by Joel Peterson
Spoiler warning!

I was in line just like the rest of you, waiting for the sacred 12:01am show. For the most part I was completely spoiler free, which is quite the amazing feat considering my duties here at TheForce.net. I will attempt to cover every aspect of the movie, but keep in mind that I have had 2 hours of sleep. I am now spoiled and after you read this review, you will be too. There's your only warning.

There has been one, reoccurring line of the day, which I have said to anyone who asked me what I thought. I've told friends, family, and co-workers the same thing: Attack of the Clones completely blew away my expectations. We left the theater, talking about the movie. We huddled immediately outside the theater as a group of twenty, talking about the movie. We had small groups right there, talking about the movie. We walked to our cars, talking about the movie. Instead of joining the traffic congestion leaving the parking lot my friend, Garin, my brother, Luke, and I talked about the movie. There was too much to talk about; scratching the surface in one review is a sheer impossibility.

Ever since The Phantom Menace, I accepted that Lucas was not as concerned about character development, but the advancement of the story. While this is evident in Attack of the Clones, it isn't as much as one would fear. This time the characters and one-liners had the true Classic Trilogy feel that I've been searching for.

The acting and character development was great, with a few exceptions. When Anakin was sitting down with Padmé next to the fireplace, I felt uncomfortable for her. You can go ahead and try to blame this on my attraction to Natalie Portman, but my conscious won't admit it. Other than that, I couldn't ask for anything better. If there was one gem of acting that stands out above all the rest, it would be the heart-felt moment between Anakin and Padmé right before they are carted out into the arena on Geonosis. Ms. Portman delivered her lines there in a way that I could not explain. It wasn't perfect, it was far beyond that. It did something for me much in the same way a few of the Han and Leia scenes did in The Empire Strikes Back. I have to admit that scene has not been on my mind the most. The single scene that has left me thinking would be Anakin's Tusken Raider encounter and the scenes that followed immediately after. Hayden Christensen did an amazing job portraying Anakin; evil overwhelmed my senses.

Dialogue found in Attack of the Clones was fantastic. I'm sitting here trying to determine if Padmé's, "I've died a little each day since you came back into my life... I love you" line is my heart-wrenching than Han Solo's, "I know." In the five Star Wars films that we have seen, I believe that line is the best love scene line we've seen. There is no question in my mind at this point. As I said before, Ms. Portman did that whole moment perfectly. Obi-Wan Kenobi really shined through, but in a way all too interesting. It might have just been me, but I sensed a little James Bond wit with lines like "She seems to be on top of things." The Classic Trilogy feeling came back in a whole new way with some of C-3PO's lines.

The special effects were absolutely spectacular, especially in the oh-so-many fight scenes. Industrial Light & Magic came through in some wonderful, never-done-before ways of showing some action. Every action sequence was great, but there are a few that really left me gasping for air. The use of no illumination except that provided by lightsabers in the fight between Anakin and Count Dooku was a bold move, but really pays off as it focuses the viewer's attention on the facial expressions instead of the bright light being twirled around the screen. I think it is now time to talk about Yoda. The lightsaber battle between Yoda and Dooku was unlike anything I have ever seen before. The speed that Yoda moved at was totally unexpected by someone who pretends to have a limp. I was screaming inside when Dooku did the diversionary tactic of attempting to crush Obi-Wan and Anakin. I wanted more. I wanted to see more of Yoda jumping around the room like a hummingbird on methamphetamine-laced nectar.

Unfortunately, I think I am going to have to wrap this segment up. Too long have I wrote, too much I have left out. I was going to spend the next few lines discussing everything I deeply wanted to talk about, but then I realized that I would have listed every single thing about the movie. I would like to thank LucasFilm for providing a film that I will not stop thinking above for quite some time. I think I will finally reach a general consensus and understanding of the film a year from now, after countless DLP screenings and watching the DVD in frame-by-frame slow-motion.

RATING: 9 out of 10 possible points.

You can check out all of TFN's AOTC Reviews below (may contain spoilers):

• TFN AOTC Review 1 (Carter)
• TFN AOTC Review 2 (Scott)
• TFN AOTC Review 3 (Steven)
• TFN AOTC Review 4 (Josh)
• TFN AOTC Review 5 (Chris)
• TFN AOTC Review 6 (Joel)