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Infamous: First Light (2014)
A Nice Introduction into the inFamous Series
inFamous: First Light is a standalone expansion DLC pack for inFamous: Second Son. It tells the story of a vagrant conduit named Abigail Walker, better known as "Fetch". After a brief explanation of conduits, the game opens with a shackled Fetch being queried by Brooke Augustine, the director of the Department of Unified Protection (DUP). Then the story goes back two years prior, when Fetch and her older brother Brent are about to complete one last job before ditching the rainy backdrop of Seattle for law-exempt international waters. Well, it's their final job, so you already know it isn't going to go well. As such, Brent is captured by the Akurans, and later another party, who use him to force Fetch into doing their dirty work.
This rubs Fetch the wrong way for a number of reasons. Aside from the obvious sibling bond she developed with Brent, Brent also tethers her to her humanity. You see, Fetch developed conduit powers at an early age, and Brent ran away with her to prevent their parents from turning her over to the DUP. The two were practically homeless, and soon after they fall victim to drug addiction. While they struggle with their drug habit, Fetch additionally has trouble suppressing the urge to use her powers. And now with Brent gone, there's no one left to keep her in check.
Brent was basically her sponsor, even though he himself lacked powers, and when you're controlling Fetch, you can tell that she's enjoying the carnage she's creating through subtle sound bites. It's no secret that she eventually goes off the deep end before getting captured by the DUP and taken to Curdun Cay prison. The game switches back and forth between her present conversations with Augustine (who's trying to groom Fetch to be a military asset) and what lead up to her current incarceration. Fetch is an exceptionally sympathetic character, who's imbued with personality by the always excellent Laura Bailey. Although she appears to be a snarky suicide punk, Fetch is actually a down- to- earth girl who's scrambling to put her life together despite having a power that could solve most of her problems.
In contrast to Fetch, the rest of the characters are pretty much one- note. Her brother is absent for most of the game, the main antagonist has a fairly generic goal, and one supporting character isn't in it enough for their death to resonate beyond a "that sucks". And while the story works as a whole, it's not as cinematic as it could have been. There aren't that many cutscenes which means most of the dialogue occurs during gameplay. The cutscenes that are present look amazing, showing in great detail Fetch's character design. Likewise, the representation of Seattle is meticulous, the particle effects are eye-popping, and the light speed streaks left by Fetch are stylized.
Fetch is somewhat of a speedster; streaking through the city as a neon- purplish blur. By using her powers, you can race up the side of buildings and use ledges to springboard from rooftop to rooftop. The city also contains neon clouds that quicken travel by boosting Fetch's light speed. In battle, Fetch uses melee attacks that can be combined with her light speed to send enemies flying in slow motion. Fetch can also use her powers as projectile bolts, and then use her laser focus to quickly finish off enemies by exposing their weak points. Fetch's powers are cool – once you get enough upgrades, you can experiment and make battles more exciting than the story would suggest.
For the most part, enemies are nothing but fodder, that is until maybe the final act, where the stakes are raised and battles truly become personal for Fetch. Not that they aren't already, but the missions you have to complete during the flashbacks are primarily in service of someone else. As a result, the battles don't nearly feel as epic as they should. This is more noticeable with the battles that take place in Curdun Cay. These battles are nothing more than a training ground that allow you to practice new abilities before you get a chance to put them to the test in the flashback.
These battles aren't completely pointless, as they do help you get acclimated to Fetch's new abilities, while also unlocking challenges in arena mode and helping you earn skill points (SP). SP is primarily earned during the open world flashback. You can complete the story missions, collect and race neon lumens (balls of light), destroy police drones, stop drive-bys, and vandalize the city with your neon graffiti. Collecting neon lumens and destroying police drones were my main source of SP. Racing was fine as well, but the neon graffiti side quests where maddening due to the controls, in which you have to swipe the touch pad or use motion controls to guide Fetch's arm. Staying on the subject of controls – the battles would've been a lot more fluid if there was a targeting button.
Regardless, there's plenty to do in the form of open-world side quests and arena mode challenges, and the battles are pretty fun once you get control of most of Fetch's abilities. When you complete the game, Fetch gains the ability to learn an ultimate skill in each category. In addition to the achievements, it gives you a reason to max-out her skillset, although having those ultimate skills available in story mode would've been better. For $15 First Light offers a nice, truncated open world experience. Aside from Fetch herself, the best thing about First Light is that it actually feels standalone. I would seriously recommend First Light to anyone who's yet to play an inFamous game. Not only does it introduce newcomers to the world of conduits using a likable protagonist, it's also a great backdoor invite to play Second Son, which I intend to do in the near future.
Remember Me (2013)
Remix & Repeat
Created by French developer Dontnod Entertainment, and published by Capcom, this single-player game takes place in future Paris - excuse me, Neo-Paris. The exact year 2084, and in this world there exists a device called a Sensen. A device so ubiquitous it's practically mandatory all citizens of Neo-Paris wear it. And with this so-called Sensen, people are able to have their unpleasant memories removed, or pass on their pleasant memories to others. Sensens are so popular in society, they are even used to "rehabilitate" hardened criminals in a way akin to a lobotomy. The game starts the player off in control of an Errorist named Nilin, who was recently captured, and just underwent a memory wiping process. However, her resilience to the process allows her to retain memory fragments such as her name, but she recalls little else.
One of the strengths of Remember Me is the imaginative world in which the game takes place. There's something Phillip K. Dick-esque about a world that allows its inhabitants to change the perception of their lives through memory wipes. It's not an original concept, granted, but it's fleshed out by the utilization of advanced, almost Orwellian technology. There's an economic divide in Neo-Paris that allows the rich to go about their lives blissfully unaware of any hardships they may have faced, while the poor must slog around in their nearly-flooded dwellings remembering every depressing event that ever happened to them. While playing as Nilin, you're constantly told about the plight of oppressed, and the ultimate goal the Errorist movement. Their motives are commendable, but they're not entirely without fault in how they go about achieving their endgame.
Remember Me provides a unique and satisfying narrative, but it lacks a cast of deep, engaging characters. Nilin is a strong-willed female protagonist - she isn't the problem. Over the course of the game you learn a lot about her; her insecurities, her confusion over who she was; and her perseverance to find her true self. Nilin is great, even though she occasionally repeats lines so cheesy they'd make a person who's lactose intolerant throw up. Another great character is Edge - the "Otacon" to her "Snake". He communicates with Nilin from the beginning all the way to end, and you're never quite sure if his intentions are genuine, or if he's just taking advantage of a compromised Nilin. Those two are really the only characters with any depth; the rest of the cast leave a lot to be desired. You have characters that disappear shortly after they're introduced, and then you have characters with names like Bad Request, and Trace - really?
Combat in the game is very similar to Batman: Arkham City, except it's less fluid. During the game you are given to ability to unlock attack components called Pressens, which can be linked together to form a combo. The more PMP, or experience, you gain the more Pressens you can unlock. The makers of the game boast tens of thousands of Pressen combinations, and while there are four types of Pressens (damage, chain, healing, and cool down) there are only four predetermined combos you can assign them to. However, there's a lot of strategy to be found within fighting, especially when you're surrounded by numerous enemies - which happens frequently. The only way to heal yourself in battle is by completing combos with healing Pressens, but you'll go insane trying to dodge enemy attacks while keeping your combos active. Another way to dispatch of enemies is to use S-Pressens, or special moves. Each S- Pressen has a specific function that can be applied to a specific enemy, or group of enemies. But after using them one time you have to wait for them to "cool down" before you can use them again. Even then, your Focus Gauge has to be completely filled before they're even activated. And as final attack, Nilin is able to perform a Memory Overload on dazed opponents, which is a nice addition, but lacks variety. Overall, battles in Remember Me can get tedious very quickly; the repetitiveness of dodging while keeping a combo active is enough to have you begging for your own memory wipe. Yet, it's addictive experimenting with Pressen types and watching Nilin pirouette around enemies.
Outside of the battles the game plays very much like most other platformers. Nilin traverses the buildings of Neo-Paris using any object her Sensen identifies as climbable. Along the way there will be objects that must be interacted with in order to progress further. None of them offer much excitement, and sometimes act as a hindrance when all you want to do is progress through the story. It's fun and sometimes jaw-dropping walking around Neo-Paris, especially the nicer parts of the city. However, other than some isolated paths in which you can find collectables, the game pretty much keeps the player on a linear track.
Remember Me's gameplay mechanics can come off as derivative and underdeveloped. Yet, one mechanic stands out as the true reason to play Remember Me at least once. That's the memory remixing sequences - the primary feature of Remember Me, and sadly its most underutilized. When remixing memories as Nilin, you tap into a subject's Sensen device and manipulate a defining memory in the subject's life in order to influence their actions in the game's world. Each one has a set of bugs the player can alter that would allow a memory to play out differently. This feature is the most fun you'll have playing this game, and you'll find yourself hoping that a cutscene ends with a memory remixing sequence. The problem is there's only a handful of them throughout the entire game. Amazingly, no one has thought of this concept before, and it should definitely be explored more if they ever decide to make sequel.
Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
Resident Evil: Repetition
This week I saw two films; each directed by a man named "Paul Anderson." One film showed the maturation of a filmmaker who's not afraid not to take his material in a new direction. His film had no plot, but still told a story through its characters. The second film showed a filmmaker becoming more Benjamin-Button-esque in his craft, as his films are becoming more and more infantile. Now, I'm not a complete Paul W.S. Anderson detractor; I actually think "Event Horizon" and "Death Race" are underrated. But with his latest entry in the Resident Evil Franchise, I feel I'm running out of ***** to give.
This movie starts off by continuing where the previous movie left off in REVERSE SLOW MOTION, which takes FORVER to play out. Later, the scene is played at normal speed, which lasts all of TEN seconds. So, after "skype" Alice explains the whole franchise to us, her in-movie version is conveniently transported to an underwater Umbrella facility after being knocked out from the previous battle. Everyone knows the best way to get from one set piece to another is to pull out the ol' knocked-out-awaken-in-unfamiliar-place troupe. Anyway, Alice wakes up with nothing but toilet seat cover paper separating the male audience from what they really came to see. Then she's interrogated, for no reason, and is later set free, at which point she finds weapons and a skin-tight leather suit hidden in her INTERROGATION room. She wanders Umbrella's state-sized, underwater bio-weapon testing facility that would have the architects of RAPTURE scratching their heads. She then meets up with one of this installment's random video game inserts, Ada Wong. As the two navigate the different test cities (levels), while every so often SAVING their game, the Red Queen trolls them by placing obstacles in their path. She also trolls the audience by telling us EVERYTHING she's going do before she does it. You see that? That's the movie driving in a convertible, with "suspense" in the passenger seat wearing sun glasses and a shawl.
What proceeds is the same BS we've been seeing for the entire series. Slow motion action scenes, bullet-sponge protagonists, and characters so wooden you would think they were crafted by Tim "The Effin Toolman" Taylor. Also, like the previous installments, this movie leaves more questions than answers. Like why is Luther, a basketball player in "Afterlife," part of Wesker's strike team? Why is Leon Kennedy working with Wesker when the two never crossed paths in the games? Speaking of Wesker, when exactly did he part ways with Umbrella? Because it sure as hell wasn't in the previous movie. And lastly, why the hell do they keep introducing characters from the game without giving them an ounce of actual CHARACTER? I've already mentioned Ada Wong and Leon Kennedy - the former of which does nothing but expose the plot (if you can call it that). But they've also decided to will Barry Burton into existence. Sure he's great (played by the always overlooked Kevin Durand), but he barely speaks and makes a selfless (read: pointless) sacrifice. I hate these movies with a passion of the Christ. Why do I keep watching them? I guess the same reason why people keep watching god-awful, would-be singers on "American Idol" fail during their auditions - it's and funny and a little bit sad. Well, Paul W. S. Anderson, I knew you, the master of sucky-video- game-movies, would make me laugh and cry.
Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
I Don't Believe in This Afterlife
Paul W.S. Anderson claims to be a "big fan" of the Resident Evil games, however like a father encouraging his son to live his life while he constantly undermines everything he does, his actions betray his words. I'm sure his intentions are good, but as they say, the road to hell is paved in good intentions. Apologists for his Resident Evil movies will say "lighten up, it's based on a video game, it doesn't have to be smart." I'm so tired of that argument. Just because a movie's based on a video game, doesn't mean it has to be mindless action with no coherent plot. Roger Ebert once said video games will never be art. That may be true, but most of them do have a story to tell. And if these stories are to be given any justice on the big screen, filmmakers can't disregard the source material. The worst thing about this is that I had to pay 3D prices to see this movie (it's not being shown in a regular format). So am I going to have to buy a 3D TV to watch this when it comes out on Blu-ray? Not likely, because I'm never going to watch this movie again.
Alice (Milla Jovovich), the main character of the previous installments returns in this one looking prettier than ever. She has ruby-red lipstick, makes a "duck-face" when she fights, and wears a designer pilot outfit. In a post-apocalyptic world infested with zombies, who has time to get dressed specifically to fly a plane? Even her clones all have matching outfits, hairdos, and flawless skin. We get it Paul Anderson, your wife is hot, can we move along with the movie please? Anyway, the beginning of the movie takes place in Japan. The Alice clones infiltrate Umbrella's underground facility in an attempt to enact their revenge on one Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts). What's not clear is what is Wesker's position in Umbrella's corporate structure? We don't know, but the clones need someone to blame. They wreck havoc on the facility, and kill the guards using guns, throwing stars, psychic abilities, and slow-motion. These clones treat their lives with reckless abandon; jumping backwards out of a window while shooting at nothing, and detonating explosives in close proximity to themselves. When one dies, another takes it's place. It's okay, because all know clones have no soul. Once the kamikaze clones do their job, we're conveniently left with one Alice to follow. Somehow, she makes it to Alaska on a single engine plane and while there she meets up with an old friend, Claire Redfield (Ali Larter). However, something has happened to Claire that prevents the two of them from catching up on old times. Good, because who wants the character's gap between "Extinction" and "Afterlife" to be bridged with needless dialog? In any event, after this non-reunion, and without refueling, they fly to LA in search of the fabled safe haven known as "Arcadia."
While in LA, they "crash" land on the roof of a building, and meet up with a group of survivors. This group includes a Hollywood producer (Kim Coates), a struggling actress (Kacey Barnfield), and a famous athlete (Boris Kodjoe) to name a few. Apparently LA is filled with cliché archetypes. They use an unnecessarily 30-story high prison as a place of refuge from the zombies, and the interior of this prison has like 100 torches scattered about. At the bottom of the prison, locked in a cage, is Chris Redfield (Prison Break's Wentworth Miller). Oh I get it; Wentworth Miller played a character known for breaking out prisons and Chris... Forget it. Chris and Claire are siblings, but you wouldn't know it by the way they act. At least Claire has a reason for being emotionally distant. The group finds the location of Acadia, and have to fight their way through hordes of zombies, and a curiously placed hooded axeman, known as the "Executioner" in the games, to make it there. Wait, why is there an axeman in the middle of LA in the first place?
That's what this movie does, it treats the game like a bargain bin and takes the elements deemed "cool" and shoehorns them in without any explanation, or context. Nothing is explained; I know what they mean because I played and beat EVERY GAME in the series. Paul Anderson, who only directed this and the first installment, but who has written the screenplay for every single one makes these movies stand-alone. Meaning, each movie feels self-contained and doesn't carry on from the previous installment. Any connection between the movies is tenuous at best. Characters are just empty shells being used as nothing but props in the action scenes. Alice is the only consistent character, and she's as lifeless as the zombies shes killing. She herself is a killing machine; she only gets more powerful with every movie (even though she became 'human' early in the movie). And any gamer would agree it's no fun playing a game that provides no challenge, likewise, its no fun watching a movie in which the hero/heroine go unchallenged. The Resident Evil games pioneered the survival-horror genre. In the older games, the ammo was scarce, the healing items where few and far between, and the enemies were powerful. It put you in a constant state of danger and unease. Hell, in order to conserve your ammo you couldn't kill everything you saw, sometimes you just had to run... That is unless you cheat. And that's what Alice is, a cheat. Instead of a main character that's fragile, and can be overwhelmed at any time we're given one that does the overwhelming. That would be okay if this movie wasn't called RESIDENT EVIL. If you take away everything that's "Resident Evil" about these movies, aside from a few terms, nothing will have changed. And that's when you know something is wrong.
Centurion (2010)
Blood and Mayhem
Those who are fans of HBO's "Rome," or Starz's "Spartacus" will be pleased with "Centurion." It doesn't have the narrative of "Rome," nor the trashy-goodness of "Spartacus," but what it takes from both of them is violence. And boy does it have a lot of it.
The story follows a group of roman soldiers trapped behind enemy lines. Outnumbered, they must trek through enemy territory to rescue their general, Virilus (Dominic West), who was captured following an ambush. This group is lead by Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender), who previously survived a raid on his fort by the Pictish, before escaping and being rescued by General Virilus and his 9th Legion. General Virilus, a man's man, was summoned by Julius Agricola (Paul Freeman), a Roman Governor. He was then given the task to go on the offensive, and wipe out the Picts, for no reason other than to help Julius return to Rome. It seems like this is the motive of EVERY Roman politician outside of Rome. Accompanying his legion is the female tracker, Etain (Olga Kurylenko), a Pict herself who now helps the Romans (think Wes Studi in "The Last of the Mohicans"). She may look pretty, but when she screams, you see how dirty her teeth are, and think to yourself "I wouldn't want to kiss that."
The plot is very solid, but nothing special and the cast do their best with the material. Voice-Over narration by Michael Fassbender's character, Quintus, is heard throughout the movie. It's not overly done, and serves it's purpose by giving us insight to Quintus. He's the typical roman soldier, honorable, yet filled with national pride. You have no problems rooting for him. Etain, has no tongue, so we don't have to hear Olga Kurlenko speak. All she has to do is make intimidating faces that look more cute than menacing. The rest of the cast is solid, and there's even a black guy in the legion! Guess what happens to him. Every roman solider speaks with an English accent, while the Picts sound Scottish. This isn't "Mel Gibson's Centurion," so I have no problems with this. After all, this is an English speaking film. My only gripe is that not enough attention is paid to the characters before they start dying off.
Director Neil Marshall (The Descent) really knows how to give his films a sense of dread and unease. Like "The Descent," the protagonists of "Centurion" are chased, and have to survive in an environment they know nothing about. This film is also gory as hell. Heads are not only decapitated, but are diagonally cut in half. Swords go through bodies like they're 99% liquid, and limbs are easily detachable. Hell, even being pushed into a tree while running will result in a blood splatter. One thing this film does not lack is ways to kill people. The kills are very much the highlight of this film, and the blood here is not as cartoonish as the blood in "Spartacus." Primarily shot in the forests of Hampshire, England, "Centurion" is very pleasant to look at; the cast is surrounded by tall trees, and snowy mountains. This accentuates the battle sequences and makes them more enjoyable.
"Centurion" contains everything you expect in a film about Romans: blood, betrayal, even a hint of politics – but sorry, no sex. However it has a very by-the-books story, and it's characters lack emotion. Aside from Quintus, it's hard to feel for any character, but the movie doesn't care about that. It's a gritty period action flick, and if you like violent deaths, you won't care either.
The Expendables (2010)
One Word: Overkill
The plot of "The Expendables" is as such: a group of grizzled, joking mercenaries are hired to rid an island of it's dictator. Admittedly, not the most original premise, but it allows actor-director Sylvester Stallone to do what he does best, which is kill. One thing a good action movie needs is catchy names, and this movie does not disappoint. Stallone plays Barney Ross, along with him are Jason Statham as Lee Christmas, Jet Li as Ying Yang, Dolph Lundgren as Gunner Jensen, and Randy Couture & Terry Crews as the double entendre named Toll Road and Hale Caesar. Plus "Stone Cold" Steve Austin shows up as a henchmen named Paine. Those names are up there with the likes of "John Matrix" and, well "John Rambo."
Barney and his crew are mercenaries, but act more like a biker gang. They hang out at Mickey Rourke's bar (belonging to his character, not the actor) to throw darts, and shoot some pool in between missions. You don't know much about how they all came together, but that's irrelevant: they kick ass. Barney, their leader, meets up with a mysterious man in a church to hear an offer for a job. This man names himself "Mr. Church," and is played by Bruce Willis. This is the heavily advertised scene between Stallone, Willis, and Schwarzenegger, and it's exactly what you would expect it to be. They trade jabs, and always try to one-up each other. The scene ends with an allusion to Schwarzenegger's real-life. You would have hoped that Willis and Schwarzenegger had more to do, but it was good while it lasted. Maybe their characters will pop up in a possible sequel. Barney accepts the job to take down this island dictator, and his benefactor, played with certain sliminess by Eric Roberts.
"The Expendables" handles the action scenes fairly well. The impact of bullets and knives are emphasized for maximum effect. There are also a couple of good, well-placed scenes, including ones involving a seaplane, and a car chase with a vintage pick-up truck. The only thing that was lacking was the fight scenes. You'd expect a movie with Jason Statham and Jet Li to showcase their respective talents. Statham beats up a group of men playing pickup basketball, and we're teased with a fight scene between Jet Li and Dolph Lundgren, but that's about it. Stallone himself also looks awkward whenever he has to run, but then again the guy is 64-years-old. However, from then on it's about guns and knives. One particular sequence in which Terry Crew's character, Hale Caesar, uses an automatic shotgun to decimate his enemies stands out among the rest. Before, he muses about how difficult it would be for a man to remain calm when hearing the sound of that gun. How right he was. I would like to say this movie stays way from CGI, or what CGI it does use is seamlessly integrated, but that isn't the case. In a couple of shots during the end, the CGI is painfully obvious (pun intended). Also, for a movie called "The Expendables," it's heroes are awfully resilient.
With "Rambo" and now "The Expendables," Stallone proves himself to be a competent action director, although he tends to film his actors too close. If a mindless action movie was a sandwich, I would order it: "light on the plot, heavy on the bullets, with a side of Mickey Rourke," and the guy taking my order would be like: "Oh, you want The Expendables?"
The Crucifier (2005)
Wanna See Topless Chicks in Their Underwear? Then this movie is for you.
Because that's all this movie contains. Just chicks tied up in a "crucified" position. Plot? What Plot? There is no plot! All you get is some religious symbolism BS, and some quasi-satanic dialogue spewed from a guy wearing a skull mask, with an upside down cross on it. If you have the fortitude to sit through this movie in it's entirety then 1) You are an objective movie-watcher, willing to give ANYTHING a chance, or 2) You were somehow involved in this so-called project. Now, there's nothing to say you can't make a good movie on a shoe-string budget, but it's painfully obvious from the first 30 seconds that no effort whatsoever was put into this movie. This movie has the worst, stilted acting I've ever had the misfortune of witnessing. So, unless you're desperate to see topless, semi-attractive chicks in bondage (rent a porno for God's sake!), avoid this movie at all costs. Or, just take LSD, and watch this with a bunch of friends. Who knows, you just might understand this movie.
The Master of Disguise (2002)
There's No Disguising This As a Good Movie...(Contains Spoilers...As if it even matters)
Before I saw this movie, I thought there was a good reason for the "Turtle Guy" but I was wrong because there isn't even a good reason for this movie!
This movie is awful. Its fast-paced for no reason, the plot is incoherent, and the jokes are bland and played out. I think this movie should have been named "Spy Kids" because the real Spy Kids makes this movie look infant.
Where to start...Where to start...Dana Carvey's Character, Pistachio Disguisey, is not a lovable character...You feel sorry for him. He has the mind of an eight-year-old and you can tell that from the beginning. And it boggles the mind that Jennifer Esposito's character...Named Jennifer could even fall in love with a moron like him. James Brolin might as well stick to his AAMCO commercials, because after his character gets kidnapped, James himself spends the a good part of the movie in the back seat of a car, not to mention his overly played Italian accent that sounds more like an Italian-American accent. And Brent Spiner, what were you thinking? His character, Devlin Bowman, is just a villain without a cause, or should I say a villain without a reason for his cause. His character wants to steal all the world's rarest items but instead, for what reason was not disclosed at all.
Master of Disguise is like connect the dots without dots...Its nothing to connect to. I wanted this movie to be funny, because I like Dana Carver, but it just wasn't... Sorry Dana.
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
A Prelude to Darth Vader
Unlike Episode One, this one grabbed my attention during the whole movie.
Episode 2's purpose was clear: To show us how Darth Vader became Darth Vader. How you ask? By giving Anakin a bigger, more important part that didn't involve 15-Minute long Pod Races. From Anakin's ambition and frustrations, we see how the Dark Side originated in him. The Clone Wars was really a side-story. How Anakin grew was the real one. I also have to give George Lucas props for throwing in hints of Darth Vader- the music, Anakin losing his hand...Well done.
However, that wasn't the only thing that made Episode 3 good. For starters they gave Samuel L. a bigger part, and also, they give Natalie Portman's character some life and made Yoda completely computer generated.
All of those factors make Episode 2 what it is. I look forward to Episode 3