*** Official "STAR WARS EPISODE II ATTACK OF THE CLONES" Review Thread (1 Viewer)

[JohnE]

One very happy customer here. I am very happpy!!! Most of the problems other people seemed to have with the film didn't bother me, though to be fair I'm not sure how much I just ignored due to excitement. Not much I expect. I'm off to see it again tonight with friends and just can't wait.

 

[Leroy]

I've seen it 3 times starting with a midnight show. Excellent...just excellent!!
I can understand that some might have a problem with the dialogue and performances, to each his own.
I don't get though, how many think the Han/Leia love story was any more developed than that of Anakin/Padme. In Empire their "love story" was an argument in a corridor, the nerf herder comment, 1 kiss in the Falcon then she suddenly loves him as he's going in for the deep freeze??
Anyway, I had a great time with AOTC and look forward to a couple more showings this weekend.

 

[Brian Kaz]

Just had my second viewing and I'm going to have to alter my previous score and add a 1/2 star:
:star: :star: :star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star:
CLONES has just unseated ANH as my second favorite SW film. This movie is just too much fun to watch. I'm surprised that some people here think Hayden sucked as Anakin. I actually got goosebumps when he was explaining his little "spree" to Padme. And his love dialogue was exactly the kind of goo goo-eyed sap people tell their significant others behind close doors but never want to admit it.

I have now seen the film TWICE, and I experienced this out of focus problem at both screenings, at two DIFFERENT cinemas.

I had stated earlier that many scenes for my first viewing were fuzzy and looked out of focus. My second viewing on a different screen was COMPLETELY different. It was literally night and day. While there was still some noise in certain scenes as someone stated earlier, everything looked GREAT. The sound at both viewings did seemed low, and very understated. Whether that's good or bad I don't know.
I am officially counting the days to the DVD.

 

[Dean DeMass]

After my 2nd viewing it is tied with Empire as my fav of the series.
I now give it
:star: :star: :star: :star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star:
That is right, 5 out of 4 stars. Don't you even think about arguing with this fanboy.
-Dean-

 

[Jerry Gracia]

Thumbs up here.
As has been said...much better than Episode 1!
I'd say that this is arguably one of the best in the entire series so far.
I'd rank'em like this:
II
V
IV
VI
I
That's how I feel about it right now, anyway!

 

[Brook K]

I won't say I'm disappointed because my expectations were pretty low this

time around, but for me, it's a new low point in the franchise.

Some of it was

good, a lot of it wasn't, and Anakin can't act, which kills most of the

story. The effects are cool, but lots of movies have cool effects these

days. It's the least satisfying of any Star Wars movie ending and also has

the worst score. The only memorable score sequences are those lifted from

the previous films.

I preferred Phantom Menace, it may have been clunkier, but nothing in this

movie is as good as the last 20m or so of Menace with the Darth Maul

lightsaber fight and it has nothing close to "Duel of the Fates" score-wise.

And the Senate sequences and political machinations of PM were much more

dramatically satisfying than the pittance of non-love story, non-action

moments we get here and the downright unbelievable leaps the story takes at

times. Could anyone take Jar Jar seriously as a Senator?!

I'm a Senator, and I'm going to give away all my power just because Jar Jar thinks it would be a good idea? And this would take place with zero debate? From a group that obviously does nothing but debate?

 

[Gruson]

This is my reaction and a few others' to AOTC. We were not happy with it. Very long:

AOTC was not Star Wars.

Let me just say, I was not taken to a galaxy far, far away. Here is why: Lucas is putting in too much everyday life type stuff. For instance, the sports going on in the background in the cantina scene,,,the other drivers cursing the Jedi when Obi was hanging from the bounty droid,the scene with the diner cook,,,and , a Jedi Library!?!?! And so on. It seems like the new movies are trying to make the Star Wars galaxy too similar to our own that diner scene KILLED me. The Jedi almost seem like cops in this movie, at least during the beginning. For example, Anakin telling the club people, “Jedi Business.”

The scene with C-3P0 with his head on a battle droid, and the battle droids head on his body, were lame. Talk about forcing stupid comedy. Imagine switching to a scene, like that, right after Vader tells Luke, “I am your father.” Pure stupid and forced comic relief that takes you out of being in the climatic battle.

That was another problem - the energy of the actors - there is none. They don't seem like they care about the movie they are starring in and want to get out of the studio fast and collect their check. There was no drama at all.

But, Episode One, had a likeability to it - a realness - a sense of purpose and you did _care_ about the characters. There are plenty of things wrong with Episode 1 but at least there were more parts that felt like true Star Wars in it and there was emotion during the film.

There are too many tie-ins with the original trilogy. Darth Vader is Owen Lars’ stepbrother?! Dooku is Qui-Gon’s master and Yoda is Dooku’s master?! Give me a break. I also hated that Vader is C3PO’s maker from Ep. 1.

What else is really lacking in Episode 2…..Evil characters. We get through 66% of the movie before we even see a Sith Lord or Sidious. I know Jango Fett was there but he is just a secondary character, not a Sith Lord or anything. Again, at least Ep. 1 showed Sidious a lot and we get a feeling of his evil intentions. Where was the fear or intimidation of the Dark Side?

Ep2 had no emotion to it with the Jedi council fighting in the Gladiator scene either.

I did not like Yoda's fight that much either. Some people have said, "Well, it was there to show how powerful Yoda is." But, isn't fighting an arbitrary way to display power? The victor is not always the most powerful: it could be the luckiest. True power comes in not having to fight. Why would Yoda need to prove anything to Dooka? Yoda, in my mind, is no longer all-powerfull..he is now flawed.

He had no problem lifting an X-wing on Dagobah but a pillar gave him that much trouble??! What happened to "size matters not. "

Yoda is the Jedi who focuses on wisdom and the force after all.

Where was the mysticism of The Force?

Maul's lightsaber battle was MUCH better than the one in Ep2. Yes, much better choreographed and it had an epic feel to it. I did not care who would win in Ep.2’s final battle. Why? There was no emotion or drama leading up to it and it looked like the fight was put together very quickly.

On to the CGI:

I don't dislike the CGI but I do think that Lucas is overdoing it. Having watched Episode 1 the other night and seeing Episode 2 , I feel like something is missing with all the use of green screen and CGI.

Sometimes it really looks to me that actors are staring off into space because they don't know where the CGI actors are going to be placed. There's no focus. Obviously the FX guys place the characters as best they can but still I find this lack of focus noticeable.

Also, with the abundance (over-abundance perhaps) of FX characters, it becomes impossible to build up chemistry between these characters and the real characters. Do you think Han and Chewbacca would have had the same chemistry, the ability to act off of each other, if Chewy had been CGI? I don't think so and I feel like the prequels suffer for it.

Star Wars. That is the name of the movie yet almost nothing took place in space. The asteroid field chase and that is about it.

Biggest complaint: There are no memorable scenes or memorable lines from Episode 2. Episode 1 at least had some great home theater demo scenes with the Pod Race and Maul’s lightsaber fight. What scene is there in AOTC that is TRULY memorable?!?!?!

The scenes I did like were those based on Anakin killing all of the sandpeople. I liked that dark side of him.

Anakin's admiration of Palpatine is also very nice.

I was impressed with Anakin.

 

[Jim_F]

I was going to wait a while to see this one since I'm not really a fan of any of the SW flicks, outside of enjoying a bit of flashy, fanciful diversion from time to time.

I decided to go this week when there was a a dismal weather forecast and I also learned there was a digital showing nearby.

I like to sit very close to the screen when I go to a movie, to the point where I have to turn my head to follow the action. I've learned to live with film grain, worn prints, and so-so focus. This presentation brought a new scourge to people like me-pixels! Oh well, maybe I'll get used to them someday.

The audio was very good, but not as good as I came to expect when I heard it coming from the next theater yesterday when I was trying to watch Spiderman.

The visual effects saved the show from falling too short of my modest expectations. Some of the images and warriors appeared to borrow from a wide array of popular films-Gladiator, The Matrix, Terminator, Robocop, Alien, and even what looked like a cross between a resident of Jurassic Park and a dung beetle.

Unfortunately, this epic did the one and only thing I cannot forgive from fanciful diversion-it bored me. It seemed to try to be taken more seriously than TPM. It tried to sell a more emotion-laden story, but did not have the acting talent and chemistry to close the deal. I found myself checking my watch numerous times.

All in all, I got to see a lot of flashy lights and some extremely cool graphics. I could have done a lot worse for my $6. Lots of people are going to love this show for a long time to come. Fans will argue its merits in perpetuity. It's not entirely my cup of tea, though.

4.5 out of 10 stars.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Hmmm not sure what my final ranking will be yet. I've seen it once and definitely need to see it at least once more.

Right now I'd rank it below ESB and ANH.

The CGI was very good and really freed up Yoda and was used really well to expand his character.

The acting was good. Mr. Lee rocks as usual. High marks to Ewan McGregor as well.

In typical SW fashion there was the occasional clunky line but nothing that was a total groaner.

The thing that's not sitting too well with me right now is Padme's lack of reaction to Anakin's confession of mass murder. Her acceptance of that is totally unbelievable.

I'll pick this up in the discussion thread.

The movie would have been better if Anakin had kept what he done to the Tuskens to himself.

So right now I'm still trying to get my head around Padme's total nonreaction to Anakin's actions.

I'm really surprised not too many others are not bothered by this.

 

[Dalton]

I thought it was pretty good. I thought it would have been a bit better.

To quote Dave H, these were pretty much my thoughts as well. Maybe all my spoiler reading and anticipation dampened it a little for me. I still enjoyed it though! My main problems were with some of Hayden's acting. At times he was fine, but that fireside chat was just awful! Some of the other love story scenes were pretty bad also(although i think this had more to do with the dialogue the actors were given). It dragged a little in the middle but when it picked up the pace later on it was really good. The only other major problem I had was that the final lightsaber battle was way too SHORT. It would have been so much better if Lucas had devoted a little more time to that fight. Obi Wan and Anakin were dispatched by Dooku way too quickly(and easily). I was looking forward to Anakin fighting with dual sabers but it was over before it began! Yoda was great to watch in action! I thought Christopher Lee was awesome as Dooku and i really wish he had been given more screen time. Ewan MacGregor was fantastic as Obi Wan, he really brought the character to life for me. Natalie Portman was pretty good(a beautiful woman!)but I also had a hard time with her reaction to Anakin's confession, it just wasn't believable. All in all it was a good film.
I give AOTC :star::star::star::star: out of:star::star::star::star::star:
I have been a HUGE SW fan ever since seeing ANH in the theater at age 8 back in '77. To put things in perspective here are the rest of my SW ratings:
ANH :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
ESB :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
ROTJ :star: :star: :star: :star:
TPM :star: :star: :star: 1/2

 

[Morgan Jolley]

4/5

I LOVED Yoda. That whole scene made my $7 worth it.

The movie was well written, acted, directed, etc., but the first part just felt different. It didn't feel like Star Wars yet. Around the middle, it felt good, and then it was pure SW at the end.

Rather than just keep going, I'll focus on one of the best parts of the movie: Anakin. Hayden Christiansen knew what he was doing as Ani. One minute, he has a huge smile on his face, laughing with Amidala in a huge meadow, but a few minutes later, he's looking at her with a strange expression that makes him look crazy, like he's too obsessed with her. This constant shift in facial expressions made me feel like Anakin is going crazy and turning a little dark. The other scenes just accented this even more. By the end of the film, he's a mix of good and bad, a large change since Episode I and I hope it just gets better for Episode III.

 

[Aryn Leroux]

There is not much to say that has not been covered by everyone else. Sure i agree Hayden Christianson can't act and did a terrible job as Anakin but c'mon that should not spoil the film for you cuz Since when could Mark Hamill act ???
Ive seen it 2 times now
:star: :star: :star: 1/2 out of :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[Brian_J]

Folks, this is the Review Thread not the Discussion Thread!
Now, regarding AOTC. This may end up being more like ramblings than a true review. I just saw the film not 30 minutes ago and its hard to form coherent thougths this soon. Anyway...The incredible adulation this movie is receiving on this forum convinces me of one thing...just how bad Episode 1 really was.
This movie was enjoyable but in my opinion it does not live up to the original series in any way. It lacks the characters, story and the pacing of the original films. I dont care about these people enough!
The first 30-45 minutes were truly difficult to watch while the last part of the film saved it for me. In some ways I wondered if two different people directed this movie, the director of Ep 1 the first half and the director of ROTJ the second half.
I find it difficult to get into the whole "politics" of the senate, the trade federation, etc. In many scenes there was simply too much going on, and too much attention to background characters and not enough attention to what the main characters are doing and saying.
I was a bit dissapointed that we do not see Annakin's gradual turn to the dark side begin with more definition in this movie. Sure you can see the seads, but this movie leaves an awful lot for Episode 3 to cover. I'm not quite sure just what this movie actually established, other than that Yoda is bitchin with a light saber.
Hopefully, I can write a more rational review later...
Anyway, I score it :star: :star: :star: /:star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
Brian

 

[Luis Cruz]

Wow. I just got back from seeing Starwars: Episode II and all I can say is WOW! What a great Starwars film. I think old Lucas still has the Starwars magic. I can't wait for Episode III and I hope it will exceed Episode II. As it seems...the starwars films are getting better and better. I enjoyed Phantom Menace, but it had many problems. Episode II was even better than PM, and I hope that Episode III will be the best. High hopes I know. But, this film is a definate 9.5 out of 10. Can't wait to see it again.

 

[Yoshi Sugawara]

Just saw a DLP presentation of Ep2 at the AMC 1000 Theater in San Francisco.
I left the theater a little dazed, wondering if the film was really good or not. I think I might have set my expectations really high based on the reactions.
A few hours have passed, and I can say that I liked it - it was a good, yet flawed Star Wars film.
What surprised me was Hayden Christensen's acting - it was great. Sure, the script was clunky and had some awkward dialogue, but he sure did the best he could, and he did a convincing job as the future Darth Vader.
The introduction of the Clone Troopers was also done very nicely - Ewan McGregor did a nice job here as well as in all other parts of the film.
The action sequences were frantic - just pure adrenaline. But I feel they coul dhave been shorter, and given more screen time to Ian McDiarmid (who was also great) - I wanted to see more of the political manipulation and more of his motivations - but that may be asking for too much.
The romantic scenes were the sore thumb - very forced and awkward. Perhaps part of due to the jumping-back-and-forth of the romantic scenes, Obi-wan scenes, coruscant scenes, etc. One romantic scene was blatantly predictable - I could have definitely used less of those scenes. Also, these scenes really slowed the film down perhaps a wee too much.
Overall, a good Star Wars film. I'd say it's like the Temple of Doom of the series - entertaining, yet a little flawed.
:star: :star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[ScottR]

I was not all that impressed with this film. I felt like the Star Wars "magic" was gone. Sure it had great effects, but the film just came across as too slow. Everyone in the theatre was slouching by the time the film shifted into high gear. The leads just don't have the charisma of the original trilogy cast.

Good points: The Special Effects/Art Direction

Ewan McGregor

Yoda

Scenes on Tattoine w/the Lars family

Bad points: Pacing/Length

Dialogue

Feel of the film (did not seem like a Star Wars

movie)

My Final Grade: C (or ** out of ****)

 

[Dome Vongvises]

This is the second time that I've posted at his forum drunk off my ass. Got off work at about 11:00 pm and went to a karoke bar with a few friends. So I'll be brief:
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Film Score: B
Movie Score: A+

- special effects
- story
- improved acting

- certain parts of romance
- certain parts of cgi
- certain actings parts
The Serious Review
If you were anybody else, I'll let you know right now that I'm seriously biased towards Star Wars movies. I grew up loving the original trilogy, and by gah, I'm going to love the the new stuff. If you're a pretty serious kind of guy, ignore the kind of sh*t I'm about to say.
After having viewed the film twice, I can now begin to talk about it.
CGI
I can honestly say that I was impressed with the CGI. For example, take the "Naboo Starship Approach" to Coruscant. The whole sequence reminded me of the conceptual art of the early 20th century what people believed to be the future. The multitude of lanes of traffic of ships amongst tall towers was a nice touch. The CGI was incredibly awesome during this point. Other great CGI included the sequence on planet Kamino and the final battle.
However, there were certain parts where I thought that the CGi was outrageously terrible. For example, there is a seqence in which Anakin rides a snail looking creature during a "date" with Padme. Not only did it look increadibly bad for special effects CGI standard, but it looked horribly artificial. The entire time I was thinking, "Damn, that looks like shit."
Otherwise, the CGI was incredible. While I was scared of how bad the CGI sequences of Yoda would , my fears were laid to rest as I watched the movie. Needless to say, the CGI Yoda rivals the puppet Yoda.
Romance
To be honest, I was not at all bothered by the romance in this movie. I was able to feel the love developing between young Anakin and Padme.
I would first like to address some of the negatives. For example, the "fireplace" scene dialogue was just plain awful. It was overly melodramatic and cheesy. Other bad dialogue included the some bits of the dialogue before the execution on Genosis. "Truly, deeply in love"? I was thinking of Savge Garden!!! Puhleeze, there's better dialogue to convey the sense of love before possibilty of death between two lovebirds.
However, I want to now address some of the postives of the romantic moments in the film. No joke, one of the most effective romantic scenes during the film was during one of the earlier Naboo sequence. Padme talks about how she had great summer escapes in Naboo and how Anakin hates the sand due to its coarse nature. The greatest thing about his sequence is the lack of cheesy dialogue. No words were spoken as Anakin runs his finger up the smoothness of Padme's back. There's than a subsequent kiss between the Senator and the young Padawan. This scene was both romantically and sexually charged. Because of this, we the audience are able to get a sense of the growing passions between Padme and Anakin without cheesy dialogue to disattach the audience.
Bad parts of the romance include the whole "fireplace" seqnence and the part before the "gladiator" battle. The dialogue was laughable, and the romance forced. I don't know how many times I was like slapping my forehead during some of the dialogue during the "fireplace" sequence. It was so inanely stupid. However, in my subseqent discussions with my friends, I felt that the whole "fireplace" sequence (with dialogue originally intact) would've worked better if the characters had been walking or "in motion". The dialogue just seemed unnaturally terrible and stilted when the characters were seated togehter during the "fireplace" sequence
But somehow, the romance redeems itself again during two important sequences on Tatoonine. For example, another "no dialogue" moment happens before Anakin takes off to the Tusken Raider camp. The scene consists of Anakin looking at the Tatooine sunset, and Padme appearing from the Lars homestead. Padme says a few words and from the look of the shadows, we are able to see the embrace between Anakin and Padme. Cut to another shot of them, we see actually see the embrace and continuing growing love between Anakin and Padme. This says more about Padme and Anakin's relationship than any conversation that Lucas and Hale can conjure up through dialouge.
The other moment on Tatooine is after Anakin's slaughter of the Tusken Raiders. We begin to see the starting path of Anakin down the Darkside. Anakin recounts a rather simplstic tale of how he slaughters the Tusken Raiders' camp with whom he holds responsible the death of his mother. Not only does he murder men, but women and children as well. Anakin seems frustrated and angry, but most importantly sad at himself for doing such a thing. He sits down and begins to cry. Rather than having Padme chastise him for such a decision, she is shown as rather shocked and instead understanding and compassionate of the guilt that Anakin feels at this moment. Anakin is crying and at his weakest, and the audience sees Padme trying to console rather than lecture him for his poor decision.
As much as the romance is great, is still pales in comparison to the antagonistic nature of the romance between Han Solo and Princess Leia in The Empire Strikes Back.
Story and Plot
Episode I possessed a lot of exposition, but not enough devlopment. Episode II is a lot different. The audience isn't cheated out of deeper character developments as it had earlier. We now are able to see the rash behavior of Anakin, and the calm, calculating nature of the Jedi such as seen in Obi-Wan and Yoda. While Episode I eludes to these things, Episode II fully develops them (eg. the calm of Kenobi as he gets a drinks in a bar and catches the assassin and Yoda's interactions with other charaters).
We also see greater insight into Padme's character. She no longer looks like the "perfect", stoic queen as portrayed in Episode I, but as another human figure trapped in dangerous and confusing times (eg. her doubts as a Senator and her impetuous behavior in rescuing Obi-Wan).
Acting
This is the most improved aspect of the new trilogy so far. Natalie Portman seemed wooden at times, but she was able to convey strong emotions whenever her character were expressing them. An example would be during the "fireplace" seqence. While the romance was laughable, nonetheless she was able to convey the seriousness of the problems that she and Anakin would've faced if they continued the relationship.
Hayden Christensen turned in an adequate performance. He seemed wooden (a running theme in Lucas films, ain't it? ) at times, but whenever he expressed extreme emotions, I thought he was at his best. For example, he did his best when he expressed frustration (eg. when he tells about Obi-Wan holding him back) or when he feels sadness (eg. when he talks about his slaughter of the Tusken Raiders).
Ewan McGregor steals the show as the only one who seemed like he wasn't simply reading from his cue cards. We believed he was Obi-Wan because he conveyed the emotion and power of a conflicted character of a Jedi knight and commanded a performance not seen since the original.
I can think of other things to say, but I'm about to pass out. I've had a pitcher and four glasses of beer. More thought later in this and the disscussion thread.

 

[David Ely]

Well ... I caught this film on Thursday while in London. I had actually started looking forward to the movie since I heard the incredible score. Unfortunately, what I got was a movie that was nearly worse than The Phantom Menace.
The bulk of the film is a total mess. There's no pacing to the story. It just quickly goes from one thing to the next, just like the opening 15 minutes of TPM. There are so many stupid little things that happen to quickly move the story along that it makes the film uninteresting.
There are so many pieces of dialogue that make you cringe in your seats. The worst lines are those spouted between Anakin and Padme. Their entire 'romance' is a complete joke.
I have no idea why Padme would fall in love with Anakin. If I were her, I'd slap him and say "stop being such a bitch and listen to Obi-Wan!".

CGI .... where to start? As stated in many of the above posts, there is serious CGI overload. WAY too much CGI in this film. There are a few parts of the movie that I was thinking to myself "They only included that to show off the effects". I think that George needs to concentrate more on telling his story than showcasing ILM.
There's also a lot of sloppy CGI. There are many bluescreen moments that you can't help but notice it's a blue screen effect. Also, a lot of the CGI characters don't quite fit in with the live actors.
The only thing that would make me watch this movie again is the final 20-25min. I must say that I was very happy with the final act, even though it ends a little too fast. But the movie slows down within the final act to concentrate on that specific part of the story, and it works so well. If only the rest of the movie could have followed suit.
Now .... on to the digital filming. I was fortunate enough to see a digital showing of Ep2. I was extremely impressed with the quality from this movie. The close-up shots of Obi-Wan were incredible. The hairs of his beard were displayed with incredible detail. The DVD video transfer is going to be reference quality.
The sound is also something to marvel at in this movie. If there's one this this film does well, it's making you deaf This is a LOUD movie. While a lot of the sound effects are borrowed from the previous films, there are a few new ones that are quite impressive.
I have no idea how our home theaters are going to reproduce the explosions in the asteroid field

My rating for the film is 2.5 out of 5. It gets the extra .5 from the final act, and the sound.
P.S. Please forgive me if my review jumps around a lot. Today was a day of hell for me (I was heavily affected by the air traffic controller problem in London). I've currently been awake for 24 hours and counting. Off to bed for me.

 

[Stephen Orr]

Okay, my turn. One-third VERY boring movie (political setup, romance scenes, whiny Anakin, lackluster trip to Tatoonine), one-third pretty good movie (chase through Coruscant, Obi-Wan investigation, Jedi academy and library, visit to Kamino), one third absolute pure Star Wars action joy beyond expectations (Asteroid chase, Genosha droid factory fun, arena monsters and Jedi battle, followed by WAY TOO COOL clone battle action, and a way too short battle between Yoda and Dooku). The entire Genosha sequence was the whole reason for seeing this movie, in my opinion.

Unfortunately the boring parts were SO bad (let's be honest, the film just STOPS!) that it keeps my wife and me from paying to see it again. I mean please -- I don't remember TPM being boring. Maybe kiddy, and silly, and Jar-Jar, and all that, but not BORING!) I'll wait until Christmas for the DVD so I can fast forward to my favorite parts.

I give * out of four for the boring stuff, **1/2 for the okay stuff, and **** for the last 40 minutes or so, so that comes out to **1/2 out of **** for the whole movie.

I won't be wearing the T-shirt for this one....

 

[Steve K.H.]

It's difficult to undertake a review when
a) We know where the plot is headed,
b) You compare this to other Star Wars films.
I'll keep this short.
If there were no other Star Wars films, I would be falling all over myself on this episode. Lucas punches us with a ton of material, and envelopes us with a mix of CGI, sound effects, and an attempt to create suspense (in spite of the odds against him.)
-Digital enhancements blown up to the size of a house will pose visual flaws. Once we throw this in our own H/T's, it should be less disconcerting. I've accepted this, as to not have the enhancements would seriously detract from the film.
-Character development was strong overall. Acting was decent (some strong scenes, and others that required another take.) Droids continued to capture the audience.
-Star Wars Historical Observation
What worked in the second trilogy (episodes 4 to 6) was romantic tension deflected with sarcasm. (Han, Luke, Liea). This film felt a little too much like Titanic or Pearl Harbour in dealing with Anakin and Padme. Lucas almost lost the audience in taking too much time here.
-ObiWan...
Sure, he lost his mentor about 20 years ago in TPM. Still, did anyone else feel he was portrayed as a wimp or a loser? He went backwards in developing his use of the Force.
-Anakin...
A commendable job in portraying his weaknesses... struggling with maturity, his destiny, balancing this against his humanity. He successfully displayed his ability to improvise and his daredevil mentality.
-Padme... Too many contradictions. Initially, she is passive, logical to the point of being "Vulcanesque", and magically transforms into Lara Croft. Liea (someday I'll learn to spell that name!) was always a kick ass, take charge kind of woman just like Sigourny Weaver was in her day.

Jimmy Smits was shunted. His contribution could have been mistaken for someone who won a cameo part on the back of a cereal box.
Samuel Jackson is (as always) a powerful actor. Lucas should take better advantage of the skills he has available to him.
This is a critique. Overall, I found the following to be truly captivating and completely within the Star Wars mold:
-The chase scene of the lady assassin (including the bar... remember "Death Sticks"?,
-The diner scene,
-ObiWan's travel to the Clone Factory including fight scene,
-The asteroid scene,
-Any scene with C3P0,
-Everything in the last 45 minutes

Could it be better? Sure... we could use a little more wit and sarcasm. We could stand a little less on the struggles with love.
It's a home run, just not the shot to win the World Series.
I am not rating this against other Star Wars Films...
On its own, (and out of 5 Stars), this one gets:
:star: :star: :star: :star:
(when does this go to DVD? )