Having loved the original films, I absolutely hated this movie when it came out. Jar Jar and the overall bad acting (which is the director's fault) ruined the movie for me and I blocked most of it out. I didn't see any of the subsequent movies except the third (chronologically), and I hated that one, too.
But in recent years I watched Andor, the Mandalorian, and Ahsoka and loved them. I also got back on board because women and people of color (and those who are both) were finally meaningfully included in the universe. While in the middle of watching the great animated show Clone Wars, my family watched this movie to fill in some of the lore. Clone Wars habituated me to Jar Jar and made this film far more palatable to me. It's neat to see how much world-building happened here and was expanded on so awesomely in Clone Wars.
As a standalone film, this movie still stinks. I blame Lucas-and not the actors!-for the terrible, flat performances, the slapstick "comedy" during the Gungan war scenes, and the overlong edit. It's impossible to care about these dull characters. Neeson and Macgregor do a good job but have very little to work with. The costumes and music are also not great. The trade federation villains having Japanese accents is weirdly xenophobic. It all just shows that even creative geniuses like Lucas stumble sometimes.
But paired with Clone Wars, this is a watchable film that gives valuable context to a lot of storylines and worlds and sets up all the crucial political maneuvering of Palpatine (that actor, Ian McDermid, is a gem here as elsewhere).
But in recent years I watched Andor, the Mandalorian, and Ahsoka and loved them. I also got back on board because women and people of color (and those who are both) were finally meaningfully included in the universe. While in the middle of watching the great animated show Clone Wars, my family watched this movie to fill in some of the lore. Clone Wars habituated me to Jar Jar and made this film far more palatable to me. It's neat to see how much world-building happened here and was expanded on so awesomely in Clone Wars.
As a standalone film, this movie still stinks. I blame Lucas-and not the actors!-for the terrible, flat performances, the slapstick "comedy" during the Gungan war scenes, and the overlong edit. It's impossible to care about these dull characters. Neeson and Macgregor do a good job but have very little to work with. The costumes and music are also not great. The trade federation villains having Japanese accents is weirdly xenophobic. It all just shows that even creative geniuses like Lucas stumble sometimes.
But paired with Clone Wars, this is a watchable film that gives valuable context to a lot of storylines and worlds and sets up all the crucial political maneuvering of Palpatine (that actor, Ian McDermid, is a gem here as elsewhere).