Random Thoughts On A Barely Above Average Flick

Rating: 6/10 (20 May 2002)

I had the rare pleasure of seeing this on a "double-bill" -- we took our 10-year-old to see it, then got lunch, then caught the early evening showing of Spider-Man. Some random observations:
-- Man, that first hour stinks.
-- As Anakin drops out of the car in the middle of the chase through Coruscant, my husband and I simultaneously said, "Who does he think he is--Peter Parker?" It would not be the first mental comparison I would make to SM as the film went along.
-- Ewan McGregor is clearly channelling Alec Guinness. This is not a bad thing.
-- Obi-Wan vs. Jango Fett on Kamino--great fight, but again the comparison to SM jumped out as OW is dangling by a line and JF is trying not to slide off the runway. ("Now Obi-Wan's channelling Peter!" my husband laughed.)
-- What the blank is wrong with the Jedis that they cannot figure out what's going on with Palpatine? Is he really that powerful or does the plot just make Jedis that stupid?
-- Anakin should have been drummed out of Jedi training a long time ago.
-- Hayden Christensen cannot act. For an example of how teen angst and unrequited love and coping with remarkable powers should be played, watch Tobey Maguire's performance in SM again and again as needed.
-- If I'm Amidala, I'm running as fast as I can from Anakin because he is clearly a paranoid obsessive/compulsive schizophrenic.
-- There isn't a believable moment in the Anakin/Amidala romance. Not one.
-- I liked meeting the Lars family on Tattooine.
-- That last hour of the film, including the battle royal, makes up for a multitude of sins. Finally, everyone's agenda begins to unfold. Finally, we get to see Jedis be Jedis. Finally, we get to see why Yoda is the master that he is. I would go see this movie again just to see that last hour.
-- But I'd probably skip the entire 1:20 proceeding it, because man, could this movie have used a good, tight editing.
-- Shockingly, the AotC showing I went to wasn't sold out. But almost every single SM showing of the day was, including the one we managed to snag the last tickets for (they put up the "Sold out" sign just as I was leaving the ticket booth). If I'm 20th Century Fox, I'm worried. If I'm Sony, I'm doing backflips.
I'd rate it above average, but just barely -- 6.5 on a scale of 1 to 10.