If you don't want to know what happens - you shouldn't have gone to see the last one.

Rating: Null/10 (23 August 1999)

If you've seen the first three (or is it last three?) Star Wars films then you know what's going to happen and so the surprises in this film won't be very surprising at all.
That said, this is a very entertaining film, the opening was wonderfully nostalgic and the political plotlines mean that it will provide interest for older viewers. There are also heap-loads of impressive CGI effects and a plethora of action sequences, not to mention the appearances of many familiar faces from the other Star Wars films.
But on the negative side, it's becoming more and more tricky to tell movies from video games these days. This film, for example, provides unlimited eye-candy and you often feel as though you're watching a video game. Some of the characters, notably Jar Jar and his people, are also similar to video game characters - they provide amusement but they really couldn't exist in the real world. Alright, so they'll shift a fortune of merchandise, but sci-fi should be about genuine, interesting characters, not cash cows. Darth Maul, whilst impressive and sinister, is completely wasted and really serves little function apart from to fill the merchandisng void currently unoccupied by Darth Vader. Maul killing Obi's fellow Jedi couldn't have been more forseen. And those possum-faced robots were pretty silly, and spoke in completely unimpressive, unrobotic voices.
Overall this is a lot better than I'd been led to believe by the critics. It's a wonderfully nostalgic trip down memory lane and it's fast-paced, non-stop entertainment. But it really doesn't stand up to closer scrutiny.