The Worst of the Prequels

Rating: 5/10 (23 December 2016)

Oh yes, this is the worst prequel and needless to say the worst Star Wars film overall . George Lucas was aiming for the stars with this new take on the saga, however he never even took off and he failed to meet fan expectation for the most part. Amazingly though there are some positives to this film that will always be remembered and rightly so.
The first positive of the film are the two main leads of Qui Gon-Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi who are portrayed by Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor respectively. Both of them are really good and memorable for there character interactions and. Neeson and McGregor both bring their game for this film both interns of acting and stunt work which really pays off at the end fight with Darth Maul. It is such a shame that this was the only Star Wars film that Liam Neeson as in because there was great sense of bravery and charm to the character that no one else could pull off. He also had the feeling of the old Obi-Wan Kenobi character from A New Hope which meant that the audience could related to him and have an emotional connection to the character. Also seeing a young Obi- Wan Kenobi for the first time was also really cool and seeing him be the learner instead of the master, was a really interesting angle and cleverly done.
The next positive is the pod race which even to this day still looks really cool and shows the revolutionary special effects that were used at that time. It is heart pounding non-stop action from start to finish. So much so that when Anakin and Sebulba come together your not completely sure which one of them will come out on top. The fast paced nature of the editing and accompanied with the great score real works to build a thrilling action scene.
Talking of the score of the film that is another positive to this. Unlike The Force Awakens and Rogue One, The Phantom Menace has more memorable score to it. Esecically during the pod racer which is very good and also during the climactic battle between the two Jedi and Maul. That score at the end of the film during the lightsaber battle will go down in Star Wars history, even gives me chills to this today, fantastic.
The final positive of the film is the lightsaber battle between Qui Gon-Jinn and Obi Wan Kenobi versus Darth Maul, which is and was a huge step up from the original trilogy. If there is one complaint from the original trilogy it is that the lightsaber battles weren't very extravagant and where very controlled, especially in A New Hope. This film fantastically ups the anti with the end duel which is non-stop right from the get go and is truly magical. Great choreography of the fight, fits perfectly with the score and the editing.
Now the negatives, oh boy this section of the review might actually be quite small because words probably can't describe some of the negatives in this film. Firstly Jake Lloyd as a young Anakin Skywalker, *sigh*, in a way I actually feel sorry for him because isn't all completely 100% his fault for the portrayal, some it does fall on Lucas. Hateful,Irritating,annoying,bad,terrible are just some of the words to describe his performance .
The next negative is the story which is predominately about invasion and trade deals/negotiations,Zzzzzzzzzz, wow I almost feel asleep writing that down, who I sat away for just over 2 hours of it. Uninteresting and needlessly over complicated, this film goes on and on and on about trade deals and then all of a sudden there is a massive fight and then the end of the film. Could of.......No it should have been better, I suppose there is some credit for Lucas trying something different. However if you are going to try something different you've got to 100% that its not going back on anything that has been done before.........midichlorians...cough.......
Next Jar Jar Binks................*sigh*................nope.......*kill myself*
Some of the CGI looks dated, whether it be the locations or droid/Gungan fight. Some of the effects have not stood the test of time which is sad and amazing considering that the original trilogy effects do hold up for the most part. Also the droids, what a waste of time, I accepted that the prequels had to try something different from stormtroopers but the droids are not treating in any way. There are just a throw away character from the good guys to kill a lot of.
Finally the film does have some good moments and even a few moments that will go down in cinematic history however the many negatives of this film way it down so much that it can't recover. Sadly there are more negative moments that will go down in cinematic history rather than positive ones, 55% out of 100 overall not a good star to the prequel trilogy.