Jar Jar Binks completely ruins the movie for me

Rating: 5/10 (15 August 2017)

Here begins the story of the Star Wars saga where we are introduced to Anakin Skywalker (aka Ani), a boy with a strong affinity with the Force. Ani meets two Jedi with whom he will have a fantastic adventure.
Personally I would have preferred actors a little older for the roles played by Jake Lloyd (Ani) and Natalie Portman (Queen Amidala / PadmÃ©), as I think this would give more credibility to the characters and the movie. These two actors, although they are a pretty sight, are so hollow in their acting that they transmit no naturalness. The rest of the performances are just decent, with Liam Neeson (Qui-Gon Jinn) and Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi) maintaining a good level and sustaining the film in that department. The villain Darth Maul is very intriguing and full of charisma and it's a shame that he has not been saved for the rest of the trilogy, as well as Qui-Gon Jinn, who also deserved at least another episode.
It is quite noticeable that this film is aimed at kids and this is clearly evident by the inclusion of much childish humor and the most stupid and horrible CGI character in the history of cinema: Jar Jar Binks... I have no words to describe my anger every time he comes on screen! Unfortunately he completely ruins the movie for me making it too babyish with his goofiness.
Another element that displeases me (and many other fans) is the inclusion of midi-chlorians as a scientific explanation for people's affinity with the Force. This removes the mystical aspect transcendent to the universe and we all know that there are things that not even science can explain, and the Force should be one of them. Therefore, some of the magic is lost.
The few positive notes are that the soundtrack is not that bad (although lacking emotion), the political backstage game is excellent and the action is top notch in the best Star Wars style (namely the final fight with the lightsabers is very well choreographed), and even though the CGI is notorious and already dated (namely the pod race which is so fast that it becomes totally unrealistic), we have a very lively and well-characterized universe.
I know George Lucas tried to please a wide range of demographics with this movie, but the mixed bag of mature themes (namely politics) with puerile clownery just doesn't work. If it were not for Jar Jar, I might add one or two more stars to this movie, but he annoys me so much that so on the whole I cannot rate it more than a very generous 5/10.