Like it or not, this is what Star Wars always was; fun.

Rating: 10/10 (5 August 1999)

In the twenty two years that passed since A New Hope came out, the cult following of the film swelled so much that it became a phenomenon unto itself; there is no film-following like Star Wars mania, and as a result people forget what Star Wars is, and has HAS ALWAYS BEEN about.
It's about young heroes saving the day. It's about bad guys in black robes fighting good guys in brown or white robes with very cool weaponry. It's about fast vehicles. It's about comedy side-kicks who don't understand what's going on. It's about dumb dialogue. It's about great music (thanks again Mr Williams, by the way). Star Wars is about all of these things, and therefore I have absolutely no idea why people all over the place are saying that 'The Phantom Menace' is a disappointment or even a traitor to the Star Wars universe. It's not! All of the classic ingredients of a Star Wars movie are there, and in fantastic style. All of the things I listed above were all in the Phantom Menace just like they were in the other three movies.
This film is gloriously colourful, packed with great set pieces (the pod race should be considered a benchmark for action scenes of the digital age), full of great good characters and one really good evil one, it was set in three main settings, and had spaceships, light sabres and dodgy foreign accents spilling out of every frame; it was, in short a Star Wars movie. I loved it.
I sat through the film smiling from ear to ear the whole time, just as I did when I fist saw Star Wars (I'm only 21, so I never saw it in theatres). It just strikes me that some of the people who make up the fan-base of these movies have grown up since the originals were released, realised that Star Wars was for kids all along, and feel jealous that the kids of today are enjoying the movie more than they are; Star Wars to them is their baby, and they think they're being robbed by the kids whom the film, to be honest, is aimed at.
These people seem to be the minority, however; everyone who I've spoken to who has enjoyed this movie (and they outnumber those who didn't by at least five times) was just happy to let the film grab them and zip them along. Jar jar becomes a tolerable character when you stop thinking about how he's insulting your intelligence and just laugh at him as he shoots droids with a dead droid that's stuck on his foot. It's all a good laugh, ant that's what it's supposed to be.
To me, Lucas has delivered everything I was hoping for. This was a really entertaining movie, and I'll be sure to get it on video when it comes out, where it will take pride of place next to the other three in the series.
I can't wait to put the last two up on the shelf as well, and when they do arrive, I'm sure they'll be every bit as deserving of the title Star Wars as the Phantom Menace was. Thanks for reading my two cents.