A Tribute

Rating: 9/10 (19 May 1999)

I skipped school to see this one, and it was well worth it. Lucas has kept his style, and has not failed us. The opening credits made me cry, just seeing that yellow text again with the familiar music. The story, the flat characters, the action, the fighting, the force and the whole being of the story is exactly like the others.
The points that I don't care for can be explained so that there is a reason for all of it. I hated JarJar Binks, he's completely annoying, but he is important to the story, so he couldn't be cut. The childlike stupidity and clumsiness is typical 90's, one of the two infections that made its way in. The other is Jake Lloyd, Anakin as a little boy. I didn't care for the acting style, (at the end all I heard was Yes! and Woah!) but Mark Hamil was not a very good young Skywaker either in The New Hope. I guess I expected a future Darth Vader to be a little more serious or dark.
The other actors, namely Neeson and McGregor were perfect. The return of the orginial actors and voices for R2D2, C3PO, Yoda The emperor, and Jaba the Hut made the film officially Star Wars. The lightsaber fight at the end with Obi, Qui-Jon, and Darth Mall is like seeing Luke and Vader all over again, with flawless choreography and action.
The highlights: the race scene, which has been compared to Ben-Hur. I loved it! You feel like you're right there with Anakin. The end fight (previously mentioned), the end battle between the conflicting peoples, Lucas using the cheesy film frame transitions, and of course the classic ending with all the characters gathering together in front of a crowd complete with the fuzzy blue credits moving at a unsure speed.
I think it was fine, and Lucas pulled off something that could have been completely ruined by the current generation. If he is this faithful to the next two, count me in for buying the entire collection in 2005!! Go see it, you'll go back to the far, far galaxy like it was before.