Fairytale or Nightmare? (spoilers)

Rating: Null/10 (15 April 2000)

After viewing "The Phantom Menace" I find myself wondering what I liked about Star Wars in the first place. I had to go back and view the first three films. Now, after viewing Phantom in context with those movies, I can see what's missing: emotional substance. This film has no soul. The original trilogy was like a modern day fairytale with grand adventure and high drama. This film is very consistent in tone. There is no suspense or unpredictability. No guessing as to how the fairytale will turn out. And the main problem with the story of episode one is that its a fairytale that has too much reality in it.
The basic political dispute in "Phantom" is too similar to real life. Who wants to go to a fantasy film and see government infighting? You can see that on C-Span. Also, the creatures in "Phantom" are all based on real life ethnic stereotypes. Jar Jar, Watto & The Trade Federation leaders all have accents that cut way too close to racism. In fact, the film makes it appear that we are supposed to laugh only because these characters' accents are funny sounding. How lame can you get?
The truly interesting parts of the film, the ones steeped in fantasy are ruined here. The blossoming love story of Anakin & Queen Amidala has no joy to it and seems forced and unnatural. And who could of guessed that seeing Obi-Won & Darth Vader in their pre-Jedi stages could be so unabsorbing. The development of these two characters is abysmal and sadly, non-sensical. Young Darth Vader aka Anakin Skywalker is so disimilar to his later incarnation you'll think your watching Home Alone 4.
The saddest thing about "Phantom Menace" is how much effort & talent went into making such a bad movie. The actors: Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman & Jake Lloyd all look silly here. And draggin down people like Samuel Jackson & Terence Stamp is unforgiveable. The biggest sin of Episode One is how Lucas wastes the talents of ILM. So much detail work is put into the Pod Race, light saber duel, ground battle & space battle its a shame that Lucas couldn't show more of each. Lucas instead impatiently moves onto the next plot point, never letting a scene or setting breathe.

All in all, this latest chapter in the Star Wars fantasy turns out to be more of a nightmare.