Review- Contains Spoilers

Rating: 10/10 (21 May 2005)

A truly awesome movie, it recaptures the magic of the first one.
The film begins with a Annikan Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobe leading an attack to rescue Chancellor Palpatine from the clutches of Count Dooku and General Grevious. A light-saber battles ensues where Obi-Wan is knocked unconscious and Dooku is disarmed (literally) by Annikan. In a scene that mirrors the ending of Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Palpatine urges Annikan to kill Dooku. Annikan does, but almost immediately regrets it. Another step is taken onto the path to the Dark Side.
After being re-united with Padme, Annikan discovers she is pregnant. Their secret marriage risks being exposed. Worse, Annikan is haunted by dreams that she'll die in childbirth. Meanwhile, the Jedi Council has come to distrust the Chancellor, who has held onto power using the War as a pretext. Political maneuver ensues, with both the Chancellor and the Council trying to manipulate Annikan into working for them.
What follows are battles, a lot of special effects and a darned good time. This is a far better movie than Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones. There are times when the FX and action are a little overwhelming, like too much spice covering up the meat of the plot.
Some things I didn't like. There's an inconsistency where Padme dies in childbirth, contradicting Leia's statement in "Jedi" that she remembers her mother as a sad woman. I thought they killed off Count Dooku too quickly - Christopher Lee was the best thing in Clones, and they really waste him here. General Grevious just looked silly, and they couldn't kill him off fast enough.
The real star of this movie is Iam McDiarmod as Palpatine/Darth Sideous/the Emperor. He cleverly manipulates Skywalker into destroying the Jedi.