Frustrating to say the least

Rating: 9/10 (17 May 2002)

When I left the theater, I was caught somewhere between inspired and frustrated. The movie is epic in it's scale and story, but the performances are mostly too overdone to make it at all realistic. I didn't find myself really loving any of the characters the way that Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewie endeared themselves to me. Many performances, such as Samuel L. Jackson's Mace Windu or Hayden Christensen's Anakin, were such obvious attempts at dramatizing the entire thing that it left one feeling sick.
Overall, the movie was action packed and the granduer helped pull me through the weak plot. The problem was, Star Wars has become so serialized and popular that certain lines or moments meant to be dramatic (such as the much talked about Yoda scenes) caused the entire audience to laugh rather than hold their breath. It was good in the sense that Starship Troopers or Wing Commander was good, a nice epic battle between huge sci-fi digital forces, but it held none of the charm or spirit of the original Star Wars. Final note, a buddy of mine pointed out that for the last twenty years the Jedi Council has been powerful and mysterious in the minds of fans, but this movie makes them all out to be confused and lost in the "darkness of the force". They almost deserve to be exterminated!