Not as good as the IV V VI, but still good.

Rating: 9/10 (20 February 2002)

The expectations for this movie were WAY too high! I must say that I was looking forward to this movie just as much as the next guy (I even went and saw it at 3am opening night), but I wasn't expecting perfection. I can't disagree that there were a number of problems with this movie, but the film did have it's good aspects as well.
I think Jar-Jar was a major problem with this film, and I think most people will agree with me. I think the idea of the character is ok, but making him a bumbling idiot was a bad move. Also, what was with his voice? I'm sure he tested well with the kids, but I would hope that most people over the age of 13 would agree that the movie would have been better if he was portrayed better. I hear that he's going to have a relatively small part in Episode 2, I kind of hope that he is on screen as little as possible.
I wasn't too fond of the comedy in the film. I don't understand why George Lucas (or whoever made the decision) insisted on putting comedy in a science fiction movie. At some points it's ok, but in my opinion it is uncalled for. The one part in particular that makes me so MAD is the scene where Qui-Gon (or was it Obi-Wan?) is talking to the droid in the hangar, and says something to the droid. The droid then responds with something to the effect of "Um..let me think...um...does not compute...um...you're under arrest". I'm sorry but that is hands-down the STUPIDEST line in the whole friggin' movie! Let me explain, I'm a computer science major and I do lot of programming (never in artificial intelligence though), but I would imagine that if you were to build a droid, you aren't going to design him to be sarcastic or be a smart-ass would you? I just thought it was SOOOOOOOO dumb! Ok...enough about that.
Another scene that really angered me was when Boss Nass got all excited and shook his head back and forth real quickly and spit went flying everywhere. What the heck was that? I was quite displeased with that.
I thought the acting was pretty good, and I really don't have much to complain about. Although, I did think there were a few scenes where Jake Lloyd could have been better, but he did an Ok job, I won't bag on him for it.
Ok, enough with the bad, let's talk about the good points in the film.
The computer effects alone are worth the movie! The effects are just incredible! The pod-race is the best example. I can't even imagine how long it must have taken them to get that just right, and how much work went into that. Just amazing!
I really enjoyed some of the aliens, Watto, Sebulba and Darth Maul to be precise. They just had really cool looks about them and cool voices. There were a few aliens that I could have done without, but let's not focus on them. I also really liked Jabba, at the pod-race. He actually looked pretty good, a hell of a lot better than the one in the Star Wars: Episode 4 Re-Release.
The ships were pretty cool for the most part. I wasn't too fond of the yellow fighter ships, but I can deal. You don't always get what you want and you can't please everyone. I really liked the ships that transformed into robots. They can only be seen in the beginning of the film, and they're kind of hard to spot, but I assure you, they are there. I wish they would have been more visible, cause I thought that was a very good idea.
The other droids in the movie were pretty cool. I really liked the destroyer droids (the ones that rolled, and had three legs, I forgot what they are called), but I'm sure you know what I'm talking about.
The light-saber fight was INCREDIBLE. I don't really know why, but when I saw it the first time I wasn't expecting anything from the light-saber fights, but when that scene came, my jaw hit the floor.
I've heard a number of people say that they hated the idea of medichlorines (spelling?), but I have to say that I really liked that idea. I like that they tried to make 'the force' a little more scientific, and not so spiritual. But, I REALLY didn't like that Anakin didn't have a father. That was LAME! So, what, was he conceived from the medichlorines? C'mon, please!
All in all, I thought it was a very good movie and I wasn't let down. Like any other movie, it had it's problems and it wasn't perfect, but it was good. I'd recommend seeing it, just don't expect the best movie you've ever seen, or you will surely be disappointed. I think I might also recommend seeing the first trilogy first before seeing this one, cause I actually think it will make more sense that way. Anyhow, thanks for reading,
-Chris