Great expectations!

Rating: 3/10 (21 June 1999)

Yes, The Phantom Menace finally passed the $300 million mark. Now everyone is asking `Will it sink Titanic? Will it become the number one movie of all times?'
I don't care about these concerns. I didn't care about the hype and the lineups before its release either. The only thing I cared about was when I was sitting in the theater and waiting for the movie to start, fans all around me, everyone was so exited. I was happy that I could be a part of this event just like the time I went to see Titanic. The film started, the story was explained in running credits on the screen andÂ… we were dumped right in the middle of it. Characters came and went, talked, fought, died, but I didn't feel anything. Most of the cast weren't even humans. The ones who were weren't properly introduced. There was a race scene, which indubitably reminded me of `Ben-Hur'. The scenery was spectacular and I thought that they did a great job in terms of computer animation and FX. But what about a story? I was expecting so much that I felt a little down when the movie was over. So many questions were wriggling in my head: `Why didn' t they do more with Darth Maul when he had such chilling looks? Why was Ewan McGregor left out? Wasn't Obi-Wan an important character, didn't he deserve more introduction? What was all the fuss about JarJar Binks? He was neither understandable nor likable, just plain goofy? Was this a kid's movie? Then what are all these 40-year-olds doing here?
I guess I was disappointed because I expected too much. This wasn't supposed to be an impulsive movie. At least it looked really great and those under water chases and the pod-race were certainly a lot of fun. Maybe I should go to Disneyland and enjoy some rides! Maybe I was too emotional when I cried my heart out at the end of Titanic!