| Friday May 17th 2002 So let's get straight to the point: was Episode 2 as good as I'd hoped? No, in some ways, but in the most important ways - YES!!! It was definitely better than Phantom Menace, as predicted. It had a lot of exciting parts, with a lot more action. I liked the plot much more this time. The tie-ins to the original trilogy were excellent (I won't give too many details - you never know who'll stumble across my site who hasn't seen the movie yet). Less Jar Jar, which is always a good thing. Very cool space battle, which is something I missed a lot in Episode 1. Very cool sound effects. The CGI didn't look as obvious this time around, although you could still tell in a few spots. I really liked Hayden Christiansen in the part of Anakin. There were a lot of humourous parts. Christopher Lee played his role very well. Overall, this was a real fan-pleaser and advances the story in some very cool ways. But the romance between Anakin and Padme - I didn't buy it. Natalie Portman may be great to look at, but she can't play the role with any sincerity and I found her lines the weakest - she sounded like she was just reading them off the page. There were other sporadically weak performances from some of the other actors too; don't expect any acting awards going to this movie. But the most important thing went totally right: sitting down in the theatre waiting for the movie to start, and thinking "this is why theatres exist". In that second I felt returned to that movie moment I've always hoped some other movie series could instill in me but never has. I felt like that theatre had been built to show this movie - that every other movie shown there was just filler, waiting for this one. And I still felt that way afterward. I still feel like Star Wars movies are the be-all, end-all of pure, fun-oriented cinematic entertainment. When the curtain rises on a Star Wars movie, I get a 'here we go' feeling that no other movie experience has ever - or probably will ever - been able to duplicate. So basically, the movie could have been even worse than Phantom Menace and I would still have been gleefully happy - might as well admit it. ;) But it really is a good episode, especially for fans who will catch all the tie-ins. Go see it tonight!!! (if you're not already going to the CanGames convention like me, that is...) |