Official *** I've seen the movie, here are my thoughts**** thread

Iggs: I'm sorry, the acting might not have been great at all times, but it was miles better than TPM. The acting in TPM was not only awful and poorly delivered, it also lacked any passion and emotion, as if the actors were reading from a card. I fail to see how you could have such problems with the acting in AOTC, and not in TPM. (I enjoyed TPM regardless of the performances).

Here's an example of how I compare the acting. In TPM, I considered Ian McDiarmid (Palaptine) to be one of the best actors in the movie. In AOTC, I considered him one of the worst. I think that says it all.

 

Why am I not surprised that someone with an Icon of Jar-Jar and the user name of Jar Jar thinks TPM is the best of the series...

 

Yeah really... everyone of the actors from TPM has said that Lucas told them to play everything "straight."

McGregor even stated how much better the acting is in AOTC over TPM.. and that man pulls no punches.

RB

 

Well here is mine, I didn't write everything I wanted to, but I had to do a review for English.

Best. Fight. Ever.
Star Wars
Episode II
Attack of Clones
In the next installment of Star Wars, George Lucas has outdone himself. Attack of the Clones has surpassed
every prior Star Wars film to date. The movie opens with a bang - literally. Senator Padme (Natalie Portman) is
returning to Coruscant to protest against a military creation act. After a attempt on her life, Jedi Obi-Wan
(Ewan McGregor and his padawan Anakin Skywalker(Hayden Christensen) are dispatched to protect her,
however Obi-Wan is called to investigate the bounty hunter that threatens Padme. Anakin feels his mother is in
danger, and Anakin and Padme then go to Tatooine in search of her. Obi goes to Kamino, and finds a clone
army. Meanwhile, Anakin and Padme are getting to know each other on Naboo. When Obi tracks bounty hunter
Jango Fett to Geonosis where he finds out about a separatist movement lead by Count Dooku (Christopher
Lee). He gets into trouble and Anakin and Padme come after him, as well as hundreds of Jedi and other forces.
It all ends in a spectacular battle that lasts the last thirty minutes of the movie. The end lightsaber duel is by
far the best fight scene I have ever seen. If you seen this movie for one thing, you should see it for Yoda.
This movie parallels Empire Strikes Back, the fan and critic favorite of the series, in more ways than one. Empire
had a dark tone, due to the direction of Irvin Kershner; the film became much greater than George could have
managed to do himself. It also had the best dialog of the series. However, he felt he had lost control and took
back the reigns for the rest of the movies. Well, for Episode 2, George realized some of his mistakes he made
on The Phantom Menace and brought in Jonathan Hales to help the script. It shows. Attack of the Clones lacks
much of the horrible dialog that was found in The Phantom Menace. That is not to say that the movie does not
have its faults, because it does. However, such faults have been greatly exaggerated by critics. The first time
I watched the movie (I have seen it twice); the love story was believable and just fine. I will admit, the second
time I just wished it would get to the fighting. I don?t like love stories in general, but it was a story that
needed to be told. Let?s face it, Star Wars isn?t a love story kind of movie. Anakin is disarming and finally,
disarmed. Every single Star Wars movie has its share of often corny and cheesy dialog, but that is what makes
it what it is. It is a fun action movie series. And as action/adventure/sci-fi movies go, this is the best. If you
went to Attack of the Clones looking for a Titanic, you would probably be disappointed. However, I don?t like
Titanic movies, and didn?t even bother to watch it. The special effects of Attack of the Clones were by far the
best of the year. Virtually every scene has some amazing backdrop or action. When I first learned of a all
digital Yoda fighting with a lightsaber a year ago, I thought that would look stupid. However, it turns out that it
was the highlight of the film. Who knew Yoda was such a rocking fighter? The camera work in Clones was also
much different than previous Star Wars movies. The first p

 

If I did not mention this before. I love this movie!! Better then ESB in my opinion.

 

The thing I really didn't like about the acting in TPM was during the scenes where the characters were in danger. They never acted like they were in danger; just seemed to take everything in its stride and not be scared at all.

Compare that to when Padme is trapped in that container that's about to be filled with liquid metal. The way she played her desperation served to bring me more into the scene, and actually had me on the edge of my seat (despite the fact I knew she had to survive).

Razorback: I'm honored. I'll be interested to see if it gets all the way back to me.

 

I enjoyed it too or I wouldn't have seen it 4x already. I saw TPM 6x. Looking back, TPM does have problems. I have kind of gotten sick of the stupid fart joke, the poodu, Jar Jar, and oh the word "yippie." All in all TPM was good. AOTC is very good, much better. Each time I see it I try to find new things I missed before. Like trying to spot the millenium falcon type ship. Still haven't. Plus I keep thinking I see apes in the Senate, maybe I'm imagining. Back to film: I enjoyed the acting, it all worked fine, it's good and definitely not bad. The only part that is a little over the top is in the Fireplace and after the Tuskens were killed. Plus, I love the look Anakin gives the Lars clan. Look of evil, I'd say. Wish Zam wasn't killed so quickly, maybe they should have incorporated Aurra Sing. Obviously the battle and saber fight's were fantastic. And I just LOVE the music. My only real annoyance is when it cut back and forth between Obi on Geonosis and Anakin at the Tuskens, that was really disruptive.

 

First, Darth Shade, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant mockery of slamming ESB (clearly the best of the 5 thus far).

To clarify, I'm a huge Star Wars fan. Maybe not as huge as some of you on here, but more so than the average person.

Personally, I liked AotC, there's no doubt about that, but something is definitely irking me about it all. Hear me out:

I clearly feel that AotC is much better than TPM. However, I was inclined to watch TPM about 8 times in the theater while it was out (4 times probably within the span of a month). Now, even though I enjoyed AotC, I've seen it just twice and I really don't find the need to see it again just quite yet. Seriously, if someone asked me to go watch it again tonight, I'd probably say, "Nah... maybe next week." Very strange I find this to be. Anyone else feel this way?

Overall, I do agree the first part of AotC moves very slow and HC's acting is just atrocious (and in the grand scheme of acting in all 5 movies, that's just terrible). I cringed several times in my 2nd viewing b/c of him. But, of course, it is Star Wars... I love learning more and more about the history behind the OT and AotC has made me overly anxious to see Episode III.

Bottom line is we all love Star Wars... that's why we read/post on this forum. I think a few of us are just over-analytical toward the PT, myself included.

 

That's probably because TPM was the first Star Wars movie in 16 years and AOTC is the second in 3. I actually saw TPM 10 times by the 4th day and only seen AOTC 8 times. I have no plans to see AOTC even half as many times as I saw TPM... but I love AOTC at least 20 times more than TPM.

Plus, I know I will have AOTC as a DVD in a few months.

RB

 

"McGregor even stated how much better the acting is in AOTC over TPM.. and that man pulls no punches."

Yeah, and the bigger his part and billing, the more favorable his opinion.

Funny, that...

 

Allright
Well that scene DOES help a lot.. obviously. BUT Does anyone think that it's JUST A LIL bit for the girls 2? I mean he's squirming and moaning in bed. With a sheet half covering his upper body. COME ONNNNNN.
lol
Admit it!
Its all good!
hehe

 

I liked it AOTC! It was very entertaining (esp. the last bit). I was quite getting to see Obi-Wan more and see how hilarious he really is !

 

As per Lord Bane's request, I am beginning the rebuttal against ViperX's locked thread entitled Episode 2 - the DUMBEST i'v seen, coming from a long-time fan.

If "researching" fictional topics appeals to ViperX, then do us all a favor. Realize that if it doesn't appear in the movies, it did not "officially" happen. Boba Fett is not Jaster Mereel, neither is Yoda's lightsaber yellow nor the Death Star designed by Bevel Lemelisk. Unless you take Darth_Holliday's explanation - "Okay, so the Death star was designed originally in the Maw, then redesigned by Bevel Lemelisk, then re-redesigned on Geonosis?then given to Dooku?"

You know what was dumb?

ViperX:
"i have several examples of the junk they put in there:
1. Yoda's lightsaber - NOT green, but actually yellow, shown in comics YEARS ago
2. Death Star - NOT made by those dudes on Geonosis, as in the movie, but an absent-minded designer, Bevel Lemelisk (from the OFFICIAL Star Wars Encyclopedia),hence the flaws
3. Slave I - NOT owned by 'Jango Fett' (thrown in there to attract ppl who found interest in the mysterious Boba Fett) but actually ordered built by BOBA, as said in another OFFICIAL novel"

Bib:
"Of course, you must all realize that AOTC contradicted no EU whatsoever."

I guess so. Off contradicting yourselves now, hm? That destroys my meticulous research! This calls for a new thread; "The DUMBEST i'v read".

 

Lucas has done it! That was my first reaction. He finally has made the SW movie I was waiting for! With great dramatic moments, intense action scenes, sweeping music and stunning special FX, AOTC pleased me on just about every level!

I felt that Hayden nailed the Anakin character perfectly! I don't imagine it's easy to play the lead 'good guy' and at the same time show us an evil side, a bad temper and a possible obsession. In fact, has that ever even been done before, in a fairy tale/myth structure?? Ewan was an excellent young Obi-Wan, with many humorous lines, and I felt that Natalie was great; regal, beautiful, caring, but also ready to get down and dirty if need be! Christopher Lee is of course a seasoned thespian who handles Dooku's lines/actions with great panache. Ian McDiarmid was great as usual, and I even liked, though his "acting" part isn't very long, Temuera Morrison as Jango Fett! What a great scene between him and Ewan in the Fett apartment! Subtext, subtext, subtext! And how about Yoda?! I won't even comment about the heart stopping duel at the end, so many people already have offered volumes on that, but I was concerned about his look in the new film, after hearing he would indeed be completely CGI for this movie. I wanna say now that I've seen AOTC that Yoda looks AWESOME!! He truly looks like he is physically there, in the room with the other characters! I even saw his ears shake slightly when his head turns, just like the puppet Yoda did all those years ago!!

The story is much better and far more engaging than was the case 3 years ago. I feel that the dialogue was much more sharply honed, as well. This movie felt sooo much more "SW"-y to me than TPM did, and I came out of the theater talking a million miles an hour about all the cool scenes, characters, battles, plot points, visuals, new environments, story lines, humor, etc.

Some random things I also wanted to include here: I love how at the beginning of the film, a hologram of a Rodian appears in Palpatine's office to tell him that the Loyalist committee has arrived. Helped me to get even more of the SW "feel" early on! (Just as seeing TC-14 in the opening moments of TPM did for me!) Right away, Lucas shows us that while Anakin is a good person, a kind and caring protector, he also has a major problem listening to authority! We've barely 're-met' Ani and Obi before Obi is chastising Ani about "learning his place" and listening to his master. I ended up loving and feeling bad for Anakin by the end of the movie. I truly sympathized with him... which is what I had hoped would happen to me in this movie... it was the thing totally missing from TPM...

I also believe that I saw some of the best acting that there ever has been in a SW film to date in 2 specific spots: 1. Anakin's telling to Padme of how he has slaughtered an entire tribe of Tusken Raiders, in cold blood... (OK this is something I presume you are NOT supposed to do as a Jedi.. I absolutely got chills!) and 2. Obi-Wan yelling over the engine sound at Anakin while they are airborn on the Republic Gun Ship. "I con't take Dooku alown! I NEED you!" (read with Obi-Wan accent!) Powerful. Why? Because of the reason WHY he is yelling at Anakin - he yells at him because of a commitment he made over 10 yearso ago to teach this kid, he yells at him because he's tired of Ani not listening to him, and he yells because he loves Anakin and wants him to make the right choices. Nice work, George!

I also loved the Geonosian finale, all of it. BTW I thought Poggle' voice/dialect was the coolest!! I DID wish we could've spent a little more time with Jango Fett... even though he's not a HUGELY important character in the film, he must be at least twice the character that Darth Maul is! (I love Darth Maul's look, fighting style, etc. but he didn't have much of a character... how could you with only like 3 lines?) Mace hands Jango a fresh cup of DECAP and I jumped out of my seat! I wanted to see him in maybe just 2 or 3 more minutes worth of action, but oh well! Jango, we hardly knew ye... lol.

 

Just got back from seeing the movie for the third time, and I love it more and more each time.

I highly recommend a digital screening if you have the means. It enhances the movie dramatically.

My only complaint after three movies is the very noticeable changes to Obi's appearance in certain scenes. I understand that they may have had to film scenes at a later date, when he had already shaved his beard, but come on now, with the CGI ability they have, couldn't the designers touched him up a little.

All in all, I'm pretty much thrilled with the whole experience.

 

I finally saw the movie for the first time today and let me say that most of critics were dead WRONG!!!! What an unbelieveable film I saw today. I loved everything is coming together and starting to tie into the original triology. I loved the characters especially Count Dooku. The arena battle was nothing short of spectacular. The Obi-Wan/Jango fight was cool, plus I loved young Boba getting in on the action firing on Obi-Wan. The asteroid chase got my heart racing and put a goofy grin on my face. So what about the love story. Yeah it was corny. But love stories are corny to me anyway. Besides how else are Luke and Leia supposed to be born. There has been criticism of the dialogue and the acting. There has always be silly dialogue and not the greatest acting in all the Star Wars films. I don't ever recall Mark Hamill setting the world on fire with his acting abilities. One more thing about the writing if those who criticize Lucas think they can do a better job then step right up.

Now let me talk about Yoda. Man can that green little bugger kick @$$ or what. I was just about going nuts when I saw him in action. Yoda rules this galaxy and the one far far away.(I apologize for the sloppy structure it's a little late.)
There was one thing I didn't like. I HAVE TO WAIT THREE YEARS AAAAAAHHHHHHAAHHHAHAHHAH!!!!!
Anyways here's how I'd rate the films and I use the Spinal Tap system it goes to 11.
Empire Strikes Back 11(Best movie ever)
Attack of the Clones 10 (I feel it will only get better)
A New Hope 10 (It started it all)
The Phantom Menace 8.5 I maybe one of the few people that didn't hate Jar Jar. To me Jar Jar is like a pickle on my hamburger plate. I didn't order the pickle but I don't mind that it's there. My only disappoint was I wanted more Darth Maul.
Return of the Jedi 8 Don't like the Ewoks, but the end space battle and Luke vs Vader compensate for any shortcomings.

 

I saw the film last night and just want to say that George Lucas has a lot of explaining and tying up of lose ends to do. I had lots of questions that were anything but helped after I read several dozen threads on this board! But you have to really appreciate any film that has you thinking and thinking well after you've seen it, eg for me The Matrix and Memento in recent years.

At the moment there appear to be inconsistencies or huge questions and no doubt GL will address these in EIII. I wonder if similar canon debates occurred between ESB and ROTJ?

Also felt good to be surprised etc in a SW film, as opposed to knowing the OT by heart as a kid and not remembering what it was like to watch a SW film for the first time. For instance, I was pretty thrown when Mace decapitates Jango, both because I didn't expect it and it was pretty severely violent for a PG film (not to mention that Boba picks up his Dad's severed head a little later).

Gotta say too that the more I think about it the more I really liked AOTC. It sure was long and a lot to take in, but I feel it will definitely have more to say upon subsequent viewings - certainly the most deep and involved SW thus far.

Cheers,
jirskyr

 

Finally finished up my review, which also makes my first post here! Its long BTW.

The plot for AotC is actually quite complex. This plot isn?t a number of simple set pieces moving from one scene to the next, like episodes 4 and 6 and gone also is the weak something somewhere plot of Phantom Menace. Lucas and Hales have created something to keep you watching while not revealing everything to fast and of course leaving things unresolved, that is called being the middle part of the trilogy though! The movie of course, has a lot to cover. We know what has to happen by ep4 and that ep1 did little to move us anywhere, so the burden falls on this episode and the final prequel trilogy episode, no 3.

The acting was a mixed bag I?m afraid. While Star Wars films have never been filmed with Shakespearian acting and they actors have had there fair share of hokey lines some people could definetly have tried harder. Its not as bad as Menace though and some people really seem to be exaggerating it IMO, but to all their own. Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine is always excellent. Ewan McGregor I thought gave a very good performance. His mannerisms and speech are becoming eerily like Alec Guiness. It seems McGregor has learnt from Phantom Menace and can pull off the dialogue and blue screen acting far far better, can?t wait to see him in 3! Next is Count Dooku played with scene chewing greatness by veteran Christopher Lee. The guy may be old but totally convinced me he was a powerful and learned ex-Jedi/Sith Master. Hayden Christensen, this is where people are really divided. I actually thought he did alright, some was bad but other parts he really pulled it off. While with Obi Wan and acting against McGregor he pulled the stuff off fine perhaps because the dialogue wasn?t too bad. When with Padme however, he struggled, but then again the love story dialogue was pretty poor. From the point he finds his mother Christensen delivers the goods, a great performance when he decided to slaughter the Tuskens has sent chills down my spine each time I have seen it and also when he confesses to Padme, great stuff. Hopefully Lucas will let Hayden loose a bit more and not stifle him with how exactly he wants everything. Add that to experience of blue screen acting and not as much in awe of working on Star Wars I think we will be surprised by a very good and convincing performance in episode 3. I know quite a few people will not agree though. However the worst acting in the film was from Natalie Portman. Okay she may look good but she can?t act her way out of a paperbag. No excuse for her being a queen or senator, the romance stuff allowed her to show some emotion, her lines weren?t as bad as Christensen got but she delivered them even worst than he did! Not looking forward to Portman?s acting display in 3, perhaps she will die early. Onto the some of the fringe characters, I liked Mace, Jackson really gives us the bad ass Jedi routine. Jango and Boba were a great part of the film, that kid is a nasty little piece of work and Temura Morrison played Jango how I would have expected the character to play, pity there wasn?t much more screen time for him as he was cool.

Lucas is not a good director, plain and simple. Episode 1 was bad, episode 4 wasn?t great and this is no exception. Lucas?s eye is in creating the worlds and the story. He is a good at SFX and pushes the boundaries of technology in relation to film making techniques, but it is at the expense of allowing the actors some freedom. Lucas is too obsessed with CGI and bluescreen, as mention in the next section, there are places traditional ways would have given better results than the way Lucas wants to do it. I honestly don?t think the fact he owns ILM helps, does he get owner discount for his films? I was however pretty pleased with the way Lucas handled the fight scenes, but how much of this is down to him and how much to ILM and the stunt choregraphers I do not know.

Special Effects, one word, WOW. Well not quite, there are places they fall flat but for the whole they are truly outstanding

 

Up .

 

Episode II is a good movie: Nice battle scenes, excellent duells (Yoda and Jango Fett are so cool), magnificent scenery (cloning factory), and the best aliens I have ever seen.
But it is just disappointing to see how Lucas successfully prevented the new Star Wars of becoming an awesome movie. Anakin´s tale is naive, primitive, annoying and simply stupid. Anakin could slowly develop to the dark side, but he doesn´t: Right from the beginning he is arrogant, stubborn and excessively ambitious lacking respect for everything. This makes you wounder how, when and why Padme even fell in love with him and why anyone should love this yobbo at all.
Like Yoda descirbed the way to the dark side (fear-rage-hate) a tragic death of his beloved mother could have caused this feelings within him. Well, actually that is what happens in Episode II, but in a barely tragic but pretty laughable way. He is angry all the time anyways and suddenly he begins to care about his mother after 11 years and then he finds her captured be Tusken raiders. And this makes him want to become the most powerful Jedi in the world and hate Obi Wan?
I think I do not have to say a word about the love scenes.
Anakin is simply a completely foreseeable character with an implausible story. Not even an awesome actor could have made him interesting.
This leaves me woundering:
Does Lucas think his audience is so stupid that they need him to scream ?Beware this guy will become very evil very soon? right into their faces (why not a nice appendix to the introduction?),
Or does he think his audience is so undemanding that they wouldn´t ask for a little more depth, suspense, surprise and attraction in a story with an end that is already well-known to everybody,
Or is he just not good enough to make a good script out of a most intersting storyline?

Still, I would give Episode II a 7 out of 10, which shows how good the rest of the movie is. But it is sad to see that a movie with the potential to become magnificent became just a pretty good one. The new Star Wars has no chance against Lord of the Rings (as shown by IMDB.com or rottentomatoes.com), but compared to Episode I it´s a masterpice.

Found a nice quotation on rottentomatoes:
"George, hire a real director and good writers for the next installment, please."
-- Robin Clifford, REELING REVIEWS

Why can´t Star Wars be as good as it was?

 

Funny review in River City News blog:

"Try to ignore all the marketing gimmicks and promotions, including a Walmart giveaway that promises "First prize: Star Wars R2-D2 fully operational droid from Hasbro (2 winners)." Fully operational? As in, helping you to fly your X-wing fighter, showing a video of a distressed princess Leia, and assisting you with blowing up the Death Star? Or fully operational, as in it lights up and beeps at you?..."

Read the rest of it at:

http://rivercity2.blogspot.com

 

I'm still writing my full review of AOTC (it's gonna be an epic) but everytime I think about the critics who panned the film it just makes me laugh at how pathetic they are.
There are so many cool, funny, exciting, spectacular, clever and emotional moments in this film that the minor flaws in acting and dialogue are inconsequential, IMHO.

 

I was wondering what some of our fellow fans abroad thought of AOTC, so I opened up a link to the Babel Fish Translator and paged through some of the foreign threads. Of course, the translator is exceptionally imperfect, so some of the translations ended up being rather amusing. Here are some examples:

"I saw it this night with 0h01!!!!!!! I expected something of imposing, but there, I am on the bottom!!!!!"

...what? 0h01? Wow! They have droids in France that actually take you to the movies! ;c)

"I could have envisaged what I was going to see, with all the spoiler that I had seen, but there, I collected a tidal wave in the mug!!!!!!"

....I sure hope that this tidal wave in the mug didn't interfere with the enjoyment of any of the other moviegoers...

"then there, the cherry on the cake, and croyai me, it is enormous this cherry, the Attack of the Clones relays all that you saw until now at prehistory!, they is really monstrous the work which ILM cut down on the EPII, I have sorrow to believe that it is that a box of FX which has all to realize!!!"

Kudos to ILM and their "enormous cherry".

"Yoda which collects its cane and recovers to boîter after its duel from madness! Have you desire of him for saying: " Eh, Master, you limp of the bad foot!!!! "

Yes, yes - but don't we all limp of the bad foot on off days?

"Lucas did not make any concession! Cut heads of the bodies cut into two! Whore, it was strong!"

Erm... yeah...

"it is great art... Ceujx which spits on lucas stupid of the hypocrite because the Peter Jackson did anything of better on the level real it is similar whereas the spitting ones of soup because it is the fashion conceal and arrete to nit-pick, it one is crowned good real....."

I think this one makes MORE sense when I read it in the original language.


This is fun - try it out!

 

Up

 

There are enough reviews on this board to fill the Pit of Tarlac (sp?), but I wrote this email to a few friends and will share with you. Btw, I hated TPM...

1) The opening half hour is great. They waste no time, getting right to an attempt on Amidala's life. I love seeing the Jedi do their thing. They do crazy, impossible stuff, stretching the concept of "Jedi" far beyond simply swinging a light sabre and saying wise things. They jump from car to car, falling hundreds of feet to do so, and we accept it because, well, they're Jedi! This is excellent -- pushing the definition of what Jedi can really do. Great stuff. I love the no-smoking add "You don't want to sell me death sticks... You want to go home and rethink your life."

2) The last hour was sensational. Movies 4-5-6 create such a sense of lore and history. Part of the strength in those is that they leave the history to the imagination. This movie had to actually SHOW what we had previously imagined: Obi-Wan is a great warrior, Yoda is a Jedi Master, the Jedi are brave warriors... The last hour established all these things. It was grand and epic. It wasn't afraid to bring it all on, and the land battle sequence was so superior to probably anything seen in ANY of the movies -- Hoth was the only thing that came close.

3) The TOYS and ACTION FIGURES rival the ones we grew up with: the monsters in the arena, those transport ships that fly in and drop off those tanks, all the Jedi warriors like that squid-head guy (Fisto?). I love the ring-shaped detachable light-speed engine. Great stuff. I wish I were 5-yrs-old again so I could collect those action figures. It used to be just Luke and Han and a chick, a wookie, an old guy, etc. Now we have a LOT of cool good guy heroes to play with. And bad guys like Dooku, Jango Fett, that nasty alien who conspired with Dooku -- the one that looked monstrous and spoke with those clicks and wails. I love that guy. I'm getting carried away, but that's what was so much fun about the movie.

4) Yoda. I could spaz out over this but I'll just say that it was a clever tribute to Kung-Fu movies where an old, seemingly helpless guy kicks ass when pressed.

5) Seeing the fabled SLAVE-1 in action was great. Those seismic charges ripping through the asteroids was worth the price of admission.

6) Look how much they accomplished: Anakin starts on the path to the dark side, Anakin and Obi-Wan have a growing rift between them, Anakin and Amidala fall get married, Palpatine gains control of the Republic, many Jedi are killed off, we meet Owen and Beru, the Clone Wars begin. And more.

There was more, much more, that I really liked. But this is all I can remember now.

A few problems:

1) The first half of the second act was pretty slow. The love story was nothing to fall in love with. Let's face it, the writing and acting are not the strengths of this film. I think Hayden does the best he can with what little he has to work with, but there are times I just don't buy him. The only good acting in the movie was done by Ewan McGregor. I think Sam Jackson's lost it. "This party's over"??? Please.

2) There are some inconsistencies with the other movies already developing. The whole Anaking-created-C3PO thing is TOTALLY GAY. I thought the whole Tatooine thing was gay. I thought the whole Tusken Raider- kidnapping- Anakin's mother- subplot was totally lame. Had nothing to do with the rest of the story. Anakin finds his mother and for no real apparent reason, she dies at that very moment. Maybe they'll explain it later -- I've even heard the idea that Palpatine orchestrated the Tuskens kidnapping Shmi but until it is well-explained, I'm calling it gay. It almost seemed like an afterthought.

3) Amidala falls out of a moving AIRPLANE -- not to be confused with a speeder. She's dead. No chance she lives through it. She's not a Jedi. A few minutes later, she's not only alive, she's back up on her feet, running around.

4) The relationship between Anakin and Palpatine was kind of only breezed ove