Star Wars set new standards in cinema with the first trilogy and continues to do so with the prequels. The next best thing to actually having a part in the movie is to sit in a theater and see it for the first time. It's an event that pulls people of all ages and backgrounds together. It gives something for everyone to root for, even if in this trilogy we are going to root a little for the guy that eventually becomes one of the most infamous villains to grace the silver screen. And if any of you out there are like me, it hurts every time someone says something bad about Star Wars.

In this day and age, it is much easier for these nay-sayers to speak out to the world. With the internet, people can reach near and far, expressing their beliefs. One thing that remains constant is that you always notice the negative things that people have to say. With something as huge as Star Wars, people know that they will get noticed more if they say something negative about it. They like to act like they know what they are talking about and try to persuade others to think the way they do. The problem is that some people get pulled to the "dark side" and start to believe all the negativity. I have some friends that loved The Phantom Menace and went to see it five or six times in the theater, and then a few months later they are talking about how bad it was. Some of you know what I'm talking about.

With the release of The Phantom Menace, there were even certain political groups that maintained that characters reflected their organization in a negative way. I won't mention some of the groups, since I am afraid they might try to sue me or something. But you all know why they did it, right? Menace was one of the biggest stories that year and what better way to promote your organization than to pick on Star Wars? It's a shame that people use things like this to their advantage. There are people that just don't understand that George Lucas has this big plan for Star Wars. It's a big puzzle that he is fitting together. Phantom Menace dealt a lot with character introduction and such. Now the wonderful story is moving forward.

But with all this negativity, Attack of the Clones is still going to be huge. Unfortunately, those of us that are fans of Star Wars will have to withstand the embarrassment as AOTC will open with less than Spider-Man did on its opening weekend. Everyone is going to talk about the fact that AOTC did good in its opening weekend, but not as good as Spider-Man. Most of the moviegoing public doesn't know that Episode II will open on about 400 theaters less than Spider-Man. Some might think that AOTC is a failure if it can't beat Spiderman. In a way I wish that George Lucas premiered Attack of the Clones in more theaters just so that it can open as big as Spider-Man.

Still, even though AOTC won't make $114 million over the Friday to Sunday period of its opening weekend, it should have about $120 million from the Thursday to Sunday period. And with the long Memorial Day weekend coming up in its second weekend, the movie should manage to have between $230 and $250 million by the end of that, on its way to make between $450 and $500 million.

From what I've seen about AOTC makes me think that this movie is going to blow us Star Wars fans away. With totally incredible action sequences, a love story and one of the most talked about periods in the Star Wars legend (The Clone Wars), Star Wars fans are going to flock to this movie. We all want to see how Anakin turns to the Dark Side. We all want to see what exactly occurred in the Clone Wars. We all want to see how Anakin and Amidala fall in love to eventually give birth to Luke and Leia. We all want to see Yoda kick some serious butt. We will enjoy what we see and tell others about it. We will drown the voices of those nay-sayers.

People out there can say all the negative things they want to about Star Wars. We won't listen.  I would rather have another Star Wars movie than no Star Wars movie at all. Can any of you imagine if Lucas hadn't decided to make another trilogy? I am overjoyed that he decided to make another trilogy. That kid inside me was so excited. I think that's what many people have lost over the years. They say that Lucas has lost the touch but these people have just lost that little kid inside that stared at the silver screen in amazement as Star Wars blasted across it.

For those of you that are negative about the prequels, reach deep inside and take out the part of you that just watches in awe and just enjoy the ride. So what if some of the dialogue is silly or the acting might lack a little. That was part of the charm of the original trilogy. You don't expect Oscar caliber performances from these actors. You're not sitting there to pick it apart and say that Han Solo uses incorrect sentence structures. You are there to watch on in sheer excitement as a fantasy unfolds before your eyes. And talking about Oscar, how many people remember the movie that won best picture instead of the original Star Wars? It's Annie Hall from over rated writer/director/actor Woody Allen.

When was the last time he did a movie that caught the fancy of audiences? When was the last time that one of his movies made more than $20 million? Definitely not his latest movie, Hollywood Ending that is out in theaters now, just in case you were wondering. Let me ask you something. A hundred years from now, which movies from this period will people still be talking about and still be watching? I can assure you that the Star Wars movies will be close to the top of the list, if not on top. Star Wars is so much more than what some make it out to be. I think that some people might still be in shock that there is actually new Star Wars movies coming out in theaters.

There was a backlash against Star Wars because Phantom Menace was such a huge occurrence. It almost became the "in-thing" to bad mouth Star Wars. With AOTC there will be a backlash against those that say negative things about Star Wars.

That's right, the real Star Wars fans are about to roar.