I watched Phantom Menace when it came out and was so horrified by the bad acting and relentless bad slapstick that I gave up and skipped almost all Star Wars movies after that. But now my family is watching Clone Wars, and we wanted to fill in some plot lines, so we watched this one. This is two distinct movies: 1) a cringeworthy romance with two youngsters who are incredibly awkward around each other, with the male written as a walking red flag, and 2) a fun action-adventure with some cool, ominous reveals setting up Darth Vader and a lot of future plot lines.
The actors who struggle in this movie--Christensen, Portman, Samuel L Jackson--are good or great in other projects, which makes me think Lucas just dropped the ball on directing them and writing for their characters. They have the stiff mannerisms of actors who are "in their head" from not being able to make sense of what they're being asked to do or say. They are good in the action scenes, probably because their intention there is clear. And there are lots of enjoyable action scenes. This movie leans heavily into the old timey movie serials with the outlandish cliffhangers (literally) that inspired both Lucas and Spielberg. Christopher Lee brings interesting nuance to the villain and clearly has a ball playing him. Obi-Wan/Macgregor also has a blast here and is delightful to watch, and the places and characters he discovers are a great mix of compelling and threatening.
Seeing this with Clone Wars knowledge is especially great because you see the first inklings of many, many cool characters you get to know a lot more about later. The caveats are: you have to sit through many dud scenes; I don't like how sexualized Padme's outfits are since it doesn't match the character (a Senator!) or serve the story at all; and Anakin acts like a disturbed stalker around Padme, which sends bad messages about how to treat people you're attracted to and about how to deal with the bloodthirsty weirdo who keeps mumbling angrily at you. I think you have to be invested in the greater Star Wars storylines to enjoy this movie, but there's a lot to enjoy if you are.
The actors who struggle in this movie--Christensen, Portman, Samuel L Jackson--are good or great in other projects, which makes me think Lucas just dropped the ball on directing them and writing for their characters. They have the stiff mannerisms of actors who are "in their head" from not being able to make sense of what they're being asked to do or say. They are good in the action scenes, probably because their intention there is clear. And there are lots of enjoyable action scenes. This movie leans heavily into the old timey movie serials with the outlandish cliffhangers (literally) that inspired both Lucas and Spielberg. Christopher Lee brings interesting nuance to the villain and clearly has a ball playing him. Obi-Wan/Macgregor also has a blast here and is delightful to watch, and the places and characters he discovers are a great mix of compelling and threatening.
Seeing this with Clone Wars knowledge is especially great because you see the first inklings of many, many cool characters you get to know a lot more about later. The caveats are: you have to sit through many dud scenes; I don't like how sexualized Padme's outfits are since it doesn't match the character (a Senator!) or serve the story at all; and Anakin acts like a disturbed stalker around Padme, which sends bad messages about how to treat people you're attracted to and about how to deal with the bloodthirsty weirdo who keeps mumbling angrily at you. I think you have to be invested in the greater Star Wars storylines to enjoy this movie, but there's a lot to enjoy if you are.