Just because Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones is better than The Phantom Menace, it doesn't mean that AOTC is any good. It's not. The thing that plagued Menace is still at the forefront of AOTC, namely the script. It just blows my mind that the same guy that wrote American Graffiti could continually go backwards in his skill at putting words to paper. Now I'm not saying AG was the greatest story ever told, it's not. But that movie and the actors that brought life to them is fresh and vibrant, something that is sorely lacking in AOTC.

Natalie Portman only sucks half as bad in this one in large part because she was no longer the Queen and didn't have to do that dreadful voice. But, she is still playing Padme and the character is a joke and she is still awful in this role. But the biggest offender is Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker. This is hands down the worst acting I have ever seen in any movie. I really can't recall are more dreadful performance than his and I've seen a lot of movies to know this is pretty bad.

So, how is this an improvement over Phantom. Well, there are some cool moments and set pieces that were far more entertaining than anything we saw in the last film. I liked the scene with Yoda's lightsaber duel with Count Dooku, But even as fun as this is, the fact that Yoda is now moving at the speed of light is a bit ridiculous in hindsight. I do like the way Yoda looks in this one. He is 10 years older in this one, bringing him closer to the classic look from The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi.

This is still a Skip for sure. But like I said, there are some cool visual eye candy that you may enjoy because I can guarantee you that you will take nothing from the "love story" that anchors the bulk of this movie. Talk about two people with no chemistry at all. How did the Star Wars Universe go so horribly wrong? Sigh.