Making a movie that tries to live purely on nostalgia doesn't work if you have a horrible plot.

Rating: 3/10 (28 October 2015)

Where to start. I guess first off I have to say I really enjoyed this movie the first time I saw it as a kid. As I grew I noticed more and more things wrong with it, and each time I re-watched it I saw it clearer for what it really is. A really poorly written movie with characters that never felt real and were not relatable. Also would like to add this isn't an 100% complete review because of the word limit.
Let's look at the plot of the movie, and if you know star wars movies the opening title scroll usually summarizes a very simple version of the plot. So it starts of by saying the taxation of trade routes has caused turmoil in the Republic. Because of those taxation's, the Trade Federation(TF) has decided to put a blockade around Naboo. To help fix this problem the current Chancellor has sent two Jedi to negotiate a solution. Let's just stop and look at that, taxation of trade routes really isn't the most interesting way to start a story but I actually like it, too bad nothing about it is really explained or developed.
So we start the movie off with the the Jedi boarding the TF ship to negotiate. The TF leaders don't want to go in the room with the Jedi and their sith master orders them to kill Jedi. While this is happening the Jedi are drinking tea the TF's droid brought them and talking about how they sense a lot of fear coming from the TF. The TF tries to gas the Jedi, but after a few seconds open the doors and let all the gas out so the droids can get rid of their bodies. Why not just leave the doors closed for a few hours? Or why didn't the Jedi try to cut their way out, they show they can cut through the doors in the next scene. So the Jedi get let out of the room and fight their way to the control room where they start cutting though the door. Droids with shield show up so they use some power to run super fast(which could have been really useful when Obi-wan was trying to save his master at the end of the film). There is more bad parts on the TF ship but to give every part of the film its equal share I must move one.
Now on Naboo we run into Jar Jar. I will avoid completely bashing him since it has been done before but he is a bad character. The first thing our heroes do threaten Jar Jar and use his lesser intelligence against him to force him to bring them to his city. They get to the city and Obi-wan talks about how the Naboo and the Gungans have some type of symbiotic relationship even though he doesn't really know anything about this planet or the Gungans, also Qui-Gon Jinn goes on about how they need to warn the Naboo. How do you even think the Naboo doesn't already know they are being invaded, you came down with the invasion. By then it's a little too late to warn them. So that scene ends with Qui-Gon using the force to cheat Boss Nass out of sub thing. No one else in the council of Gungans question this after Boss Nass changes what he said. So they have to travel through the core of Naboo to get to the city where the Naboo people are. Let us just gloss over the fact that is not how cores work, and go to the bit where the droid armies pretty much had to have landed on the other side of the planet to that the quickest way. While the Jedi are on their way Queen Amidala is captured by the droid army, who just marched into the capital. Is it really conquering if you face no opposition? I have to mention how Qui-Gon says the there is always a bigger fish thing, and in case you didn't notice it the first time the same thing happens again. Nute Gunray is going to force Amidala to sign the treaty making the invasion legal, sorry but how is a signature that was signed under duress hold up? Nute might as well have just forged the signature, pretty much the same thing. So they rescue Amidala and easily run the blockade, they only really fret when the shields go down but even then they don't get hit anymore after they come back online.
On to Tatooine, where we meet little Anakin. A quick summary of bad stuff; Qui-Gon tries to cheat more people with the force, Midi-chlorians which are a horrible addition that adds nothing to what we know already about the force , and the long Podracing scene that could have been cut and replace with some characterization for Obi-wan or Palpatine since they have important roles in the future. So they get off of Tatooine and Coruscant. Padme Amidala goes before the senate and pleads for help, so the chancellor says something like "oh sorry we need more proof, let's send some people to investigate." What about those Jedi you already sent to investigate? Do their words mean nothing to the senate. So Padme calls for a vote of no confidence, how can she do this? She is not a senator and once she said that it seemed like everyone was on board with it, he was out and some new people were for the election. This here brings around one of the biggest problems, Palpatine uses this to gain power, but this would never have worked if the TF didn't fail. Without Padme's vote of no confidence Palpatine wouldn't have had the pity vote.
So that is all I can really fit but I feel like it clearly shows why the movie deserves what rating I gave it. Just really bad plot points.