Gentlebeings,
Firstly I must say that Mike is probably far more qualified to review this film. He has seen it now five times. But he is not here and I am so here we go:
On a scale of 1 to 10 this film gets a 7. On a purely Star Wars scale it falls into the number 3 spot behind Empire Strikes Back,. Nothing will truly surpass the feelings dredged up in me by the first viewing of Star Wars. Empire is still number two simply because of the way Vader is portrayed as an intelligent bad guy not a cardboard british nazi imperials, of which there are a lot of in Empire and indeed all the movies.
The rating of 7 being given, let us discuss the film proper:
To use some of Mr. Mijo's critique, this film shares many characteristics of a plummet from a c-130. It shares even more characteristics with a person who is strapped to the outside of a SR-71 and then told to hit the after burner controls. I am going to have to see it again just to digest all the stuff that Lucas has seen fit to throw at me. I was half expecting to see a CGI kitchen sink flying toward the screen doing one of those slow accelerating spins. Overall the film was so fast paced that I dare say no viewer is going to get bored with it.
Visual effects: Outstanding, the best there has ever been in any movie ever made. CGI artist better get the fucking academy award for this. I really envy the dudes who got to work on this film. The Curisant and Naboo creators did good. Art direction was Grade A magnificent. This film fits in really well with the other SW films in that is as much a work of visual art as a story. Lucas knows what panavision is for.
This did not look like a fucking TV show. Unlike Starship troopers, that also used big wave attack battle scenes, this movie actually made them work. Pod race was totally cool. Light saber duel was first rate. It makes the first duel with Ben and Darth seem pretty lame.
Music: Aside from the known themes the music was very good though not really operatic as it has been in all of the other 3 films. A mediocre score. It didn't make me want to run out and by the CD.
Characters:
Jar-Jar? Well he's no Chewbacca but then again who is. I liked him.
Amidala? Solid but a bit of a hypocrite thanks to the orgasmic costume designs. The flick should get an oscar for costume too. Better than Princess Leia.
Qui-Gon Jinn, nice jedi, I wished McGregor could have been offed, but alas there had to be a neo-Kenobi that must die. I guess ol' Jinn will be popping up in a blue glow in the next couple of films.
Ben Kenobi? Not bad but a bit of a dim-wit. Neeson was young enough that he should have played Kenobi. And Kevin Spacey should have played Jinn.
C-3PO, very nice. George! Make him more of a main character! Creepy thinking that Darth Vader was C-3PO's father too.
R2-D2, ditto
Darth Maul: Blah blah blah blah, a storm trooper without an outfit. The dude could use a slight saber but was so fucking thin that I swear I could see through him. The trooper who said, "look sir droids." had more character to work with than this flat scumbag. You could have cut this guy in half with a pair of kindergarten scissors.
Palpatine: A good performance. At least the guy didn't play the bad guy too heavily or the good guy too sweetly.
Mace Windu: Forget that he's Jackson and the character is fine. A bit player.
Anakin: Stable and effective. I know this doesn't sound good but I don't know what else I can say. He's cute in an Adam Rich sort of way. Too bad he's gonna turn into Mr. Evil.
I guess on the whole the characters were good but not really entrancing. They were all better than most other sci-fi characters. I liked the Federation thugs. Oh and the Chancellor Volleron....In my story the Chancellor's name was Vaxer. Both with a V and both were chancellors?
The story: Confusing and not very deep. Depth is not something that Lucas has ever had to worry too much about with his films because the characters as so strong that they can carry the simple story. However this story has only a couple of such characters and the rest I just didn't connect with. So the plot problems surface and are hard to cast aside.
Problem one: Naboo is first blockaded by lots of battle ships. In the end the whole occupation force is disabled by the destruction of only one battle ship? Where did all the rest go?
Problem Two: The motivation behind Palpatine is so murky as to be in comprehensible. Is he doing this to gain power? He he doing this to revenge his kind against the Jedi? What? What does he have on the on the Federation to make them expend so much on Naboo? I guess this isn't a problem if all this gets reveled later on, but I think Lucas could have let a bit more of the cat out of the bag besides one whisker.
Overall effect on me: I loved the film from the standpoint of it being another chapter in the saga. Judging it in the context of a chapter I find that it is a fitting installment.
One point that never hit me until Mike pointed it out was the whole bio-Force connection. This truly sucks and the guy who foisted this bunch of crap on us should have his dick pulled off with pliers. The whole Force thing is mystical., If you try and use psudo-science to reveal it then you cheapen it and reduce it's power. I agree with Mike that the force nanites, was the worst part of the film.
An the positive side this film redeems my belief that the last two films are gonna rock. I could go on about other parts that bugged me but I won't. The over all feeling was one of exhilaration over seeing Sw back on the big screen with all new characters. And despite the weird story I am sure things will clear up as time goes by.
I will be adding addendum's to this review as the Force hits me.
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