Interesting discussion. Some points:

Larry's comment of "Two on one" fighting. I agree the interest is to see the little guy win but in this case, as in the fight with Darth Maul, I got the sense that the two would be herd pressed to succeed even though they out numbered the bad guy.

The mythology of the series: I missed that as well but wrote it off to being a disclosure of the origins of the main characters. As I watched I kept remembering the comments about the characters in the previous movies.

Music: I think the music in LOTR and Episode II pretty much reflects reality. In a culture of low technology the characters are forced to sing themselves about that which interests them, heroes and drama. It is their only real entertainment.

In an "advanced" culture that job is relegated to the electronic media. Music becomes the fill sound behind the day to day action. The movies are made about the interesting characters are those who do not avail themselves of such electronic entertainment.

Humor: I saw the movie with my 18 year old daughter. She commented that she was glad they had gone back to humerous comments they used in the first series. As an example, in the arena, Obi-Wan's comment that the princess seemed to be on top of things as she climbed to the top of her column. I don't remember hearing "I've got a bad feeling about this." anywhere in the movie but I do have to go back to see it again.

I really liked the movie. It provided some interesting juxtapositions, e.g., Yoda leading stormtroopers, Jar-Jar (He's not dead yet?) as a diplomat, stormtroopers actually making progress in a fight, etc. But then I am a Star Wars junkie and have enjoyed every episode.