It is after an hour and a half or so in the movie that you suddenly wake up to the realization that you are not sure what movie you are watching. It is hard to make sense of it. There are these great special effects and space ships reminding you of Star Wars. Then there is the dark Lord who is not Sauran from Lord of the rings but almost is. Gladiators, Dinosaurs and big spiders. A little bit of A.I. too.
It is in the next hour that you will feel your brain numbed to a point where you will not care what is going on anyway. Except the hopeless fact that whatever is must be very important because all these people on the screen are taking themselves much too seriously. There is no tongue in cheek humour, no wise comments, no satire. No life. Except in a few droids.
You see all the famous stereotypes played out before you -- the dying mother, the unrequited love, critical father figure, etc. What was supposed to be a study of Anakin's stepping in the waters of the Dark Side ends up being the audience not only stepping in but kept hostage in a pool of mud. Lucas has no idea of how the mind of a young man works. He gives young Anakin dialogue but hardly any action to show him slowly turning over. Hayden Christensen is obnoxious at best and pitiful at worst.
This lifeless, mindproof, audience proof (as NYTimes calls such movies), intelligence proof derivative garbage from Lucas is the most unbearable of all such big budget movies in recent times. It is even more uninteresting than Harry Potter.
It has no real story of its own. It has no central theme. Most actors sleepwalk through it -- not entirely their fault I think.
There are a couple of things going for it though. Probably the best computer generated graphics ever. Natalie Portman looks good and Yoda finally gets to show some fangs. There is a chase in the beginning of the movie in a crowded galatic skies. That ends up being the most rewarding part of the movie. A brilliantly programmed mesh of super sonic cars and space vehicles and road rage. It gives you a feeling that the movie might have some coonnection point to the reality. Alas it does not.
Long time ago, in a galaxy far far away George Lucas played on popular mythological themes and connected them to our hearts. Now he is simply playing on the popular marketing themes and connecting them to our wallets.
It is in the next hour that you will feel your brain numbed to a point where you will not care what is going on anyway. Except the hopeless fact that whatever is must be very important because all these people on the screen are taking themselves much too seriously. There is no tongue in cheek humour, no wise comments, no satire. No life. Except in a few droids.
You see all the famous stereotypes played out before you -- the dying mother, the unrequited love, critical father figure, etc. What was supposed to be a study of Anakin's stepping in the waters of the Dark Side ends up being the audience not only stepping in but kept hostage in a pool of mud. Lucas has no idea of how the mind of a young man works. He gives young Anakin dialogue but hardly any action to show him slowly turning over. Hayden Christensen is obnoxious at best and pitiful at worst.
This lifeless, mindproof, audience proof (as NYTimes calls such movies), intelligence proof derivative garbage from Lucas is the most unbearable of all such big budget movies in recent times. It is even more uninteresting than Harry Potter.
It has no real story of its own. It has no central theme. Most actors sleepwalk through it -- not entirely their fault I think.
There are a couple of things going for it though. Probably the best computer generated graphics ever. Natalie Portman looks good and Yoda finally gets to show some fangs. There is a chase in the beginning of the movie in a crowded galatic skies. That ends up being the most rewarding part of the movie. A brilliantly programmed mesh of super sonic cars and space vehicles and road rage. It gives you a feeling that the movie might have some coonnection point to the reality. Alas it does not.
Long time ago, in a galaxy far far away George Lucas played on popular mythological themes and connected them to our hearts. Now he is simply playing on the popular marketing themes and connecting them to our wallets.