Not a bad movie, but definitely a flawed one.

Rating: Null/10 (25 September 2011)

"The chosen one the boy may be. Nevertheless, grave danger I fear in his training."
In the years since I've seen Episode I, I had forgotten how close Jar Jar Binks comes to ruining this entire movie. I was even looking forward to seeing it again, since I've only watched it once before and had forgotten most of it. But then, Jar Jar popped up on the screen and opened his mouth, and I was re-introduced to the single most stupid and annoying character in the history of science fiction. I can't imagine even young children enjoying his insufferable shrieking. Sigh.
As for the rest of the movie (other than some occasionally suspect acting), it's actually okay. The pod racing is still fun to watch today, there was some exciting action scenes, and Darth Maul was cool enough to almost make up for all the Jar Jar. The story isn't the best the series has to offer, but it's good enough to be a worthy addition to the Star Wars mythos. If the blatant efforts to make Episode I as appealing to kids as possible could have been toned down some (trust me, they would have liked it anyway), this probably wouldn't have been considered the ugly step-child of the Star Wars franchise. As it is, though, The Phantom Menace is a flawed movie that manages to overcome that and be entertaining, anyway. I guess that's the power of the Star Wars legacy; this universe is so rich that even lesser entries are hard to not like.