a missed opportunity

Rating: 5/10 (30 May 2005)

a few random thoughts about the movie, from someone who was 10 years old when episode 4 came out and saw it 8 times at the woodfield theater in schaumburg, Illinois...
a) someone should tell George Lucas and his film-making team: if they want to tell a compelling story, STOP putting about 10,000 little flying cars speeding this way and that in an incredibly detailed cityscape behind your 2 speaking characters. this happens at least 10 times in the movie and i'm telling you, they're hella distracting. STORYTELLING FIRST; SPECIAL EFFECTS ONLY WHEN IT SERVES THE STORY.
b) i have to agree with all the reviewers who've mocked the dialogue, character development, plot, etc. in this movie. it's better than the last 2, but that's saying very little.
c) on the flip side, there are moments (mainly in the second half) where the movie has hints of a sense of operatic tragedy--anakin making his journey to the dark side, the fate of Luke and leia, etc. it's a shame GL couldn't have slowed things down a bit--instead of all the frenetic, video-game style action--to build on this.
d) finally, it's a shame that the series never really recaptured the romance and appealing roughness of the original; nor the professional, compelling, evocative storytelling of Empire Strikes Back.
with this movie, i hope some small parts of all of our brains can now be productively put to use on something else.