Where to begin?

Rating: 8/10 (7 December 2002)

There's no denying this film failed to meet most people's expectations, including my own. Sitting in the theater, I had a lump in my throat as the 20th Century Fox theme lashed out and the saga's classic intro and thunderous John Williams score shook the theater. Everyone was excited. The first doubts hit me not even a five minutes into the film. As soon as I saw that alien, Nute Gunray, I thought, "Oh, no."
This had been a family occasion. I was stupid enough to "camp" overnight for the tickets. At first, I thought it would be like a Star Wars Woodstock. Hey, I'm a classic Gen X'r who was made to feel that I missed out on all the fun in the late 60s and 70s, stupid me. But I'm a quick learner and the feelings of brotherhood among the seemingly cool guys and girls I met were soon replaced by dog-eat-dog-desperation as the time to buy the tickets came closer. I nearly came to blows with a guy who accused me of cutting in line. It took several hours for me to realize that this whole idea of camping was ludicrous. Going to the theater at midnight and still standing in line at 3 p.m. in Miami weather, was an act of utter lunacy. I was dying to take a shower, get something to eat and go home. The only reason I stayed for the tickets was because I didn't want to have gone through all that crap to come home with no tickets, which was the only reason I went there to begin with.

Anyway, come opening day, my mom and dad, who were my age when the original Star Wars came out, came with me along with my sister, brother and several close friends. When it was all over, no one said a word and we all sort of looked at each other. Nobody wanted to be the first to say the movie, (a Star Wars movie no less)...kinda sucked. "It was about as good as [Return of the] Jedi," my friend said, trying to trick himself into thinking the movie wasn't that bad. And we all slinked out of the theater and into our cars as if we'd come out of a funeral.
I still think the movie's strengths lie in Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor's performances. Natalie Portman's performance shifted between good and fair. Jake Lloyd would've come across better if they'd chopped his lines in half. The scene where he's shooting those villainous robots in the fighter looks, ridiculously, like he's playing video games.
I actually think the notorious Jar Jar Binks, clearly not the most embraced character, had the potential to be liked. Still, he was given WAY too much screen time and dialogue. All of his freaking out moments early on nearly sink the entire picture. You would think too much Jar Jar and not enough Darth Maul would sound like a recipe for disaster. It was also disappointing to see Terence Stamp as "Chancellor Valorum" wasted in a frivolous role that amounted to nothing.
Some aspects of the film were handled perfectly, however: R2-D2 is cleverly utilized throughout the picture. He's the constant reminder that this was a Star Wars movie despite Luke, Han and Leia's abscence. R2 meets C3PO was a great moment. Jabba's cameo. The lightsaber battle was superb as was the "Duel of the Fates" score by John Williams. The epilogue of the film was also excellent, but it was all too late.
The scenes on Tatoinne took forever. The outcome of the pod race was too predictable to devote as much screen time to it as they did. The space battle was not spectacular and felt like a carbon copy of the previous Star Wars battles. The fight between the Gungans and the Federation Droids was solid plot-wise, though visually spectacular.
Still, a few years have gone by. And as I look back, I still think the movie could've certainly used an edit, especially where Jar Jar and Anakin's dialogue are concerned. My feeling, then as now, is that the movie will eventually grow on people a bit once the trilogy is complete. To say the movie sucked is a bit unfair. Like pizza, there's no such thing as bad Star Wars though this one certainly lacked the overall mystique and sense of wonder of the originals. I've matured and already I look back at this film with a twang of nostalgia, for the build-up more than anything. It was just nice to believe, for a little while, that Star Wars was back again.