Way to ruin the mystery, the mystique and the nostalgia.

Rating: 4/10 (19 December 2015)

If this movie was an isolated, one-shot adventure movie, it would get a 5. Maybe a 6 at the time, because the effects were particularly beautiful, but that doesn't last. But it's part of the Star Wars saga, the best adventure saga in all time. And the harm it does to the saga must be taken into account, so it gets a 4.
The good: Darth Maul. They got an actor who could really fence, and in one of the scenes he jumps off a bike and is slashing before he even touches the floor. Best thing in the movie, and possibly one of the best things in the prequels.
The average: The effects are so good! OK, the effects are good. Nowadays that doesn't impress anyone. They were pretty impressive in 1999, but still, effects give nothing new now. If the action scenes are badly filmed, CGI cannot save them.
The bad: everything else. I, for starters, was bored. Maybe it wasn't boring for children, but I came from the original Star Wars saga. I was used to action with a reason to care. I wasn't the least interested in these characters. The action wasn't very well done. That pod race had nothing against Return of the Jedi imperial bike races.
The terrible: OK... if a spiritual force is turned biological, that's a way to destroy the mystique. Measuring power in points is DragonBall, NOT Star Wars. The acting was wooden at best, very bad in some cases. Jar Jar Binks. I won't even get into this one. Immaculate birth of Anakin Skywalker? His mother is a slave, couldn't he have a dead father or enslaved father somewhere? This one was ridiculous.
The one that I hate but may be personal: Prophecy? Chosen one? This had been used to exhaustion in 1999, and now it's even older. I like characters having something special, and them working their way into the top. But I don't like them having their destiny set in stone. I particularly loath the idea of the chosen one. It's just bad writing.
I just hope Disney remakes the prequels as soon as they can. Meanwhile, I will try to erase them from my brain. As far as I know, they do not exist.