Lost opportunity

Rating: 4/10 (11 May 2001)

I'd hoped two years might make a difference. But watching this film again only reinforced my earlier impressions. It's still the most disappointing film of my life.
I suppose everyone wanted this to be "their" Star Wars. We invested so much emotional energy into those three films over the years, we all had our own notions of what "Episode 1" should have been. But let's face it. The prequels were never going to be what we expected. "Episode 1" proved that Lucas is incapable of even coming close. He's an imaginative genius and a technical innovator. But as a screenwriter and director he's pretty ordinary. In terms of writing and direction, "Episode 1" frankly sucked. And it was always going to suck because this film wasn't about telling a story, despite George's insistent protestations to the contrary. As far as I can tell, this film was about nothing more (or less) than taking CGI to the next level. It grows enormously in your estimation when you read about how it was made and you understand that, technically, it's an absolute marvel. But the somewhat brutal yet entirely appropriate response to that is: So what? What does it matter if this is the most incredible technical achievement in the history of cinema if the result, in terms of narrative, is unwatchable? A technical marvel is not necessarily a good movie. To quote Lucas himself: "Films are all about story. Effects are only justified if they contribute to telling a really great story." It's a pity he forgot that when making "Episode 1".
Almost everyone agrees that "The Empire Strikes Back" is the best of the four films by a country mile, primarily because it is well-written and well-directed. Yet apart from the asteroid sequence, it didn't really break any new technical ground. The reason it's good is simple: Kershner and Kasdan intelligently built the film around the characters, not around an obscene desire to be the first to do something cool with effects. And that's where Lucas has gone wrong with the prequels. He could have pitched these necessarily darker films at an adult audience Â– the kids who loved the first trilogy and who are now adults perfectly capable of dealing with a story about Anakin's descent into evil. But instead, he chose to make films for the kids again, and this means that the necessary complexities of character and plot are dumbed down in favor of fart jokes, Jar Jar and an irritating volley of "Yippees!!"
Still, I guess it means George does sell more action figures.