Watching the film several years after its debut was an interesting experience: it holds up OK, but is still irritating. There are positives: Liam Neeson and Ewen McGregor add some class as jedis, Darth Maul is a top notch villain and their fight at the end a worthy addition to the films (in previous jedis the fighters had always been mismatched - here its three at the top of their game), its kind of clever how the future Emperor lures everyone into his trap, Natalie Portman is beautiful, it moves fast and there is plenty of action and explosions, the final ceremony is rousing, John Williams' score in good shape.
OK, now for the negatives - you know the film isn't going to be strong when the heroes disappear into the "ventilator shaft" within the first few minutes, Jar Jar Binks is irritating, Natalie Portman gives a poor performance, the much-vaunted CGI special effects look at times like simple animation (models at least have "weight"), it's lazy how they try to incorporate R2D2 and C3PO into the story (a little kid in the middle of nowhere needs to build a protocol droid), its irritating how the Force is "in the blood, and very dodgy how the kid gets involved in the battle at the end just like in a video game.
The whole film feels as if Lucas was wrestling between his genuine filmmaking gifts and his desire to make a much cash as possible by shoving in "audience pleasing" elements (characters from the earlier films who don't automatically belong here, video game friendly action sequences).
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