This much-awaited film is really not much more than the sum of its€ visual effects( and THEY are stunning.) The story leaves the viewer surprisingly uninvolved, and somewhat removed from what the characters are saying and doing. The villains are uninteresting, and the acting of the young boy who plays Anakin(the future Darth Vader,) is very amateurish. The other actors do a fine job(with Ewan McGregor affecting an amusing imitation of Alec Guinness€ Obi wan Kenobi voice!) The centerpiece of the film is the "pod race," a thrilling homage to Ben-Hur€s chariot race, which was much more exciting, and more lavishly filmed. In the chariot race, the emphasis was on the PEOPLE; in the pod race, it was on the MACHINES. This could be a criticism of the entire film. I wish that I could have liked it more.

We are afraid that Christian was unable to review this movie as his extremely biased opinion in favor of all things George Lucas would have compelled him to give it…