The Phantom Menace

Okay, we saw the new Star Wars movie this weekend. Yes, it was a disappointment as I’m sure you’ve heard by now. But don’t let that stop you from seeing it. In spite of all its problems, it’s still worth seeing once. The last thing the world needs is yet another review of the movie so I’ll just make a few quick comments. There is way too much CGI in the movie – at some points it feels like you’re watching a cartoon rather than a live action film because there is simply nothing real in sight… animated aliens fighting animated robots on animated terrain. The reviews you’ve read are right on several points: Jar-Jar Binks is very annoying, Darth Maul has one whole sentence of dialog and maybe two minutes on screen, the story is very disjointed and slow compared to the older movies (whereas the spaceships all move much faster than they used to). And what’s with the force? The force is no longer a “force” it is now apparently a sentient entity of some sort that has a will and makes plans for people – and only those with a particular parasitical virus can sense or use it.