Why the critics are wrong

Rating: 7/10 (27 August 1999)

Warning: May contain spoilers!
After waiting in anxiety for nearly three months after it's release in the States I was finally able to see The Phantom Menace on Oslo's opening night (day) at the world's largest (and best!) THX certified theater.
I must preface my comments with the following facts as background:
1. I am a huge fan of the original trilogy, though I haven't submerged myself into any secondary entertainment such as novels, comics, roll-playing games, etc. My knowledge of Lucas' creation is based purely on the films themselves.
2. I couldn't wait for the movie to be released in Norway to find out what it contained, so I purchased the novelization by Terry Brooks (something I haven't done with the previous instalments), and read the screenplay. So I guess you could say I knew the story and it's characters pretty thoroughly.
3. My taste in movies is vast and covers nearly all types of films, Yet I consider myself picky to details.
Now for my "educated" opinion of TPM:
It's "style" or "feeling" is (IMHO) totally in harmony with the others. There may be some new ideas here to swallow (Anakin's conception, the midi-chlorians in general, etc.) and one could arguably question the consistency of the story, but to say that the original three were made for adults while this one was aimed for audiences of children is (again IMHO) completely unjustified. Remember this about "Jedi":
1. Hokey lines, such as Han's: "What? Luke's a Jedi knight? He can't hardly take care of himself, let alone" and threepio's: "Look Artoo, and Han's still frozen in carbonite" and TONS of infantile others.
2. The revelation that Leia was Luke's sister (How much more soap-opera-ish can you get?).
3. The Muppet-family-world of creatures dancing around the rancor pit in Jabba's palace. (Too much!)
4. Boba Fett's lame demise.
5. The incredibly poorly choreographed final light-sabre battle where Luke cut's off Vader's hand.
6. And finally the overly simple turning of Vader back to the "light" side - too easy I think (including Palpatine's death).
Still, I consider Jedi to be an adequate one of my all-time favorite movies simply because of the love I have for the characters in the Star Wars universe (and those jammin' speeder bikes)!
Jar Jar Binks was NOT as annoying as everyone made him out to be. I was pleasantly surprised. I admit he could have had a tad less screen time, but he was pretty funny (most of the time) and I actually liked him. I think his purpose in the story was mostly to show Qui-Gon's obsession for helping the less fortunate.
Darth Maul was perfect. People say he had too few speaking parts and too little screen time. I disagree. He fulfilled his purpose perfectly. Boba Fett was also rad, but you didn't see Lucas feeding on this and squeezing him into every imaginable scene. He used him when it was appropriate. Maul's death was necessary for us to understand Palpatine's frustration trying to replace him and the forthcoming Sith apprentices.
Dull characters? Remember Luke in ROTJ? I rest my case. Jedi are trained to not show their emotions. Royalty are just the same. On the other hand the pod-racer announcer was anything but dull.
Weak story line? Again, I refer to ROTJ. A "new" Death Star - ooooh! Original, huh?
No character development? Again it appears everyone has forgotten the original three. Was Han Solo's character developed AT ALL in ANH? Anything for money was all we knew about him. Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru? Again, barely any development at all. Vader? Just a mystical dude in black that liked to choke people with the force and poke at heaped robes with his sabre. Obviously I would strongly disagree with this point. In consistency with the original trilogy, Lucas will use the next two instalments for better developing the characters.
Here's what I loved the most:
1. The Jedi council. This is a nice way to introduce to us what the Jedi were before being eliminated by the Sith.
2. The Force. Watching Obi-Wan & Qui-Gon race through the halls of the Federation's control ship like speeding bullets was nifty, to say the least. Obi-Wan using the force to empower himself to "fly" out of the energy shaft in the final battle and all the other times they leap through the air feigning weightlessness and defying gravity. Awesome!
3. The perfect world. As this was before the Empire took over and destroyed everything it was nice to see the immaculate beauty of their peaceful existence.
4. The special effects (of course). The beauty of the underwater scenes. The surroundings and backgrounds in their entirety.
5. The costumes. The queen's wardrobe. Basically everyone's from Boss Nass to Senator Palpatine to Captain Panaka. Impressive to the last drop!!
6. The sound. Intense and loud! Just the way I love it.
7. The editing. The seamless scene shifts were fantastic. Especially the final battle scenes.
I am certain there will be Oscar nominations (if not the award itself) given to points 4-7.
Of course there were small things I didn't like as well:
1. Annie's friends: Wald & the group of heckler-kids. Too much!
2. The music was pretty bland aside from the last 10 minutes (Duel of the fates and the final celebration song). Not enough like the original trilogy (IMHO).
3. The space battle at the end didn't have enough close-up shots like ANH and Jedi - the ones where you're looking through someone's cockpit at the other guys who are coming at you in swarms and get blown away while others are crashing into larger ships, etc.
4. The Hero-making of Anakin at the end.
My recommendation to all you nay-sayers is this: Take a closer look at the original trilogy before (mis-) judging this worthy addition to the Star Wars canon.
Overall a solid 9 out of 10. Better than Jedi but not quite up there with ANH & Empire.