Not as terrible as people claim......

Rating: 7/10 (12 July 2012)

OK, firstly, I'm a huge Star Wars fan (huge, but not one of those convention freaks, but could easily hold my own in a movie trivia contest and have most of the dialogs memorized)- I grew up with the original trilogy and they're among my most personal and favorite movies ever. Nothing can ever compare with those movies, as they were made at a certain time - a sequel, prequel, or remake could NEVER duplicate those movies, no matter how good they were.
That being said, obviously I was not alone in my excitement over the news that 3 prequels being released. I never thought I'd see that day as a child, but they were now coming. Even then, I remember telling people that no matter how this movie is, it's never going to be in the same pedestal as parts 4,5, & 6. Never.
Naturally the movie came out and with it, the complaints. Complaints after complaints from supposed fans, the closed-minded, and just general complaints (ie, the movie was racist - it was not by the way).
Some of the "complaints" are definitely warranted: Jar Jar Binks was a very annoying character and ruined most scenes, though I know why Lucas put that character in the movie. Binks was probably the worst thing about the movie. Even in repeated viewings, I still can't bring myself to like the character, but it is what it is. I didn't care for the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi, but they're in the movie and there's nothing I can do about it. The Binks complaint is pretty universal among most people and I agree.
I've also heard complaints about the pod racing scene. I personally didn't care for that scene either, as it was a little long and probably the most boring part of the movie. It could've been trimmed down some and still have the intent Lucas had in mind.
Remove those 2 complaints from the movie and really, the movie wasn't bad. Jake Lloyd was a bad casting for Anakin, but the young Darth Vader was a kid after all and certain behaviors are obviously understandable. The lightsaber duel was good (though it's funny that the duels in these 3 movies are a lot better than the duels in the original - but as with the way things looked, there are explanations for that as well). The droid battle could have been a little better, but it was really no more hokey than the Ewok battle in Jedi. The space battle was not as good as the original (and neither were the unlikable pilots for that matter), but you have to start somewhere. I didn't care for the Gungan scenes much either, but this is also something never in the originals. The movie in general and as a whole was still good enough to be a 'Star Wars' movie.
I do think that this movie was under pressure and that people expected something along the same lines as the original, but it was not going to happen, no matter what Lucas did or didn't do. We were getting new characters (the 3PO/R2 scene was forced obviously) and not getting the characters and universe fans fell in love with in the original trilogy. This was a different time, both in the movie and when the movies were being made with an older George Lucas. Sure, the movie could've used some improvements, but that's obviously not happening now. I can watch this movie still and enjoy it. Sure, it's the worst out of the 6 movies, but when watched objectively, it's not that bad of a movie and probably gets a bad rap now more out of habit from some people. Definitely watchable for any normal Star Wars fan in my opinion(whether you nitpick or not).