Yet more Episode II reviews:

Modamag (Positive)
Film Freak Central (Very negative)
The Guardian UK (Mixed)
Sick Boy (Mixed / Positive)
Film Four
E! Online

Thanks to Katherine, Obi-Law Olmsted, Lee, and Roger E. for alerts!

Andrew A. Adams sent in his personal review:

My purpose is not to gloat or brag (although it goes without saying that I am), but to let you know without revealling ANYTHING just how sweet Attack of the Clones is. My most beloved sister got me into a media preview this past Tuesday evening. I must admit to feeling like a cheat, but after an initial pang of guilt (that passed in about 2 seconds), I said yes to the invitation and twenty-four hours later sat in a darkened theater with a bunch of film critics waiting with baited breath for the familiar drum beat, the momentary silence, the blue letters announcing another journey to a long time ago in a galaxy far far away, and then the crash of trumpets signaling the opening crawl of a new Star Wars movie--the second to last time you and I will ever see a new Star Wars movie.

To get to the point: It's freaking awesome. Christensen is a bad @$$. You can feel the anger swelling in him. Macgregor simply is Obi-Wan Kenobi now. Lucas might as well digitally insert him over Alec Guiness in Episode IV through VI. Darth Maul would get eaten for breakfast in the company of the Jedi and Sith that do battle through the course of this movie. Jango Fett is, of course, money too. But I could boil this movie down to four letters: Y-O-D-A. He is what is going to bring the house down at the 12:01 A.M. showing. What you are going to see will make you squeal uncontrollably with delight and leave your mouth gaping wide open. Believe me, you cannot overestimate how awesome he is. Don't drink anything ahead of time because you are going to pee in your pants. He is what you are going to pay to see over and over again. Oh yeah and about that little thing called Clone War. This is why they call it Star WARS. It makes every battle that has taken place from Hoth, Endor, to Naboo look like a kiddie playground, and apparently it is only the beginning. What are they going to do in Episode III to top this?

Weak points? It is difficult to tell at this point. So much was riding on this movie and I really wanted it to be received well that I may have been a little hyper-critical in parts. Some of the romance scenes between Anakin and Padme seems a bit rushed, but that is probably what I was most concerned about going in. However, the movie does a double-twisting Jedi somersault over Episode I.

But, Attack of the Clones also makes The Phantom Menace a better movie. It moves the intrigue forward and takes it to another level. We see why so much set up was required. God only knows how Lucas is going to wrap this up in Episode III, but Anakin turning into Darth Vader may just be a subplot. For the Jar Jar haters out there, you needn't worry. Lucas obviously took the criticism to heart and Jar Jar appears just long enough to satisfy the contractual obligations to Ahmed Best. There are no poodoo or fart jokes, no "Yippee's" or "Oo-nah yoko, Ani's!" There is nothing but kick-@$$ Jedis, bounty hunters, clones, and the sweetest lightsaber battles we've seen to date. The first half of the movie is good. The second half of the movie holds its own with, and perhaps exceeds any Star Wars movie including Empire to date. While it does not quite resonate with the emotion that Empire did (finding out Vader is Luke's father and putting Han Solo in carbon freeze is hard to top), it more than makes up for it in shear raw excitement. I can't even remember what happened in the Lord of the Rings after seeing this movie.

Trust me, you will be miserable after seeing this movie because all you will want to do is go get another fix and another and another. Fortunately, you will not have to wait a week and a half like I do.