This post doesn't give away any of the *plot*, but I don't know what other information people might consider to be a spoiler. So if you don't want spoilers, don't take the chance.

First up, it was indescribably better than Episode 1. I doubt anybody is going to disagree with that. I thought the first half dragged a bit, but it was mostly necessary stuff. And once the action started, wow.

Second, the plot was amazingly complex compared to any of the other Star Wars movies. I probably need to see it again just to figure out some of the finer points of what was going on, even if I didn't want to see it again to watch the action and spaceships-zooming-through-things stuff.

On both of the above points, Episode 2 was obviously aimed at an older audience. I saw it in the afternoon and was one of the few people in the audience over the age of maybe 12. It seemed like I heard an awful lot of parents hushing up their kids and/or trying to explain things to them, and there was a general aura of "SIT STILL AND BE QUIET" for the first hour. After the aforementioned action kicked in, things went much better for everybody.

A little boy in my row reacted with loud "EWWWWW"s every time Anakin and Amidala got romantic. It was very funny. When I watch it again, I think this will be the way to go.

Amidala's costumes were even better than in the previous movie, but this time, didn't appear to need castor wheels and a team of midgets underneath to enable her to move around. Very nice. However, I want to know why the male characters' battle injuries never coincidentally rip out the middle part of their costume. And Kenobi will probably be too old in the next movie for me to want to see that anyway, even if Lucas takes my advice on this important issue.

Continuity with Episode 1 was maintained by choosing, once again, an actor for Anakin who exhibits the powerful dramatic range of a tennis ball on a stick with a face drawn on. However, in Episode 2, it's as if they bought a better quality tennis ball. He has some good moments in the second half of the movie, but in general, I think somebody else could have done it better. Almost anybody else, in fact.

Sixteen seconds of Jar Jar Binks is still too much.

Two hours of Obi-wan Kenobi is still too little.

In summary, Episode 2 seemed like it was getting back to all the things that made the original movies so great. It has awesome lightsabre fights, it has big space chases and things zooming through other things, it has stupid-cool assorted sentients hanging around in seedy bars and getting into trouble, and it even has some great one-liners. I'm looking forward to the next one much more now.

Brunnen-"and the one after THAT must be a CLASSIC, as I've already quoted"G