hero_zero;
Quite a different world going from child actor to adult. People will be way less critical of the child, and there isn't usually much dimensionality to their role. They are usually (not always, i don't claim to say all) far less sophisiticated then an adult, especially when portraying complicated issues (love interest, or whatever purpose she serves in star wars). There are counter-examples but just using this for my argument here :] . The movie is so bloated with CG, and the whole star wars world, that the acting in the movie is just for contininuity to the next big, crazy, expensive action scene. I think it's ironic because in the originals all the actors were no-names. In this movie you got some really big actors. I do think the guy who plays anakin is a no-name actor though.
Anyways, I guess the one movie that comes to mind is that movie she was in with susan sarandon where she played the daughter that moved to another town. I think she can act, but I also think she is still very young and hasn't really honed her skill yet, or hasn't gotten a great role to work with. I think every great actor has that one role that sets the pace for their career. (Robert Deniro: Taxi Driver for example) I won't be so critical of her in that respect. I'll give the benefit of the doubt, so when I see her butcher a great role really bad, then I'll have an opinion. At this point in her career she has her choice of roles since she's a big star so it could be interesting to see which direction she chooses. That great success i guess can be either a blessing, or a curse since. Alot of could-be good actors take it to the head then just take stupid roles and are mediocre. So this is certainly a pivotal point for her.
These are just my opinions anyways.