Not a Disaster but also not a Triumph

Rating: 5/10 (16 June 2005)

I have never been a die hard fan of the original series maybe because I didn't actually see Episodes 5 and 6 at the cinema, the impact might not be as big watching on a TV screen. I did like Ep 6 and it was fun but not some seminal cinematic experience. So, I didn't have such high expectation going into the prequels. I thought Ep 1 and 2 were also fun but nothing spectacular. Like many action movies, they dazzle your senses while watching but the emotions behind it are so insubstantial that they hardly register afterward. I came to see Ep 3 after having read two glowing reviews from New York Times and Roger Ebert and I went in thinking it'd be good. I didn't go in with the heightened expectation that many turn fans have. And so I wasn't as disappointed as many were. Unfortunately, I was still bored through the first two-thirds of the movie. Lucas seems to have a pathological need to saturate every frame of the movie w/ too many visual stimuli. Everything is so busy that left my head spinning. I'm a little surprised that it has 7.9 rating here. Hardly worth that high mark but neither is it a 1 or 2 as many have given it. There seems to be no middle ground here. Either you hate it or love it for fans of the series. I totally concur w/ the other reviewers on the problems that plague this movie: bad acting, stiled dialog, truncated storyline, instant transition of Anakin from good to evil, etc. etc. All valid.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is still, for me, the ultimate cinematic achievement and experience in the SF/fantasy genre. The fact that the source material is superb probably helps a lot.
Not for nothing but I just watched Farscape: The Peacekeeper War last night and if you compare the two, you can tell right away what RotS has done wrong. Farscape: TPW is innovative, creative, with interesting use of aliens, great lines, full of tension and emotion, exciting, and with a much smaller budget, it is amazing how great it looks even in the battle scenes.
What could have been.