getting there.

Rating: Null/10 (24 July 2002)

For the Star Wars fan, this movie is a little better an effort than what appears to have gone into Phantom Menace, but it still isn't landing with the solidity of any of the "first three" (which are the last 3, because...oh, nevermind, if you don't understand, little else will make sense from here on out).
1st of all, I did very much appreciate seeing "Obi-Wan" in his relationship as master to young Annakin. I already can appreciate his own arrogance and the reason why he might have become a recluse after "losing" Annakin to the dark side.
One real problem for me is that these prequels (Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones) technically happened "before" Episode IV A New Hope, Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, and Ep. VI Return of the Jedi. Yet, the technology we're seeing in these prequel films is more advanced than anything we saw in Episodes 4-6. (R2-D2 has jet propulsion legs? C'mon!) That just seems like a lack of production integrity. To compete with the special effects glitz of today's films, Lucas has himself given in to the dark side, thinking that the story of Star Wars requires increasing amounts of cheesy FX. Perhaps what he should do is redo Episodes 4-6 so that we can see what he apparently really wanted to present before he had the technology to do it.
Now, another thing that ticks me off is that, in Episodes 4-6 you really did feel like you were in "a galaxy far far away," where there were little connections to "our way of life." They didn't swear, etc... Starting in Phantom Menace, however, a very disturbing reflection of our reality has presented itself, and by the time we see Attack of the Clones, it's disgusting. Me and the wife were sitting there saying "oh, that's an ancient Greco-Roman setting there, and here's a little Asian thing happening here, and...I mean, sheesh.
It has dawned on us that Lucas is not only completing the story for the fans he won back in nineteen hundred and seventy seven, but he's trying to win new fans, with FX and cheesy action scenes. The entire first real chase scene after the attempted assassination by intelligent millipedes from hell was totally gratuitous eye-candy that had nothing to do with real story.
Speaking of story, I do appreciate that love, passion, has always been a part of Star Wars (in Ep 4, we kinda wanted to see Luke and Leia hook up, but by Empire Strikes Back we could dig that it'd be Han Solo who "gits the girl" while Luke is destined for greater things). But, honestly, this so-called romantic story was poorly done. Lucas should have hired a romance-writing consultant, cause it just ain't his bag.
Who is Dooku? He's not in Episode 1, yet he's now so powerful? Stupid.
Finally, I am curious. (minor spoilers following). There is now just one more segment to present - episode 3. At the end of episode 2, Attack of the Clones, there is no Vader yet. Annakin is still a Jedi, albeit a married one. Now, at the beginning of Episode 4, Darth Vader chases down Leia Organa, a 20-something senator, but not before she's dispatched the two droids to Tatooine to look for the hiding Kenobie...at the end of episode 2, Leia and Luke aren't even conceived yet. All in the upcoming Episode 3, we are supposed to see Annakin become Vader, take his place at the right hand of the Emperor Palpatine (who is never seen in Episode 4), and Luke and Leia are supposed to be born and grow up?
That'll be interesting to see.