nealmcgrath

If flawed look at the five families of New York. For those that have taken a more than a casual interest in all things Mafia, then a lot of this will be part of the endless regurgitation of the same old stories that we've heard many times. There is also the same commonly held mistakes repeated here-the Gallo's killing Anastasia for example. Fortunately, they throw in a lot more rare footage here to render this show a bit more interesting for the long timers: we get Vito Genovese playing bowls, we get Joseph Colombo chatting away on the Dick Cavett show, etc. We also get a detailed look at Joe Massino, someone who I wasn't overly familiar with. So, worth a watch, but lets throw this energy at some lesser known mob stories: Chicago, Roy Demeo- I mean, even Carlo Gambino doesn't get a whole documentary to himself while John Gotti has a million. Someone obviously thinks these things are worth making, so let's mix it up a bit.

Unlike most people,I actually quite like the plots of the prequels;I think the political intrigue and the way Emperor Palpatine gains control of the senate,is clever in the way it mirrors real world despots and it helps add an air of realism which is an important and underrated quality in sci-fi/fantasy films.

However,none of that can really make up for the films many faults:the CGI is excessive,cheap looking and cartoonish,the acting way below standard and the script wooden and awkward.

Only Darth Maul and his two-on-one lightsaber duel reaches the levels of entertainment we've come to expect from the Star Wars universe.