Here is the beginning of a backstory we never asked for and never should have been given. Even good movies detailing Darth Vader’s history would have damaged the character and the original films, and these were not good movies. What is good about this entry? It is a very pretty film with great art design and costume design. And Ewan McGregor does the best job of acting of anyone in the first six films. The score is excellent and there’s one good lightsaber fight.
The bad? Everything else. The Jedi are idiots for no reason, with Qui-Gon Jinn being the icon for stupidity. He’s never right. No one besides McGregor can act, with Natalie Portman particularly bad. Then there’s Antisemitism, racist Asian characters, young Anakin, Shmi, immaculate conception, and the never-ending pod race. Even things that at first seem like they will be good are a mess. Darth Maul seemed “cool,” at least in the advertising, but in the actual movie, he is a void. He is given no personality at all. He is just some guy with a different kind of lightsaber. That’s his character. And of course, there’s Jar-Jar, who is not funny nor dramatic nor interesting. The general defense is that he’s “For the children,” but that’s insulting to children.