give it another chance!

Rating: 8/10 (1 June 1999)

Being a child of the first Star Wars generation, I had extremely high hopes for the new series. Despite all the negative feedback and horrible reviews this film is getting, I tremendously enjoyed it, as did most people that I know. The first time I was more or less entertained by it, but not blown away by any means. The second time around, it was just FUN. Jar Jar gets less annoying, the aliens get a little more endearing and seem less digitized and Ewan just gets better and better every second he's onscreen. Many say that Liam Neeson is the tentpole holding this film up. I contend that it's instead Ewan Mcgregor as young Obi Wan Kenobi. He conveys a perfect balance of unrestrained youthful energy, eagerness, physical ability (watch that last lightsaber scene), and emotional maturity. He'sdefinitely on track to become the Obi Wan we all know from A New Hope. He feels exactly, right down to the great accent, like you'd imagine Obi Wan would have while he was still in training. The thing that really irritated me most in the film wasn't Jar Jar, but the character of Anakin Skywalker. Every word that comes out of that boy's mouth is just painful and awkward. It's a good thing he's not slated for either of the two following episodes. The scenery is beautiful, although a lot of it does feel too computerized. Somehow, despite all the flaws (of which there were many in the originals as well) this movie is just plain entertaining. I don't think anything is quite as hilarious as seeing Warwick Davis of Willow pop up in the audience next to Jabba the Hutt in the pod racer scenes. Watch for this, it's hysterical. The allusions to the coming episodes are plentiful and subtle enough to merit seeing this film several times. I think it's a wonderful setup of things to come and what a lot of people seem to be forgetting is that of COURSE the plot and characters aren't going to be that well developed yet because everything here is merely a setup to a story that will take five more episodes to play itself out. Lucas can't give us too much here...or there will be nothing left for 2 and 3. No love story? Yeah, that's because Anakin is NINE. We get that next time. And watch chancellor Palpatine..it's going to be interesting to see how the double role of good and evil he plays in this first episode unfolds over the next two. This is really a great setup for the next two. Sure, we could have done with a better Anakin and NO Jar Jar, perhaps fewer effects, but all the right elements are there and if you go see this again, I am sure you'll find it much more entertaining and rewarding now that we've gotten past all that awful hype. Just give it another shot. This is for the NEW Star Wars generation....it isn't trying to cater to the old one.