a serious disappointment

Rating: Null/10 (12 May 2002)

The special effects in this film are absolutely fantastic. The lightsbre battles (particularly in the finale) are very well choreographed, and the pod race really does give an impression of very high speed, which is impressive. However, this film can't decide who it's target audience. In Britain this film was given a Universal rating. That means that a three year old could have gone and watched:
1) Battles in which death and destruction are trivialised 2) Liam Neeson impaled on a lightsabre albeit without gore 3) Darth Maul severed in half, tumbling to his death
I don't want to turn this into a rant about certificates and I really am all for a relaxation of film certification in Britain, but really that sort of material needed a Parental Guidance rating. Also, the complicated fictitious politics of the republic are mixed with the puerile humour offered by the Gungans. But what three year old is going to be able to comprehend the politics? And what thirty three year old is going to be riveted by the superficial nature of these politics? Also, and this is from a purely British point of view. What the hell was going on with those accents? Ewan McGragor is Scottish, a stones throw away from England, and yet he has the most unrealistic representation of the English language I've ever had the misfortune to aurally experience! Amidala's accent is lamentable, and the racial politics of this film are dubious to say the least. The pigeon english of the gungans, and their brash, loud nature is a stereotypical represenation of the Jamaican stylee accent. The chinese laced accent of the trade federation fish faced fools is almost offensive. Why do the righteous have a) if they are regal or enigmatic an English accent (eg. the Jedi Knights, Queen Amidala) or b) an american accent if a little more gung ho and lively (eg. Anakin)? I suppose Senator Palpatine had impeccable English, but all the same, you can see where I'm coming from. Also, the acting was below par. McGregor is a fantastic actor (see Trainspotting or any other of his movies), so what's the deal? So is Liam Neeson. They were doing their very best with a fairly appaling script. The narrative is confused, there are too many fortuitous coincidences and the simplistic nature of Star Wars "good vs. bad" has not been altered. Which for me is the most irritating part of it all. Star Wars, and I know this has been said way too many times, is too much a reflection of it's influences. The bible is too prominent (eg. Darth Vader the archangel (see Milton's Paradise Lost)), its simple good vs. bad structure too visible. On the other hand, to kids (or modern theatre audiences as the case unfortunately is) who just want amazing special effects and a poor script masked by incredible special effects, this film answers all their prayers. Its main problem is that it relies too much on the fact it is a star wars movie to redress all its shortcomings. If this were not part of the saga, I have little doubt it would have been a monumental flop.