Rating: 
Summary: Lucas Revitalized
Review: The quintessential film in both trilogies come in the middle. Here is where Lucas develops his characters and points, as the Second Act in a stage play. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that, in order to foreshadow events in the original Trilogy - especially ESB, Lucas borrows a bit from his earlier Second (or Fifth) Act.The result is breathtaking. Every major event of the Original Trilogy is foreshadowed in this one. Although it seems to this reviewer that Lucas shouldn't have stooped to bad throwaway lines to foreshadow events such as the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Since the general public knows the outcome of these movies, Lucas has chosen to allow the audience to witness the political genius of Palpatine as he moves through semi-Machiavellian schemes to move from Senator to Chancellor to Emperor. It is only at the end of this film that his plot is completely revealed. Lucas has done a very good job, worthy of anything in the Original Trilogy, in hiding the shadows until he casts light onto each one in this respect. And it is good to know that Jar-Jar's idiocy actually serves some dramatic purpose. As the theme of the Originals is "Redemption", the theme of the Prequels is "Fall". In this film, we see the beginnings of this in Anakin Skyalker (Christenson) as he begins his journey to become Vader. Also, note the first reference to the Imperial March in these Prequels. The love sequences, though long and filled with cliches in dialogue, still present the conflicting emotions and the "love vs. duty" theme which marks this portion of the drama. Many performances are wooden, but not enough to compare with the wooden-ness of, say, a DiCaprio. Overall, the actors work to create memorable characters, and that is what Star Wars is really about (although sometimes it seems Lucas has forgotten that fact). I predict this will be the masterpiece of the Prequels, just as ESB was for the Originals. It isn't "Richard III", but it is the first of the Series to aspire to that dramatic height, and the first of the Prequels to show that Lucas is at least attempting to get back to his former speed after being out of writing and directing since the original Star Wars (Ep. IV).
Rating: 
Summary: Awesome!!!
Review: ...I thought this movie was fantastic- great special effects and a sweet love story. Everything flowed together perfectly, and you can see all the pieces begin to fall into place. I can't wait until Episode III!
Rating: 
Summary: Such a colossal disappointment!
Review: As someone who has spent the better part of his life waiting for these three "prequels" to come out, this film was as much of a disappointment as Episode I. The script is hackneyed and laughable, especially when it is trying to be serious. The movie was simply boring for most of its running time. I'm sorry, but five minutes of Yoda with a light-saber, while it was certainly a memorable and fun scene, was not nearly enough to save this film. Much of the cyber-city-detectives content in the first half hour is a clearly lifted from "Blade Runner" and the flying car scenes from "The Fifth Element." The monsters in the arena are NOT scary (except for my little nephew for whom this particular chapter was made) and look like they are straight out of "Monsters Inc." And now we know who the aliens were in "Close Encounters" -- they were from Kamino! Lucas has lost his creativity and his focus and ended up creating more plot problems and questions than he answered with his sloppy story-telling. The acting is wooden. The dialogue sounds like Lucas wrote it in junior high. He should learn a great lesson from the fact that most critics think "Empire" is the greatest of the "Star Wars" saga so far--a film he neither wrote nor directed. This saga, which he intended as an homage to the sci-fi movie serials of the 30's and 40's, has taken on a life of its own and, like a toddler learning to walk, has fallen flat on its face. Sure, it's a cultural event and it made money (he's even released it to Imax because it didn't make nearly as much as he hoped the first time around), but surely we all can hope that American culture can rise to levels much higher than this forgettable chapter. Move on with your lives, people... There are far greater movies out there to be seen. Even greater books to be read! As for Lucas and "Star Wars," I'm afraid the magic is over.
Rating:
Summary: [word] and Pillaged by George Lucas
Review: For the week leading up to its release, the word from the advanced critics screenings seemed to unanimously agree that Attack of the Clones is a significantly more adult film than the reproachable Phantom Menace. Personally, I see the only achievement of this film is that Lucas and Co. has graduated from infantile to pre-adolescence. Maybe by the time the last of this unfortunate trio is made, we'll have a film that I could have mildly enjoyed when I was fourteen years old. But at present, what we seem to have in George Lucas is a director who is completely and totally in denial of a few simple truths: 1. The movie going public is not quite as taken with the mystery of why Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader as he is (and don't believe for a second that this is not a mystery to George because clearly he's making this [stuff] up as he goes along). 2. That technological advances alone are no reason to revive a beloved series. Allow me to explain: I go over and over in my mind this one question - Why are these movies being made? I can't help but think that Lucas, being essentially the founder of an effects studio more than anything else, had some tinge of regret that he made Star Wars so long ago when the effects capabilities were limited. Clearly this is true... why else tinker with the original films and produce the remastered editions. But that wasn't enough: so, under the most misguided notion of all time (that papa could come and teach these whipper snappers a thing or two about making an effects driven movie) he came out of his ranch and started writing and "directing" this movie. 3. Sure, Boba Fett made for a cool action figure... but I (and other star wars fans) could have lived a thousand years and never would have had an ounce of curiosity about the childhood and motivations for that character. 4. There is a such thing as beating the audience over the head with a setup. I'm willing to except conflict between Obi Wan and Anakin, especially provided that there's an entire film left for this conflict to hit it's peak. Did we really need to sit through a couple of hours of whining, disobedience and scoldings for this dynamic to be present. 5. Getting back to number 1: Alright, so the character of Anakin Skywalker is not ready to be a Jedi... that's what we're getting at here, right? And what are the Jedi -supposedly a terribly select order of individuals who have mastered the force (matter, mind, etc. etc.). What would have been an interesting character (but somewhat challenging for a writer (which Lucas barely qualifies as) to do) is if Anakin were a hell of a guy, far better than most people (in maturity et al) but had some fault(s) that the vast majority of the audience share and it was that which led to his demise. The sad thing would be if this were actually what Lucas was attempting. As it stands we're left with a character who is not ready to make a mature 12 year old, so as an audience member over twelve, I have a hard time seeing the need for any dark side to seduce him. Lastly... Oh, the hell with it... why am I sitting here putting so much thought into slamming this tripe when it's creator put no thought into writing and directing it. I guess what I want is impossible to receive and that is for the people who claim they enjoy this [stuff] to come back from the edge of sanity and try to help in the effort to make Lucas seek some professional filmmaking help before he films Episode three. But it's too late... I'm pretty sure I already know how Episode 3 will go down... because the fence sitters have said something to the extent that "Oh yeah, the movie sucked but the light saber fights were cool," we 're going to end up getting a mortal kombat style picture that is basically an overblown tournament of light saber duels. After all, Count Dooku has to die, dido Mace Windu, the unfortunate approval for the Yoda fight scene probably means he'll pick up the saber again. And we all know that Anakin and Obi Wan have to go at it again. So far we're up to four and that's not including the fact that many other Jedi must perish and who knows what the Emperor will be up to. The tragic thing is this will prove much more interesting the mess of plot holes and demeaning dialogue that episodes one and two have provided.
Rating:
Summary: An Underrated Movie
Review: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones may not be the best movie we've seen this year, but, it certainly was my favorite. It was everything a summer movie should be....fun. There are several things I liked about this movie. For instance, the whole mystery of who ordered the clone army? That's something we may never know, but it sure is intriguing. Another positive was Ewan McGregor's performance as Obi-Wan Kenobi...he played it like he was a younger Alec Guiness (the original Obi-Wan). Another thing you cannot ignore are all the classic cameos, the Berus and a young Boba Fett, just to name a few. John Williams' music and Lucas' ability to make a movie that looks gorgeous just adds to this hit. All of the detractors that say Lucas can't write or direct and his dialogue sucks...since day one, Star Wars' dialogue was never meant to be great. Lucas said himself, these movies are supposed to be visual with the dialogue only acting as a guide. Need I even mention the final 40 minutes of the movie? They speak for themselves. I look forward to Episode III and I know Lucas won't disappoint me.
Rating:
Summary: The best movie of the series!!! This one stands alone!!
Review: George Lucas has created a cinematic masterpiece with Attack of the Clones and continues the trend established with the Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones is on parrell with The Empire Strikes Back as a dark film and we see the rise of the Empire in this movie and preparations for the death star are revealed in this movie. We also learn that Count Dooku was Yoda's apprentice at one point in time and that Dooku was Qui-Gon's instructor. Anakin's mother is murdered by the Sand People and she dies in his arms- singling his fall to the dark side. Who can blame for choosing the dark side- after what happened to his mother and we all know that he's redeemed in Return of the Jedi when he kills Palpatine to save Luke. Amidala's death in the third movie will send him to the dark side and transform him into Vader. Jango Fett's death sets the stage for the rise of Bobba Fett in Empire. The visual effects are stunning and a true adventure at the movies. Forget Spider-Man!! The force ruled again in 2002!! Attack of the clones is incredible and a masterpiece. George Lucas does it again and brings back the classic storytelling formula from the 80s with improved visual effects. A sure Oscar winner for Visual effects!!
Rating: 
Summary: Better than TPM but not as good as the classic trilogy!
Review: SOME MINOR SPOILERS! While the classic Star Wars films (episodes IV-VI) felt exciting and full of energy, the SW prequels (epidodes I-III) are so far a huge letdown. What is missing in these prequels are humanity and humor, which has been replaced in the prequels by better special effects, but these effects completely take over the story, instead of enhancing them. After The Phantom Menace, which is rightfully regarded not only as the WORST Star Wars film, and one of the most ridiculous science fiction films ever made, George Lucas followed up TPM with Attack of the Clones which has a better story, but one that still disappoints. The "romantic" element in AOTC, between Anakin and Padme feels forced and right out of a soap opera. Not only that, but the teenage Anakin is more of a brat and feels nothing like the feared future Dark Lord of the Sith. I'm sorry, but no sane person could ever picture young Darth Vader running around grassy knowles along with his girlfriend. As for Padme, she is possibly one of the most boring written characters ever conceived, while everyone knows that she will be the mother to both Luke and Leia of the classic trilogy, Padme, has none of the qualities of her feisty and stubborn daughter. She is simply window dressing that will most likely be killed (possibly by Anakin/Darth Vader) in the final episode of the six-part saga, Episode III. The ending felt like it was ripped out of Gladiator, with Jedis battling all sorts of droids and C-3PO making a complete fool out of himself! Obi-Wan Kenobi is the only interesting character in both The Phantom Menace and in Attack of the Clones, and I liked his personal investigation into the assassination attempts on Padme's life along with his fight scenes with villian Jango Fett. The real villian of the piece is Christopher Lee, who did a terrific job, with a lackluster script, as Count Dooku, a former Jedi knight who succumbs to the dark side. His lightsaber battle with Yoda is the highlight of the whole movie. Overall, the first half of the film consists of a boring and cliched romance between Anakin and Padme, (Just to show who the parents of Luke and Leia are!) along with a few cool fight scenes, and ONE outer space battle in the entire film in an asteroid field! The last thirty minutes are non stop action that becomes repetitive very quickly! All in all, Attack of the Clones is another overall disappointment in the SW "prequel" trilogy with some redeeming qualities....Here's HOPING that George Lucas can please young and old fans alike with the tragic final episode in the six-part Star Wars saga, (Sorry fans, Episode III is the final chapter) with Star Wars Episode III, due in theaters summer 2005!
Rating:
Summary: The qualities of "Episode II"
Review: What's hot:
-This insane action What's not:
-Very addictive action
-Some things still remain to be obscure
-Some lame love scenes What's strange:
-How does a 9 year old boy fall in love with an 18 year old girl?
-How does Anakin(Hayden Christiansen) grow from a toddler to a teenager but Padame(Natalie Portman) still remains a teen? The awards for:
-Best Swordsman-Yoda
-Best Shooter-Jango Fett The overall:
-If you have been a Star Wars fan all of your life, this is a must-see for you.
Rating:
Summary: Give it a rest people!!!
Review: I'm sorry but everyone seems to gripe and moan about George Lucas' directing, but which of the original sereis was nominated for Best Picture??? the original directed and WRITTEN by George Lucas. I understand that everyone is not going to like the new movies because of the fact that it is not the old series and the fact that we already know what is going to happen. But what I am tired of is people going on and on and on about how George Lucas coultn't write a script to save his life. Excuse me but the original trilogy is not exactly brimming with excellent dialoge!!!!! So get over it and enjoy the new trilogy or just stay out of the theater!! By the way I enjoyed every aspect of this movie and think that the dialoge was just fine!! And in answer to people's gripe about the love scenes between Pademe and Anakin, they are supposed to be awkward because Anakin cannot decide what he really wants to do. I do agree that the Yoda fight scene should have been a little longer.
Rating:
Summary: An Expensive Cartoon At Best.
Review: George Lucas may be a pioneer in digital filmmaking, shooting with digital video and using digital characters and sets, but can he not see that this movie looks completely FAKE. Computer effects overload; this is not a live action movie, but a cartoon with a few real actors thrown in. Computer generated effects can work well and can inspire the imagination when used correctly, but Episode 2, like Episode 1, is definitely not a wonder in modern special effects. More like high priced Anime with weak writing and characters; a video game that in time will truly look amateurish. Special Effects in the movies can look great when there is a mixing of real sets, costumes, actors and computer effects as in LOTR or even Spielberg's Minority Report, but George Lucas thinks he can make an entire movie with actors on blue screens and computer geeks rendering characters and sets. HE can't, this movie does not feel real in any way, even the flesh and blood actors looked blurry. The robot factory assembly line was laughably bad as were countless other scenes. As for the lame storyline; it stole from second rate Anime films and has nothing new or fresh to offer a sci-fi loving audience. I can only hope George Lucas retires from filmmaking after Episode 3 because he's no longer gifted, but a recycler of tired material, and he tries to hide it under modern digital effects that don't hold up.
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