An Immensely Enjoyable Film

Rating: 8/10 (1 February 2008)

When I went to see The Phantom Menace, I was almost uncontrollably excited. I loved the original Star Wars trilogy, and was hugely anticipating the new trilogy. To my immense delight, I thought that The Phantom Menace was a brilliant film.
In some respects, I can see why people dislike The Phantom Menace. Yes, there are some wooden performances (eyes on you, Natalie Portman). Yes, the dialogue is clunky. But I don't really think that Oscar-worthy performances and exceptional writing are what the Star Wars saga is about. In my opinion, it is more about grand and epic storytelling, which this film accomplishes extremely well.
The visuals are the film's best asset. George Lucas creates brand new worlds for us to gasp in awe at, with such detail and creativity put into creating the environments that it is hard to believe that you can't reach out and feel them. The crew deserve tremendous applause for such an incredibly creative accomplishment. Each world has its own individual character. Whereas Coruscant is a sprawling, busy capital, Tatooine is unfriendly and barren. The visual effects are terrific, and you find yourself indulging on almost every detail.
However, it wouldn't be a great Star Wars movie without action, and Phantom Menace delivers two scorching set pieces. The first is a frenetically furious pod race, in which the racers shoot through dangerous terrain, all the time trying to avoid dirty tricks from their competitors and unfriendly fire from unhappy campers. The race is brilliantly gripping, keeping you on the edge of your seat from the heart-stopping beginning to the cheer-worthy ending. As with almost every scene in the movie, the race is also jam-packed with clever details, drawing you in closer to the action.
The second is a pulse-raising three-way lightsaber fight between Qui-Gon Jinn (the excellent Liam Neeson), Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Darth Maul (athlete Ray Park). This lightsaber duel conquers all of the previous duels in the series, and is absolutely terrific. It is fantastically exciting to finally see such a fast-paced, brutal and energetic lightsaber fight, where the combatants seem perfectly fluent and are fighting with every ounce of their strength. This sequence is a classic sword fight, which will always be in my mind when anyone mentions Star Wars.
In addition to the fantastic action, there is another phenomenal score from John Williams. He provides several breath-taking new tunes (the highlight is Duel of The Fates, which is played during the lightsaber fight), yet also offers foreshadowing of future events in the saga by using tunes from the original films.
Despite the fact that the performers are hindered by undoubtedly clunky dialogue, quite a few of them manage to turn in decent performances. Neeson gives a noble and powerful performance as Qui-Gon Jinn, fully emphasising the perfect image of a Jedi master. Ewan McGregor provides a few moments of brilliant emotional clarity, whilst Jake Lloyd gives a passable portrayal of future Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker. But the best performance comes from Pernilla August, who gives a performance of great grace and vulnerability as Anakin's mother.
George Lucas handles all of the proceedings with consummate skill. He has made some mistakes in the screenplay, but he has ensured to the best of his ability that he is able to grant us a compelling and engaging vision of the Star Wars galaxy. He has had some low points in his career, but on a creative scale, this certainly isn't one of them. He directs the film passionately and without remorse, which earns him my deepest respect.
This is a brilliant fantasy movie. It may not be as dark as the fans were hoping for, but it is still successful in terms of its creativity, its visual effects and its action.