Jar Jar Must Die

Rating: 8/10 (19 May 1999)

Overall, I loved this film, and I have no regrets about waiting on line for 2 hours in the rain without an umbrella for an opening night 2am showing. I left feeling energized, and was not overly disappointed.
That being said, it is true that this movie does not have the heart that Episodes IV-VI had. It's a little hard to explain exactly why. I think it may be because the characters don't really connect with each other the way they did in the first movie. I see what some others are saying about stilted dialogue and unimaginative plot elements, and yeah, those are factors, too. There weren't any lines that really tugged at me, or sent shivers down my spine, or moved me to spontaneous laughter. I really only cared about the characters because I already knew where they were heading- if this were truly the first movie, I don't know how much I'd have emotionally invested in their fate. For example (mild spoiler follows), in "Episode IV," when Ben Kenobi is struck down by Darth Vader, it's a very real, poignant moment. We've come to care about him throughout the movie, we know how Luke feels about him, we have good reasons for hating Darth Vader, the music swells up... hopefully, you know what I mean. In Phantom Menace, when an extremely similar scene took place, I just didn't care as much. The lightsaber duel scenes were thrilling, to say the least, but the emotional investment in the characters just wasn't there.
My biggest criticism has to be with the handling of the character Jar Jar Binks. I can understand how he would appeal to children- though I found him thoroughly annoying- but the worst part about it was that he was in *way* too much of this movie. I know one of Lucas' kids named the character, but I wish he hadn't felt so obligated to put Jar Jar in nearly *every* scene. He is a completely one-dimensional character, whose one "schtick" of mispronouncing things and haplessly flailing around was stupid enough at first but was far worse when it was endlessly repeated throughout the movie. All the on-screen time- and $$ on digital effects- that were lavished on Jar Jar could have been better spent in so many other ways. There were other characters who could have been fleshed out more: Neeson's character, who never really gets a decent background, the interplay between him and his apprentice Obi-Wan, Darth Maul who basically swings a lightsaber and does nothing else... all of these characters were much more interesting and should have been better developed. I think we really lost something there.
The Star Wars movies have a universal appeal. So why do we need stuff like Jar Jar and the Pod-racing sports commentator who says things like "That had to hurt...?" I feel those kinds of additions are just pandering to the lowest common denominator, and it really hurts the movie. Keep the movie at a higher level, and people will rise to the occasion. Create stronger characters, give them better dialogue and interactions, and that, more so than all the CG effects, will create another legendary movie. I sincerely hope we see more of that in the next two installments.