The Force is strong with this one...

Rating: 10/10 (6 June 2002)

As just about everybody disliked the Phantom Menace for many reasons; Jar Jar, little Anakin, weak villains, and what does it have to do with the other Star Wars trilogy besides having Obi-Wan and Anakin in it? Well this Star Wars is not only a much better movie, it makes Phantom Menace look like a better movie; Anakin gets touchy when he's being insulted, the Trade Federation going down and then nearly starting the Clone War, Anakin leaving his mother which nearly pushes him over the edge. This film perfectly sets things up for Episode III and the rest of the saga; Palpatine gaining almost all control, a great decline in Jedi Knights from the Battle of Geonosis which will make them easier to wipe out by Palpatine, a whole army at his command, Anakin starting his path to the dark side. For the people who didn't like this one and/or Episode I, I think will appreciate the films much more once they're all complete. The movie is by far one of the best movies I've seen, it comes in third with the Star Wars saga, just behind Empire and Star Wars. Ewan McGregor was my favorite guy to watch on screen, he does a much better job than he did in Menace and we want to see more of him. Portman is much better too, she doesn't speak in the monotone that killed her performance in Menace. Hayden, a brilliant actor in which we know he's gonna become Vader but we still think of him as our hero beside McGregor. The visuals were extraordinary, action scenes blew me away, the love story, not my type of Vodka but they live in a totally different place than us, people off in space on other worlds aren't gonna go up to a chick and say, "Hey baby, what up? Can I buy you a drink?" I believed the love story, Anakin probably did what we all wish we could do, put his feelings into exact words. But, the one thing that you have to like, even if you hated everything else, is Yoda. Oh my God! I just about wet my pants when I saw him fight, and so did just about the rest of the theatre. (I saw it at midnight, opening night) We all cheered at four points; when Yoda walked out, when Yoda did a little Bruce Lee-like pose, when Yoda whipped out his lightsaber, and then the entire fight scene. I love this movie, and I want to go back for my third time. A big 10!