B-Movie w/ $100m Special FX Budget

Rating: 5/10 (30 May 2005)

It's one thing to watch this for the cartoon it is; to turn it into some sort of major cultural event is just a sad reminder of how low the bar has gotten. I wasn't expecting 'Lawrence of Arabia' or anything but am I the only one who thought this was basically a b-movie with heavily branded characters? The writing and acting are terrible! I grew up on the original films as well but that doesn't mean I'm going to suck down this sort of pap just for the sake of being one with my former eight-year-old self.
Lucas can't write or direct to save his life. He's a marketing guru posing as an auteur. In the hands of a capable director, this could have provided a good balance of actual acting and dialog with all of the "BOOM! POW! AWWWWW, YAY...IT'S YODA!" cash-in value. I know all the sycophants will go see anything with the Star Wars name and give it an automatic 10 but I for one am glad this clunker of a prequel trilogy is finally over. Lucas can now go back to what really built his empire -- toys, video games and t-shirt sales. He is the father of the Happy Meal Movie Tie-in after all.