So I saw it again (already) and I was able to focus on some of the details.

This film is so interesting because it's so deep and shallow at the same time. I'm still not ready to write my full review, I want a little more distance, but I do want to express astoundment at exactly how rich the environments are in Clones, and how stunning it is that the foreground action is so stilted.

For someone who styles himself as a storyteller above all, George Lucas simply doesn't create a compelling story. As I said before, talking about Phantom Menace, there's no anchor. There's no character you cling to and identify with, and hope good things for. This is a movie about other people, and it's really hard to care about them.

That said, the movie's a real tour-de-force visually. That and there are a couple commercials for C3PO and R2-D2, and one for Jar-jar thrown in.

Slight spoiler kvetch

I've got a long list of kvetches, but I'll sit on them for a while...

On second thought, do you even care? I'm starting to realize that everyone and their dog writing reviews about Star Wars movies is a little like telling everyone exactly what you were doing when an earthquake hit. If we've all been there, how interested are we in everyone else's gripes? Well, I'm interested in yours, so have at you.

(It's probably best to assume that the comments thread for this post will have spoilers, so you've been warned...)