AOTC. Entertaining, but forgettable

Rating: 5/10 (7 June 2002)

It's been interesting reading some of the more emotional reviews for this movie.
On one hand you have those who are just in love with the movie and think it is the best thing since the invention of pepperoni pizza. When reviewing the movie I've read comments such as "...from the moment the words 'A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...' appeared on the screen I was in heaven...". It makes me think about how much money I could make by creating a movie consisting of just the opening crawl of the Star Wars intro. I could leave the middle of the movie just blank until the end credits.
As for those who vehemently hate the movie, I ask the question, "Ok, what do you find entertaining, and why did you see a Star Wars movie since you abviously don't like science fiction?" And AOTC was decent Sci-fi. Not great, but decent.
I grew up on Star Wars. The Empire Strikes Back was my favorite of the series and I still get goosebumps when I hear Darth Vader's revelation to Luke. This movie is entertaining and was worth the $5.00 and the 2 1/2 hours I spent to watch it. It was boring in parts to the point that I was motioning my hands to push the storyline along. The acting and dialog was pathetic. The effects were good. Yoda looked a bit synthetic as a digital creation. The plot line Jango Fett was argueably the best part of the movie. Natalie Portman was good to look at (but her acting stinks). Hayden, well, I think enough negative has been said about him. Leave it to say I agree with the comments of others concerning him.
All in all, there were many things to hate about this movie, but I left entertained and maybe that is all that matters. Maybe I'll blow $20 on the DVD when it is released just to have it in my movie library to watch once in a while but it will not have the prime shelf space that the original Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back have. They are classics. This movie and The Phantom Menace are just a couple of more films to be forgotten as the summer film season winds down.
Am I looking forward to Episode III? Yes. But I am not eager. I'll forget about it until the spring of 2005 rolls around and then I'll see it, betting I'll be entertained, and then go on with my life.