recycled
I had a golden opportunity to sleep in today for the first time in, well, i forget. But my body conspired against me. I woke up at 6AM. I layed in bed for over an hour, and gave up.
Being up so early, I figured I'd go to see the 9AM showing of the new Star Wars movie. Since its such a gorgeous day, I walked down to the theater (took about 15 minutes) to find a huge line at the ticket booth. I was there 45 minutes early, and at least 50 people had arrived ahead of me. So we stood in line for nearly a half hour.
The movie itself was better than the previous two, but that's not saying terribly much considering how utterly horrible they were. But it still didn't hold a candle to the original trilogy. As just about all the reviews already noted, the acting & characters were one dimensional. Much of the first 2 hours was more of the same recycled plotlines (from the first trilogy) with updated special effects. There are just so many times that watching assorted Jedi chop up droids with light sabres is awe-enspiring, and those times ended early in the second movie. Also, seeing massive landscapes with ships flying in 'traffic' lanes grows old after the 2nd or 3rd time too. The space battle sequence at the start of the film wasn't bad, although the cartoon-like scenes with Anakin jumping & leaping here & there was also tiresome. Another thing that killed any hope of suspense was the fact that just about everyone knows how all the characters turn out. We know who's still kicking around in the first trilogy, so its not like there's going to be a surprise death/dismembering. The last half hour was prolly the best part of the entire film. George Lucas rushed to tie up all the loose ends so that it would all transition seemlessly into "A New Hope" but at least there was _some_ plot development rather than just more explosions and stale dialogue.
Oh, and before I forget, Padme is the new Jar Jar. I swear, every word out of her mouth in this film grated my nerves. Every ridiculous outfit & hairstyle was a joke. She couldn't give birth & die fast enough, which unfortunately wasn't until the last half hour.