An epicly lifeless film...

Rating: 1/10 (5 June 2003)

The day I went to see this back in the summer of 1999, aged 15, was the day I felt my innocence shattered. I had so greatly been looking forward to this film and was so excited to have a Star Wars I could call my own (as in made in my generation) only to be given this piece of garbage.

The actors, including heavy weights like Liam Neeson and Samuel L. Jackson, up and comers Natalie Portman, and gradually progressing into leading man status Ewan McGregor, are all wasted here. Neeson, McGregor and Jackson are OK but OK is all they are, but they don't stand out at all, nor does Portman. All I can say of Jake Lloyd is that he looks like he's having fun. Then there's Jar Jar Binks, ARGH. What was Lucas thinking? And poor Darth Maul got killed before we had a chance to get to know him.

But what's most offensive of all, aside from the lifeless/passionless acting, are the continuity errors. All these years we were led to believe that Obi-Wan (McGregor) risked a lot to make Anakin a Jedi Knight, but here Obi-Wan's little more than a 2nd banana lurking in the background, while Qui-Gon Jinn (Neeson) is at the front line doing what he can to get Anakin ahead, and it's just wrong. That was what hurt me the most, the fact that the film wasn't about Obi-Wan, that it didn't adhere to previous Star Wars history.
And Episode 2, alas, isn't that big of an improvement.