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    Alright, so there has been a lot of hype over this movie.   About 10 times more than any other big movie event in a long while.  So, keeping this in mind, it's important for you to understand that my opinions are largely based on my expectations walking into the movie.  I tried to convince myself that this was going to be a disappointment.  I tried to psych myself out so that I wouldn't be effected by all the hu-bu-bub going around.  I don't think it really worked though.  The movie was good and it was realistically what I expected but another part of me wanted it to really exceed my expectations and be worth all the hype.   It wasn't really.  If the movie had been released with all the history behind it, if it was just a story with no sequels and no super duper media behind it, I would've been a lot more impressed.  But this Star Wars had a lot to live up to.

    Ok, the complaints: If I knew how to spell his name, I would.   The alien that helps Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson.  He is supposed to be a comic relief type of character.  I found him more annoying than anything.  Also, I think that I missed out on probably half of his humour because he was simply too hard to understand.  It was even harder in a crowded theater.  Anyway, I thought he was a tad over the top.

    Also, I think it was a bad thing that I have already seen what eventually happens.  It was depressing to see little Anakin Skywalker knowing that he is going to become the enemy.  He's so cute and vulnerable in this film that you want to like him but you just can't because you know he's going to be the big enemy.

    Also, it was a little odd also seeing little Jake and older Natalie Portman on screen together.  The audience knows that they will eventually end up together.  That just makes the scenes between them really awkward especially because the age difference is so obvious at this stage.

    Also, this is really what annoyed me.  Ok, so Anakin is supposed to have this unbelievable gift for "The Force".  If this were true, I would've been much more impressed if his activities which end up becoming life saving (such as him in the fighter) were planned and not by accident.  Also, if Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor had a really good sense of the force, why didn't they realize who the real Natalie Portman was?  There are a lot of holes in this story.

    Ok, the good things:  I think the acting was very good.   All of the cast, including young Jake Lloyd were wonderful.  I really like Natalie Portman and I think she was a good choice, she will be able to successfully pull of an older ruler for the next movie.  I love Ewan too, and even though his role wasn't a large one in this, I am looking forward to seeing him in the next.

    I also liked the fact that they incorporated things from the sequels in order to make this prequel not look like one giant anachronism.  The fighters are roughly the same.  The civilizations haven't changed that much.  They still have the really grainy hologramic technology.  They still use the funky binoculars.   I did hear one complaint on Natalie Portman's spaceship.  However, I chucked it up to being a royal ship and therefore better than anything previously presented for a reason.  Also when you compare it to The Millenium Falcon, it still works because the Falcon was referred to as a piece of junk in Star Wars.

    The best part of this movie is the fight scenes.  I think that it was excellently choreographed.  When Ewan and Liam are fighting the evil Darth Maul (or however you spell his name) my mouth was literally dropped open.   Unbelievable!  It was really good.

    So, keeping all of this in mind I give it the score I did because it is a pretty good movie but there are a few little problems that doesn't make it 4 star worthy.