Good effects, bad acting

Rating: 4/10 (20 June 2003)

As much as I hate to say it, this movie is terrible. Yes there are lots of whiz-bang effects, rich worlds, etc. etc. But in the beginning you must have a plot, and acting to make a movie. Towards the second half of the movie the acting improves a little, but in the first half it is very wooden. Ms. Portman in particular seems very amateurish (as a fan, it is difficult to be so candid). Her acting is much better in some of the deleted scenes, and her costumes more eye-catching.
The effects are good, although all this digital imagery is getting old. Some of the animation looks very stop-mo. Physics is regularly defied (pulling 10G's in a speeder with no pressure suit), and basic logistics are ignored (in the senate chamber where do the thousands relieve themselves? How long would it take to just get everyone into place?) The foley is a bit on the heavy side. Though he could have easily been omitted, Jar-Jar is unfortunately back.
I ranked the movie 4 because of the extras disc. The making of, deleted scenes and other goodies are better than the movie itself.
Overall you should probably see it just for continuities sake. And let's all hope for a better last episode.