On the cusp of greatness...

Rating: 5/10 (20 May 2005)

George Lucas, has a brilliant creative mind. However he must be completely unable to filter good ideas from bad ones and that is exactly the problem with this film.
The opening shot is an absolute belter, recapturing the thrill of the death star tunnel run, and then revealing the mother of all space battles which we then barely get to see instead we get daft r2-d2 fighting stupid dismantling robots. This inconsistency carries on throughout the film. There are some brilliant visual touches, but then there are points where a potentially great moment is overcooked to the point where you cannot tell what is going on.
Top marks go to John Williams for another excellent score but I have to give Hayden Christensen the thumbs down. I have heard he is brilliant in Shattered Glass, but I just sense awkwardness in his acting, as if he is restricted from being emotive, his mannerisms are over obvious and he only really begins to show signs of life when he confronts Obi-Wan towards the end. Ewan Mcgregor spends another two hours honing his Alec Guiness impression, even down to the chin stroke, but even he fluffs multiple lines in soap opera style. Natalie Portman also suffers at the hands of Lucas'woeful dialogue skills.
General Grievious is utterly pointless and his lightsaber skills leave a lot to be desired, he is a feeble villain and nowhere near as badass as I would have hoped.
Ian McDiarmid is the embodiment of evil and it was nice to see him as the emperor, even if I had to endure his lame CG lightsaber fights, and Yoda seems to have become comic relief since episode two delivering awful one-liners and bouncing all over the screen like a toy commercial.
Plus has anyone noticed that half the screen time throughout the prequels has been of ships taking off and landing as if we have to see every character arrive and leave everywhere they go? And why CG random Clone Troopers in pointless places when extras in suits cost less and are actually real!
The much hyped Anakin/Obi-Wan duel is at times breathtaking and yet often confusing. My favourite point is when their lightsabers clash and plumes of lava explode behind them. However I couldn't help but wish they'd just talk things through, I actually would have preferred some extended dialogue between them instead of lightsabers swishing in the dark. The fight is good but not as good as Luke vs Vader in ROTJ or Maul vs Qui-Gonn/Obi-Wan in TPM, WHICH IS THE BEST LIGHTSABER FIGHT EVER SIMPLY BECAUSE LUCAS HAD THE SENSE TO USE WIDE SHOTS! Vader's creation is awesome up until an unforgivable cliché that completely ruined what should have been a classic scene.
To summarise, I would recommend this to prequel fans and nobody else, as an old school Star Wars fan I feel anger, which leads to hate and in the end suffering. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!