Just Okay, Not Great

Rating: 3/10 (20 May 2005)

Like all the Star Wars movies, this one's okay, but definitely not great. Some critics said the movie was too serious, without the humor of the original. But I laughed out loud several times. Like when Padme says:"Oh Anakin! What will you do?!" Or when the twins are born. Padme looks to be 7 months pregnant, yet she gives birth to two, huge, 10 pound twins! Then there's the infamous Frankenstein's monster scene. Lucas meant for us to laugh at that, right? With the exception of the scenes in space, never a Star Wars strong point, the special effects are spectacular. I've always liked the mechanical devices and alien creatures of Star Wars, and this installment is the best yet for that. I hate to be so general, but there's really too much to talk about in this department, it's just a rich, rich film in this respect.
It's too bad Lucas isn't really a good director. Natalie Portman is a great actress, but her talents are little used in this movie. Hayden Christensen just isn't up to the task of his character, so you have to supply your own reasons why he would do what he did. He tries so hard, but it just isn't in him.
Ian McDiarmid's performance is superb. He must have had as little direction as anyone else, but he at least took his role to heart, and produced one of filmdom's great screen villains.
But Yoda is by far the star of this film. For all the stiffness of most of the other actors, including Samuell L. Jackson, Yoda's performance is subtle, nuanced, rich, captivating.
Jackson did do service in Windu's battle with Palpatine, however. His self-righteous anger and his willingness to kill Palpatine against the Jedi way contrasted well with Yoda's selfless determination to kill Palpatine later on.
Yoda has some of the best scenes in the movie, too. Though I found many places to laugh at bad dialog, bad writing, etc., I still cheered when Yoda avoided the fate of his Jedi siblings by sensing when his guards were about to attack. And I also cheered when he slammed the two other guards against the wall. And I enjoyed Yoda's overall bad-assedness, even though sometimes it was funny to see it in such a tiny, round package.
I was also happy with some of the politically "liberal" references in movie. It pleases me to think that these might spoil enjoyment of the movie for radical right-wingers.
Anyway, the movie is well worth seeing, even more than once, but it's still feels like movie that shows the potential of its story without actually fulfilling it, mainly because of poor direction, poor scripting, poor acting, and poor character development.