disappointing

Rating: 6/10 (22 May 2002)

Agreed, a movie named Star Wars has a lot to live up to, but they chose the name themselves, didn't they? Well, to be honest (and I will be) I think this film has nothing whatsoever to do with what I think is Star Wars. It's like they want us to know that they're able to show anything at all, but what we see is an overkill of effects: you're so overwhelmed with them, they're no fun anymore. On top of that: the story is bad, Haydn Christensen's acting is horrible, and the music mostly stolen from the other Star Wars movies, especially Ep. I, which has not very good music too (I love Williams' early creations, including Star Wars IV - VI, however).
Another thing that made this film a major disappointment was the overall atmosphere. What's this thing about showing a little boy looking at his father being decapitated? And a couple of characters we already knew are hideously altered: Yoda ("Wars not make one great!") commanding armies? And why do we see R2 climbing a stair with a lot of effort when we see him flying half an hour later?
And then there's the romance between Amidala en Anakin. While it should be something growing throughout the movie, everything happens suddenly, is predictable and to far off the atmosphere of the rest of the film. I liked the romance between Han Solo and Leia a lot better, because that one was at least fun to watch. Apparently this is not Lucas' strongest point.