Review: Star Wars
As has been stated by others, this is the best of the prequels. Not a high standard to clear, to be sure. Still, George Lucas manages to entertain on occasion.
The dialog was simply painful. It reminded me of how dialog might be written by someone who doesn't interact with people much. Say, for example, a young dork who sits in his room drawing spaceships and imagining being loved by a beautiful girl. I, on the other hand, imagine the painful expressions and tears of Natalie Portman resulted from having to repeat those lines over and over.
Also, Lucas never really grasped the rythm and cadence of Yoda's speach patterns that Lawrence Kasdan created in Return of the Jedi. All Lucas did was rearrange the sentence structure but it sounds forced, unnatural. Kasdan is a far superior writer and is responsible for the two best scripts in the series.
Hayden Christiansen shows what happens to sullen teens if they don't get a dose of reality before reaching adulthood. Guess what? They continue their spoiled, put-upon ways only on a larger scale. Who would have thought? I won't judge the young man's acting skills based on his work with Lucas. Maybe he has talent, or maybe the pouting comes from growing up in Canada.
The story moves haltingly from dizzying fight sequences to people standing around blabbing about one thing or another and back again. I like the idea of watching the progression of a man who follows a trail of choices that lead him to ultimate evil. Fascinating concept.
Lucas has a problem, however, in that everybody knows how it will turn out. This is a monumental obstacle but other directors have skillfully shown how this can be overcome. Lucas does not have the ability to inject tension into a story where the audience knows the ending before it starts.
I noticed a couple of awkward attempts to force a parallel between Lucas' fantasy world and the War on Terrorists but they were so hamhanded as to be embarrassing.
If the Star Wars saga is a metaphor for anything it must be Lucas himself. No, not Luke Skywalker, not even Han Solo [what, no Lea jokes? --ed]. He is Vader, the young man of ability who throws his skills in with the Empire (Hollywood) and betrays all that is good in the endless quest of approval from his master. Like Vader, he would have a justification for it as well.