Long live the Jedi!

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 2002)

***hopefully doesn't spoil anything***
The good news is the Force is back. This is a wonderful adventure, visually, sonically, emotionally, and intellectually. The sights and sounds are no surprise; these films have a history of taking us to new and wonderful places we have not seen before. Emotionally, the film is also strong. We see the young Anakin gaining his emotions and not knowing what to do with them. He feels love, fear, hate, and anger... all things which he is told a Jedi should not have. For anyone who has passed through the gate of the teenage years, this confusion is all too familiar. And, the film suggests, that the supposedly all-knowing and unfeeling Jedi are partially to blame for the course we know Anakin will take, since the depth of the advice which they give him is: "Don't think those things; they're beneath you." Again, how familiar.
Perhaps the most pleasant surprise is that this is a film with an actual plot. There is an enormous amount going on in this story and it actually takes some effort to keep up with everything. While some viewers may criticize this aspect, I always welcome a movie that requires me to think about what is going on.
The greatest thrill of the movie, though, seems to come in watching all of the elements of the original films click into place. What happened to create the world in which the original three films took place? Characters and locales we know from those movies turn up here in earlier incarnations, and the result is often thrilling. One of the great delights is when C-3PO and R2D2 have one of their trademark little bickering sessions in the midst of some enormous danger. At that moment, it truly feels like the old "Star Wars" is back, if only for a moment.
It must be confessed that the film is hit-and-miss in many areas. Some effects look more like computer games than otherworldy visions. Some of the actors have the hang of this "Jedi-speak" while others sound foolish. (The great actor Christopher Lee is a standout as the villain.) Those who do not enjoy these sorts of movies will probably not have their minds changed by this one.
But if you do get goosebumps whenever you hear John Williams' classic theme, have no fear. The Force will be with you.