Better than Phantom Menace AND Return of the Jedi

Rating: 10/10 (18 May 2002)

Obviously a gigantic improvement over Episode I, Episode II "Attack of the Clones" is truly "the best star wars film in over 20 years"....even better than Episode VI but not as good as Episodes IV and V. This movie reminds viewers of EMPIRE (Anakin getting his arm cut off by the Count; the count getting away) where as Phantom Menace reminded viewers of JEDI (Jar Jar and his gunguns defeating evil just as the ewoks did in JEDI). While PHANTOM and JEDI were juvenile, CLONES is more satisfying in its action sequences (especially Yoda's battle near the end) and covers a lot of ground for Episode III. Ewoks (a bunch of annoying teddy bears) defeating storm-troopers???? Give me a break! Gunguns under the leadership of an annoying incompetent gungan named Jar Jar Binks defeating battle droids???? Give me a break!
Many fans are criticizing the acting....but who watches films like these for the acting? The acting here is the same as in any James Bond film or action-packed blockbuster. Movies like this are primarilly fun and CLONES delivers fun 100%. People should realize that if the prequels came out first (over 20 years ago), people would then only criticize the final episodes (especially when it came to special effects). So no matter what happens, people (die-hard fans or not) will forever complain and complain about what they didn't like or what should have happened instead, etc. Save your complaints!!! No star wars film is perfect!!! Just shut up, relax and enjoy this one. It's one of the best.
It seems the original trilogy got worse (Episode IV is my all-time favorite....I know....I'm not like everyone else who worships EMPIRE and I, like those who do worship EMPIRE, have my reasons why) and the prequel trilogy gets better (almost everyone agreeing that PHANTOM MENACE was the weakest in the series and that CLONES was a huge improvement). I, unlike most people, didn't hate Episode I and I think as the years go on (seeing that after 2005, no other movie phenomena will ever come close to this again...no matter how many imitators try to pull it off....YOU HEAR ME PETER JACKSON...MR. LORD OF THE RINGS???? YOUR TRILOGY WILL NEVER COMPARE!!!!!) people will appreciate it more than when it was first released (The original film is the perfect example). This will not happen until after the final episode is released and available, along with all of the other episodes, on vhs/dvd. Then die-hard fans will watch them all in order and see (as George Lucas has) that every episode has its place and none shall be hated.