Straight from a skeptic: it's actually pretty good.

Rating: 7/10 (20 May 2002)

I really didn't care to see the film right away when it came out. I ended up seeing it with a friend four days after release, because he was more anxious than I.
There's some hokey stuff going on at the beginning. Anakin is a little... strange. The point that he's immature/childish seems to be overdone. In the beginning when there aren't any action scenes, acting seems stiff. Hard to say if it's acting or directing. I don't know.
Other than that: yes there is a story. Yes it was interesting. Yes there was action. There was a lot of neat stuff going on, especially near the end. In fact, all of this was pretty good.
The only other bothersome thing is the use of cliches. There seemed to be a lot of current day phrases and jokes used which just didn't seem to fit into the film.
In other words, it was a pretty good movie with some oddities. Don't let the two oddities set you off, and you'll likely really enjoy the movie. I had thoroughly expected to hate it. 7/10. (I gave epI a 5/10).