Rating of
3.5/4
And a legendary saga begins
The M.O.W. - wrote on 08/01/08
This is the beginning of the story which takes place "a long time ago -- in a galaxy far. far away." It is the start of a new trilogy of one of the most beloved science-fiction franchises ever. However, like the rest of this trilogy, this movie is not perfect and doesn't follow the continuity set in the original trilogy many years ago.
The galactic government has been weaken, and the planet "Naboo" is the next target to the powerful "Trade Federation." It seems that nobody will step in to protect "Queen Amadala" (Natalie Portman) and her loyal subjects.
"Jedi Knight Quin-Gon Jinn" (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice "Obi-Wan Kenobi" (Ewan McGregor) are sent to find a settlement, and find a young boy (Jake Lloyd) "Jinn" believes will bring ballance to "The Force," a mysterious energy that binds everything together that can be controlled after some training.
The first thing you will notice is the incredible visuals. It is definitely CGI, but it is absolutely beautiful. I strongly recommend that you see this movie in letterbox format to truly appreciate the visual effects.
Another thing that stands out are the incredible battle scenes and "lightsaber" fights. The battle scenes are filled with CGI, but are wonderfully produced, while the "lightsaber" fights are amazingly choreographed and will take your breath away for the speed they are at.
There are some weak performances, which improve as this trilogy unfolds. There are also some scenes which seem to lag a bit, and are pretty boring. There are also some problems with the audio mixing, especially when "Anakin" (Lloyd) speaks in some scenes.
One big problem is that one of the villains is not only poorly developed, he doesn't get a chance to be a major part of the franchise and only lasts until his death near the end of this film. Personally, I would have liked to have seen him last until some time before "Anakin" is seduced by the "Dark Side" of the "Force" in "Episode 3," which closes this trilogy. In fact, many characters are not well developed in this film.
Another problem, but minor one, is that there are just too many CGI characters in this film. To me the live actors aren't even looking "eye-to-eye" with them when they are "looking" at them to "talk" with them. In the original trilogy, all the characters are live-action, thanks to the technology of the time. Those characters that could have been CGI if the original trilogy were made today worked much better than the CGI characters like "Jar Jar Binks" (voiced by Ahmed Best) and "Watto" (voiced by Andrew Secombe). However, the CGI characters are nicely animated into the scenery.
On the other hand, the wardrobes and non-CGI sets are wonderful. The clothing looks pretty futuristic, but somehow looks like something we'd see today in some cases. And the buildings are beautiful and quite massive. Some of the sets that standout are the exteriors used for the buildings on "Naboo".
Fans of the original trilogy will see some continuity mistakes with the original trilogy. Newer fans may not see these at the first viewing of this film, but will eventually see them.
Despite some problems with the CGI, sound mixing and continuity errors, this movie is fun to watch. In my opinion it would be a good addition to any sci-fi fans collection, and a good rental.
