LONDON (Reuters) - "Star Wars" actor Ewan McGregor says he was disappointed by the last film in the epic science fiction series.
McGregor, 31, said fans could expect a return to the style of the first three films when "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" opens next month in the UK. The actor, who plays the Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, said the 1999 film "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" was "kind of flat."
"One of the things about 'Episode I' (that) I was slightly disappointed by was, I thought it was ... kind of flat," McGregor said in an interview released Monday by UK film company FilmFour. "I think there is much more humor and there is much more color in 'Episode II,"' he said in an interview to publicize a season of British films on the pay-TV channel.
Director George Lucas launched the "Star Wars" series in 1977, attracting millions of fans to his intergalactic tale of good battling evil.
After the success of the first three "Star Wars" films, Lucas waited more than 15 years before releasing "The Phantom Menace" in 1999.
It broke box office records when it opened amid huge hype, but was immediately panned by many critics.
The Guardian's film critic Peter Bradshaw called the film "extraordinarily objectionable" and said "nothing has the right to bore and disappoint us this much." The Los Angeles Times' Kenneth Turan called it a "considerable letdown" while the London Evening Standard's Alexander Walker dismissed the story as "infantile."
The "Star Wars" team will be hoping for better reviews when "Attack of the Clones" opens in the UK on May 16.
McGregor found fame with the 1994 thriller "Shallow Grave" and as a heroin
addict in "Trainspotting" two years later. He has become one of Britain's most bankable stars, appearing in blockbusters such as "Moulin Rouge" and "Black Hawk Down."
McGregor, 31, said fans could expect a return to the style of the first three films when "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" opens next month in the UK. The actor, who plays the Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, said the 1999 film "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" was "kind of flat."
"One of the things about 'Episode I' (that) I was slightly disappointed by was, I thought it was ... kind of flat," McGregor said in an interview released Monday by UK film company FilmFour. "I think there is much more humor and there is much more color in 'Episode II,"' he said in an interview to publicize a season of British films on the pay-TV channel.
Director George Lucas launched the "Star Wars" series in 1977, attracting millions of fans to his intergalactic tale of good battling evil.
After the success of the first three "Star Wars" films, Lucas waited more than 15 years before releasing "The Phantom Menace" in 1999.
It broke box office records when it opened amid huge hype, but was immediately panned by many critics.
The Guardian's film critic Peter Bradshaw called the film "extraordinarily objectionable" and said "nothing has the right to bore and disappoint us this much." The Los Angeles Times' Kenneth Turan called it a "considerable letdown" while the London Evening Standard's Alexander Walker dismissed the story as "infantile."
The "Star Wars" team will be hoping for better reviews when "Attack of the Clones" opens in the UK on May 16.
McGregor found fame with the 1994 thriller "Shallow Grave" and as a heroin
addict in "Trainspotting" two years later. He has become one of Britain's most bankable stars, appearing in blockbusters such as "Moulin Rouge" and "Black Hawk Down."
