The Pros and Cons of the Phantom Menace

Rating: 6/10 (26 January 2013)

The Phantom Menace is one of the few movies to have both good stuff everyone loves and bad crap that everyone hates. I myself am a massive Star Wars Fan and personally enjoy watching this movie, but that being said I think there are some major problems that need to be addressed as well. So here are my pros and cons.
I'm going to start with my cons first in order to get them off my chest before I get into the good stuff. This movie has several problems that practically everyone knows about and I dislike as well. First off, and most well-known, is Jar-Jar Binks. This character is the epitome of annoying stupidity, with his terrible dialect and clumsiness. I don't even have to describe why I hate this character because most of Modern Culture does it for me. He is so bad that if he wasn't in this movie at all then I would vote a 7 or even an 8. Also what I don't like about this movie is the Jake Lloyd's Anakin. The kid is such a bad portrayal of the character who would be central to the rest of the prequel trilogy. I actually think showing the Future Darth Vader as a 10 year old kid might have worked, except they only had one chance to do that, ONE CHANCE, but they got the worst kid actor on Earth to portray the said character, plus with the bad dialogue they gave the character.If they were to remake this movie, they should not only not have Jar-Jar Binks in it at all, but they should have Anakin be older. Make him Luke's age or at least have him be a teenager. There are also the Midiclorians that I cannot stand, because it essentially ruins the spiritual side of the Force and added scientific explanations to its existence. Those are the big 3 things I don't like about this movie. The things I also don't like in this movie are also the overuse of Political meetings (Only 1 or 2 are necessary), and some of the dialogue is very week. And also how C3PO is introduced is very dumb, it would have been much better to have him come from Coruscant or Naboo and already work as a protocol droid, rather than have Anakin build him as a child on Tatooine. So Yeah, that's basically what I don't like about this movie.
Now here are the things I really like that this movie brought into the Star Wars franchise. First off and most obvious is the Lightsaber combat. They are very well choreographed and show the Jedi in their prime along with having them use the force to a great extent. The Lightsaber Combat in this movie and the rest of the Prequels is one of the few things that is actually better than those in the Original Trilogy. I also really like Darth Maul and the actual introduction of the Sith. I mean Palpatine and Vader were in the original trilogy, but this is the first time when we learn that the main enemy of the Jedi order is the Sith. As for Darth Maul, he is an awesome villain for this movie. He is intimidating, brutal, such an awesome presence on screen. Unfortunately he gets killed off at the end is such a dumb way where Obi Wan simply jumps up and slices him in half. If you wish to kill of such an awesome character, at least have him duel Obi Wan briefly immediately before he is sliced in half (Though he's alive in the Clone Wars Series). Also I really like the characters in the movie, well, most of them, but definitely not Jar Jar or Young Anakin. Liam Neeson was well cast for this role as an Wise but Unorthodox Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn (one of my favorite Jedis in the Star Wars Franchise). Ewan McGregor's Obi Wan Kenobi is also a great portrayal of an already existing character in the saga. I also like Natalie Portman in her role as Padme. Its funny, when she's under the Queen Amidala guise she seems very hallow and boring, but is more interesting as a character when she is Padme. The Battle Droids in this movie are very cool as well, especially the Droidrekas. The Podracing is also pretty awesome. And finally, what I really like in this movie is the design. Every location in this movie from Naboo to Tatooine to Coruscant are very fascinating places to see on screen. They are great additions to the Star Wars Universe.
So overall, I enjoy this movie, but I do have mixed feelings about it. I'm not one of those Star Wars fans who outright hates the prequels. Instead there are just things I hate about them. But to be honest of the three movies in the Prequel Trilogy, this is the one I have the most amount of problems with; it is my least favorite of the Star Wars movies. But I still like this movie overall. It is a movie you have to see from the Star Wars Saga (well all of them are, and more so than this one). If you see it at a young age, you would like this movie. But if you see it at an older age, you only might like this movie. My rating for this movie has to be C+.