Oh dear Mr Lucas, have you lost the plot ?

Rating: Null/10 (20 July 1999)

Let me start by saying I am a big Star wars fan, but on this occasion the critics are right I am afraid. I was very disappointed on the whole, for the following reasons.
a)Lucas has always wanted a computer animated alien as a main character in one of his films. I hope after this one he reconsiders. I realise this film was aimed towards young children but still the character of Jar Jar was intensely annnoying to me. Of course the computer rendering of the character was accomplished but you can still tell it's computer graphics. The actors seldom recognised his presense and struggled to not appear like they were looking through him rather than at him. What is so wrong with an actor in a well made costume? After all Chewbacca passed it off very well.
b) There is nowhere near enough of the dark side of the force in the film. Darth Mawl and the future Emperor are hardly in it and too many unanswered questions are left concerning the existence of the Sith and their future. As a whole the film is far too biased towards the good. The most interesting parts of the first trilogy were always involved with the dark side and evil and that was missing in this episode.
c) The robots which are deployed to wipe out the the resistance on Naboo are altogether too soft. We are talking about robots with blasters and computer reflexes who hardly ever hit anything and act as lightsabre fodder for the jedi. They should have been made a bit more useful and capable.

d) I couldn't help thinking that this story was a bit petty compared to the other films. I know it is a starting point but the story was all over the place, jumping from one place to the next with little continuity. Accidents and coincidences seemed the main devices in developing the plot. The only significant event relating to the later films was the discovery of Anakin everything else seemed trivial and unimportant. Maybe the fil will be seen in a better light when the 2 following films are released, but as a film standing on it's own it is poor.
e) The performances were another area which did not live up to the Star wars standard. Ewan McGregor tried too hard to sound like Alec Guiness and Jar Jar's voice was irritating to the ear. Liam Neeson was ok and Natalie Portman sounded suitably reserved and royal. It was all too average though. The 2 characters who might have livened up the dialogue were not given enough to say, namely the Sith lords.
f) The direction was also lacking. The film was a bit of a mess and that falls at Lucas' feet. Maybe he is too close to the story and doesn't appreciate what the audience sees. He probably shouldn't direct the next film but produce and oversee it. He needs someone who can take a step back and see if the film flows and works as a whole, not just as part of a larger story or a set up for later events.
However it was not all bad. The pod racing scenes were excellent and the final fight scene with the double bladed lightsabre was well done. These two scenes made you think this is how the rest of the film should make you feel, but sadly it didn't.
I was disapponited, I had come to expect more from a Star Wars film. It won't stop me going to see the next installment but my fever has definitely been somewhat quenched. the only thing that will put me off completely is if leonardo Di Caprio plays the older Anakin, that would sound the death nell of the saga.