Good try but misses the mark

Rating: 6/10 (25 November 2008)

Just my two cents about a film that has been variously ravaged in the years since its release. I just watched it again recently to refresh my impressions. The effects are top drawer, especially the pod race sequence, which is genuinely exciting. The acting is generally good from the more experienced actors like Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor and Ian McDiarmid. Jake Lloyd's performance as Anakin is very weak and shows yet again that it is always difficult to find a GOOD child actor. Natalie Portman is wooden in a thankless role that she does a little better with in the subsequent films. The Jar Jar Binks character is annoying, and could have been dispensed with entirely. And Yoda is less believable as a CG effect than he was as a puppet.
All in all, not too bad, if a bit overlong. When compared with the original trilogy, however, it is definitely off target, and lacks the depth of scope and character development required in epic storytelling.