Good news, Episode II didn't suck. Michelle and I saw it today at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Unexpected bonus: The Chinese showed the film digitally. I didn't notice any problems with the picture being "film-less".
I thought the film was good - I haven't decided if I like it better than The Phantom Menace or not. Unlike all the "fair weather" fan-boys out there, I have always liked Phantom Menace despite it's problems, and haven't changed my opinion of it over time as so many others have. A few thoughts on Clones:
[Spoiler Warning]
Who knew that Jar-Jar would be responsible for the fall of the Republic? All the more reason to hate him. He thankfully has a small role in this film, but sets in motion an oh-so-important plot point. Ouch.
Natalie Portman is extremely pretty.
Seemed to move faster than the last film, despite being more dialogue-heavy and reserving most of the action outside of the first hour.
They didn't compromise the Boba Fett character, which is a big relief to me and my tattoo.
Standard issue Lucas clunky dialog. No surprise there.
Hayden Christensen was good in the role of Anakin, despite having to kick at ground and bitch and moan a lot.
Yoda kicks ass... Never thought I'd ever be saying that.