Not So Great Expectations

Rating: 6/10 (3 September 2001)

Even though my expectations were low, oh how disappointing I found this movie. I suppose fame went to George's head, he felt that he was flawless, and he couldn't "cash the check".
The most difficult is the fact that this movie had the chance to be pretty good. It moved along at an incredibly fast and exciting pace right from the start. I had goosebumps for the first 20 minutes. Unfortunately there were some real bombs throughout.
I don't mind Jar-Jar so much. What makes me squirm are things like the whiney Jedi council (especially Yoda) who demonstrates nothing impressive especially when testing Anakin with that dumb little etch-a-scetch. The Jedi council should have been one of the best scenes in the movie! And some of the action sequences were so poorly directed they were reminiscent of the A-Team. (However, Darth Maul was so good he made the Jedis look like the high school colorguard.)
Lucas was great in his day with American Graffiti, THX, and Star Wars and it suggests that maybe a younger director breath life into this story. But then I remember Irvin Kershner who had no trouble directing an excellent Empire Strikes Back at age 57!
I would love it if Irvin came out and directed some of the new episodes...sorry George. You were truly great once! I don't care what people say about the bad dialog and bad acting in Star Wars. That movie was beautiful! Please get back to your roots and keep in simple. You're losing your vision. Remember don't worry about anybody else, just do your own thing and people will love you.