Good Duels, Horrible Dialog

Rating: 6/10 (16 May 2002)

As many people are, I'm a big fan of the original trilogy. Before waiting in line at midnight to see this movie I had read three reviews of AoTC, each pointing out how badly flawed this movie is. So I just went in anticipating to see at least some good saber duels. And those were delivered ... during the last 20-30 minutes of the movie.
But the relative slowness of the movie isn't the major gripe. Its largest flaw is that very few of the actors seemed to actually be in character. The cast is a greatly talented bunch, but they're left unguided, and it comes off on screen. There are few believable emotions shown in this movie. Most dialog is very articulate and without emotion (and therefore not believable). Again, not because of their acting talents, but because of the script and, in my honest opinion, a bad directing job by Lucas. There were many times that I couldn't help but laugh at the horribly written and delivered dialog.
For the most part the story unfolds without direction. There are some interesting twists and references to the original trilogy that I did not expect to see near the end. And really, that's where the best of this movie is: the end. The action is very well done, and the duels will please most.
6.5/10