Cast

Ewan McGregor .... Obi-Wan Kenobi
Natalie Portman .... Senator Padmé Amidala
Hayden Christensen .... Anakin Skywalker
Ian McDiarmid .... Supreme Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious
Samuel L. Jackson .... Mace Windu
Pernilla August .... Shmi Skywalker
Jack Thompson (I) .... Cliegg Lars
Christopher Lee .... Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus
Anthony Daniels .... C-3PO/ Lt. Dannl Faytonni
Frank Oz .... Yoda (voice)
Andrew Secombe .... Watto (voice)
Oliver Ford Davies .... Sio Bibble
Silas Carson .... Nute Gunray/Ki-Adi-Mundi
Kenny Baker (I) .... R2-D2
Ahmed Best .... Jar Jar Binks (voice)/Ahck Med-Beq

Directed by George Lucas
Written by George Lucas and Jonathan Hales

High Point

It's Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, need I say more?

Low Point

Would Anakin like some cheese with that whine?

The Scores

Clearly, originality is not the best in any Star Wars movie. Mr. Lucas draws on myths and themes that have been in all cultures since the beginning of time. Also, this movie ended just like Episode V, it makes you wait for a climax that never comes, it will be another three years before we see how this story is resolved. Overall I give it 3 out of 6.

The effects of this movie were just great. The amount of improvement that is evident in just three years is incredible. There was only one part that I noticed where the animation did not quite look right, when Padmé was taking a bite of food from her fork (when you see the movie you will see what I mean.) This gets 5 out of 6.

The story was the best part, in the middle of the movie I was quite confused as to what was going on and who were the good guys. Partly that was because I had no idea what role Count Dooku played. If you know what side he's on it won't be hard to figure out, but if you don't, I won't spoil it for you. The story definitely gets a 6 of 6.

The acting was much better than in Episode I. The actors were more relaxed and carried off their roles better. However, Hayden Christensen's performance was a bit lacking. I think it was partly the fault of the direction but in any case it was poorly done. I feel that Anakin Skywalker should not whine about how Obi-Wan is holding him back, it is not fitting for the man who will become Darth Vader. Since this is the low point of the movie it will only get 2 out of 6.

I don't quite know what to say about the emotional response to this movie, am I allowed to give it 7 out of 6? There is just something awe inspiring when you see the words, "A long time age, in a galaxy far, far away..." and then having it cut the Star Wars logo right as the music queues up. Unlike the last time we saw this on the big screen, the following movie was able to keep up. In any movie where you know that everybody will live to the end it takes out some of the stress the audience feels, but there are times when you still want to yell at the screen, "Why are you listening to him???? Can't you see what slime Supreme Chancellor Palpatine is?????" So I will give this 6 out of 6.

When hasn't the production been good for a Star Wars movie? Most of the time you don't notice it, which, IMHO, is the mark of good production. There are times that you do, like when Anakin jumps from the speeder and starts to freefall. That was an impressive little sequence. I will give this a 6 of 6 as well.

Overall the movie was great. I would say it is the third best movie in the entire Star Wars series (and as one of my friends said, "You could start a fight with words like that.") A few other things that I thought were cool in the movie: we got to see Owen Lars and "[his] girlfriend, Beru." Also seeing Yoda as a whirling green dervish in a fight sequence has got to be one of the best, funniest things I have seen in a long time. When he picks up his cane afterwards the audience will laugh, at least it did when I saw it. If, by chance, you had been worried about Jar-Jar, don't. He is hardly in this movie and when he is he's far less bouncy and his ears stay still, they don't flop all over the place. I would like to think that they injected his ears with botox so they wouldn't be able to move. That would be almost as good as Mace Windu cutting off his head right at the beginning of the movie. Lastly, I would like to say that Natalie Portman is very hot in this movie, my girlfriend even agrees. This movie gets 6 of 6 for resurrecting my faith in the Star Wars franchise.

The grand totals bring Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones to 34 of 42.