Star wars – what can you say? I thought Phantom Menace was a huge disappointment, and a recent re-watch on DVD only confirmed this opinion.

Clones is a different matter. I was distinctly underwhelmed on my first viewing – just seemed to be another film entirely consisting of ‘set-up’ with no substance. Anakin also completely failed to grab me – I know he needs to make the transition to the dark side, but he just comes across as a petulant teenager who’s sulkly and with a huge chip on his shoulder. And this is a 20 year old with a decade of Jedi training?
Similarly Padme falls down on this point – the way he talks should make her run a mile, not give in to his charms..

That said, the acting generally rocks – nice to see Obi Wan lighten up a bit, plus the interplay between Obi Wan and Anakin is very poignant given the scenes on the Death Star in 2 movies time.. Natlie Portman is a complete star, Samuel L is, as always, the man, and as for Yoda…

I decided to give it another shot though, and was much happier with it second time round. The humour is spot on – very understated, in-jokes a plenty (did you spot the Millenium Falcon?), and the action scenes are actually quite breath-taking.
Plus the end fight betweem Dooku and the Jedi – most cool. Plus the plot is starting to get more interesting.. I was muttering to myself about ridiculous plot-holes and continuity errors, when I suddenly realised the game the Dark Side’s playing – very crafty (although I remain unconvinced on certain issues).

So, on balance by no means a classic film – barely scrapes in a being worthy of the title ‘Star Wars’, but then that’s a high accolade.
Seen at Ster Century, Leeds