Miraculously, It's Better Than People Say

Rating: 7/10 (17 August 2006)

'The Phantom Menace' is actually a good movie - with flaws. Most of my complaints stem from the fact that this movie works way better in theaters AND when I was younger.
Having observed this movie many years later, there's a lot of savory things along with some bad. First, the bad.
Jar Jar's character was OK, to be honest, with the exception of one scene: THE CLIMAX! Seriously, it might work for kids, but when you're building up to a grand slam end, it only weakens it to have some goofball hopping in between droids trying to play ball-tossing. Diagnosis: some misplaced comic relief. Another weak point wasn't so much the acting - but rather the wasted moments where tension could be kept better. "Oh, we're being shot at. Shields up at maximum." Most of the bad acting was really the boring security guards trying to talk politics most of the time. Also, and I'll probably be the only one to say this: Natalie Portman was a little too wooden to make me believe her homeworld is in danger. Lastly, and this is the biggest problem - the Sith. We know the Sith are evil. We know the sith are enemies to the jedi. BUT WHO ARE THE SITH!? The film never really explains, and even keeps Darth Maul in the shadows most of the time the movie runs. With a proper explanation, the film could've felt more like 'The Beginning' instead of 'Starting a certain point-in-time in the Star Wars Universe'.
NOW! The good . . . we're introduced into a whole different world from the original trilogy, and each new scenic place IS inspired, just as well as the originals worked for their days. The visuals were astounding, though on the little screen aren't nearly as impressive. Characters are INTRODUCED in part one, and are DEVELOPED in part two. I think the characters were introduced pretty well. The only problem with this is that the characters are just . . . there. There's no swaggering Han Solo, no underestimated Luke . . . just an obedient Obi-One, a politically motivated Queen Amidala, and a Jedi Qui-gon.
Overall, it IS good, and I think the reason most people were disappointed with it was because they had in mind certain little things that made it obvious Anakin turns into Darth Vader - in the movie, Anakin is an innocent little boy, not someone who will obviously become evil, for example.
I recommend it.