What is this garbage?

Rating: 2/10 (30 January 2013)

This review is based on two things: I am a Star Wars purist, and I hate computer generated action scenes.
From Episode 1 to Episode 4, about 30 years have to pass. In that time, a LOT is supposed to happen to our characters and the political universe. Yet, this film (and the upcoming Episode 3) will leave major gaps in the story.
The plot should have revolved around the internal struggles of Anakin, with his ultimate turn to the dark side, with a background of the Clone Wars. Yet, the entire film revolves around a war ONLY MENTIONED in Episode 4 by 2 lines of dialogue!!! This film should have gone further down the timeline. Episode 3 will need to be about 4 hours long to cover everything.
As far as the acting went, blame it on Hayden Christensen. He couldn't carry Anakin's emotion if it were stapled to his hands. His performance was cardboard. Remember the "grieving scene" after the death of Schmi? Was that supposed to be a serious tear-jerking moment? It failed miserably.
The rest of the cast did a wonderful job. But Mr Christensen was SO bad, he brought the entire grade down.
Something else that bothered me was the poor attempts at humor by Anakin and ObiWan. I cannot imagine Alec Guiness ever saying "Why do I have the feeling you're going to be the end of me?". I don't remember any of the other Jedis (in ANY of the films) trying to be sarcastic. They were stupid lines.
The Direction was OK, considering the downfall in casting and the crappy story-line.
As far as visuals, I am torn. I hate unrealistic computer effects in action scenes, but get a kick out of the sweeping fly-bys of planets (specifically cities). The scene with Anakin riding that creature on Naboo was one of the worst examples of computer use I have ever seen in a film. Even the puppets used for the speeder-bike rides in Episode 6 looked better. These animations just looked like crap.
Anyway, there it is.