Fans of wrenches, prepare to get happy: this 3D re-release boasts a shot, mid-podrace, in which Anakin Skywalker thrusts some sort of space-spanner towards the screen. It looks fantastic.
But even as the extra D fizzes up the visuals — it’s a decent, if largely unexceptional transfer — George Lucas’ much-pilloried prequel remains as flat as Tatooine’s Dune Sea. This is still a tale with no clear point of view (Obi-Wan, the hero apparent, vanishes for a reel), both too juvenile for adults and too abstractly plotted for anyone who hasn’t majored in intergalactic finance. And then, of course, there’s Hesa Who Must Not Be Named. On the plus side, it remains a triumph of production design, three-way lightsaber battles and Warwick Davis cameos.
