The "Pete's Dragon" Menace

Rating: 6/10 (22 January 2007)

What is this menace which threatens our very way of life? It's not the lure of the Dark Side or unfair trade practices. It's something much more evil and sinister - the excessive use of computer animation. I like cartoons as much as anyone, but do they really belong standing among our favorite live-action Sci-fi heroes? This is something you'd expect from some low-budget, Ed Wood-type B-movie, but not from the great George Lucas, a man with unlimited time, budget, resources, etc. to make this movie with. How is it possible that with 10+ years of advancement, the special effects of this movie still leave me yearning for the stop-action Tauntauns from "The Empire Strikes Back"? But it's not entirely the obviously unbalanced "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" appearance that gives it its cartoonish quality. It's also (if not more so) the hideously unfunny personality of Jar Jar Binks, who could only entertain someone with the IQ of Bantha fodder. That's not to say that it isn't an otherwise great movie. There are excellent scenes. Qui-gon Jinn and Obi-wan's dual with Darth Maul almost made me forget the Saturday morning cartoon I had been watching only moments earlier. When people say this movie is a masterpiece, I agree. It's just unfortunate there's so many awful things about it that also make it a flop. I'll be looking forward to the Special Edition version where they superimpose a realistic-looking and much less idiotic character on top of Jar Jar.