Don't know what people expected

Rating: 10/10 (27 May 1999)

I thought I had exasperated all I had to say about this movie, but having seen it again, and being that I plan on seeing it at least one more time, I feel as if there is more to say. Basically, my problem with the criticism this movie has taken is, WHAT DID PEOPLE EXPECT????? It seems as if the Star Wars of old have gone from action, adventure movies that left you feeling good when you left the theatre to a modern times Hamlet trilogy. Shallow characters, thin plot line, too much childish humor are the main flaws pointed out by the detractors of this movie. The reality of it is, however, that ALL the Star Wars movies, maybe save Empire, had the exact same flaws. Was A New Hope that involved in the characters? Was the dialogue Tarantino esque? Was the plot line complex, with millions of little nuances that only the most astute movie goer would pick up on? Or, was Star Wars the greatest good evil movie/s to ever come out? I think it is the later.
Most of us fell in love with these movies when we were children, and though I can't imagine ever finding Chewy annoying, all of us who have waited for this movie have to take that into account when we villianise Jar Jar Binks. When I first saw the movie Jar Jar literally ruined the first half of the movie for me, but seeing it again I was able to tolerate him with much more ease. Though many of the scenes didn't need as much humor from Jar Jar as they ended up having, he is a character for the children to fall in love with, and they have. My little cousins, one 11 and the other 7, both went to see the movie last night and loved Jar Jar. They loved the exact things we, as avid fans, found annoying. There is a sense, I believe, by most of us who grew up owning all of the little action figures and watching the movies everyday after school, that these movie belong to us. That somehow Lucas owes us the best of the best, with absolutely no flaws. The fact is that this movie is truly for a new generation. It is for the kids who are the exact same age we were when we fell in love with this movie. While I was leaving the movie theatre on May 19th I heard many youngsters, some a little older than others, saying that they didn't know much about the old Star Wars but that they had loved this movie sooo much that they were going to go and rent the other three movies. That is what this movie is about.
For all of you who hated this movie, or came away from it feeling let down, I advise you to see it again, or maybe even two more times. Go and just have fun. Don't think about how much more "developed" Qui-Gon could have been or how Obi Wan and Darth Maul could have been given bigger roles. Don't go in expecting Jake Lloyd to give an Al Pacino performance or Natalie Portman to be Princess Leia. Go to just have fun. Go in with the child like attitude that you had when you first fell in love with these movies. Go in to be a kid again and I guarantee that you will not leave, this time, disappointed.