Saruman strikes back!

Rating: 5/10 (15 May 2002)

*Minor Spoilers*
I have to say I was very worried when waiting to get into the 12:01am showing of Episode 2: "Would it be as flat and lifeless as the Episode 1" "Will the plot live up to the original three"
When the movie began, it did start off slowly, even murder attempts and the discussions leading up to the chase at the start seemed a little flat. Thankfully the uneven pacing of the first third of the movie disappeared when the characters seemed to settle in to their roles. Christensen was quite good as Anakin, much better than Jake Lloyd. I suppose he has a lot more to work with since his Anakin is older and has more depth, even so some of his lines were a little lacking. That said I think he is a stronger actor than Natalie Portman. Many of her lines were compitent but lacked in projection, thankfully she has ditched her silly snooty accent and is just speaking normally.
On the topic of accents Ewan McGregor's is forced (no pun intended) but his lines have improved considerably.
Jar Jar has only a handful of lines, but he actually does work quite well and has the dubious honour of inadvertantly setting the empire in place.
Now I could go on for a long time speaking about Yoda's swishy jumpy saber elite skills, the clearly kiwi Boba Fett (such a little tyke), the vast array of Australians in supporting roles, or finally seeing a multitude of alien Jedi (hopefully episode III will have some dual wielding Twi'Lek's), but the part that truely made this movie a worth prequel was Christopher Lee. His portrayal of Saruman in Lord of the Rings compliments this perfectly, as essentially it is the same role hehe. Let that detract nothing from him as Count Dooku. Whereas Darth Maul was just a ninja with a scary(?) face, Dooku is dripping with evil and for a man of 80 he handles a lightsaber (or lightscimitar as then handle is bent) better than anyone in the series so far.
So with high spirits I can heartily recommend this film to all but the most cynical of critics.