Filler

Rating: 2/10 (15 February 2017)

I regret to say that this is the first Star Wars film I've ever watched. Needless to say, I was downright confused by the end of it. It was only years later, after receiving the necessary context that anyone going into a Star Wars film needs, that I understood everything about this film. That being said, this should not be the first Star Wars film anyone should watch because the story is all over the place. It's a frantic attempt to put the characters through some conflict, building up to the rise of the Empire.
This film completely ignores the rule of 'show, don't tell', as many characters engage in expository soliloquys rather than scenes being shown of the events they are going through. Anakin, once again, is horrendously miscast. This was Hayden Christensen's introduction into the Star Wars universe and in many cases, his delivery is just laughable. The amount of memes that have been generated due to his "I don't like sand" line is ridiculous.
There is one scene in this film, which in my opinion, is the perfect metaphor for this film. It's a scene where our heroes stumble upon an assembly line of droids being built. That is exactly how this film feels; like an emotionally devoid process. Emotion tries to be shown in this film, but the dialogue is incredibly stilted that it removes any human element present.
The over-reliance on CGI is jarring to the point that it affects your suspension of disbelief. It really is a shame to see acclaimed actors like Ewan McGregor and Samuel L Jackson act so robotically.
This film only exists to fill in the gaps between the prequels and the original series. End of.