A visual, imaginative feast

Rating: 6/10 (31 October 2016)

This movie is a treat for the eyes. There are all manner of imaginative aliens and alien animals, who not only look strange, but move and act in strange ways.
I found even Jar Jar Binks amusingly novel. The two male leads are unusually handsome. As we move from planet to planet we are treated to completely different stunning landscapes. The architecture is mind- bending as well.
There all kinds of different transportation devices, for ground, air and space. The screen is so rich, you only have time to take a fraction of the feast in.
In the first half of the movie, there are a few of those boring CGI fights between spacecraft, but most of the action is much more imaginative usually involving falling from great heights.
There are a few anomalies that bothered me. How can they have hover cars but still require drivers? How can they have faster than light communication, but still get reception like a black and white 50s TV? Why are they still using light sabres when the weapon has such a limited range? Why can't they vote electronically remotely?
The female senator role is a bit sappy. They should have given her a more spunky part. I discovered Frank Oz (Cookie Monster, Grover) voices Yoda. Yoda is a general. He no longer utters mysterious epigrams.
Even though Hayden Christensen is one of the most handsome males ever to grace the screen, he is not convincing in his love speech to the senator. She fell for him despite his declarations of love. He was just too wooden.
It explores runaway-revenge, rather deep for a Hollywood movie.
The movie ends with a clever take-off on the Roman Coliseum run by cockroaches. Then the movie becomes utterly boring. There is a scene that goes on for what seems like 5 hours battling CGI monsters with light sabres, then another 5-hour fight with a giant CGI army where our heroes are never hit by a bullet but manage to kill everyone, Then another 5- hour light sabre fight. It looks like the bad guy, Count Dooku, inexplicably got away at the end in order to make another movie.