Not necessarily bad but "un-star-wars-like"

Rating: 6/10 (26 December 2014)

Let's face it, this was the "Star Wars" movie for me to grow up with. So even though it was smashed by critics I didn't really care. However I recently saw it again and I start to understand the criticism. First issue to me: The pace. Especially over the first half of the movie it doesn't take a breath and you get absolutely no idea of the characters. These characters then are jumping from space ship to planet to get to a city underwater, just to ride through the planets core (seriously? even star wars had THAT much logic so far) to get to save a queen/princess (doesn't that sound like a Disney cartoon? Oh, the irony). The problem is that none of these sections feel to be given more than 10 minutes screen time. Like many people before me I too think that a lot of these scenes could have easily been cut out or be replaced with more storytelling. I really think Lucas was a little too much into CGI here. My second issue is the way-through comic tone. I think giving the battle droids a little humor is not a bad choice. But at least the Gungans are way over the top. This is getting especially nerving in actually serious scenes like the big battle in the end. This pretty much kills the atmosphere and makes the movie feel very childish which is in the end what killed it for me. My last big issue is its integration in the overall star wars synopsis. Looking at the plot (not exactly the way it was acted out) this appears to be a fine story in the star wars universe. But let's face it the only thing it really did for star wars was to show Anakin Skywalkers roots and introduce him to his future wife. What I really enjoyed was its cast. Even not in his best role I'm a big fan of Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson. Natalie Portman is okay too. I'm only nerved by young Anakin. Of course the movie has its moments too, especially the final light saber battle and the pot race (which is completely unnecessary).