What a shame.

Rating: 1/10 (20 May 1999)

Objectively this isn't the worst movie ever made, but I've never been more disappointed. I waited a generation for THIS???
We were warned by the early reviews and by the clips Lucas had let out, like those on "60 Minutes". I saw enough footage to know better than to pay $11 ($9.50 for Manhattan plus the Moviephone surcharge) to see it, but it's Star Wars. Deep inside I was and praying I'd like it enough to work my way past the CRAP I'd seen in the previews.
I think what killed it were the hundreds of new computer-generated aliens and droids. They're all "cute" and quirky. Many of them have racially stereotyped accents (Chinese, Caribbean, Yiddish) which broke any illusion that we were in a galaxy far, far away.
More frequent than the appearance of new monsters are the cheap laughs... Jar Jar falls down, Jar Jar knocks stuff over, Jar Jar gets his head stuck in a proton accelerator and his tongue goes numb, Jar Jar eats like a frog. It's just not funny. It's embarrassing. At least the audience at the show I saw stopped feeling compelled to laugh after the first 20 minutes at that point there were a few forced chuckles but no real enthusiasm surfaced after that. even when the good guys won (not to spoil it for you).
The first series didn't rely on cheap laughs or cute characters. Jedi did to some degree but after two hours with the Gungans I would have paid another $11 if they'd interrupted the show and played the Ewok Adventure instead. There was no preparing.
Is it because most of the viewers in their 20's and 30's who experienced the magic the first time around won't be buying action figures that Lucas is now pandering to four year olds? Will these kids grow up with a similar love and awe for the new series that my friends and I had for the old one or will they forget about the whole thing in a few months. I hope I do but then there are Episodes 2 and 3 and after all, it's Star Wars. Maybe there's no hope till we get back up to "A New Hope".