If you expect the second coming of Christ......

Rating: Null/10 (23 June 1999)

.....of course you're going to be disappointed! Everyone made this movie out to be more than it actually was. They expected it to change cinema, movie-going, and their lives completely. What these critics need to realize is.....THIS IS A MOVIE!!! That's all. Just a movie geared towards children with some adult tones. In that respect, I give it a 9+ out of 10. I'll start with the only two 'flaws' I saw in the movie.
1 - The 'lack' of plot - Yes, Lucas could have expanded the development of the story and the characters a bit more. This movie could have very easily been three hours long. But, what people need to realize is, this movie is one out of three. There are still two more movies that will undoubtedly tell us more about the characters and the story.
2 - Jar Jar Binks - OK, Jar Jar was a little annoying to me. But you need to look at Jar Jar with your 8-year old goggles on. As a child (I'm 26 now), I would have loved Jar Jar. And if you see the movie more than once (four times and counting), he gets much more tolerable each time.
Now, the good points, and there are many of them. The effects of this movie rank among the best in existence, if not THE best. I had always enjoyed the Speeder Bike chase in Return of the Jedi, but the Pod Race in this movie makes the Bike chase seem like a trolly ride. Non stop on-the-edge-of-your-seat excitement, with a couple of humorous tidbits of E4 thrown in. The CG was absolutely phenomenal. Some criticize the overuse of CG, but try to imagine the Battle Droids as 'real' characters. It couldn't happen. The action in this movie was near non-stop, in my opinion. From the opening Jedi/Droid battles, to the Pod Race, to the space/ground sequences, it was non-stop excitement. But when the pace needed to slow down for dialouge, it was done well. Natalie Portman proved to me again that she is one of the best young actresses out there. Expect to see a lot more of her in the future. Ewan McGregor played the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi exceptionally, though I did feel he didn't get as much screen time as he should have. Liam Neeson was great as usual as Qui-Gon Jinn. Darth Maul could have been shown a little more, but now that I've seen the movie more, I feel his 'lack' of a presence makes him even more ominous. See the movie 'Alien' if you don't know what I'm talking about. The saber duels were heart stopping, though somewhat predictable if you've seen the other three movies.
I hear many critics complaining about the 'racial' stereotypes in the movie. My response to this is....give me a freaking break! People complain about the stereotype of Watto being an 'Italian junk dealer'. When was the last time you saw an Italian junk dealer? It seems to me every time I've been to an automobile 'junk yard', the dealers there were rednecks, if nothing else! And what is Jar Jar stereotyping? What ethnic group has been represented in the past by lanky duck billed creatures with big floppy gills/ears and wearing bell bottoms? For those of you out there complaining about the so called racial aspects of this movie....please re-direct your anger at some real racists!
So, now that I've seemingly gone on forever......I enjoyed this movie thoroughly, because I went into it with the same expectations as I did when I saw Star Wars at the age of 4. I expected a fun sci-fi movie with all kinds of crazy characters and exciting action. That was exactly what I got. Rest assured I'll be back to see it again.