What's Missing?

Rating: Null/10 (14 February 2000)

The special effects are spectacular, no doubt about it. You can watch the thing over and over just for the eye candy.
But the tone is different. What's missing?
A Han Solo character. The movie takes itself entirely too seriously, and desperately needs someone like that old pirate Han to lighten things up. Think about it: Han at the Galactic senate, doing some wheeling and dealing. Han on the rescue mission. Han laying down some bets at the pod race. Han wheeling and dealing for some starship parts. Swashbuckling, cynical, sardonic, resourceful--everything missing from the movie, and vital elements that made the original trilogy work by balancing out all the talk about hokey religions and ancient weapons.
Not that it needed to be Han himself, but the archetype was sorely missed. Jar Jar Binks is not exactly a replacement.