A Mixed Bag, But Mostly Good

Rating: 7/10 (13 August 2010)

The Star Wars Prequels are an interesting phenomenon. Never before has an expansion to a franchise divided fans so intensely. Fans started to become disenfranchised with 1999's Episode I - The Phantom Menace (although some would argue it started earlier, with the special editions, or even with the appearance of the first Ewok in Return of the Jedi). But I think it was this movie that truly made the rift irreparable.
On the one hand, you had the Prequel Zealots, or Lucas Apologists, those who loved anything with the title "Star Wars". They would not dare give this film anything less than a 10. On the other hand, you had the Prequel Haters, or Lucas Bashers, who felt that the prequels were abominations and tainted the sacredness of the holy trilogy. The civil war between these Star Wars fans has been ongoing ever since, with flame wars still popping up on internet forums to this day. It's comical how easy it is to compare this Star Wars fan civil war to the Galactic Civil War portrayed in the films.
My stance has always been somewhere in the middle, but I think I leaned more towards the Lucas Apologists' side. I enjoyed the prequels for what they were. I initially reviewed this film when it came out, and my rating was a 9, much higher than the film deserves. But at the time, I had just come off from seeing it for the first time, and I was still on my Star Wars high. Seeing a Star Wars movie for the first time is always very exciting, especially for a fan, and it's easy to overlook a film's flaws while on such a high. But after seeing this film again recently, I've noticed that it hasn't held up as well as I remembered, and I think it deserves a more level headed review.
The biggest problem with this movie is the dialog. Sometimes it's good, but often it's atrocious. There are scenes where it's difficult not to cringe. One of the central themes to this film is the love story between Anakin (played by Hayden Christenson) and Padme (played by the beautiful Natalie Portman). There really is no chemistry between these two characters during most of these scenes. The dialog is cringe-worthy at times and really brings the film to a screeching halt.
Intercut with these scenes is Obi Wan's plot, which is much more interesting, and Star Wars fans will be given plenty of fan service as he tries to solve the mystery of the Queen's attempted assassin. Ewan McGreggor does an amazing job portraying a young Obi Wan Kenobi, and it's clear that has fit himself into the role nicely since The Phantom Menace. Christopher Lee also does a nice job portraying the mysterious Count Dooku and his scenes with McGreggor are a treat.
The film gets better and better as it progresses, and even Anakin's and Padme's scenes start to become much more interesting. There is one scene with Anakin and Padme on Tatooine that is very emotionally powerful and nearly makes up for the previous weak scenes between them. This scene redeemed Christenson for me, who, until that point, I felt was not well suited for the role.
All of this eventually culminates to a giant battle at the end that probably is a little bit too giant for its own good. It goes on a little too long, and involves too much special effects and cgi that kind of detaches the audience a little bit. Still, it looks quite impressive (especially at the time it was released), and it is cool to see a large scale war in Star Wars once again.
This movie's a little darker than the other Star Wars movies and there are some scenes of violence that may not be good for kids. I would wait until they're a little older to show them this, maybe 8 or 9. Also, the love story may be hard for them to stomach, but then, it was pretty hard for me to stomach as an adult as well.
Overall, there's good and there's bad in this movie, but mostly, I enjoyed it. And I still enjoy it, but, like Episode I and unlike the original trilogy, it doesn't hold up as well on repeated viewings.