new Star Wars episodes actually started, because the movie still is a Star Wars episode, but it doesn't have that SW feel to it that the original episodes and Phantom Menace had.
The story takes place 10 years after the events from Phantom Menace. Anakin (Hayden Christensen)is now a grown up Padawan. He's assigned to protect Padme, after several assassination attempts have been foiled. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan' investigation takes him to Kamino, where a army for the Republic, made entirely out of clones, has been prepared. It also seems that the Trade Federation has a darker power and a wider influence that the Republic could have imagined.
The plot evolves pretty slowly from "intersting, but boring" in the beginning to " amazing!" in the end. The first part is mainly about Obi-Wan's investigation and Ani's ongoing romance with Padme. And I swear, the romance scenes are so cheesy and frequent, they simply get on the viewer's nerves.
Hayden Christensen is another hated actor of the series. Yes, he's not convincing or strong, but he does have some moments. I could list other actors that didn't do their best, but I'll just shut up.
Attack of the Clones also introduces us to little Boba Fett and his father, Jango Fett, Owen and Beru and a new Sith - Count Dooku (Christopher Lee). He's intimidating, but that's just because of his voice. The battle scenes, which are mainly towards the end are spectacular, we can clearly notice that both the Republic and the Trade Federation got more powerful.
Here's another fact: this is the first Star Wars movie in which Yoda is fully CGI. Is that good? He is now more expressive, and he participates in a battle scene, so it is. Imagine a battle scene with puppet Yoda...
One more complaint: the droids are in the movie, but R2 is the only useful one. 3PO has absolutely no use! He just argues with R2 and gets himself into trouble, while contributing nothing to the plot. He's the Jar-Jar of the movie (except Jar-Jar did help our heroes). Speaking of him, he's present too, but this time he's barely on the screen, so he's no longer part of the problem.
Overall, Attack of the Clones is a step forward, combining a slow, but detailed and well-done plot with excellent effects and average acting, horrible romance scenes and great battle scenes.
Final Score: 3.5/5 or 7/10