Systematically ruined story

Rating: 2/10 (1 November 2004)

This is by far the worst Star Wars movie yet (only one to go). Summing it up, I primarily credited it to a) awful script b) bad directing and c) bad editing.
To begin with there is a general lack of understanding of human emotions and what constitutes a credible sequence of events (ties up with a) and b) - bad script and bad directing). Suspension of disbelief is allowed when you're watching a sci-fi movie and it comes to laws of physics to be stretched, as long as the world presented is coherent. But the same does absolutely not go for characters and their actions and development through the movie.
Awful acting, spoiled further by even worse treatment on the cutting room floor, unconvincing scenes, immaterial detail and too little substance plague the movie beyond comprehension. There is little coherency between what the characters do and why they should be doing it. H.C. is a well-below-average actor with a pretty face (or is it just the directing/cutting? - Nah, he's bad), Amidala - bad & stiff, Ewan - ruined by cutting and awful dialogue (I felt sorry for this fine actor to have to belch out Lucas's nonsensical dialogue), Liam Neeson - same fate as Ewan. Now, a good director gets the best out of his actors. I am tempted to blame it on the director, but the actors are simply not all up for the job.
Shallow emotions! Oh, god. Every scene that has got to be emotional to be believable is shallow and has a terrible dialogue. There is not a single "emotional scene" that is credible.
I wonder about one thing: Why does the movie do so well and why do people rank it 10 by the thousands? It is tempting to say that the public is blind or stupid, but it's more complex than that. Out of respect for the first three movies and blind devotion to a failed and dead sci-fi leader. Respect for a 25 year old sci-fi authority should weighs heavily. Lack of understanding. Denial. Denial. And then some denial - Nobody wants to admit that the old trilogy is being violated by an increasingly appalling prequel. A lot of voters are probably children (and fall for the funny looking animals and kids flying spacecrafts) who will hopefully develop their cerebrum enough in the coming years to see how bad this movie (and Phantom Menace) is.
The movie is fun for 8-13 year olds. That is probably undisputed. But that is a drastic step backwards from the original SW trilogy which could be watched and enjoyed by grownups as well as children. Something important went missing in the intervening years. Proper directing for one.
Positive: Attack of the Clones paints a pretty picture to some really nice musical score and that's about it. I can only hope that George Lucas gets someone to do his job for the last movie like he did for the first trilogy and also that he stops spoiling the old success story by idiotic post-production editing/directing decisions.