George Lucas must not have any real friends

Rating: 3/10 (24 May 1999)

(No spoilers in this review)
I worry about George Lucas, who apparently doesn't have any friends loyal enough to have stopped him in his quest to make a one-hour-and-forty-minute commercial to showcase his special effects company, ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) and impending video game from this movie.
For instance, what kind of friend would let Lucas create a silly, non-plot related 3-D computer-generated character (JarJar Binks) and let this slapstick character have MORE SCREEN TIME than the fabulous and highly underused Liam Neeson? Now that's just plain wrong and someone should have said something to the famed director about this.
Of course, I think Lucas must have been too busy at the time making sure the pod race scene (which lasted WAY too long) was an exciting plug for the video game, which is sure to follow. A true friend (and a competent editor) would have cut at least half of the pod race scene.
Of course, I'd like to review the plot for you, but since there was no protagonist and no antagonist, I'm not really sure what the story was about.
On a positive note, I can tell you that there was a fantastic scene which was completely captivating. The scene took place in a room full of Jedi Knights of different races (this was the scene with Samuel L. Jackson). Since in later movies there are only one or two Jedi left, this scene was fascinating. And geez, there was even one female knight - though she didn't have any dialogue and was as far away from Master Yoda as she could be and still be in the room. Nevertheless, it was riveting and I was waiting for more information on the formation of the Jedi Knights or find out more about training, or about what makes a person ready to be a Jedi Knight, or even a little bit more about the Sith (which get a slight mention - don't blink, you'll miss it). Too bad Lucas dropped the ball on that scene in favor of foolish slapstick antics by JarJar Binks.
I realize that Lucas is working on what I call, "The Ewok" Factor". The Ewok Factor is Lucas' attempt to create lovable and highly marketable movie characters which will sell his merchandise. All in all, I don't mind this approach IF the characters make sense. In this movie, Lucas had Qui-gon for the women, Obi-wan for the young girls, Queen Amidala presumably for the men and young girls, Anakin for the kids, and Darth Maul for the teenage boys. But it doesn't work because there is no focus at all to the movie. We don't even know who Darth Maul is or how bad of a bad guy he is. What a waste.
It's a shame that the lure of a fat wallet from marketing revenues has clouded Lucas' former best ability - how to tell a fascinating and personally identifiable story. Why other people believe this movie is good is beyond me. If it didn't have Lucas' name and Star Wars attached to it, it would be in video release in two months.
George, please, do yourself a favor and get a few real friends and lose the "yes" men. You are a better film maker than this.