Gets far too much hate

Rating: 9/10 (10 April 2020)

I'm a huge lover of the Prequels, I grew up with them and I suppose statistically someone born the same year I was is much more likely to like the Prequels than most other people. People criticise this film most because of Jar Jar but if you take the Darth Jar Jar theory into account it really isn't that bad. If you go back and watch Phantom Menace kinda from Jar Jar's perspective as some secret Sith Lord, then it really does make it so much better. There's a bit where Jar Jar waves his hand when Sebulba attacks him and Sebulba starts to back off so it's like as if Jar Jar does a mind trick on him there.
But even if you can't believe Jar Jar is a Sith Lord then I don't think he's as annoying as constantly whinging idiots make him out to be. If you can't believe Jar Jar is a Sith Lord then yeah Jar Jar is almost useless, but without Jar Jar Palpatine would've never become Emperor because it was Jar Jar who passed emergency powers to Palpatine, so at least the Phantom Menace showed what a idiot Jar Jar was if you don't believe in the Darth Jar Jar theory.
I thought Jake Lloyd did a fantastic job as Anakin Skywalker, there were some lines that were maybe unnecessary though such as 'yippee'! But I pretty much accept that line because it's words kids tend to say, if he didn't say it then he might've come across as too mature than what he really was. The line is also amongst many in this film that little Anakin says which shows the stark contrast between little innocent Anakin and Darth Vader so the cheesy childish lines Anakin makes makes it so much more emotional and baffling that Anakin would turn into a monster as an adult.
The action scenes were brilliant, Qui-Gon's death was tragic was a necessary sacrifice which had a very positive impact on the saga in the long term, had Qui-Gon not of died Anakin wouldn't have turned to the Dark Side which would've made the rest of the saga relatively boring. This film had the best overall character line-up of any Star Wars film except Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith in my opinion. There was loads of interesting Jedi with complex, unique interesting personalities and all the Original's have as main characters is a stereotypical Princess, a naive farmboy (Luke's not a bad character he's a great character but except Obi-Wan and Vader he was the only great character in the OT) and a space cowboy who was a decent character at best. At least Phantom Menace didn't have completely useless characters like Chewbacca who couldn't even speak and didn't do anything interesting.
The Phantom Menace adds so much history and lore to the Jedi, it had many great sequences such as the podracing scenes, Anakin's childhood, the duel on the desert, duel of the fates etc. Without the Phantom Menace and the other Prequels the history of the Star Wars Universe before A New Hope would've just been a big deep black hole with noting in it. One of the other popular criticisms of Phantom Menace is the mid-chlorians but it makes sense and it's a plausible explanation for Jedi and Sith power. A lot of people thought it was just 'magic' that caused the Jedi and Sith powers before Phantom Menace but even magic favours certain people or species more than others.
So many great characters in this film as well, Obi-Wan, Maul, Qui-Gon, Yoda, Windu, Anakin, Padme, Sidious, they were all very memorable and complex characters. I also liked how this film isn't a stereotypical film which has a happy ending and always lets the good guys win because that makes the Phantom Menace so much more unpredictable, more interesting as a result of not knowing whether even the morally good characters will die, closer to our own non-fictional reality and therefore feels more connected to our own depressing real world. The Phantom Menace is one of the most underrated movies of all time, I recommend it to everyone and even though critics and people alike may tell you it's awful, deep down you'll probably really enjoy it.