It was, in my opinion, the best sci-fi movie to come out in years. It even beat the Star Wars movies, in so far as it will be watched over and over again.
I do recommend that anyone who liked the movie also purchase the "Firefly" tv series. It is the prelude to the movie, essentially, and funny... very funny.
And the Star Wars movies haven't been/won't be?
I liked Firefly when it was called Farscape.
I agree. Lucas felt he needed to kill the worth of his entire Star Wars franchise to attack Bush in episode 3 ruined everything for me.
However I do feel that the characters do need to be developed more. They are a bit cartoonish but it works.