Starring: Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Christopher Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Frank Oz
Directed by: George Lucas

Three years after the minor debacle that was The Phantom Menace, George Lucas comes up with Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. Is it better than Episode I? Yes. Is it better than the original trilogy? Not quite, but it does comes halfway close.

The plot seems simple at the onset, but for fans who know a thing or two about the series, there is much going on. On the surface, there is a rebellion against the peaceful Galactic Republic, and an army of Clones is amassed to fight the threat. Also, Anakin Skywalker (Christensen) begins his descent to the Dark Side, all the while charming the robes off Senator (and former Queen) Amidala (Portman), and she charms the tunic off him, in turn. But that's just scratching the surface. To read my deeper analysis (which may contains spoilers), scroll down below the rating and highlight the empty space.

In the hearts of Star Wars fans, no new movie will ever live up to the original trilogy. Hardcore fans will always like the new movies less than the old one because of the nostagia factor. They cite poor dialogue and writing in the current movies, without realizing that the original trilogy's writing

I was just minding my own business, when BAM! Some bad-ass shoots sonic bombs at me!!

and dialogue was pretty bad, too ("That's not true...that's impossible!!"). In fact, Harrison Ford tells a story that after reading the script for A New Hope (that's the first movie from 1977, for the uninitiated), he told George "You can write this sh*t, but you can't say it." This brings us to a point of contention in Clones, the acting.

The acting isn't as bad as most people say it is, but it is sorta painful to listen to at times. The film has pretty good actors, but actors are only as good as the lines they speak. And the lines aren't that great. It's slightly sub-standard acting. The lines are often delivered without emotion or feeling, much like they are simply being read. But who is seeing a Star Wars flick for the acting. How's the action?

The action is amazing. The huge fight at the end is worth the price of admission alone (assuming you payed to see the movie and didn't simply download it). Imagine dozens of lightsabre-wielding Jedi against hordes of droids.

Could they go to the bathroom in those suits?

Then imagine thousands of pre-Stormtrooper clones joining the fray. Then add some crazy jets, some crazier walker-vehicles and also pre-Star Destroyers and you have the best battle in Star Wars history. Then, you also have the pleasure of witnessing our little green friend, Yoda (voiced by Oz), go nuts with a lightsabre on Count Dooku (Lee), althought the excuse to do so was very weak (Our force abilities are useless...now we must fight!).

Visually, the CGI is incredible. The detail in the battle scenes is astouding. The aliens are well defined, with light and shadows interacting beautifully. However, some effects are bad. Watch when Anakin floats over a piece of fruit to Padme and she takes a bite. You'll know what I mean. And that chase through the skies of Coruscant was overly long and fake.

Attack of the Clones is plain fun. It's not the best Star Wars and it's not the worst. It gets bogged down here and there with some boring bits, but at its core, Clones is simply an entertaining flick that bodes well for Episode III. Let's hope ol' Georgie boy keeps up the good work.

DroopyMcC
Ten

ASY		A Star Wars fan's dream come true! Must. See. Again.
Queen

--Spoilers start here--

Okay here's what I understood. Dooku is in league with Palpatine/Sidious. The guys from the Trade Federation from Episode I feel they got screwed by the Republic and join a rebellion against it, led by Dooku. Dooku, under Sidious's orders, gains more momentum with his fake rebellion in order to validate the mysterious creating of a clone army by Palpatine. This clone army is supposedly to fight the rebellion's threat. But the rebellion will soon be disposed (surprise, surprise: Dooku is tight with Palp) and lead the way for Palpatine to unveil himself to the Republic as Darth Sidious, then set his new, huge army against the Jedi, who won't stand for this. There. That's it.

--Spoilers end here--