Star Wars - Episode II

Hayden Christensen	(Anakin Skywalker)	Ewan McGregor	(Obi-Wan Kenobi )
Natalie Portman	(Padmé)	Ahmed Best	(Jar Jar Binks)
Samuel L. Jackson	(Jedi Master Mace Windu)	Pernilla August	(Shmi Skywalker)
Ian McDiarmid	(Palpatine/Sidious)	Christopher Lee	(Count Dooku)
Anthony Daniels	(C-3PO)	Kenny Baker	(R2-D2)
Joel Edgerton	(Owen Lars)	Bonnie Piesse	(Beru Whitesun)
Frank Oz	(Yoda)	Andy Secombe	(Watto)
Jay Laga'aia	(Jango Fett)	Silas Carson	(Ki-Adi-Mundi)

The movie commences with an assassination attempt on Senator Padme, the queen of the planet Naboo. Jedis Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin skywalker are appointed to provide security to her. The two jedis thwart a second attempt to assassinate her. The movie splits into two directions from here. Obi-Wan goes off on a hunt for the hirers of the assassins. And stumbles onto planet Kamino where an entire army of clone warriors is being created, apparently ordered by a former member of the Jedi Council for protecting the Republic. Obi-Wan then stumbles onto the conspirators who, led by the former Jedi Count Dooku, are plotting the downfall of the republic. Meanwhile, Skywalker has escorted Senator Amidala for her safety and.....In the end, it's all one big battle with technical wizardry scoring the day.

By George! Hail the Digital Age! And also the age of the prequels. George Lucas definitely deserves credit for two phenomena. One, for heralding the digital age in cinema and two, for creating prequels (unlike sequels, prequels happen before the original movie).

Even as I approached Star Theatres in Southfield, a thrill began climbing up my spine. And I was not disappointed. For starters, I had to sit in the seventh row from the front despite reaching a half -hour earlier because the theatre was house-full. Next, for the first time in the US, I saw and heard the audience cheering and clapping at the start of the movie (I have seen that at the end in Harry Potter and Spiderman).

The digital projector (constructed by Boeing) containing several hundred thousand micro mirrors, each corresponding to bit of image, sent images images to the screen that were so pure that I almost wished I hadn't seen them. Because I am now spoilt and will hate to see a movie from a vinyl film. The movie itself was downloaded onto massive storage devices in the projection booth via satellite from Los Angeles. Technology has really arrived in the world of movies.

The purity and brilliance of the images was astounding. In the trailer, for example, the smile on the face of Senator Amidala was great, but in digital one could literally see the smile on her lips. The galaxies were almost as clearly visible as in an iMax theatre or a planetarium.

The biggest star of the movie was Yoda, the lovable Jedi Master who is more than eight hundred years old. He is, completely, a computer image in this movie, unlike in the original trilogy where he was a puppet. And some of the scenes in which he appears are sheer magic. The voice however, was still given by Frank Oz the creator and the voice of the Yoda in the original. The last 30 minutes of the movie are pure go for it fun with a gladiatorial flair to it. It is a curious phenomena that is there in both Episode I and II.

The movie itself is terrific. Lucas could have used a better scriptwriter however and somehow, Christensen does not impress much as Skywalker. However, the fact that we know that both he and Portman eventually will graduate to Luke SkyWalker and Princess Leia in the future lends a charm to their characters. Christopher Lee as Count Dooku is passable. The minor disappointment was Samuel Jackson who tries his best to infuse life into his role as Jedi Master Mace Windu. He has done his best, but the role does not even begin to do justice to his tremendous talent. McGreor played Obi-Wan as effortlessly as he played the impoverished poet in Moulin Rouge.

The movie, however, is built on technical magic, imagination, vision, courage and dreams. It is easy to forgive Lucas for minor flaws. After all, how many of us can dare the way he and Spielberg have?

Final Score: Four Stars. A must-see for anyone who loves to dream and wants to see the future.

"A reader Venkat has pointed a factual inconsistency in the review of Star Wars. The fact is that Princess Leia is the future daughter of Padme Amidala while Anakin Skywalker moves to the darker side and becomes the evil Darth Vader."