Sorry, this is junk.

Rating: 6/10 (3 December 2002)

Better junk than the Phantom Menace admittedly, but junk nonetheless.
To say I find the new Star Wars movies disappointing is an understatement to say the least. I love the earlier stuff (this in itself is scary, it's almost becoming like the old school/next gen Star Trek geek split). Well to be fair I love the first 2 movies of the earlier stuff; the Return of the Jedi to me is the first sign of Lucas slipping.
I don't like the current state of digital effects. To me they look awful. Granted they're getting better, but they're still not the be all and end all that most effects technicians seem to be praising them as. I don't like the look of this film. Too clean, too shiny. All I kept saying while watching this pic is "That's a neat digital effect, but...". Part of the trick of involving the audience is by fully immersing them into this imaginary world; by making them suspend their disbelief. I don't think that happened in this pic. It's like George is saying "If I cram this with as many bells and whistles as I possibly can, it'll distract people from the acting and confused plot".
The acting. Hmmm, the acting?!? For the most part as robotic as the robots that inhabit the backgrounds. I can't help but feel that Ewen MacGregor wishes he was somewhere else. It's almost as if he's thinking "You know what, initially I thought this was a good idea, hey 'working on Star Wars, what could be cooler?'; now I don't think blue screen acting's for me". Ewan is a really good actor, but I think he's a better dramatic actor working with other dramatic actors. Here, he's not. Sam Jackson looks like he's living his dream come true (something he's said as much). That's not so good when scenes occur that require some sense of gravity to a situation. Christopher Lee looks like he's rehearsing his part in Lord of the Rings at the back of his mind, such seems his disinterest. The rest of the cast? Well if Hayden Christiansen and Natalie Portman were any more wooden there'd be Greenpeace protestors chained to them.
I wish somebody else had directed these movies. Somebody less involved with the genesis of the whole Star Wars universe. Somebody less inclined to see the Star Wars adventures as "My Babies", which seems to me to be how George considers these films. Lawrence Kasdan? Or maybe Ridley Scott? Spielberg anyone??!?
Like I said, I'm disappointed. I doubt I'll be lining up for the 3rd one.