Disappointing

Rating: 3/10 (20 June 1999)

George Lucas seems to have made the mistake that is common these days, believing that special effects by themselves are entertainment. There's no substitute for great characters and good dialogue and unfortunately this film has neither. A shame when we can remember how charmed we were by Han Solo and Chewbacca and even the naivete of Luke Skywalker in the original. The latest in the series, which is actually where the story is meant to begin starts with such a convoluted story scroll that really young audience members will be at a loss from the start and seems to thrust us into the middle of the story that already well on its way.
Everyone takes themselves so seriously, or at least the humans do, that the film has a coldness about it that is quite alienating. Contrasting with the humans are the computer-generated cartoon characters with a humour that is childish, a hit with the young ones perhaps but not so entertaining for a wider age group.
Liam Neeson brings a nice weight to his character, and Natalie Portman is beautiful and graceful in her role, but Ewan McGregor seems uncomfortable as Obi-Wan Kenobi. Occasionally actually boring - the trip to the planet for spare parts goes on forever - vastly overdesigned and ultimately not in keeping with the spirit of the 'force' in the final sword fight, this Episode 1 of Star Wars is ultimately a disappointment.