Bitterly disappointing...15 years for this?

Rating: 4/10 (6 June 2000)

Like most every Star Wars fan I waited with breathless anticipation for Episode 1. George Lucas had hinted for years that he actually had 9 movies in mind when he did the first triology and I could only dream of how amazing they would be when they were finally completed. Well, the dream is definitely over. Phantom Menace was just that - a phantom of itself. the Star Wars universe has become one of the most richly defined sci-fi venues thanks largely to the efforts of some superior writers (I speak specifically of Timothy Zahn and am excluding Kevin Anderson). I guess I got spoiled by them because I was expecting dialogue and plot along the lines of what has come before. The acting is not the problem but Lucas' dialogue is just plain awful. From the incessant chatter of Jar Jar to the stale interaction between Anakin and Padme there are no memorable lines or scenes here (at least ones that involve dialogue - the lightsabre duel is absolutely incredible spoiled only by the fact that we a forced to watch 2 other battles that we don't care about while it is going on-arrrgh!! I would have liked this movie more if the last 20 minutes were just the 3 way lightsabre duel between Obi-Wan, Gui-Qwon and Darth Maul!).
Compared to the first three the whole premiss behind this movie seems awfully thin. Why are we supposed to care about a trade embargo on some unimportant planet? This is Star WARS isn't it? We (or maybe just I) got used to grand battles, sweeping ramifications of the actions of a few important individuals and generally feeling like we were witnessing something important! I know, I know Lucas is just setting up 'atmosphere' for the next two movies. Well I don't like shelling out my money for 2 and half hours of setup. Maybe when the other two come out (in 5 years....**sigh**) I won't look so harshly at this one, until then....