Exciting and dull at the same time

Rating: 7/10 (16 May 2002)

I'll be brief, the movie is a hit and a miss. The actions sequences are some of the best action I've ever seen on film, but the dialogue is frightfully dull. The love scenes in particular could have been so much more, and perhaps the development could have been given to a more experienced writer.
Anakin comes off as being too immature for a Senator, which could have been okay if we were given something to show why Amidala would have respected him. It might have been improved perhaps if generally speaking Anakin showed immense maturity for his age, but you saw glimpses of his emotionalism. Subtle hints would have fared much better than the obviously childish antics of Anakin.
However there's no doubt that Star Wars fans will love the film. There's been so much talk about this and that throughout the previous four films, and finally the fifth film does the walking! Especially nice to see the king of talk: Yoda, finally earning the right to spout all that annoying rhetorical philosophy.
I give it an 8 for enjoyment, an 8 for plot, a 7 for the acting and a 5.5 for the direction and script writing. George has some great ideas - but sometimes I wished that someone else did the directing.