Just too much.

Rating: 6/10 (30 August 2009)

I saw Stars Wars V (the second episode) and so did not expect much from this movie. The computer animation is very good these days (I really like Jurassic Park III), but this movie left me cold, mad and feeling ripped off. I thought George Lucas was aiming for a much younger audience, setting them up for the next one and the next one after that. It was a kid's movie, much like Lord of the Rings. This one is also just too much. Too many characters, with too little depth. Too many scenes with so little meaning. Too many words with so little dialogue.
This is a long movie. I got bored with all the action sequences, and I love sci-fi action movies (Commando, Terminator, Blade Runner, 2001, The Rock, Total Recall, Star Gate, The Abyss, Men in Black, U-571, Matrix, Speed, Independence Day, Time Cop). These characters are wooden, except for the engaging Natalie Portman. Nobody gets a scuff on their face. Nobody shows any sign of emotion. It looks like the actors expected their emotions to be added in digitally after they read their lines. The scenes look gorgeously fake. Rich in detail, weak in content.
Oh, it was celebration of all things that are Star Wars, of course. The committee that planned this movie didn't miss a single bureaucratic reference to any of the future characters. Hints of upcoming events were subtle etched into the dialogue. Right. As subtly as a whore's lipstick. The new ideas and innovations, such as the rolling fighters in the fourth movie (Episode I) come at you by the dozens, the plot line spins you around good and evil themes like a Ferris Wheel. In fact, the whole thing was one big, noisy carnival ride. Nothing but special effects. It is not a dramatic movie. It is a big costume drama. Think Wild, Wild West or Batman. There you have a good, entertaining, money making movie that people will forget in a few years time.
This is not the original. It is not the significant blockbuster that they should teach about in film school. This was not a drama. It is not "prose telling a serious story" or a "serious narrative work." It does not portray "a dramatic progression or emotional effect." This is not The Sixth Sense, American Beauty, Cider House Rules, As Good as It Gets, Notting Hill or even the charming Amelie. It isn't even the simple romp of Gone in Sixty Seconds.
The sound is as good as you can expect these days. I enjoyed the airplane crash sequence in Jurassic Park III a lot more. Much better use of the medium. Or the ship's horn in Titanic. There was a reason that The Matrix trounced Star Wars IV at the Academy Awards. It is a much better movie.