The Saturday Telegraph 8th May 1999
Story lost amid
special effects
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A COMMON complaint among Star Wars diehards was that, while the special
effects were stunning, they tended to overshadow the human performers and even the story.
"As a science-fiction film, it was excellent," said one of the 1,400 people at a
preview for cinema owners, executives and their families in New York on Tuesday. "But
as a Star Wars film? No." The reviewer, known only by his cyberspace name of Darkman,
complained that Darth Maul, the leading villain of the piece, could not compare with the
menace of Darth Vader, and considered the storyline "weak". Jar-Jar Binks, a
computer-generated character, also caused controversy. One cyber-reviewer described him as
"some kind of rapper dude with a dash of Roger Rabbit". Others felt he was
either annoying or comical. |
Older Star Wars
diehards accepted that the passage of time - the original trilogy was, after all, two
decades ago - may have jaded their appetite. "The first thing I said to my friends
after seeing this movie was, 'I'm not seven years old anymore'," said one. While the
previews, at several cinemas across the US, are meant to be secret, neither Lucasfilms nor
20th Century Fox, the distributors, plan to stop the early criticism. Tom Sherak, a
distribution executive, said of the Internet reviews: "That's what the 21st century
is going to look like. The only way you can keep a secret is not to tell anyone."
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