2.5 stars

Rating: 6/10 (10 July 2002)

The Republic and its Jedi Knights are facing a growing crisis. The separatists (the Federation, I think they are called, which is too similar a word to Republic to keep straight which is which) are growing stronger, and the Jedis' ability to sense what's going on through The Force is being clouded by an increase in energy from The Dark Side. Senator Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) is needed for a crucial vote and is being protected by Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Jedi-in-training Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen). There are some exciting scenes in the movie, but the overall story really is almost as dull as this sounds.
Jar Jar Binks is, thankfully, seen and heard far less than he was in part I. Yoda has become a purely computer generated character, like Jar Jar but not annoying. R2-D2 and C-3PO provide comic relief, although the latter's puns seem out of place on at least one occasion. The human dialogue is stiff throughout the movie, but the love story between Padme and Anakin is especially painful. And Christensen's Anakin at times seems to change 180º from one line to the next, which might be intended to suggest how unstable he's becoming as he prepares to become Darth Vader in part III, but just seems ludicrous in the context of this movie. There is absolutely no acting here that could be considered very good, for which I would have to blame George Lucas, as writer and director, since these actors have shown that they can be significantly better than this.
In the movie's defense, there are some very entertaining scenes. Near the beginning, the three dimensional chase through the city is reminiscent of "The Fifth Element," only better. And there are some big battles later in the movie, after everyone is finally talked out. But after all I had heard about these final scenes, I was surprised when the end of the movie arrived, because what I had seen had not lived up to the hype.
See this is you want to be entertained. If you want to see a fine example of film making, on the other hand, try something else.

Digital cinema: This movie was not filmed. It was recorded on high definition (about 2 million pixels/frame) 24 frame/second video, and all of the special effects and editing was done digitally. At most theaters, the digital images have been converted to film for normal projection, but I did seek out one of the few theaters that is projecting the movie digitally. Specifically I saw it at the Century 22 in San Jose, CA on 6/16/2002, sitting near the center of the third row.
I have to saw that I was quite disappointed. Even before the movie began, the text displayed during the advertising spot for the digital projection system demonstrated glaringly apparent jagged edges on the diagonals (I overheard someone else use the term "jaggies," so it wasn't just me). Throughout the movie I was periodically reminded that this was digital -- it looked like a giant projection television (which of course is exactly what it was) -- although I was able to forget this for stretches of several minutes.
The benefits of digital projection were also apparent: the picture looked just the same as it would have when the movie first played, because there is no physical film to wear and tear. And the picture was stable, without any jitteryness or, as I have seen on occasion with film, gross misalignment.
There are stories that the next (and last) part of the Star Wars series will be shot with cameras capable of recording about 10 million pixels/frame. That, combined with a somewhat smaller screen and/or a less demanding seat, might allow digital cinema to compete with film. But we're not there yet. For now, digital projection should be used only for low budget movies that have been shot on relatively low resolution video. For these movies, removing the expensive requirement of a transfer to film will make a big difference in how much money is available for the rest of the production.