A Cinematic Achievement

Rating: 9/10 (26 May 1999)

Most of the current brouhaha appears to revolve around several key questions, so let me try to summarize:
IS THIS A MOVIE PRIMARILY FOR FANS No, although if you've been living in a cave for the last 23 years and never heard of the Star Wars saga, you won't get the same out of this movie as if, say, you've just seen all three previous special edition movies. That's not to say that this movie can't stand on its own merits; without ever seeing any of the previous three, PM would still be an artistic accomplishment. My suggestion, though, is to rent the previous three and view them before seeing PM. In this way you can better compare the story elements, art direction, characters, effects, etc.
IS THIS A MOVIE PRIMARILY FOR KIDS Absolutely. Whenever the central character is a nine year old boy, and the movie is rated PG, you can expect it to be primarily directed at that age range. That's not to say that adults won't find it interesting, just that adults should pay attention to other elements, say mythological elements in the story, differences between worlds, foretelling of possible future story elements, similarity to other famous movies (think pod racing = chariot racing), etc, in much the same way that "Alice in Wonderland" and "Gulliver's Travels" are not just children's books. In other words, the kids will love the pod races and the action, while the adults can appreciate the complexity of the universe that Lucas has created, one which encompasses religion, geography, politics, ecology, mysticism, psychology, mythology, etc. And the kid in every one will love the action sequences.
ARE SOME CHARACTERS INTENDED TO BE SIMPLY STUFFED ANIMALS/COMMERCIAL KNOCK-OFFS Yes. Look at the Ewoks. Same thing. Remember that Lucas _invented_ the concept of marketing the characters in his movies as action figures, and by all accounts has made a sizable fortune in the process. In PM, the main character intended for commercialization is Jar Jar Binks, a goofy half humanoid with floppy ears and a caribbean accent (not Jamaican BTW; I've been to Jamaica several times and this is nothing like it, but apparently an amalgamation of different English accents). Jar Jar is intended partly as comic relief, partly to show Lucas' idea that primitive societies can stand up to and defeat more technologically advanced societies. And my friend who saw PM with me thought he was cute.
HAS THIS MOVIE BEEN OVER-HYPED? SHOULD EXPECTATIONS BE LOWERED The short answer is "no", but don't expect this to be the greatest movie of all time either. On visuals alone this movie is astounding, by far one of the best movies to come out in years, far better than any other movie _in its same category_, which is to say sci-fi/fantasy. In other words, don't expect the crisp dialogue of "Shakespeare in Love", the acting of "Streetcar Named Desire", and so on. But then again, the Star Wars movies have never had that. Lucas is primarily a visual storyteller, spinning worlds out of nothing but his imagination, and mixing in very traditional ideas common to many cultures, good versus evil, son versus father, light and dark. Like someone pointed out to me recently, "Seven Samurai" doesn't have astounding dialogue or acting either, yet nobody complains that Samurai is over-hyped.
ARE SOME OF THE ACTORS WOODEN IN THEIR ROLES Yes, in particular Liam Neeson, who looks uncomfortable in long grey hair. Reportedly he didn't know exactly how to act in front of a blue screen. Ewan Magregor does a better job as a young Obi Wan, and Natalie Portman is actually quite good.
IS THIS AS GOOD AS THE PREVIOUS STAR WARS MOVIES? No doubt this is the best of the bunch. An interesting point which I believe Richard Corliss made when reviewing the original Star Wars was that all the spaceships looked slightly banged up, as if they'd seen some use, giving an authentic feel to that movie. It's interesting to note that in PM the ships look shiny and new. This may be a result of (a) better computer graphics than miniature models, or (b) a subtle message that in the Republic, prior to the onset of the Empire with all its degeneration, things were shiny and new. Nice touch.
In contrast to the colorfulness of PM, the original movies appear to be in black and white, again, possibly due to their predominant theme of battle of dark vs. light. In PM, there is only an incipient threat of darkness approaching, and the Republic is enjoying the last days of its heyday.
Also, if you notice closely at the dialogue, the original three had very short dialogue scenes, never more than a few lines at a time, and the androids always had the best lines. This is also true in the Star Wars books, BTW. In PM, dialogue is more extensive, laying the groundwork for a longer, more paced story. There are also intriguing hints of possible future story lines (liberation of slaves, romantic liaisons). I am reminded that this is the first act of a three act play, which nonetheless must have something of its own introduction and final climax.
And of course, the effects alone are infinitely superior in PM. The lightsaber duels now look like real martial arts fights, like two samurai warriors who possess supernatural powers really fighting.
In summary, this is a cinematic achievement. Although it is premature to judge this story on the first act alone, the visuals are indeed mindblowing. Like someone pointed out, when the original Star Wars came out the best picture Oscar went to "Annie Hall", a worthy movie, yet Star Wars is the one considered one of the 10 best movies of all time. For my part, Joecool says this is a very cool movie.