Quite a disappointment

Rating: 4/10 (23 May 2005)

As fanboyish as I am for anything concerning Star Wars, Star Trek or James Bond, I was looking forward to this movie. Episode I wasn't all that great, but Episode II was significantly better, so I had high hopes for this movie to be the best of the series. However, despite all my fanboyishness, I was in for a disappointment.
Visually and technically, this movie is excellent. It didn't have much directional faults, and the actors played quite well. However, the script has major flaws. George Lucas can direct, but he seems to have forgot how to write.
In short, this movie did way too much in way too little time. We've had three two-and-a-half-hour movies to set the scene for the original trilogy. And what has happened? Episode I: Anakin is rescued from slavery. Episode II: Anakin and Padme fall in love. Episode III: All the rest. In about thirty minutes.
You'd expect the trilogy to gradually show Anakin turning more and more to the Dark Side. But no - he spends two and a half movies as a good guy, and then - pling! - someone flips a switch, and he's a bad guy now.
The space battle at the beginning was brilliantly animated, but it bored the heck out of me. All the purpose it served was to show off ILM's rendering skills. I desperately wanted to see someone actually act instead of flying and jumping around. Luckily, that happened soon after.
Anakin's fear of Padme dying at childbirth was very realistic and believable at first, considering how he's obsessed with her. But then the movie went and made it its entire storyline, repeating it over and over again. It felt like some sort of excuse to suddenly change Anakin over to the Dark Side.
Palpatine's battle with Mace Windu was unintentionally hilarious. He kept whining he's "weakening" when shooting electricity at Mace Windu. Funny, he didn't "weaken" in the original trilogy when doing the same at Luke. But the worst part was when he changed from a healthy-looking guy to a shriveled mummy in about one second. The movie did not offer any explanation for that. It was as if Lucas suddenly remembered: "Oh yeah, Palpatine needs to be this ugly-looking zombie thingy in Episode IV" and used the first idea that came into his head.
And then... Palpatine converted Anakin over as easily as pressing a switch. "You're evil now." "OK." He then went and killed all the Jedi children. Yes. He - killed - children. I couldn't believe it. At first, I was sad. Then I was angry. A multiple child murder - in cold blood, no less - and we're supposed to believe there's "still good" in this guy? No, sorry. I can accept him killing Obi-Wan Kenobi and all the other Jedi, but not children.
After the Great Jedi Purge, it was all downhill. Lucas must have been in a hurry to finish all the loose ends off. Padme gives birth to two children, names them - their names are the first words she speaks - and then dies. All in about five seconds. And the adoption scene - hoo boy. Luke's adoption to Tatooine was realistic, but Leia's adoption to Alderaan felt like it was written by a ten-year-old. "We've always been partial to adoption", and that's that over with. Senator Bail Organa was reduced to a one-line wonder and his wife to a zero-line wonder.
And then the rest. Just a clip show showing off the beginning of Episode IV, to come (in a matter of speaking).
In closing, this movie was a disappointment. It could have been so much better, but it turned out to be much worse. Episode II remains the best in the prequel trilogy.