A lot better than the critics said it was

Rating: Null/10 (16 October 2001)

I remember walking out of the theater 2 years ago after having seen this, and thinking "That was a damned good movie, I sure got my money's worth!" Well, didn't take long to find out not everyone shared my sentiments. I guess it was to be expected. After all the hype and the waiting, the fans wanted nothing less than for George Lucas to smash a grand slam homer right out of the park, so when instead he hit a solid triple, a lot of people felt cheated and let down, and so they focused on what they didn't get more than on what was delivered.
Which is a shame. Phantom Menace is a fine film in its own rights. In part, some of the complaints were because it was different from the others. Most notably, the comradeship of familiar characters was missing, the interplay between the heroes, heroines and sidekicks as they grew to trust each other and deal with their various character traits as they bounced from one close call to the next. There was no romance to speak of (unlike the great Han Solo/Princess Leia exchanges) nor was there much humor (as in the interplay between Chewbacca and the two droids) and of course the central character is one we all know will soon transform into the evil villain of the first trilogy. In short, it simply doesn't have a lot of the key elements that everyone loved from the earlier films.
But so what? Like I said, this one is different, and should be judged on its own merits. What is good about this film? For starters, the awesome effects. Let's face it, that's what MADE the Star Wars franchise, lose them, and you've just got a pretty decent space fairy tale. There's some really cool concepts, too, I especially liked the various types of Battle Droids, and would not be surprised to see this idea become reality in our own military some time in the near future. Also, you've got a deeper, darker, more serious mood. There's not too much in the way of yuks and joking around because anyone with vision can see that this particular Galaxy is headed for serious trouble. There's Natalie Portman as Queen Amidala, who, IMHO, is an even better female lead than Carrie Fisher. She's got the same strength of character, only in a different guise. Instead of a feisty, resourceful rebel Princess, she, despite being only 18 or so, leads with great dignity and poise. Darth Maul is another great character, the only downside is he wasn't given more screen time. Young Annakin Skywalker comes off just as we'd expect, he's a slave, but clearly destined to move on to much bigger things. We are left wondering just how it is this budding Jedi ends up making the choice to side with evil, not to mention how he will interact with his future wife and son. We are left hanging deliciously, wondering just what Episode Two will serve up.
As for the bad, well, basically it can be summed up in three words  Jar Jar Binks. Rarely has a more annoying and useless character been given so much screen time in a major movie. He's funny .. for maybe a minute or two. Then he should have been given the boot. Yet he seems to be onscreen almost as much as Luke in the original! What on Earth for? He brings nothing to the film to justify being so prominent. Further, he turns an otherwise spectacular final battle scene into a 3 Stooges style comic farce in which he blunders about the battlefield taking out the enemy through sheer incompetence and dumb luck (maybe I should change the comic reference to Gomer Pyle). Anyway, if ever this film is subject to digital editing, Jar Jar should be `erased' from every scene where it is practical to do so. On a more minor note, I was less impressed than most by the Pod Race. Sure, it was cool but so is an Eddie Van Halen guitar solo. And both are more a case of artistic showing off than anything else. The Pod Race was special effects for its own sake, and didn't really add anything of importance to the movie.

But, other than that, this was definitely a far better than average film. It's just too bad that didn't live up to public expectations that were, quite honestly, so high as to be nearly impossible for mere mortal man to achieve.