Episode II of the Star Wars saga, "Attack of the Clones" had the misfortune of following the poorly received first instalment. The good news is that it corrected most of the problems that plagued the first movie. While still not in the same league as the original trilogy, it was nevertheless a step in the right direction.
Several cast members from the first movie returned and, thankfully, stars Ewan McGregor & Natalie Portman fared much better this time around. Additionally, Christopher Lee provided a strong villainous presence that was sorely lacking from the first movie. Hayden Christensen stepped into the role of Anakin Skywalker and he at least did better than Jake Lloyd, though that's a case of damning with faint praise. Admittedly, though, his character wasn't written especially well, so it wasn't all his fault.
Speaking of writing, this time around George Lucas had the good sense to work with someone else on the screenplay. While the dialogue is still a bit stilted at times, the improvement is noticeable. Lucas also occupied the director's chair once again, with satisfactory results.
From a technical standpoint, the movie is highly accomplished, even though some of the profuse CGI is overly ambitious. In any case, the visual effects ended up being the source of the film's sole Oscar nomination. As usual, John Williams's score was also a highlight.
However, perhaps the most important difference this time around is that story is much more engaging as it really begins to set the stage for Anakin's inevitable transformation into Darth Vader. The movie's romantic elements may be awkward at times but, overall, the script does a pretty good job of balancing action and laying the foundation for the events to come.
Ultimately, I think that "Attack of the Clones" is underrated. It does have some problems but it managed to set the trilogy back on the right track. Thankfully, the concluding chapter would continue this upward trend.
